SHOWING HUNTERS AND JUMPERS 185 



even with an inferior performance, his breeding and 

 "quality" give him something in hand, and half-bred 

 or common horses will be obliged to jump rings around 

 him before they can beat him. 



In entering a hunter in a show the same precau- 

 tions as to the shows selected, the judges under whom 

 he is to appear,* and the type of classes entered should 

 be taken as with the saddle horse. 



The preparation of a show hunter begins as with 

 a saddle horse: about three or four weeks prior to 

 the event. He can, however, be more generally hacked 

 around than the show hack, and nothing is better 

 for his training than long, slow walking for two or three 

 hours a day,f alternating with an occasional day to 

 hounds to make him keen. It must be remembered, 

 however, that if you intend to show a horse, though 

 he can be mildly hunted he cannot be roughly banged 

 around, and the pleasure of "pounding" the field must 

 be foregone for some time prior to a show. Individual 

 horses vary, of course, and the amount of work or 

 hunting they can get depends largely upon whether 

 they go off their feed, lose weight, or go sore after hunt- 

 ing. In any case, I would advise taking the precau- 

 tion of bandaging the prospective show hunter when- 

 ever he is hunted or schooled, and I do not think that it 

 would be wise to risk taking him out with hounds for 

 the last ten days prior to a show, for the least cut or 

 bruise or kick which he might get, insignificant though 



* The difference among the hunter judges is not so marked as in 

 saddle classes, owing to the fact that there are not distinct "types" of 

 hunters. Of course, some judges are unduly hard on a half-bred, and 

 will actually look at nothing but a thoroughbred; but in most cases a 

 good horse of any breed is as likely to win under one hunter judge as 

 another. 



t Slow trotting up-hill is also an excellent way to muscle up a 

 hunter. 



