212 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS 



hounds in Oxfordshire, on a five-year-old horse, which 

 I had just purchased, and which was much out of 

 condition. I was joined by a brother sportsman, 

 whose experience in horses was considerable, and who 

 was going on the same errand. " What have you 

 got there ? " said he, with some expression of surprise. 

 " A brute," said I, " that I purchased the other day 

 out of a Welsh drove." " I thought he was not your 

 sort," continued he. Having summered this horse 

 after the system I adopt, I happened to come across 

 my brother sportsman with the same pack of hounds 

 the following season, just as I was mounting " the 

 brute out of the Welsh drove," with the intention of 

 riding him for the day. " You have a very neat horse 

 there," said he ; " where did you get him ? " " Oh," 

 said I, " you know him." " No," replied he, " I never 

 saw him before." " What ! " said I, " do you not 

 recollect the brute out of the Welsh drove ? " I 

 sold this horse the following season to Mr Vincent 

 Corbet for two hundred guineas — having previously 

 refused that sum from him for another person. 



When stating matters of fact on subjects so inter- 

 esting to sportsmen, no one who belongs to that 

 honourable class would object to his name being 

 mentioned, by way of producing proof, without which 

 argument goes for nothing. The gentleman I allude 

 to is Mr Martin, of Ham Court in Worcestershire, 

 a very hard rider to hounds, and whose father suc- 

 ceeded to the estates of the late Major Bland, who 

 hunted that country when I first rode over it. 



As another instance of the captivating properties 



