JUMPING GATES. 



365 



lady-novelist idea of men riding habitually in a bee line over 

 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire or Warwickshire, is absurd, 

 a good proof of which is afforded by the fact that the jumping 

 of an ordinary five barred gate in these districts is an ex- 

 tremely rare occurrence. There are of course many hunters 

 which could accomplish such a feat, if they were fresh ; but 

 no sensible man would fatigue his animal in this manner, 

 when he could far more easily open the gate. The necessity 

 of a Leicestershire hunter being steady at opening gates, is a 



Fig. 240. Gate. 



valid reason for not trying him over them. The true prin- 

 ciples of hunting enact that a man should save his horse 

 as far as practicable, without undue loss of position. Riding 

 straight is necessary in steeplechasing, where the length of the 

 course is known beforehand, and the sport is a riding contest ; 

 but in hunting we never know how long the run is going to 

 last ; there may be another run ; and the journey home remains 

 to be accomplished. To keep his place in the first flight, a man 

 must not only know the country, and if possible its fences, 



