264 Cross Country with Horse and Hound 



Enough has also been said about horse-breeding to shov/ 

 that although it is in no way to be compared with hound- 

 breeding it is no small item in the account where the 

 Master undertakes not only to provide himself but also the 

 huntsman and whippers-in with mounts — three or four each 

 — and have half a dozen extra horses for bye-days and for 

 friends and guests. No one who has seen an M.F.H. in the 

 full discharge of his social and official capacities, or recalls 

 what he has done in the breeding and development of the 

 hound and the management of the pack, can fail to appreciate 

 ' his labours or help being stimulated to make them as light 

 as possible. We shall see the Master in his official capa- 

 city at the consultation of war and at the covert-side, and 

 at the meet as well as at the hunt dinner in his social aspects. 



Of the huntsman it has been said that " from the fox 

 he learns cunning, from the hounds sagacity," which indi- 

 cates the combination of qualities necessary in him. Occa- 

 sionally a Master hunts his own hounds, but more often a 

 salaried huntsman is employed, one whose long years of 

 experience as whipper-in make him a past master in the 

 art. His qualifications, like those of the hounds that assist 

 him and the horse that carries him, are of a high order. 

 He plays against the craftiest and longest-headed animal of 

 field or forest. Every plot of cunning Renard to elude his 

 pursuers the huntsman must meet with a counter-plot. 

 He must have the woodcraft, the ear and nose, of an Indian. 



Most huntsmen, we believe, prefer to approach covert 

 "down-wind," for two reasons: first, since no sportsman 

 wishes to have a fox "chopped" in covert, to give the 

 fox timely warning ; second, because, while a fox is a very 



