Fox-htmting Past and Present 



^' Foxes are ten times more numerous now than 

 they were fifty years age " ('' Borderer/' Sir R. 

 Greene Price, Bart.). 



Strapping is to a horse what massage is to his 

 master. *' May attention still be given to the 

 master when he talks, and for the puppies may 

 he find innumerable walks." When Lord Suffield 

 took the Quorn in 1836 he paid 3000 guineas for 

 Mr. Lambton's pack — ^' sixty-six couples of old, 

 forty couples of young, hounds." Birch-Reyhard- 

 son, in '' Sports and Anecdotes," tells of a half-bred 

 hunter which was constantly jumped over a 7 foot 

 3 inch stone wall. To really enjoy hunting one 

 must take much on trust ; however, small hunters 

 are handier and hardier than big ones, and they re- 

 cover more quickly from the effects of an exhausting 

 day. ^'VVhen a fox is beat, he depends on his 

 brains." '*A keen master makes a loyal and 

 obedient field." Major Fisher, in ^'Through Stable 

 and Saddleroom," remarks "that a blind horse does 

 not grow a proper summer coat." It is the element 

 of danger that lends hunting one of its greatest 

 charms : the Kilkenny hounds originally hunted 

 wolves. Risks are minimised by the union of good 

 horses and good riders, and falling is a science. 



Members of Lord Fitzhardinge's and the Old 

 Berkeley hunts wear yellow plush instead of scarlet. 

 Mr. Pelham of Conud used to dress his hunt ser- 

 vants in white pipeclayed coats. '^ The way to rear 



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