58 FACl? AGAINST FICTION. 



and so necessitate a comj^lete turn over. Of 

 course, when hounds are going at tip-top pace, 

 open grips, blind drains, and ridge and furrow 

 must be taken in the, as it ought to be, well- 

 timed stroke ; but if a man in his idler hours 

 crams his hunter, for the sake of a lark, at every 

 little ditch he sees, rousing him, 23erhaps, with 

 the spur, rely on it, when such small things 

 come in his way, instead of being cool and careful, 

 he will" expect the sjom- again, and take a vast 

 deal out of himself that had better have been 

 kejDt in, and assign considerable danger to the 

 mistaken tyrant on his back. Very few men 

 should ride in spurs, but at the same time very 

 few horses should go without the extreme j)os- 

 sibility of feeling them ; but this is a difficulty 

 hardly to be avoided. 



In going too fast at small and, perhaps, boggy 

 grips or little ditches, and a horse is over-paced 

 by himself or his rider, and thus made to rusli 

 absolutely at nothing, suj)posing him to be unable 

 to spring befoi'e his hind legs are in it, if the 

 hind legs sink deeply into a soft place, that may 

 Lning his fore legs to the ground before the feet 

 are in a position to take it. This induces a 



