THE FIELD 121 



though he was a hard rider, he was no horseman, be- 

 cause he often lost one, and sometimes both stirrups 

 when he jumped a fence. Only a few minutes later he 

 elected to jump a big fence with a deep drop (he was 

 casting hounds), and though he sat as tight as wax, 

 one iron was dangling as he rode on. But we had 

 watched him carefully, and it was just such a case as 

 we have described ; the stirrup had slipped off the foot 

 while it (the foot) was turned right back. Moreover, 

 the man had a tiny foot, and the stirrup was large and 

 heavy. Light stirrups are a terrible delusion when 

 hunting ; a tight stirrup is to be avoided at all costs 

 because it sticks to the foot in a fall, but a very loose 

 stirrup is also uncomfortable and awkward, because it 

 slips off the foot so easily. Indeed, great care should 

 be taken in the matter of stirrups, which should fit 

 easily, being neither too large nor too small. 



We once saw a raw four-year-old out with hounds for 

 the first time, ridden by a light lad, who managed him 

 fairly well, but was not quite at home. After a while 

 the owner of the horse, a biggish man and a first-rate 

 horseman, came up, and seeing what a lot of trouble 

 the youngster was giving, changed mounts with his 

 man. Some time after hounds were drawing a hanging 

 wood on a very steep hillside, and as they went out- 

 wards at the top the field rode up the hill (alongside the 

 covert), where there was such a gradient that one had to 

 go zigzag. The four-year-old plunged about, reared 

 and fell over, backwards, and as the saddle girth 

 snapped his owner landed on his back, still in the 

 saddle, while the horse galloped away. The farmer 

 was not hurt, but had the girth not given way he 

 would probably have been killed, as his feet were fairly 

 wedged into the stirrups, so that it took several minutes 



