20 Horse and Hound, 



weeks, so he was consigned to the harness bri- 

 gade, magnificent animal that he was. 



I have had more experience with thorough- 

 bred horses as hunters than any other breed, and 

 while for several years I considered them par ex- 

 cellence the best horse for hunting, I have 

 changed my mind, and now consider the half or 

 three-quarter bred thoroughbred the best strain. 

 The nervous system of a thoroughbred is too sen- 

 sitive. They have too much imagination, and it 

 responds entirely too freely when they draw upon 

 it. We all know how unreliable they are when it 

 comes to temperament and disposition. They may 

 be the aristocrats of the equine race, but not one 

 in a score has the disposition to make a hunter. 



I have known them to voluntarily obey every 

 demand of their rider for weeks as though dis- 

 cipline were their second nature, then upon the 

 first opportunity presenting itself, upset all his 

 calculations and theories in regard to horseflesh 

 by perpetrating some devilish trick entirely un- 

 worthy of the esteem in which he was held. This 

 would cause me to exclaim, with the old darkey 

 whom the horse had thrown into the creek, 

 "That's what makes me 'spize a boss !" 



It is not an easy matter to select a hunter for 

 another, nor is It easy to even advise one intelli- 

 gently how to select a suitable mount. A horse 

 one man would think perfection, another would 

 not have. 



