CAPTAIN FORESTER TO THE WAR 205 



Leicestershire bred, and was a great thruster even 

 as a small boy ; but though very keen and ready to 

 ride at anything, it was only in the last four or five 

 years before the war that he rose to the supreme 

 heights. His hands certainly lacked delicacy of 

 touch, and he rather preferred a horse that pulled ; 

 but he never touched his horse's mouth in jumping, 

 and I have never seen anyone put a horse at a fence 

 as well. The absolutely perfect horseman should 

 have good " hands " ; but " Teddy's " were not what 

 I should call bad " hands," they were merely hard, 

 and in consequence the horse that suited him best 

 was one that had lost some of the sensitive feeling 

 in the mouth. 



Why I say that Mr. T. E. Brooks was the best 

 man to hounds I have ever known, is that I have 

 never seen anyone follow a pack religiously field 

 for field, jumping everything as it came, and yet 

 take so few falls. He rode very short, the modern 

 method, which I consider the most effective, both 

 for controlling a horse and relieving the weight on 

 his hindquarters. 



I always compare Count Charles Kinsky with 

 *' Teddy,*' as examples of the two different styles. 



The former was a most perfect specimen of the 

 old-fashioned seat, which is certainly more graceful 

 than the modern hunched-up position. 



Count Charles was not only an ornament in the 

 saddle, but was also a first-class man to hounds, 

 with lots of nerve and splendidly mounted. On 

 first coming to Leicestershire he rode gallantly at 

 everything; but the Leicestershire bottom is very 

 deceptive, at one spot it may be only a few feet in 

 width, and yet ten yards away on either side it 



