348 THE RED DEER OF EX MOOR. 



approaching to the demand. The Devon and 

 Somerset hunt four days a week, and the field 

 averages two hundred to two hundred and fifty, and 

 is sometimes as many as four hundred, besides which 

 Sir John Amory's and Mr. Stanley's staghounds, and 

 several packs of foxhounds and harriers hunt the 

 district. In the height of the season there cannot be 

 far short of eight hundred hunters and ponies standing 

 in the neighbourhood, a number far beyond the power 

 of the district to produce. 



The visitor must, therefore, rest content with 

 getting a suitable kind of horse, and the question is, 

 what kind is suitable? This is mainly a question of 

 weight. There being no jumping, size is not required 

 for a light or medium weight ; what are essential are 

 blood, a good back and loins, and a good shoulder, 

 the latter being in the nature of a luxury. Without 

 a strong back and loins you cannot possibly get up 

 a hill, but you can get down a hill with a very indifferent 

 shoulder and some risk of a fall. A good polo pony 

 is a first-rate mount for a feather-weight, and probably 

 the best description of the sort of mount for a light- 

 weight would be an animal which would make a 

 first-rate polo pony were it two inches smaller. Big 

 horses are not as a rule desirable, as they are not so 

 handy in steep places and along narrow paths ; most 

 big horses seem to have enough to do to carry 

 themselves up a steep hill, without being burdened 

 with a rider. It is, however, fair to say that we 

 seldom see a good big one with these hounds. We 



