THE SELECTION OF THE CHASER. 299 



hounds. Teddington, as it has been seen, got fencers ; while, of 

 the descendants of The Flying Dutchman, very few have been 

 known to jump. It has been noted how, with remarkable dis- 

 crimination, the few sires that have been bought for and em- 

 ployed in Ireland of recent years have all bred steeple-chasers. 



That good jumpers, calculated to win races across country, 

 may be selected from the flat is constantly proved ; though this 

 does not alter the contention that such animals, unless they 

 have won good races, would have done better had they been 

 specially prepared for the real business of their careers, and 

 escaped the wear and tear, to use a convenient phrase, of races 

 under Jockey Club rules. 



Make and shape must always be primary considerations ; 

 for it is generally acknowledged that, if a horse does not ' look 

 like jumping' to the experienced eye, he will never win reputa- 

 tion as a jumper, though the converse of this is not to be 

 maintained as a truth, for many horses which do ' look like 

 jumping' steadily refuse to do anything of the sort. Some 

 famous hunters — racecourse hunters^ — are examples of this 

 latter fact. Quits, for a long time the most formidable com- 

 petitor in hunters' races, could never be persuaded to jump 

 a hurdle. The Owl, another annual of the same class, was 

 equally averse from jumping. The chances are against him if he 

 be a horse that, after sufficient practice and schooling to prove 

 that it is not diffidence or nervousness \vhich prevents him 

 from doing what he is asked to do, shows a decided objection 

 to crossing a fence. Whether horses like jumping is question- 

 able. Major Whyte-Melville gave it as his opinion that few 

 horses did like it, and he may be quoted as an authority, 

 as a horseman of experience who possessed that strange sym- 

 pathy with his mounts which enabled him to understand their 

 disposition and feelings, a sensibihty which there can be no 

 doubt horses warmly reciprocate. But many horses do certainly 

 seem to like it. Emblem appeared to revel in a steeple- 

 chase ; Chimney Sweep always gave the spectators the idea of 



1 The fictitious distinction between hunters and handicap steeple-chasers has 

 been most sensibly abolished. 



