assure us that they dispense with rowels, it is rare to
find one so indifferent to appearances as not to wear spurs." Men wear
spurs in hunting because it is fashionable to do so, but there is no
such arbitrary law laid down for ladies, and the presence of the spur
certainly adds to the danger of dragging by the stirrup; for, as Whyte
Melville points out, its buckle "is extremely apt to catch in the angle
of the stirrup iron, and hold us fast at the very moment when it is
important for our safety we should be free."

[Illustration: Fig. 91.--Spur-carrying whip used for high school
riding.]

In Continental high school riding, a spur is a necessity, as, without
its aid, the _ecuyeres_ would not be able to perform many of their _airs
de manege_. These ladies, in order to apply the spur with freedom, have
the stirrup leather so long that they are deprived of the immense
advantage, which the play of the ankle-joint gives us, of applying
pressure with the leg against the leaping head, and with the flat of the
knee against the saddle flap. The "school" rider seeks to strengthen her
weak seat by the employment of a very long and greatly curved leaping
head, which serves to support her leg while her knee is removed from
the flap of the saddle when using the spur. This leaping head, which
almost encircles the left leg, would, of course, be a most dangerous
thing to use when hunting. The spurred lady also has a spur clamped on
to her whip, in order that she may be able to prod her horse equally on
both sides. The whip-spur (Fig. 91) is like a wheel with sharp spokes
and no tyre. The application of the spur by Continental _ecuyeres_,
especially in obtaining the more difficult _airs_, is more or less
constant, so as to keep the animal in a continued state of irritation. I
went behind the scenes in a well-known circus in Paris, where I saw a
lady mounted and waiting to go on and give her performance. A man was
holding her horse's head, and a second attendant, with a spur in his
hand, was digging the unfortunate animal on the near side under her
habit, which he was holding up for the purpose. He took care to inflict
the cruel punishment on a part of the horse's body which would not be
seen by the public! The animal, being unable to advance, was lifting his
legs up and down (doing the _piaffer_), and sighing and groaning in
agony. When the circus doors were opened and relief thus came to him, he
bounded into the arena like a fury, am