68 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



chair, but if he cannot jump he is of no use whatsoever. 

 The ideal hunter, if he is to be hunted with the aver- 

 age pack of hounds, or if he is to be shown in the ring, 

 must be able to jump four feet six inches with ease, 

 and should be able to clear five feet at a pinch. One 

 hears some people say that a horse who can jump four 

 feet well may be hunted with any pack of hounds, 

 and undoubtedly he can, but only if the rider is con- 

 tent to trail on behind and wait until bars are broken. 

 If you want to ride out in front; if you wish to ride 

 straight and hard, it is impossible to do so on a horse 

 whose limit of height is as low as this. Even if up 

 to four feet six inches, he will, in a big country, be 

 obliged to jump his limit much of the time, while the 

 five-foot horse would always have a bit to spare and 

 so become less tired. Moreover, although you may 

 only meet five feet once in a blue moon, when you do 

 meet it you want to be able to jump it. 



The form or style in which a horse takes off and 

 lands is of equal importance to the actual ability to 

 get up to great heights. The old saying that a horse 

 should go fast at water, but slow at timber, is all very 

 well as far as it goes, and is undoubtedly an excellent 

 precept to drum into the novice, who, as a rule, is too 

 inclined to rush all jumps; but in practice a horse who 

 goes right up under his fences and then jumps them 

 " stickily" is as dangerous, if not more so, than the 

 horse who attempts to fly them in his stride. If the 

 latter hits the jump he will probably do so with suffi- 

 cient force to throw the rider, if a man, well over his 

 head and quite clear of him; while a woman will at 

 least get far enough away so as not to be entirely 

 under him when he falls. But the horse who creeps 

 up under his fences before he takes off, will, when he 



