THE HOUND»S HIND-QUARTERS 



CHAPTER XIV 



THROUGHOUT the course of a run, a hound 

 has not only to gallop, but take his fences 

 as they come. It stands to reason there- 

 fore that the best fencers lose the least time 

 on the journey, and keep up the greatest pressure 

 on the fox. We have seen it stated that 

 " jumping fences is very much a matter of 

 drive, and has very little to do with size in a 

 hound." With all due deference to the author 

 of the above however, our experience leads us to 

 believe that size has a great deal to do with a 

 hound being a good fencer, particularly in a 

 stone wall country. We can say without the 

 least hesitation that a small, compactly built 

 hound will invariably beat a big, lengthy hound 

 when it comes to negotiating all sorts of fences. 

 As it is not much good making such a statement 

 without giving a reason for it, we will therefore 

 endeavour to explain just how it is that the small 

 hound proves such a brilliant performer. 



The modern foxhound of Peterborough type 

 has been bred much bigger than his predecessors 

 of years ago, and with this increase in height 

 has come undue length of body and waist. Be- 

 ginning with the ribs, of which the hound possesses 

 thirteen pairs, we find nine of them are true 

 ribs, and four false. The true ribs are joined in 

 a solid framework, and are thus fixed, whereas the 

 first three false ribs are connected by cartilages 



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