THE HOUSE ON WniCII TO HUNT 15 



I would remark incidentally that an open season 

 is not necessarily the most expensive in horse- 

 flesh. Given a stud of hunters in really good con- 

 dition to start with, if you treat them fairly, and 

 do not bring them out too often, my experience has 

 been that you have fewer lame horses than in a 

 season of long frosts, often followed by a week or 

 two of good scenting weather. With the best of 

 intentions it is very hard to keep horses really fit 

 on a straw ride. 



Let us turn now from the question of the size 

 of the stud to that of the size of the steed. 

 This, I need hardly say, is very much a 

 ^''' matter of weight, and, to a certain 

 extent, of length of leg. A man of about 5 ft. 

 10 in., riding from twelve to thirteen stone, 

 requires, I think, a horse of 15-3 to 16 hands. 

 I look on this latter as the ideal height for a 

 Leicestershire hunter, to carry thirteen or fourteen 

 stone, comhined with average length of leg. I do 

 not think it looks well to see a very short, light 

 man on big weight-carrying horses, nor can I see 

 the use of it. Undoubtedly, small horses, if you 

 can ride them, are handier and hardier than big 

 ones, and carrying a fair weight, come round after 

 an exhausting day quicker than their larger 

 brethren, and of course, too, it is easier (and there- 

 fore cheaper) to get a good-shaped little one. In 



