shutting them herself, and of giving the necessary push
with her crop as she passes through for the assistance of imaginary
riders behind her. In Leicestershire there are so many bridle roads that
a lady may obtain any amount of this practice when hacking. It would be
well for her to ride the horses on which she intends to hunt, as she
will be teaching them to go steadily through gates while she is
perfecting herself in the art of opening and shutting them, and her
hunters will also learn the important accomplishment of being able to
push a gate when it opens from her. She should be careful to securely
shut every gate through which she may pass, because farm stock are apt
to stray through gates which are left open and cause great
inconvenience to their owners. If a lady is the last to pass through a
gate when hunting, she should always remember to shut it. Men are often
far greater culprits than women at gates, apart from their holloaing
propensities. Many men seem to regard the sport as provided for them
alone, and look upon my sex as being in the hunting field on sufferance.
Most of us have met the entirely selfish male who gallops up to a gate,
rushes through it and lets it bang behind him, well knowing that a lady
is making for the same means of exit, and is only a few lengths away.

Considering that women pay for their hunting and are not on the free
list, it seems rather superfluous for men to assure them that they do
not object to their presence in the hunting field, an announcement which
appears in print so often that it sounds like protesting too much. We
never hear of hunting women recording the fact that they do not object
to the presence of men: even ladies who carry the horn themselves are
free from prejudice in this respect. Hunting men, in assuring us of
their distinguished toleration, almost appear to copy each other in
their charming manner of expressing that fact. For instance, Whyte
Melville says: "Far be it from me to assert that the field is no place
for the fair; on the contrary, I hold that their presence adds in every
respect to its charms." Then why does he suggest such a thing? Captain
Elmhirst assures us that he is "one of those who, far from cavilling
selfishly at their presence, heartily admit the advantages direct and
indirect in their participating in a pursuit in which we men are too
often charged with allowing ourselves to be entirely absorbed." Mr. Otho
Paget says: "I am not one of thos