HUNTING ABROAD 151 



It would be as absurd, as it would be impossible, to 

 give any cut-and-dried way of negotiating English 

 fences. Suffice it to say that the variety that is met 

 with is far greater than anything encountered over 

 here. Timber is scarce and rarely jumped, but the 

 mild-looking "brush" affairs that one is obliged to 

 jump have nearly always not only a ditch on the take 

 off or landing side, but are also as stiff as, and more 

 treacherous than, the stiffest timber that ever graced 

 Meadow Brook. These so-called "cut and laid" or 

 "stake and bound" fences are made of hawthorn 

 hedges, which have been cut down, and the branches 

 bent sidewise and interlaced until they form a springy 

 but impenetrable barrier, ranging anywhere from 

 33^ to 5 feet. When these same hedges are not cut 

 down but allowed to grow wild, they form bullfinches, 

 which, although disagreeable to negotiate, can be 

 crashed through with lowered head and upraised arm. 

 True, one occasionally remains hung in the branches 

 while one's horse goes on, but then that is quite a 

 novel and harmless experience. 



In addition to these, one occasionally meets oxers, 

 either single or double, which are hedges protected 

 from the cattle by a ditch and a guard rail on either 

 one or both sides. Although formidable-looking ob- 

 jects, any free-going horse can jump them, for it must 

 not be forgotten that the average horse clears over 

 twelve feet from take off to landing, and I have often 

 seen a mare of mine, when schooling on the long 

 reins, jump twenty odd feet in breadth over five feet 

 six inches of timber. "Chappie," the old-time high 

 jumper, could, for example, jump with ease five feet 

 eight inches in height, covering twenty-five feet in 

 distance. 



