The Hunter. 25 



eral things that I would impress upon my reader 

 are, never condemn a hunter on his looks, re- 

 member that a horse suitable to one kind of coun- 

 try and hunting may not be adapted to another; 

 that a horse's endurance is always limited by his 

 weakest part ; and that the power of a horse only 

 increases with size, provided the relative propor- 

 tion and general compactness are maintained. 



I lay but little stress upon looks in the field. 

 However, it is a well-known fact that horses will 

 both jump and run in all shapes, as is evidenced 

 by the performances of Decapod and Hats-Off, 

 two ill-looking hunters I sold in the East at nom- 

 inal sums, which afterwards became famous 

 hunters. The case of Badge is also remarkable. 

 He was sold at auction and was such a "sorry," 

 weedy looking specimen that he was bought for 

 a song. His purchaser gave as his reason for 

 buying him, that owning a race horse would en- 

 title him to a free entrance badge to the races. 

 He was accordingly named "Badge," and proved 

 to be one of the greatest horses of his class, win- 

 ning a fortune which made his owner independent 

 for life. 



Few American-bred hunters have ever been 

 taken to England, but those which have, com- 

 pared most favorably with the English-bred 

 hunters, as have also the comparatively few 

 American riders who have hunted in England, 

 compared with the home talent. 



