The Book of the Horse. 

 4 4 



In a district of hills, banks, and dales, a full-blooded cob, from 14 hands 2 inches to ,5 

 hands I inch, of the right shape, will go up, down, and over, with more ease to h.mself 

 than the len. hy flyer in flat countries. Wherever hills have to be hunted over at any pace, 

 b od i ssrntial, 'the nearer thoroughbred the better. In those countries where the fields 

 are small, where you have to pull up at nearly every fence in order to hop on a bank so 

 as to clear a double ditch, blood is less important than exceeding cleverness because your 

 horse c^ets his wind between every fence, and tall horses have no advantage whatever. Men 





under five feet six inches should, in preference, select hunters not exceeding .5 hands - 

 inches, because horses exceeding that height are very inconvenient for them to mount m 

 a hurry or remount after falls that are inevitable for any who attempt to nde straight. 



AU hunters, whether 13 hands 3 inches or 16 hands 3 inches high (with certain packs of 

 harriers and even fox-hounds, a pony carries a sportsman of the right height and weight as 

 well as any Northamptonshire giant), must, to excel, have the foUx^wing points well de- 

 veloped -"The withers high and the shoulders long, in order to enable him to rise well a 

 his fences as well as to clear the obstacles that may come across him, in the shape ot 

 Hdg and furrow, drains, hillocks, &c. ; the hips and pelvis should be broad, with hgh back 

 rib? and a loose flank, in order that he may be able to dash his haunches under him at 

 a big jump.' I have seen these 'points' intensely developed in a pony 10 ^^^^^^ ^.'^h. 



■'It is a good sign when a hunter gets his hind-legs well under him m walking, lifting 

 them rather high, and appearing lo almost balance himself on them." 



