RIDING TO HOUNDS 225 



the fox — and hence the hounds — is likely to do 

 under any given circumstances, that the rider is 

 thrown out when left to his own resources ; and 

 he also fails to notice, and appraise at their right 

 value, all such movements on the part of birds 

 and beasts, met with in the course of the gallop, 

 which would at once have given a clue to the 

 other, if only he had still been there to make the 

 running. To gather up all these threads when 

 going at racing pace a man needs to have the 

 keenest eyesight and hearing, and the gift of 

 coming to a rapid decision ; and he further 

 requires iron nerves, a strong seat, and the best 

 of hands, if he aspires to lead the field in a forty- 

 minutes' run. He must have the faculty of 

 instantly selecting a practicable way out of a 

 field, the moment he has jumped into it, in the 

 direction the hounds are heading. Though 

 others at starting may be in front for a field 

 or two, they do not remain there. Whenever the 

 pack really settles down to run, the same leaders 

 are certain to be in their places, at the head of a 

 string of followers, if only they are riding horses 

 that have the gift of going. Such men seldom 

 take the trouble to go in front in a slow run, 

 and are then not noticed ; but should the scent 

 change, should heads go up, and sterns go down, 

 and the pack suddenly lengthen out as they race 

 on a scent that gives them scant time to talk 

 about it, all lethargy is thrown off in an instant, 

 and the real leaders come to the front almost in 

 the twinkling of an eye. 



Many a horse that can keep his place with the 



hounds, if he happens to get away with them 



when they leave the covert, has not the requisite 



pace to catch up the pack if they have a start of 



16 



