Horsewhipped

[m***@city-insights.com]

Forgive me, but being neither horsey nor whippy, I have to ask just what is a
horse whip?

<snip>

Is a horse whip by any chance the same as a riding crop?

I'm by way of being a bit horsy (have the ikky rubber boots in the trunk
of the car to prove it) and a riding crop is a stiffish little thing about
two feet long. You carry it, usually in your left hand, and while you
*can* use it on the horse's flank if it's being especially sluggish, just
carrying it in eyeshot makes your horse pay a lot closer attention. I
*think*, but I'm not sure, that you have to carry one in dressage, along
with dealing with those double bridles--I think, cynically, only to prove
the rider's manual dexterity.
A horsewhip (or at least the ones I know) have a long, thin, flexible
shaft about three and a half-ish feet long; attached to that is the whip
part, which is quite slender and braided. You can carry it if you're
driving a team, or you can put the horse on a lunge line--a sort of leash
for equines--and make it charge about in circles around you for exercise
or training purposes. Either way, you wave it it vaguely near the
business end of the horse, or crack it *over* it, so that, again, it pays
attention. Horses are, of course, *much* too sensitive actually to come
in contact with the thing, being delicate, highly strung beasts who need
to be nursed along with mash and must never have their mouths pulled and
need their hooves held. Actual horsewhipping, according to this school of
thought, is reserved for erring humans.
Apologies to the bootless, unhorsed and uninterested for this long
explanation. and apologies likewise to the booted and horsed if I have
inadvertently explained wrong.
Gertrude Butterwick
(who has compiled quite a list of Shakespearean horse quotes)

I believe that a gentleman is expected to horsewhip a bounder to within an inch of his life for a serious transgression. Reputable horsewhip manufacturers always provide models with the handle helpfully marked out in inches to facilitate this...

[Charles Bishop]

Post by m***@city-insights.com

Forgive me, but being neither horsey nor whippy, I have to ask just what is a
horse whip?

<snip>

Is a horse whip by any chance the same as a riding crop?

I'm by way of being a bit horsy (have the ikky rubber boots in the trunk
of the car to prove it) and a riding crop is a stiffish little thing about
two feet long. You carry it, usually in your left hand, and while you
*can* use it on the horse's flank if it's being especially sluggish, just
carrying it in eyeshot makes your horse pay a lot closer attention. I
*think*, but I'm not sure, that you have to carry one in dressage, along
with dealing with those double bridles--I think, cynically, only to prove
the rider's manual dexterity.
A horsewhip (or at least the ones I know) have a long, thin, flexible
shaft about three and a half-ish feet long; attached to that is the whip
part, which is quite slender and braided. You can carry it if you're
driving a team, or you can put the horse on a lunge line--a sort of leash
for equines--and make it charge about in circles around you for exercise
or training purposes. Either way, you wave it it vaguely near the
business end of the horse, or crack it *over* it, so that, again, it pays
attention. Horses are, of course, *much* too sensitive actually to come
in contact with the thing, being delicate, highly strung beasts who need
to be nursed along with mash and must never have their mouths pulled and
need their hooves held. Actual horsewhipping, according to this school of
thought, is reserved for erring humans.
Apologies to the bootless, unhorsed and uninterested for this long
explanation. and apologies likewise to the booted and horsed if I have
inadvertently explained wrong.
Gertrude Butterwick
(who has compiled quite a list of Shakespearean horse quotes)

I believe that a gentleman is expected to horsewhip a bounder to within an
inch of his life for a serious transgression. Reputable horsewhip
manufacturers always provide models with the handle helpfully marked out in
inches to facilitate this...

Usually on the steps of his club.