THE HUNTER 87 



almost impossible to break a persistent refuser of the 

 trick of refusing. Therefore such a horse cannot 

 become a good hunter, for the first requisite in a hunter 

 is that he should be able and willing to jump. The 

 second requisite is that he should be able to stay 

 Now, the staying powers of a horse will depend largely 

 upon the condition in which he is, which subject we 

 intend to deal with at a later period under the heading 

 of "Stable Management." We need only state here 

 that light-ribbed horses are invariably deficient in 

 staying power. The distance, either horizontally or 

 vertically between the back-rib and the hip bone, should 

 never be more than four inches. We prefer the dis- 

 tance to be three-and-a-half inches. If the distance is 

 less than three-and-a-half inches the horse may gain 

 some additional strength, but he will lose activity. 

 He will be too compact, or, as it is termed, " too tightly 

 coupled," and will not be able to gallop or to extend 

 himself over his fences as well as a less compact horse. 

 We have made these calculations on the assumption 

 that the horse stands fifteen hands, two inches. 



Although we have advised the novice never to buy 

 a horse without having the opinion of a good veterinary 

 surgeon, yet we wish to save him the trouble and 

 expense of constantly employing a " vet " to examine 

 horses which are worthless for hunting purposes. We 

 hope that the following hints may be of service to him 

 in the preliminary choice of a hunter. 



The forefeet of a horse should be exactly similar in 

 shape and size. The slightest dissimilarity means 

 lameness, either past or present, and either alternative 

 means future lameness. The crust, i.e. the wall of the 



