S 8 LETTERS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



however good-looking he is or however flowery his descrip- 

 tion may be. The place to buy a horse is the hunting field, 

 one you have seen going in front many a time, one you cannot 

 catch, and which comes early, stays late and turns out 

 three days a fortnight. If you want to hunt and see sport, 

 never mind what he looks like, buy him. If you are wise, 

 refuse all offers to part with him. I once knew a man who 

 always had such a horse. He came out from a big town 

 and no distance seemed too great for him. He was a manager 

 of a carting and carrying agency, and I daresay in his travels 

 to find draught horses he picked up these good hunters. 

 He was a remarkable character. He seldom spoke, his only 

 remark when he did being " Fine mornin'," irrespective of 

 whether it was fine or raining " cats and dogs." If you were in 

 a fever of excitement to get away with hounds and got hung 

 up in some bolt hole in a crowd and he was near and saw 

 you for the first time, all he said or did to show he was alive 

 was to ejaculate " Fine mornin'." If you were riding your 

 hardest to keep your place in a fast dart, there he was cool 

 as a cucumber with his infernal " Fine mornin'." But 

 though he said little he must have thought a lot, because 

 he was one of the finest men to hounds I ever saw. Quick, 

 resolute and with a wonderful eye to a country, he was 

 quite unbeatable. His nerves were like iron, and though he 

 was an ugly, awkward-looking horseman, he had beautiful 

 hands. All horses seemed to go kindly with him, and once 

 his leg was over his back a horse was a hunter if anything 

 would make him one. I bought many a horse from him, 

 and not a " dud " in the lot. 



Now a word on horsemastership. It is a very big 

 subject, and I can only touch on the fringe of it. The way 

 to get work out of a horse is by putting work into him in the 

 form of grooming and exercise. Condition is cumulative and is 

 the outcome of regular exercise, good grooming and good 

 feeding. Without condition you cannot expect to see a good 

 run through to the end, and you will not get your horse out 

 hunting as often as you should. To get a horse fit by 

 November he should come up from his summering about 

 the middle of August, not later, at any rate, than the end 

 of that month. Condition is walked, not galloped on to a 



