152 A HUNTING CATECHISM 



observation since has shown he was right. An 

 amusing occurrence happened when buying re- 

 mounts during the Boer War from one of the large 

 Southern dealers. Somehow I referred to a 

 roarer's neck, and to my surprise found both the 

 dealer himself and the veterinary surgeon with 

 me had neither of them heard of such a thing. 

 As they appeared incredulous, I said that if a 

 horse should come before me with such a neck I 

 would point it out. Before long such a horse 

 did come up to be looked at, and I at once called 

 attention to it, saying sooner or later it would 

 become a roarei*. The horses had all been tried 

 for their wind by the dealer's staff before being 

 shown to us, but of course we satisfied ourselves 

 they were all right before sending them on to the 

 depot. I shall never forget the look of astonish- 

 ment that spread over the faces of my two 

 companions when the moment this horse was 

 started to gallop he gave the clearest indications 

 of being wrong in his wind ! " I hope to good- 

 ness," quoth the dealer, " the Colonel won't pick 

 out any more roarer's necks, for this horse went 

 quite sound when we tried him a day or 

 two ago ! " 



Some persons seem to admire this sort of neck, 

 and a deceased friend used to be especially 

 attracted by them, and used to give very long 

 prices for good young hunters so framed ; but I 

 never knew any man possess more horses wrong 

 in their wind, his stable seemed to be quite full of 

 them, and yet he never learned by experience, 

 but continued to buy such horses to the end of 

 his days. 



Before leaving the study of necks let me enter 

 a protest against the prevalent custom of hogging 



