36 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS 



and his feet remained perfectly sound until within 

 three months of his death, when disease attacked one 

 of them, and I thought it too late in life to attempt to 

 remove it. 



In the case of masters of hounds, I am aware that 

 the plan of keeping hunters up in the summer cannot 

 be so easily accomplished, from the number of their 

 stud ; therefore servants' horses must take their 

 chance. They are, however, generally taken up soon, 

 and get into work by degrees, in cub-hunting, which 

 gives them an advantage ; and wear-and-tear of horses 

 of this description is to be calculated upon as a 

 matter of course by those who keep fox-hounds. 

 When Lord Sefton hunted Leicestershire, his own 

 horses, that cost him six or eight hundred guineas each, 

 were ridden about in the summer quietly with the 

 hounds, although they were turned out at night under 

 favourable circumstances. It was impossible to ex- 

 ceed the condition these horses were in to carry high 

 weight. 



