54 THE ORANGE COUNTY 



abroad. Many a race lias been lost by the infliction of 

 wanton cruelty. A bad-tempered horse immediately shuts up. 

 He is sftre to abate or lessen his exertion if he is severely 

 punished when doing his best. The owner or the jockey 

 will, however, be the best judge of the proper manner of 

 riding in particular cases. 



THE HUNTER. 



The hunter used chiefly to differ from the road-horse in 

 standing an inch or two higher, and possessing more blood. 

 He was at least three-quarters bred, with small head and 

 thick neck, and therefore light in the hand; the crest firm and 

 arched, the jaws wide, and conssquently the head well set on, 

 and the mouth light and pleasant. The forehand was higher 

 than that of a racer, and although the shoulder was somewhat 

 thicker, the saddle was in its proper place. The barrel was 

 rounder than that of the race-horse, that there might be more 

 room for the lungs to play when the pace was becoming dis- 

 tressing; the leg was shorter and deeper; the pastern 

 shorter, yet retaining considerable obliquity; and the foot 

 sound; the body short and compact, the loins broad, the 

 quarters long, the thighs muscular, and the hock well bent and 

 well under the horse. This was the hunter of former days, that 

 would carry his master to the covert side, and keep his place in 

 the field during a run of two or even four hours, and find his way 

 home again unhurt and not over-tired. 



It is not -every good and fleet horse which will make a 

 good hunter. He may have strength and vigor for a long 

 journey, and yet not be able to bear the shocks and strain- 

 ings of the chase. There never was, says Captain Brown, a 

 long limber-legged horsa that was able to gallop down steep 

 hills, and take bold leaps with a weight on his back, without 

 sinking or foundering. 



A horse should never be used for field-sport till he is in 

 his sixth year, as his joints will not be well knit, nor his ten- 

 dons sufficiently tenacious, till that period. A horse in his 

 fifth year may occasionally be ridden out with the hounds 

 but if he is only moderately worked till the following year, so 

 much the better. 



It is now, however, the fashion to breed the hunter chiefly 

 for speed; he therefore is a very different kind of horse from 

 what he was. He is the race-horse somewhat more stoutly 

 bred. The hunter of the present day is comparatively seldom 

 ridden to cover; a hack conveys the sportsman, and a second 



