49 



away." The advantage lost or gained at the start by the 

 fraction of a second may mean all the difference in a 

 quick thing, of riding to the backs of other men or 

 riding to hounds. The nearer you are to the pack the 

 more important it is not to ride directly in their wake. 

 Keep your eye on the leading hound, but don't ride to 

 him. About " three points abaft the beam " to port or 

 starboard of the main body is the correct position. By 

 always watching the leading hounds you will know, 

 or learn in time, the moment they have lost the scent, and 

 the instant you observe them hesitate, you must check 

 your horse in his stride. Faihng to do this you will, if in 

 a prominent position, cut off the pack from making its 

 swing, and with the result of a long check. 



With a really good scent and whilst the fox runs 

 straight, the leading hounds have no difficulty in driving 

 on, but should the fox turn aside their impetuous eager- 

 ness will carry them beyond the turn and if the main 

 body is pressed on, it will also lose the thread. 



You will therefore see that should nerve, horsemanship 

 and ambition take you into the first flight, this coveted 

 honour carries with it much greater responsibilities than 

 a less prominent place, and it behoves you to be extra 

 careful. A good and hard rider who takes little notice 

 of what hounds are doing, may do more harm than the 

 remaining three hundi*ed. The man able to " cut out 

 the work " will have many followers and should he not 

 stop in time he will have led a crowed over the line. 



I have thus far been only referring to the smart gallop, 

 when hounds leave covert close behind their fox and for 

 many glorious minutes race him over the grass. Fate 

 however, does not often throw these good things in our 

 path, and a bad scent or some other misfortune condemns 

 us very frequently to slow hunts. Perhaps what is 



