RIDING TO HOUNDS 211 



the moment they come into the field at the other 

 end of which is the more or less dreaded brook, 

 and gallop their hardest till they come to within 

 a few lengths of the water, when up go their 

 hands, they slacken speed and the result is either 

 a refusal, a fall, or at best a scramble. An im- 

 portant matter in negotiating a brook is to select 

 a sound place from which to take off and a 

 sound place on which to land, if such can be 

 found. A good take off and good landing are 

 of more importance than an extra foot of width. 

 Then there is no necessity to gallop at top pace 

 the whole length of a field. The horse should be 

 kept well balanced and his pace quickened the 

 last few strides. I once saw a man ride some fifty 

 or sixty yards down the side of a brook in which 

 some score of gallant gentlemen w^ere splashing 

 about, pick out the only bit of sound ground 

 there seemed to be in the neighbourhood and 

 giving his horse a run of some eight or ten 

 lengths clear the brook handsomely. I am quite 

 sure that there would be fewer falls at water — 

 indeed fewer falls altogether, if there was less ' bad 

 hurry ' in the hunting field. 



The one essential thing for riding in safety 

 over a country is the horse being well balanced 

 at his fences ; as the riding school men would 

 put it, having his forehand lightened, about 

 which I shall have more to say in another chapter. 

 And when a horse is sharpened up at a fence 

 or a brook it does not necessarily imply that he 

 is to be spurred more or less severely. More 



