136 A HUNTING CATECHISM 



that strong ones must be treated with respect, 

 and cannot be rushed through without a fall ; 

 and they are likewise frequently contemptuous 

 of timber. A horse, however, who has been 

 reared amongst thorn fences, will usually take 

 to banks, if he is quiet and sensible, and is 

 generally a better wall- jumper than even those 

 to which they are native, for he is not so apt to 

 knock off the top stones when he jumps, from 

 simple carelessness. One thing, however, may 

 be laid down as an axiom — a mad, hot-headed 

 brute is no " hunter " in any country ; and I 

 quite agree with a favourite saying of the late 

 Mr. George Lane-Fox, the famous Master of the 

 Bramham Moor, that " no horse is a hunter until 

 he will lualk through a gap." A great deal of 

 shrewd observation and common sense underlies 

 that remark. 



It follows, therefore, from the dissimilarity of 

 different hunting countries, that ideas vary 

 almost as much as to the type of horse that 

 should be considered perfect for a hunter. 

 Hence also arise many letters to the press 

 laying down such contrary rules as to the 

 royal road to breed one. The man who lives 

 all his life in a wild hill-country wants a stiff- 

 made, short-legged, powerful horse, not more 

 than fifteen one, or fifteen two, as he often has 

 to dismount and lead him up or down steep 

 places ; and he has no objection to a dash of pony 

 blood in his steed, while pace is not so much the 

 consideration as sagacity, docility, surefootedness, 

 and ability to stand great fatigue and very long 

 days. The fortunate possessor of a large stud in 

 the Midlands requires quite a different animal. 

 His notion is probably that a hunter should be 



