THE WARWICKSHIRE HOUNDS. 



25 



Mr. John Corbet 

 1791-1811. 



His 



Horseman- 

 ship. 



credit the other with doing. He always rode the same 

 horse all day, acd yet managed to sufficiently distin- 

 guish himself with hounds, to gain the place of honour 

 into which all authorities place him. But the horse 

 is not the only thing necessary in riding to hounds. 

 Certain qualifications the rider must have, or no matter 

 how excellentjthe steed, the rider will be a rare specta- 

 tor of the end of severe pieces of work. Robert Can- 

 ning, like his brother, possessed by nature these neces- 

 sary faculties. His eye was perfect. Hedge, ditch, 

 gate, brook, and even river, were all passed by him 

 and left behind, generally without having given much 

 trouble to either horseman or horse. The places he 

 would go through were astounding. On an obstacle pre- 

 senting itself, a "come up" was heard and the pair of 

 them were generally safe on the line on the other side. 

 An example of the hand he possessed is to be found in 

 a piece of water work he performed. A flooded brook 

 presented itself, and Robert Canning went at it and 

 leapt it ; his horse rising at it out of the overflow. 



There were two horses in particular upon which he His Horses, 

 distinguished himself. These, with a few others, were 

 those upon which he did the chief part of his work. 

 One was a chestnut gelding, called "Favourite," 

 which was apparently quite two stone under his weight, 

 but which carried him brilliantly. The other was a 

 stallion, called "Knowsley," and equally below his 

 weight. It was deficient in its fetlocks, and had the 

 appearance of a fourteen stone man's horse at most, 

 whereas his rider was two or three stone over that in 

 the saddle. But it was a finely constitutioned animal, 

 and had an excellent temper. His remarks upon weight- 

 carrying horses are worth noting. Referring on one 

 occasion to his own horses he said, "Narrow horses, 

 like Favourite, provided that they are deep, can carry 

 me ; but it matters not how thick a horse may be if he 

 have not depth of brisket, commonly called girth." 



