THE CHACE. 
skins makes them afraid of rough black-thorn fences, 
and that they lose their speed in soft, or what, in 
sporting language, is termed deep ground : also, that 
having been accustomed from their infancy to the 
jockey's hand, they lean upon their bits, as when in a 
race, and are therefore unpleasant to ride. Such of 
them as have been long in training may undoubtedly be 
subject to these objections, and never become good and 
pleasant hunters ; but when purchased young, and pos- 
sessing strength and bone, they must have many coun- 
terbalancing advantages over the inferior-bred horse. 
So far from not making good leapers, the firmness of 
bone and muscle peculiar to this variety of the breed is 
prodigiously in favour of that desirable qualification. 
Indeed, it has been truly said of them, that they can 
often leap large fences when lower-bred horses cannot 
leap smaller ones, the result of their superior wind, 
when put to a quick pace. 
Whoever wishes to see two distinct species of the 
horse in the most perfect state, should go to Newmarket 
and Melton-Mowbray to the former for the race-horse, 
to the latter for the hunter. In no place upon the earth 
is condition attended to with so much care, or managed 
with such skill, as in this renowned metropolis of the 
fox-hunting world. Indeed, we conceive it would be 
useless to expect horses to live with hounds in such a 
country as Leicestershire, unless they were in condition 
to enable them to contend for a plate. 
Melton-Mowbray generally contains from two to 
