The Hunter: His Conformation 35 



body, both in height and length, on fifteen-three legs is far 

 preferable to the reverse. 



A hunter, to be comfortable, should not unduly spread 

 the legs of his rider by being too wide through the heart. 

 However, the other extreme is equally bad, for there must 

 be lung capacity ; and whatever a horse lacks in breadth 

 through the heart he should make up in depth ; the deeper 

 the better. The round-backed and thick-hearted horses so 

 desirable in harness are not to be considered for a moment 

 for saddle work, especially if they have, as is usually the 

 case, low withers. When you have had a saddle turn with 

 you once or twice, you will, like the writer, have learned 

 this lesson by heart. Broad-chested horses are very apt to 

 roll in their gait. 



For size, the question depends somewhat on the country 

 to be hunted. A rough country requires a smaller or 

 shorter-legged horse than a country which is flat. My 

 own experience is that a horse from fifteen-two-and-a-half 

 to fifteen-three is invariably the best in jumping and staying 

 qualities. To a man on a horse of sixteen hands the fences 

 do not look so high, but this is of slight advantage when 

 other aspects of the problem are considered. The truth is, 

 there seems to be just about so much force or endurance in 

 a horse, and this lessens as you spread it out over more than 

 the natural size of the family to which the horse belongs. 

 Increased size invariably brings coarseness, putting the 

 animal, so to speak, out of balance with himself. 



As to disposition, the best in the world is none too good. 

 A man may have ridden all sorts of horses and first-class 



