RACE AND SHOWYARD RIDING 257 



to draw the weight. He had when gatheiing 

 up his ' leads ' to go out to saddle his horse left 

 3 lb. of them in the window of the house in which 

 the riders were weighed. One would have 

 naturally thought that there was an end of the 

 matter. The Clerk of the Scales would have 

 sent for the Stewards, reported that the rider 

 was short of weight, and he would have left the 

 scale disqualified and ' without a stain on his 

 character.' But no, the obvious was just the 

 thing that was not done. The rider of the third 

 handed in a written objection, and as it was 

 getting late the Stew^ards decided to hear the 

 case on the following day. And then they gave 

 the horse that had run second the second money 

 because they were thoroughly convinced that he 

 did not intend to leave the dead weight behind him. 

 I should add to this too true tale that the Master 

 of Hounds was not present on the occasion. 

 What he thought of it all I do not know, for though 

 I know him well I never dared to ask him. 



The Point-to-Point or Bona Fide Hunt Meet- 

 ing will be found a capital school for the man 

 who wishes to do a little quiet steeplechasing 

 at the local meetings. They are more like Hunt- 

 ing than the meetings under National Hunt 

 Rules, yet it is necessary for those who take part 

 in them to sharpen their horses up ; and they 

 will get a fair knowledge of pace if they ride fre- 

 quently. Indeed they will perhaps learn how 

 to keep something in their horse to finish with 

 better in a point-to-point than when riding on a 

 17 



