CHAPTER XIX. 



RIDING ON EXMOOR. 



" Here's to the horse, 



And his rider, too, of course." 



Whyte- Melville. 



There was at one time an idea very prevalent that 

 it was necessary to have a local bred horse, and lo 

 ride him in some special way in order to see the big 

 runs on Exmoor. Both ideas are utter fallacies ; a 

 good horse and a good rider will find their way into 

 the first flight on Exmoor as surely as they will do so 

 in any other country, and a bad rider will be left 

 behind, whether on a good horse or a bad one, in just 

 the same way as elsewhere. This is very far from 

 saying that the local rider who understands the game, 

 and knows the moor, and is used to riding over the 

 class of rough ground to be met with on Exmoor^ 

 has not an immense advantage over a stranger, but 

 the stranger, if a real horseman, will be the first to 

 see this and act accordingly. 



To take the case of horses first — it has frequently 

 been said that one must have an animal that has run 

 on the moor and knows a bog when it sees one. A 

 glance at the animals which run on the moor is 



