Riding In The Sky

“Kilne always has original ideas, and his latest has certainly got all St. James’s talking.” 😒😑 meaning playboy who acted like a spoilt child in a man's body until the female lead "woke" him up...

I was talking to the daughter of the Marquis of Hull a few days ago in Rotten Row.” He paused a moment and then went on, “You have never seen anyone more ham-fisted and heavy in the saddle!” - poor horse 😭😭😭 “It’s selfish of me to spend so much money, Filipa, and I feel ashamed of myself.”

“There is no need for you to be,” Filipa replied. “Papa used to say that every young man should sow his wild oats and that is what you are doing. - sure...it's acceptable for him to behave disgracefully but the woman must be pure as snow...

The difficulty was that she could not afford to hunt, except with what was considered in the County to be an inferior pack. - hunting is a despicable sport.

"They all of them, however, wore boots equipped with evil-looking spurs. Filipa had heard about the spurs, which were used mercilessly by some riders, and which her father had always denounced as being cruel and unnecessary. “If you cannot ride without a spur,” he had said, “you should walk and I will have no spurs used on my horses!” Filipa had known that he was exceptional in thinking in this way. She was well aware that many women in the hunting field spurred their horses until blood showed beneath the skirt of their riding habit. - so it's ok to hunt for sport but avoid spurs and whips when riding?? Inconsistent! Animal cruelty is animal cruelty - regardless of the creature in question.

The second time round the clowns lost ground when the gentleman’s horse stumbled and nearly fell. - these races still occur today as do professional meets. None are ok. All have some degree of animal abuse.

Then, as they swept over the next fence, she was aware that Lulu was using her spur and her whip. Filipa told herself again that it was cruel. - 💔💔💔

“What you have to do, Yvonne, is not to put on our bets until just before the race has started and then put every penny we possess on me. Kilne’s horse will collapse halfway round the course if we have timed it right.” “At what hour the race commence?” Yvonne enquired. “Eleven o’clock,” Lord Seaforth said. “Which means I must put the drug in the horse’s water at a quarter past seven.” - doping greyhounds, horses etc. is still a common and despicable act. These races should be banned!

“How could anybody do anything so cruel to a horse?” Filipa had asked indignantly at the time. - yet she's ok to hunt???

There was, of course, a sharp-pointes spur on her left boot. And Filipa was sure that the horse she was riding would be bleeding before the end of the race. - barbaric!

Only the Marquis’s closest friends knew that, when he was really incensed by anything and especially by cruelty, his voice took on an icy sharpness. - again, hunting foxes etc. is the same thing as cruelty to horses idiot!

“No eggs this morn, miss!” he reported in a gloomy voice. Filipa was not surprised. The hens were getting old and should have been replaced, but there had been no money with which to do so. - good thing we understand now that animal products and by-products are completely unnecessary to good health.

“I had the idea that it would involve finding young horses,” Mark replied, “and breaking them in, so that they could be sold profitably at Tattersalls.” - 'breaking them in' sounds harsh. Not a fan of this.

They were starting their honeymoon at the Marquis’s hunting lodge in Leicestershire. - 'hunting lodge' wonderful way to start your honeymoon - killing innocents...