428 The Book of the Horse. 



the gallop without a moment's loss of time. Some, at water, actually land sideways, the tail 

 level with the head. 



I once hunted a thorough-bred Irish horse by Burgundy that ran away if ridden in a 

 snaffle, and if with a powerful curb galloped with his nose nearly on the ground until he 

 came to his fences, when he raised his head exactly to the right position, leaped with the 

 greatest accuracy, and then resumed his investigation of molehills. It was very unpleasant 

 until you got accustomed to it, but he went over the worst ground, even through recently- 

 stubbed plantations, with perfect safety. Far more dangerous are hot, ewe-necked, star-gazing, 

 and peacocky horses, with weak necks and light mouths, which, when pulled, throw up 

 their heads and drop short, or run into their fences. Nothing less than the practised hands 

 of a steeplechase jockey can make anything of these misshapen brutes, some of which, 

 however, might be perfectly in place in harness, or even as park-hacks, with a proper 

 martingale. Novices should have nothing to do with light-mouthed horses, often praised as 

 snaffle-bridle hunters. A great sportsman said truly not one horse in five hundred is fit 

 to ride through a run with a snaffle-bridle ; and not one man in ten thousand is fit to 

 ride hunting on the curb. It is much easier and pleasanter to ride a horse that goes up 

 to the bit and "takes hold of you." Light-mouthed, snaffle-bridle hunters are for horsemen 

 with a close seat and fine hands, or for old gentlemen who ride to hunt but not straight up 

 to the hounds. 



Nothing makes you feel more helpless in a fast run than a light-mouthed horse that 

 will not go up to the bit, stands still and kicks in the middle of a big field, if he or she 

 — they are generally mares — is asked to turn from the ruck, to take a short cut, or in any 

 other way differ from the rider. The perfect hunter for most tastes eagerly pulls at the rider, 

 but can be easily stopped by a touch of the curb. But there are good horses and horsemen 

 in both ways. About the time of the first Reform Bill there were in Suffolk two hunting 

 parsons famed in that district of small enclosures as sportsmen and horsemen. One always 

 took firm hold of his horses by the snaffle-rein, and to use a slang phrase, almost rode 

 on their heads ; the other rode with a perfectly slack rein, and guided his hunters entirely 

 with his voice and a little crooked stick. It was a question in that county which of the 

 two brothers was the better man across country. 



The liuntcr par excellence -is one fit to go on the best days in the counties of big fields 

 and big fences with fox-hounds and stag-hounds. On such days, in such country, nothing but 

 blood and high condition can keep on respectable terms with the pack ; but, as already 

 stated, there are more than twice as many packs of harriers as fox-hounds, which may be 

 perfectly enjoyed with horses of less size, breeding, and, consequently, value, than are 

 required to cut a respectable figure in the fashionable pasture counties. A handy horse, 

 under 15 hands high, that can jump, and canter ten miles an hour, will answer every purpose 

 in a closely-enclosed country with harriers, and indeed with fo.\-hounds. A sixtecn-hands 

 hunter of Yorkshire and Leicestershire stamp may be judiciously ridden to harriers at four 

 or five years old for practice ; but a corky blood cob will get to the end of ninety-nine runs 

 out of a hundred just as well. In down and hill-pasture countries, where the hares are stouter 

 and run straighter than in arable countries, where, without much travelling, they can feed 

 fat on corn or roots, you must have blood, especially if you have to gallop and climb hills, 

 For stag-hunting over the Vale of Aylesbury you want a tali, thorough-bred horse that will cither 

 fly or do doubles. No horse is a perfect hunter that cannot be turned in a very small circle. 



In more than half the hunting districts it is at times necessary to dismount and lead 



