200 Hunting the Grisly 



horse, a safe fencer, and does not try to stay 

 in the front rank. Most accidents occur to 

 men on green or wild horses, or else to those 

 who keep in front only at the expense of 

 pumping their mounts; and a fall with a 

 done-out beast is always peculiarly disagree- 

 able. Most falls, however, do no harm what- 

 ever to either horse or rider, and after they 

 have picked themselves up and shaken them- 

 selves, the couple ought to be able to go on 

 just as well as ever. Of course a man who 

 wishes to keep in the first flight must expect 

 to face a certain number of tumbles ; but even 

 he will probably not be hurt at all, and he 

 can avoid many a mishap by easing up his 

 horse whenever he can that is, by always 

 taking a gap when possible, going at the low- 

 est panel of every fence, and not calling on his 

 animal for all there is in him unless it can 

 not possibly be avoided. It must be remem- 

 bered that hard riding is a very different thing 

 from good riding; though a good rider to 

 hounds must also at times ride hard. 



Cross-country riding in the rough is not a 

 difficult thing to learn; always provided the 

 would-be learner is gifted with or has ac- 

 quired a fairly stout heart, for a constitution- 

 ally timid person is out of place in the hunting 



