CARRIAGE HORSES AS HUNTERS 179 



refusing, but, alas, he had no idea of judging his 

 distance, and made his effort with his fore-feet ahiiost 

 in the fence. If there had been a ditch on the near 

 side we must have come to utter grief. After that, 

 knowing that he would not refuse, we took care to give 

 him plenty of time at his fences, and we got through 

 the day without a fall. In such a case we should re- 

 commend placing a stiff guard rail, about a foot in 

 front of a made fence, similar to the guard-rail in front 

 of the open ditch in a steeplechase course. A very few 

 lessons would serve to teach the horse to judge his 

 distance. 



Of course it is useless to try to make a hunter out 

 of a heavy brougham-horse, or one of those high- 

 steppers, who put down their feet at the same spot 

 whence they take them up. Lofty-actioned horses are 

 always uncomfortable to ride, and in harness look to 

 be going twelve miles an hour, when they are not going 

 seven. Yet some judges at horse-shows will persist in 

 awarding prizes for high action ; they might as well 

 award prizes for string-halt. On the other hand, a fast 

 trapper will invariably make a fair conveyance to 

 hounds. But the big, heavy horses, commonly known 

 as family-coach horses, have long gone out of fashion, 

 and will probably soon become obsolete. They cannot 

 get over the ground quickly enough for modern require- 

 ments, besides having to drag their own weight, in 

 addition to the weight of the carriage. We remember 

 the time when a lumbering coach, drawn by a pair of 

 over-fed beasts which ought to have been in the plough, 

 was considered a sign of respectability ; now it would 



