i64 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



close to it, and the new ones are situated at no great 

 distance away. But it is a dull spot on a non-hunting 

 day, and unless a man happens to be hail fellow well 

 met with the whole countryside, he will find time hang 

 very heavy on his hands. 



After Melton Mowbray, however. Market Har- 

 borough has undoubtedly the strongest claims of any 

 of the Shire resorts. It is some twenty miles south of 

 Melton Mowbray, and about half the distance from 

 Leicester, and the Quorn are almost out of reach, 

 except by boxing, or sending on horses overnight. 

 On the other hand, the Pytchley, Woodland Pytchley, 

 and Mr. Fernie's all come together hereabouts, and the 

 Cottesmore country is only a few miles away. 



There are those who are of opinion that from a riding 

 point of view the country round Harborough is the 

 most difficult in the Shires, and most certainly one can 

 easily find ox-fences of the most formidable character ; 

 but the whole district is well gated, and it is not abso- 

 lutely necessary that all the biggest fences should be 

 jumped. And by the way, it is a good thing that only 

 a portion of every hunting crowd is in the habit of 

 riding straight to hounds. In every field in every 

 country there are men and women who will go quite 

 straight until they are pulled up by some impossible 

 ravine, or by a fall, but it is also the case that in every 

 hunt there is a contingent, varying more or less in size, 

 which attempts to see as much as possible of what 

 hounds are doing, and which yet " declines extra risk," 

 as Jorrocks put it. Were the full strength of a big 

 field all to ride, or try to ride the exact line of hounds 

 an enormous amount of damage would be done, for 

 every fence would be flattened in half a dozen places 

 before every one got over or through, and there would 



