128 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



groomed, so that it shines from the combined effect of 

 good condition and much strapping. It must be neat, 

 too, about the mane and tail, and if the mane happens 

 to be hogged care should be taken that the machine 

 is constantly taken over the neck. A hogged neck is 

 not quite to our liking, but so many horses are hogged 

 now that a beginner is just as likely to buy a hogged 

 horse as one with a mane ; and when a horse has once 

 been hogged it is a most difficult job to secure a mane 

 again. 



Such a thing should not be attempted in the hunting 

 season, because of the unsightliness of the growing 

 stage, but if a hogged mane is to be allowed to grow 

 again hogging should be ceased towards the end of the 

 season, and then there is just a chance that the new 

 mane will be respectable in six months' time. But it is 

 a slow and difficult process, and with some horses it 

 is impossible to grow a decent mane after they have 

 once been hogged. The owner of a grey horse should 

 look to it that his hunter is really properly groomed, 

 for grey horses do not take the outward polish which 

 can be given to bays, browns, chestnuts, or blacks, 

 and a careless groom will always slur over the toilet of 

 a grey, thinking that the colour of the horse will cause 

 his slovenly grooming to remain concealed. 



And second only to the smartness of the horse is 

 the smartness of the rider. All hunting people should 

 pay great attention to their toilet, and in many countries 

 smartness is the rule. There are, however, untidy 

 countries as well as smart ones, and though the 

 absolutely comic sportsman apparently did not long 

 survive the Surtees and Leech era, there are still hunts 

 in which curious fashions and curious old customs pre- 

 vail, and again there are others in which many of the 



