310 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



same animal is now run down in two-thirds of the distance 

 and lialf the time. Foxes are continuallj' rattled into and 

 turned up, in from twenty to thirty minutes ; each of which, 

 with a slower system of pursuit, would have afforded a run 

 of more than an hour. That the animal is as stout as his 

 ancestors we have no good reason to doubt. There were 

 gorse-coverts, and game-preserves, and poultry -yards, fifty 

 years ago. There are woodlands, and vixens, and travelling 

 dog-foxes, still. But that the pace at which he is compelled 

 to fly for his life is considerably quicker we think none will 

 be fouud to dispute. Again : formerly one man hunted 

 where a dozen do now; and with increasing numbers has 

 arisen a feeling of increasing ardour and emulation. Haif- 

 a-century ago, in a field of twenty or thirty horsemen at 

 most, there were some five or six who rt/de to hounds, and 

 the others were quite satisfied to follow these pioneers with- 

 out a thought of ambition, save how to get safely to the 

 end. Now, on the other hand, though out of a field of a 

 hundred there may be no more than five or six who can ride, 

 there are some five or six-and-tweiity wlio trp ; aye! and 

 try very hard too, regardless of neck, horseflesh, friendship, 

 decency— alas ! that we should say it, of the very hounds 

 themselves! People hunt for pleasure. It is all very well 

 for ourselves and other cautious sportsmen to prefer a well- 

 regulated journey over half a county, in which we canter 

 along at our ease, with plenty of time to spare, and destroy 

 our fox at length by boring him to death with our protracted 

 attentions ; but young blood loves to be in a hurry, and 

 there must be something highly exhilarating in the rattling 

 two-and-twenty minutes that turns up a fox in the open, 

 just before the good horse begins to fail ; everything having 

 gone right, and the said good horse having carried his rider, 

 to the entire satisfaction of the latter, quite close to the 

 hounds from end to end ! 



But the crowd of emulative spirits, at starting, is pro- 

 ductive of much aunoyance to the hunter. Instead of being 

 nursed and spared for the first ten minutes, till the vessels 

 are gradually filled, and the lungs gradually distended, he 

 must be bustled along unmercifully over the first two or 

 three fields, finding the largest and ugliest places in the 

 fences selected for him, because all the gaps are occupied : 

 he must be hurried over plough, ridge and furrow, all the 

 worst ground, nearly at top speed, and must not expect a 

 refreshing pull and timely canter along a headland, until 

 the crowd has been shaken off by the severity of such ex- 

 ertions; then, indeed, he finds it all plain sailing, and, if 

 not " upset" by his previous efforts, he will probably get 

 safe to the end of the run. But under-bred horses will not 

 bear such liberties. It is only the thorough-bred, or very 

 nearly thorough-bred horse, that has sufficient speed and 

 stamina to recover the effects of thus being, so to speak, 

 knocked out of time in the first ten minutes ; and therefore 

 it is to thorough-bred, or nearly thorough-bred horses, that 

 the fifteen stone gentleman must look, if he would be well 

 and safely carried over a flying country. 



Now comes the difficulty. Where is this class of animal 

 bred ? and how is he to be procured ? The refuse of New- 

 market is speedy, but not strong. The good useful farmer's- 

 looking nag, short on the leg. lar^e in the barrel, deep in 

 the ribs, but a little coarse about his mane and tail, is strong 

 enough to carry a castle, and can do anything,' you ask him, 

 at his own pace, but that pace is unfortunately a trot ! 

 Where is the combination to be met with? the upstanding 

 sixteen hands flyer, with his neat spare head, reminding 

 you of his sire, and the sunny slopes of Ascot, the day he 

 won the Cup— with his lengthy shoulders, flat sinewy legs; 



his deep brisket, and long clean flank ; his angular quarters, 

 and well let-down hocks, surmounted by the thin tail set on 

 high in his back, and given to whisk upon slight provoca- 

 tion. He may not be very easy to ride ; he may have some 

 peculiar whims as to the manner in which he is taken hold 

 of; and a decided objection to turning away from hounds. 

 But with a rider who is as fond of the sport as himself; 

 who is tender with his prejudices, and shares his enthu- 

 siasm ; who gets him away close to the hounds, and holds 

 him straight at his fences! well— well, we are making our 

 own mouths water. There are moments in life that are 

 worth a great deal ! wo seldom purchase them, however, at 

 much below their value. 



Now these horses are bred, and are to be procured ; but 

 the demand of late years has fir exceeded the -supply; and 

 such a hunter as we have endeavoured to describe is cheap 

 at three huudred guineas. Let ns inquire into the causes 

 of this scarcity of so remunerative an animal, in the greatest 

 horse-breeding country in the world. 



The late war, it appears to us, had nothing on earth to do 

 with it. Witli the exception of a few oflicers' chargers, and, 

 in so small a force as ours, the exception is scarcel}' worth 

 mentioning, it was a different class of animal altogether that 

 was used up, in the Crimean campaign. The countries 

 adjoining the scene of strife were of course denuded of 

 ererythiug iu the shape of a quadruped — horse, mule, and 

 jackass ; but, except .as an excuse for the dealers, we doubt 

 much whether the demands of the Service ever affected the 

 market of hunters here. No ; the class of animal we 

 require is rare, not because it has been destroyed, but 

 because it is not sufficiently liberally called into existence; 

 and this, from no apathy or want of energy on the part of 

 our English breeders, but from a variety of causes, of which 

 ignorance and inattention to first principles are by no means 

 the least apparent. 



There is many a large farmer and wealthy yeoman in the 

 midland districts of England, who, whilst he studies with 

 his whole attention, and all the assistance of science, how 

 to breed fat cattle or unwieldy pigs for Smithfield market 

 and that jubilee of obesity the Baker-street show, neglects, 

 as it would seem purposely, the very elements of success 

 when raising and rearing an animal, the perfection of which 

 would return him one hundred per cent, upon the capital 

 expended. The gener.al course adopted is as follows : — John 

 Bull has a good useful mare (N.B. useful as applied to the 

 equine race, invariably signifies an animal you would not 

 have at a gift) ; which mare he and his have ridden to 

 market, driven in a tax-cart, put in the plough, and called 

 upou to render every service to which a quadruped can be 

 put. Nay, there is a tradition that young John once rode 

 her with the hounds, and that she jumped evei"ything that 

 came in her way with him — gates, hedges, stiles, and the 

 famous Brimnietsley Brook. But this account is rendered 

 somewhat apocryphal by its having occurred when .John was 

 returnine: from, a coursing dinner at which much drink was 

 consumed, and the chase, according to his own version, having 

 taken place by moonlight. Well, the old mare, when com- 

 pletely worn-out, instead of being put quietly into the (frave, 

 or sufTered to repose upon her laurels, is condemned to the 

 cares of mother-hood, and, for this purpose, is submitted to 

 any travelling stallion that happens to be in the neighbour- 

 hood, totally irrespective of all combinations iu make, shape, 

 or quality. Both may be weak iu the back, long in the legs, 

 faulty in the hocks, nay, touched in the wind, or otherwise 

 alllicted with organic disease. What matter? " Th'old mare 

 was a rnm'un in lier time sure-ly !" and the horse, though he 



