The Hunter Described. 423 



vvitli propelling power to carry him over any reasonable fence. There are beautiful park hacks 

 and showy harness-horses that have not power to jump over a rail three feet high or a ditch 

 a yard wide. 



4. He must have such shoulders, and legs so fitted to his feet, that he can land without 

 tumbling on his head, and gallop without tripping over a molehill, a rut, or a clay furrow. 



5. All these qualifications are useless unless the hunter has endurance enough to carry him 

 through a day which frequently begins at nine o'clock in the morning, and ends at dark, ten 

 or fifteen miles from home. 



If, in addition, he has with high courage a fine temper, will allow his rider to open a gate 

 and mount again after a mutual fall ; if he really likes his trade, cries " Ha, ha!" at the sound 

 of a huntsman's horn ; if he goes at his fences with his ears pricked forward, delighted, and 

 picks his places with sense, has a " fifth leg " always to spare in a scramble ; if he has a good 

 constitution, drinks his gruel freely after the last run of the day is over, and eats his feed and 

 lies down after he gets home ; if he will stand three good days in a fortnight, and two 

 ordinary days in a week, he is a treasure, although he may have an ugly head, a rat tail, an 

 unfashionable colour, contracted feet, corns at times, and many skin-deep blemishes. If, in 

 addition, he is a good hack, can after a hard day alternately walk and shog for ten or twelve 

 miles at about five miles an hour, he is an invaluable animal, especially to the man whose love 

 of hunting is great and means for enjoying it limited. 



One of the best modern authorities on hunting and steeplechasing, in both of which 

 pursuits he has often been first, and generally among the first,* lays it down that " in a big 

 flying country the height of a hunter is of little consequence so long as it is over 15 hands i 

 inch." The " Unknown " was only 14 hands i\ inches ; he was ridden with the Quorn and 

 the Pytchley for several years, without ever giving Mr. John Bennett, his owner, who rode 

 thirteen stone, a fall. At timber he was extraordinary ; indeed, the late Sir Richard Sutton, 

 Master of the Quorn, said he was one of the best hunters he ever saw cross Leicestershire. 

 The "Unknown" was a plain but sensible-looking animal, and, like the steeplechase mare 

 Emblem, an exception to all rules. (See portrait at the end of this chapter.) The list of 

 little horses that have distinguished themselves in Leicestershire might be extended to pages ; 

 but the solid fact remains, that the men who habitually hunt the Melton circle prefer big 

 blood-horses, and will rarely look at anything under 15 hands 3 inches high. 



That tall horses are the most saleable is proved by the Catalogue of the Islington 

 Horse Show in 1874, when out of about 100 hunters, nearly all for sale at prices varying 

 from 120 to 400 guineas, thirty-five were over 16 hands, and not a dozen were under 15 

 hands 3 inches. 



The annals of steeplechasing prove that a horse 15 hands 2 inches high can fly across 

 the biggest country, and probably there are more perfect hunters of that than of over that 

 height ; but tall horses make tall fences look less, and that is a point of importance to 

 many keen sportsmen. To carry great weight, a horse, whatever his height, must be very 

 broad and not too long. Of course a symmetrical sixteen-hand horse is better than one 

 of not superior shape and courage two inches less. The heavier the man, the greater the 

 breadth and the less the length required. Shape, however, is useless, without true action. 

 There are plenty of hunters exhibited, which, although very powerful to the superficial eye, 

 are really not able to carry their own weight across a country. 



* Uigby Collins. 



