296 MODERN TRAINING. 



horseback, or has a wagon to follow convenient roads 

 through the plantations, thus having a conveyance for a 

 relay of dogs. With a good horse, a trainer can train ten 

 or twelve dogs during the summer and fall, and about eight 

 or ten in the winter. This number entails a great deal of 

 hard work, however; one or two dogs, if backward, may 

 greatly increase the difficulty. Hunting from horseback is 

 the superior method. The cartridges, game bag and lunch 

 can be tied to the saddle. The hunter rides while his dog 

 is ranging for covies. From the elevated position he can 

 see the movements of the dog a long distance away. If he 

 points in sedge grass and is concealed, it is for the same 

 reason much easier to find him. When the dog points, the 

 hunter rides to within forty or fifty yards, throws the bridle 

 rein over the horse's head to the ground, or a lariat is 

 fastened to his neck and thrown on the ground, then he 

 flushes and shoots. The scattered birds are then followed 

 and good work obtained, if they do not fly to dense cover. 

 After finishing work on the scattered birds the hunter 

 mounts and resumes the hunt for bevies. 



Good hunting horses are not plentiful ; very few have the 

 necessary requirements, namely, gentleness, endurance, 

 intelligence, a good saddle gait and steadiness to the gun. 

 A first class horse will also remain in the place where he is 

 left in a field till the hunter returns; this by simply dismount- 

 ing and leaving him to his freedom. A fast walk and a good 

 fox trot are the best gaits that a hunting horse can have for 

 this kind of work; and it is no demerit to him if he can 

 jump a wide ditch or high fence. The introduction of wire 

 fences in the South obstructs free riding in some sections, 

 yet the plantations are so large that the fencing is of no spe- 

 cial consequence. 



A peculiarity of quails, /'. e., holding their scent at times 

 when they light after being flushed, is a source of bewilder- 



