TOUGH ONES. 381 



but where the take-off was fetlock deep. This I par- 

 ticularly remarked in the Kildare country. 



I happened to be riding out, and was reconnoi- 

 tring the country with the eye of a fox-hunter from 

 the top of a hill near Dunlavin when I heard hounds, 

 and, looking towards Baltinglass, saw them coming 

 towards me. They were well on their scent, and a 

 field of, perhaps, fifty, on good terms with them. I 

 viewed the fox within a hundred yards of me, and, 

 on seeing the hounds had come to a check, I gave 

 them a view. 



From where I first saw them till they came up to 

 me, I saw, I should say, thirty leaps taken in succes- 

 sion. When come up, I could scarcely believe the 

 little hack-looking animals I saw were the same I had 

 seen at a distance doing what they did. This was 

 the first time I saw a field of hunters in this country. 



Having mentioned this instance of their physical 

 strength and bottom, I must make a remark or two 

 on the repetition of work they are capable of. 



In England, where we keep a number of horses, 

 provided a hunter carries us brilliantly one day, if, 

 any day during the next week, he can come again, 

 we are quite satisfied; and, in Leicestershire, there 

 are horses, that, though they will do wonders for a 

 burst, are good for nothing with a second fox ; still, 

 many such are favourites, and would bring high 

 prices. Not so here : an Irish hunter must come 

 twice a week, and sometimes three times if he is 

 wanted, and they do it. 



I have no hesitation in saying that, let them go 

 over the same ground, same pace, and same fences, 

 in point of endurance, two Irish horses will certainly 

 do more than three English ones. 



