220 MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS. 



bad work of it. 1 have had and ridden as bad-tempered 

 horses as any man ever possessed, but by quiet usage 

 they became to me valuable hunters, and their disposi- 

 tions were decidedly altered. In my hard riding days I 

 never used spur or v^^hip. All v^^as done by the voice 

 alone. The country I rode over was as severe as ever 

 was crossed — double ditches, with stiff hedges and high 

 banks. At these I always pulled up a little before 

 reaching them, to allow my horse the opportunity of 

 taking them in his own way. At brooks I went faster, 

 but at gates and walls the rein was always pulled, as at 

 heavy fences. By this plan my falls in a season were 

 very few, nor was my horse blown. A deer, which can 

 jump higher than any other animal, although going ever 

 so fast, will generally slacken his pace before taking a 

 high fence, and approaches it in a trot. This should 

 be a lesson to hard riders. I have seen some few in my 

 time, and rattling falls they would get, when, by going 

 so fast at their fences, the wind was pumped out of their 

 horses. It is not to gratify any egotistical feelings that 

 I state I have ridden over as high and bad fences as any 

 man ever attempted, and never turned away from any- 

 thing that came in my way, which was at all practicable ; 

 .and all this was done without whip or spur. 



In my treatment of horses I took a leaf out^ of the 

 Arab's book. My own horses were never ridden by 

 another person. When I went into the stable, I took 

 something with me to give them, a piece of bread or an 

 apple, of which they were very fond, or I gave them a 

 feed of corn — patting their necks and talking to them 

 the while. So accustomed were they to be told what to 

 do, and so well did they understand me, that if I told them 



