60 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



sloping wither, the rider will have the advantage of 

 always being over the centre of gravity. 



Good hunters come in all sizes, but the average 

 might safely be placed at 16 hands. On general prin- 

 ciples it is advisable to have a " stone in hand," that 

 is, a horse should be capable of carrying 14 pounds 

 over and above the weight of the rider, saddle, etc. 

 For weight carrying purposes a "big little horse" 

 should be chosen, one who covers a lot of ground but 

 stands on short legs in preference to a big leggy beast. 

 (See illustration facing page 22.) Great size is not neces- 

 sary in order to carry weight, for with good flat bone 

 and clean tendons that have a flinty look, a small, well- 

 bred horse is often up to far more weight than a larger, 

 less well-bred horse with round bone of coarser caliber. 

 Big well-bred or thoroughbred hunters up to 200 pounds 

 or over are costly luxuries, for although scores 

 of small horses possess quality — quality plus size is 

 difficult to find, and we have to depend for most of 

 our heavyweight hunters on Irish or Canadian horses, 

 whose grandams, or even dams, have been draft-horses. 



Some people are so keen to buy bulk in a heavy- 

 weight hunter that they are rather apt to overdo the 

 thing. The late Mr. James Daly, of Liffey Bank, once 

 rightly reminded a friend who was picking out heavy- 

 weight horses, that the horse had first to carry him- 

 self before even considering the rider. 



Hunters usually require a good deal of time to learn 

 the game well, and young four or five year olds, no 

 matter how clever they may be at fencing, seldom have 

 had enough experience to be reliable for a beginner, 

 or for a woman, unless she happens to be a first-class 

 horsewoman. Although I do not believe in the prin- 

 ciple of giving horses falls in order to teach them, 



