298 MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS. 



wind ; a man, for such a feat, should be in good trim, 

 and I consider, to ride well, he should be in as good 

 trained condition as his horse. Whilst others have 

 been spurring and driving their horses scarcely out of a 

 walk, T have been beating them on foot, by winding the 

 hill, and at the top being all right again, I generally left 

 them far in the rear. 



Breaking or losing a stirrup, when hounds are run- 

 ning, is a good opportunity of testing the efficacy of a 

 balance seat, and here I think the balancer will be put 

 to his shifts to keep in his saddle. To ride without 

 stirrups six or seven miles, over a stiff country, is not 

 quite so easy an affair as some men may think. Just 

 for a frolic, let them try the experiment. I should 

 like to witness a steeple-chase of this sort, although I 

 never did, and never will countenance steeple-chases 

 generally. In this case I think the horses would have 

 the best of it. Few would be able to accomplish the 

 feat performed once by Mr. Osbaldeston, of riding with- 

 out a saddle on his horse's bare back to the end of a run. 



Having stated my dislike to steeple-chases, I may add 

 my reasons for it ; and first, I may ask, for what other 

 purpose is a steeple-chase horse fitted ? Certainly it 

 spoils his temper for a hunter, and renders him restless 

 and fidgety in company. The steeple-chase horse is an 

 animal, sui generis, which the restless, ever-betting, 

 miscalled sportsmen of the present day have called into 

 existence to pander to their insatiable taste for book 

 speculation, whilst legitimate racing is in abeyance. 

 Racing can be defended only upon one ground, that it 

 tends to keep up, and, in fact, does keep up in this 

 country, a breed of horses superior to every other in tlie 



