HUNTING, AND RIDING TO HOUNDS. 61 



mouths, which means ramming at anything of 

 any sort called ^^ a leap," that is, in erroneous 

 estimation, '^ i^utting a horse at a fence." The 

 word ^^ putting" really means showing a horse a 

 fence when the horse is a trained hunter, and 

 letting him time his canter, trot, or stride to cover 

 it at his own discretion. He must be a better 

 judge than a man on his back of what he can do, 

 and how it is best to do it, for there is very little 

 brains in spurs, but a vast deal of brains in a horse's 

 head. This may be laid down as an incontrovert- 

 ible rule : the smaller the place or fence, the slower 

 should be the pace to get over it; for in my experi- 

 ence all the worst falls I have ever seen have been 

 at little blind places, that a donkey could have 

 walked safely over. I liave elsewhere said that a 

 clergyman of my acquaintance, through nervous- 

 ness and spm\s, always taught his horses to rush 

 at every grip they saw, and therefore in a bad 

 scenting day it was utterly useless for me to cry 

 to hold hard from overriding my hounds in an open 

 field, as long as there were grips to the ridge and 

 furrow, for the horse flew at all indentations of the 

 ground, and only could be pulled up when he came 

 to the real fence on the other side the field, over 



