THE FIELD 145 



Then, again, if a locked gate, or one which has to be 

 lifted, comes in the line and some one gets off to open 

 it, no one except the huntsman has any right to go 

 through until the good Samaritan is on his horse again 

 — unless the good Samaritan happens to be a groom, 

 who can pull his horse aside until the "field" is 

 through the gate. This is an unwritten law of the 

 hunting field which is very strictly adhered to, and an 

 infringement of it is always severely commented on. 



As for catching loose horses, that is a matter of 

 practice, and some men can nearly always do it quickly, 

 while others may chase a horse round and round a field 

 for an hour and be beaten at the end of the time. It is 

 a thing the beginner should try to learn, for he may 

 want his own horse caught some day. Besides, there 

 should be unlimited give-and-take in the hunting field, 

 where all are in pursuit of pleasure, and where it is 

 every one's duty to mould his line of conduct so that it 

 tends to the general comfort of the field. 



Perhaps, however, the most important thing for the 

 beginner to bear in mind, after he has mastered the 

 rudiments of the sport and feels that he is able to 

 hold his own in all ordinary circumstances, is that 

 good sport cannot be forthcoming every day. He 

 must not go out expecting that there will be a fox in 

 every covert, that there will always be a holding scent, 

 and that hounds will invariably have a brilliant forty 

 minutes in the morning, and a steady hunting run of 

 an hour and a half in the afternoon. Of such ideas he 

 must disabuse his mind altogether, and then when the 

 good things do come he will enjoy them all the more. 



And above all things is it necessary to cultivate a 

 cheerful demeanour, and not to allow oneself to be 

 downhearted because of a few bad days. We once 



