GOING OVER A COUNTRY. 369 



bar of a stiff gate, and pitches his rider, like a 

 shuttlecock, out of harm's Avay, and then pitch- 

 poles, heels over head, beside him. One is a quick, 

 frightful thing to look at, from the impetus of the 

 horse and crack of the gate ; but the slow, sack-like 

 tumble of the other is a thousand times more serious. 

 AVhen a horse is fearlessly ridden by a resolute rider 

 across a country, and over large, cramped, and dan- 

 gerous places, the horse feels that he must take care 

 of himself and of his rider too ; and if they fall to- 

 gether, there is no struggle that a gallant steed will 

 not make to avoid hurting the man. Is it not delight- 

 ful — perhaps the most delightful of all our violent 

 pursuits — to feel oneself on a splendid hunter, of 

 speed, of wind, docility, and daring resolution, ac- 

 tivity and strength, with a good start, and well quit 

 of the impediments, living and dead, or animate 

 .■'nd inanimate, to " getting away," the hounds settled 

 to the scent and togetlier, and a few " cutters- 

 down" around you taking lines of their own, with a 

 fine line of country right a-head — the ear open to 

 the cheering cry of the hounds, the heart in ecstasies, 

 the eye scanning fence and field as they come, to 

 select the lightest land and the most practicable leap, 

 and the hand steady, full of ease yet firm, to time 

 aid and rule the horse as best may suit his powers ? 

 Arched slightly is the horse's neck ; he feels the rein, 

 but does not pull an ounce ; you cross a field full of 

 deep grips, and, at speed, the horse and your hand so 

 perfectly chime together, that without a change of 

 leg or labouring effort, every grip, each deep enough 

 to have turned him over had he stepped in, is taken 

 in one regular stride, increasing rather than diminish- 

 ing the speed which devours distance. There is a 



B B 



