336 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS 



Cheap, old, and worn-out hunters, with httle or 

 no action, are practically valueless, and judges are 

 quite right in keeping such low down in the prize list 

 in jumping competitions, no matter how cleverly 

 they may perform their work. A hunter at six years, 

 if it has been judiciously used and derived from the 

 right stock, ought to be in its prime, and, if clever, 

 its price may be anything from eighty to several 

 hundred guineas ; but absurdly high prices are often 

 paid for horses not worth one-tenth their value, and 

 if Nimrod's remarks have been digested there will 

 be no difficulty in appreciating the truth of this state- 

 ment. 



Before concluding this chapter, those in search of 

 a hunter, or stud of hunters, must try the animals 

 themselves, under all conditions, because some 

 hunters will jump very differently in cold blood to 

 what they do when following hounds. 



Some hunters are tremendous pullers, in fact, defy 

 all attempts to hold them, and such are only fit for 

 dare-devil riders. 



One cannot be too careful concerning the selection 

 of a ladies' hunter, as she is placed at tremendous 

 disadvantages. 



There is a remarkable difference in temperament — 

 one hunter will probably rush at his fences in a reck- 

 less and headstrong manner, whilst another will even 

 walk to its jump and clear it in a businesslike manner, 

 as instanced in the case of a horse seen by the writer ^ 

 at the Olympia Show in 1907. 



' Frank T. Barton. 



