To Capt. John Daly, 

 Dublin, Ireland. 



"He tvas bred near Dublin City, 

 Ay he can't go it's a jnty. 



And he walks just like a lady tvith her sweetheart at a ball: 

 See him now so lightly treading 

 Like a flea upon your bedding. 



Ah! He'll bear yer honour's scarlet through a run without a 

 fall" 



Rhymes in Red. 

 XXII 



FOX HUNTING IN IRELAND 



THE IRISH HUNTER — HIS BREEDING AND SCHOOLING — THE GREAT 

 DUBLIN HORSE SHOAV — BUYING A HUNTER. 



A CHAPTER on Hunting in Ireland would be most in- 

 '^*- complete if it did not have a good deal to say of the 

 Irish hunter. In repeated visits to the Emerald Isle, the 

 writer has had the best of opportunities for studying the 

 methods of horse breeding, feeding and schooling that have 

 evolved the Irish hunter and given him the enviable rej)uta- 

 tion of being the best of his kind in the world. 



First and foremost among his natural advantages is the 

 fact that he comes from a limestone soil, wliich is believed to 

 account for his unusual growth of bone. Secondly, that he 

 is nearly clean thoroughbred in breeding, which accounts for 

 his perfect saddle conformation, and liis Monderful endurance 

 distinguishing him in any hunting field in Great Britain above 

 all others. As a rule, he is a rather plain looking horse with a 



