326 HUNTING PRELIMINARIES. 



hunting field, is obvious. With this object it is well to keep 

 a foxhound in the stable-yard, and take him out with the 

 hunters when they go to exercise. We may cure a horse 

 of kicking hounds ; but I have never known a horse cured of 

 kicking other horses. 



One cannot expect to buy a " made " and well-conditioned 

 hunter much under six years old, though of course there 

 are many excellent five-year-old hunters, which naturally 

 improve in condition every year, when in a good stable. 

 An Irish four-year-old often knows as much as an English 

 six-year-old ; but he has not had the " hard " feeding 

 which is necessary to qualify him for the first flight 

 in the Shires ; and, besides, he will as a rule know 

 little or nothing about jumping hedges and posts and 

 rails. Irish horses are sometimes hunted when they are 

 only three. One great advantage of experience, and conse- 

 quently of age, in a hunter, is freedom from impetuousness ; 

 for the more a horse sees of hunting, the steadier he becomes; 

 provided, of course, that he is ridden by a capable man. As 

 a rule, dealers are the bast persons to purchase from ; for they 

 keep the required article, and one can often arrange with them 

 to get a trial, say, for a month, for a certain sum, in the event 

 of the animal not proving suitable. One gallop, however, 

 on a young horse should be sufficient to tell one, if one 

 would like to buy the animal or not. There is not much 

 chance of purchasing at an auction what one requires, except 

 at the end of the season, or at Tattersall's during the 

 summer, when many studs go up for sale, and some 

 of the best hunters in England can be purchased by 

 those with money at their command. One may buy 

 a promising youngster from a farmer ; but very seldom 

 a " made " hunter. As I have discussed the subjects 

 of conformation, breaking, and soundness in, respectively, 

 Points of the Horse, Illustrated Horse - Breaking, and 



