HUNTING 141 



arm and crop. Care must be taken not to brush 

 through the branches so that they will snap back into 

 the face of the person behind. If one comes across 

 an unexpected hole one should immediately call out 

 "ware hole," to warn the rest of the field. 



In jumping toward the sun a horse is often blinded, 

 and precautions should be taken that he sees the 

 jump clearly before he is sent at it. In a hilly coun- 

 try one sometimes is able to spare one's mount much 

 fatigue by going around the base of the hills instead 

 of over the tops, but, of course, this must never be 

 attempted at the expense of losing hounds. A very 

 steep descent should always be taken in a straight, 

 rather than in an oblique, line, for if the horse were to 

 slip in the former case, he would merely slide onto his 

 hindquarters, whereas were he going down slanting- 

 wise he might roll over onto his side. One sometimes 

 hears this statement refuted, but I think that any 

 one who has seen the marvellous feats of the Italian 

 cavalry, who slide down absolutely straight inclines 

 as steep as the side of a house, will not be likely to 

 argue the point. In mounting a hill, however, the 

 zigzag course is the wiser, as it spares the horse con- 

 siderably. The rider should, of course, lean as far 

 forward as possible and, if necessary, grasp the horse's 

 mane in order to do so. 



Above all, and beyond all else, if one wishes, in hunt- 

 ing, to keep in the good graces of the M. F. H., and 

 of the Hunt's Committee, one should never ride over 

 "crops" or newly seeded land. Undoubtedly most of 

 us, in the excitement of a run, have broken this law 

 as well as every other unwritten law of hunting, but 

 when we do break them we must expect to be called 

 down by the Master or by other members of the field. 



