I40 BitJtitg to f^ountis". 



To get to hounds and keep with them are the 

 objects a sportsman must have in view ; he does not 

 come out to go leaping a lot of monstrous places 

 straight on end, in order to pound Jones or Robinson, 

 or, subsequently, even to enlarge to Brown on the 

 performances of himself and horse. Such "gallery" 

 performances as these are more adapted to the 

 show ring, where they might be mdulged in without 

 detriment to sport, and certainly before a more 

 appreciative audience than a field of " sportsmen." 



To live with hounds throughout a good run, or, 

 indeed, any run worthy of the name, must depend 

 chiefly f I grant you, upon yourself, although also, to 

 some extent, upon the horse you are riding. Some 

 men can get to hounds in comparative safety on 

 almost any cattle, provided they have " condition ;" 

 but this gift does not fall to the lot of many. More 

 often, indeed, do we find men with everything in 

 their favour — horse, knowledge of country, and even 

 nerve — who will almost invariably fall, get thrown 

 out, or from some other cause lose the position they 

 coveted and certainly ought to have held. 



If your horse is, you know, undeniably bad at 

 timber, shove him promptly through the bullfinch to 

 the left, or even turn slightly out of your course to 

 negotiate the two small fences on your right, in 

 preference to risking an almost inevitable fall over 



