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" bottoming." The rider must never permit himself 

 — even in the maddening dehght of a dashing and 

 brilHant spin — to give the colt a really hard day's 

 hunting until he is five years of age, when he has 

 attained the age of horsehood and comes within the 

 term '' made hunter " ; and if the method of train- 

 ing him which has been advocated is adopted and 

 practised throughout it will be found to work with 

 signal and uniform success. The result will be a 

 " made hunter " perfect in the varied work of the 

 hunting -field in any district, and if carefully ridden 

 and kindly treated he will generally become as 

 passionately fond of hunting as the keenest and most 

 enthusiastic rider. Thus, in hunting as in other 

 classes of work, kindness triumphs over cruelty, and 

 the results of the latter will not compare with the 

 former in one single case for rider and horse com- 

 bined. 



Whilst it is necessary, as already mentioned, to 

 be careful not to gallop a colt too far or too long, 

 it is equally essential that he should be ridden by a 

 light-weight rider in possession of light hands and 

 "a cool head. These latter qualifications mean much 

 for the future welfare of the colt. At the same time, 

 however, it is not denied that some men of greater 

 weight can ride lighter than others who are physically 

 lighter, in consequence of their fine balance and feel- 

 ing of the colt. On paper this appears somewhat 

 paradoxical, but it is easily detected in the hunting- 

 field by the keen eye of an experienced horseman. 



