ength for ladies, who
cannot "get down into their saddle" like men. Besides, a fairly long
crop is very useful for keeping a horse straight by the rider touching
him with it on the off flank when he wants to run out to the left, which
is his favourite side for refusing in the large majority of cases. A
short crop is useless for this purpose, as the right hand will be fully
occupied on such trying occasions in keeping the animal's head toward
the obstacle, and the crop should be able to perform its share of the
work by a turn of the wrist, care being taken that no jerk is
communicated to the rein.

[Illustration: Fig. 86.--Thong properly put on.]

[Illustration: Fig. 87.--Thong properly put on.]

The thong is about three feet ten inches long, is furnished with a lash,
which is about a foot long, and is attached to the keeper, which is a
leather loop at the end of the crop. Men generally like a thong of white
pipe-clayed leather, but as the colour is apt to come off and soil one's
habit, a brown leather thong is best for ladies.

The keeper of the modern hunting whip has a slit, near its end, through
both thicknesses of leather. In attaching the thong, the loop at its
upper end is placed over the end of the keeper, and it is then passed
through the slit and drawn tightly (Fig. 86). The old-fashioned keeper,
which is still greatly in use, is a simple loop of leather, over which
the loop of the thong is put, and the remainder of the thong is threaded
through the opening at the end of the keeper (Fig. 87). A wrong way to
put on the thong is, in the first instance, to pass the loop of the
thong through (instead of over) the keeper (Fig. 88). Some authorities
might take exception to the way the thong is put on in Fig. 89.

To facilitate the use of the thong, it is well to have a long keeper, as
in Fig. 86. The keeper of the whip which is shown in Fig. 85, and also
in Fig. 87, is too short.

[Illustration: Fig. 88.--Thong incorrectly put on.]

[Illustration: Fig. 89.--Thong not quite right.]

The chief use of the thong in hunting is to recover the crop if it
happens to be pulled out of the hand when opening a gate, before doing
which, one or more turns of the thong are consequently taken round the
hand. It also enables us to warn off hounds who approach too near our
horses' legs, on which occasions the whip should be held at arm's
length, with thong and lash vertical. A touch of the lash may aid in
encouraging a friend