66 RIDING RECOLLECTIONS. 



at all ; and they must cherish, therefore, some belief in 

 its virtue, when called into play, strong enough to 

 counterbalance its indisputable disadvantages notably, 

 the stabbing of a hunter's side, when its rider's foot is 

 turned outwards by a stake or grower, and the tearing 

 of its back or quarters in the struggle and confusion 

 of a fall. There is one excellent reason that, perhaps, 

 I may have overlooked. It is tiresome to answer the 

 same question over and over again, and in a field of 

 200 sportsmen you are sure to be asked almost as 

 many times, " Why don't you wear spurs ? " if you 

 set appearances at defiance by coming into the hunting- 

 field without them. 



In my personal recollection I can only call to mind 

 one man who systematically abjured so essential a 

 finish to the horseman's dress and equipment. This 

 was Mr. Tomline of Leigh Lodge, a Leicestershire 

 farmer and horse-dealer, well-known some thirty years 

 ago as one of the finest riders and straightest goers 

 that ever got into a saddle. His costume, indeed, was 

 not of so careful a nature that want of completeness in 

 any one particular could spoil the general effect. He 

 always hunted in a rusty, worn pilot-jacket, drab breeches 

 with strings untied, brown-topped boots, and a large 

 ill-fitting hat, carrying in his hand a ground-ash plant, 



