THOROUGH-BRED HORSES. 1/5 



hurry, and it is his nature to take care of himself. Till 

 he has become thoroughly accustomed to his new 

 profession, it is well to avoid such places as seem 

 particularly distasteful and likely to make him rebel. 

 His fine skin will cause him to be a little shy of thick 

 bullfinches, and his sagacity mistrusts deep or blind 

 ditches, such as less intelligent animals would run into 

 without a thought. Rather select rails, or clean upright 

 fences, that he can compass and understand. Try to 

 imbue him with love for the sport and confidence in his 

 rider. After a few weeks, he will turn his head from 

 nothing, and go straighter, as well as faster, and longer 

 than anything in your stable. 



An old Meltonian used to affirm that the first two 

 articles of his creed for the hunting season were, "a 

 perfectly pure claret, and thorough-bred horses." Of 

 the former he was unsparing to his friends, the latter 

 he used freely enough for himself. Certainly no man 

 gave pleasanter dinners, or was better carried, and 

 one might do worse than go to Melton with implicit 

 reliance on these twin accessories of the chase. All 

 opinions must be agreed, I fancy, about the one, but there 

 are still many prejudices against the other. Heavy 

 men especially declare they cannot find thorough-bred 

 horses to carry them, forgetting, it would seem, that 



