432 The Book of the Horse. 



a walk over a ploughed ridge-and-furrow field, or a field of turnips set on the ridge, if it is 

 your own, or the farmer does not object. Just feel his mouth enough to collect him, other- 

 wise leave his head as loose as you can. After two or three days' practice, extend the time 

 to two hours, and trot him for half the time. Do not spur or bully him if he makes mistakes, 

 only collect him. Then walk him home. Then take him to some meadow full of hidden 

 grips and watercourses, or some woodland plantations, and walk him with a loose rein for 

 a week or two. At the end of that time, if his shoulder action is naturally correct and his legs 

 are properly inserted into his feet, he will have learned to pick his way under difficulties — a 

 lesson which a mountain or moorland foal learns at his dam's side. When he can walk safely 

 over uneven ground he may be trotted sharply, and finally galloped. Afterwards, if there 

 are any suitable steep hills, let him learn to descend them, first slowly then quickly. All 

 this is practice for the young horseman as well as the young horse, and prepares both for 

 the hunting-field. When the Prince of Wales hunted on Exmoor, half a dozen fine hunters 

 fell over drains not much deeper or wider than a hat, hidden by grass, over which those bred 

 in the country skimmed at full speed. 



When the time for leaping lessons arrives, the novice should secure the services of some 

 wiry old professional, of sober habits and even temper. 



Formerly there were certain counties in which sportsmen looked for hunters, and Ireland 

 was 'and is famous for both breeding and training horses fit for every style of hunting. But 

 railroads, penny post, and telegraphs, have placed the whole kingdom on a level, and it is 

 very rare that a man can buy a single horse more cheaply from the breeder than from a 

 dealer. A great deal has generally to be paid for the " great expectations " that hang on a 

 first-class four-year-old. The man who will be content with a second-class horse will generally 

 be able to buy it, plus a very useful education, at seven or eight years old, for the price 

 it was sold for at four. 



One-half of the goodness of a hunter depends on the way in which it has been ridden, 

 and the way in which it has been fed, since it was taken from its dam. 



THE DREAM OF AN OLD MELTONIAN.* 



I am old, I am old, and my eyes are grown weaker, 



My beard is as white as the foam on the sea, 

 Yet pass me the bottle, and fill me a beaker, 



A bright brimming toast in a bumper for me ! 

 Back, back through long vistas of years I am wafted, 



But the glow at my heart 's undiminished in force ; 

 Deep, deep in that heart has fond memory engrafted 



Those quick thirty minutes from Ranksboro' Gorse. 



III. 



He 's away ! I can hear the identical holloa ! 



I can feel my young thoroughbred strain down the ride, 

 I can hear the dull thunder of hundreds that follow, 



I can see my old comrades in life by my side. 



* By W. Davenport Bromley, M.P. The writer falls asleep in the House of Commons in the middle of 

 the speech of Mr. Borc'm, and dreams of a famous run in Leicestershire. 



