HINTS ABOUT SCHOOLING HUNTERS 165 



in the hunting-field will not necessarily have the ex- 

 perience requisite to make a horse a hunter. Again, 

 the standard of perfection required by the wealthy 

 hunting man of to-day is far higher than that re- 

 quired by our forefathers. What satisfied them does 

 not satisfy us, and, though they may have been as 

 good riders as we are, yet we may fairly lay claim to 

 being better judges both in breeding, rearing, and 

 schooling hunters. Besides, there can be no doubt 

 that the future of fox-hunting does depend in a 

 certain measure upon the schooling of hunters, for it 

 is obvious that if we have not horses which can live 

 with hounds over a country, hunting would lose its 

 charm at once. We heard on all sides that during 

 the 1896-1897 season the supply of first-class hunters 

 was not equal to the demand. There were plenty of 

 animals suitable for the class of men who "ride 

 twenty miles, head the fox, and go home," but we 

 trust that the novice for whom this volume is 

 primarily intended w^ould scorn to belong to such a 

 class. For really good hunters the demand is greater 

 than the supply, since more men hunt, more men 

 have second horses out, and men on the average 

 hunt more frequently than they did, owing probably 

 to increased railway facilities. It has been our 

 business latterly to frequent the weekly sales of 

 Messrs Tattersall, at Albert Gate, and our experience 

 is that while moderate horses described as hunters 

 are allowed to go for what seem ridiculously low 

 prices, the bidding for a first-class hunter immediately 

 becomes brisk, and he is not allowed to go under 



