Mrs. SJ Opray took to the letters page of Horse & Hounds on May 2nd 1964 to complain about falling standards in the equestrian field. Her letter, headed ‘Scruffy turn-out of horses’, made it clear that the modern world was going to hell in a handcart.
“There seems to be a growing tendency today to allow horses to appear on public occasions turned out in an unkempt and often downright scruffy condition. Manes unplaited and sometimes unpulled, tails similarly untrimmed, feathery heels and frequently the animal appears to have escaped any serious grooming whatsoever…can it be that, with the young men wearing their hair longer the girls think their equine charges look better that way? I can assure them the opposite is the case.”
You can find more trenchant views from Mrs Opray here.
