SHOWING HUNTERS AND JUMPERS 193 



man who knows the horse you rode and has seen both 

 you and your animal when schooling. 



As in the case of showing saddle horses, try to be a 

 graceful winner and a cheerful loser. Don't "protest" 

 other winners unless there is such a flagrant breach of 

 rules as to be positively harmful to exhibitors in gen- 

 eral. The ribbon won under protest carries with it 

 but little glory. I have shown for many years, and 

 although there have been many times when I might 

 have entered a protest, I am glad to say that up to 

 date I am quite guiltless of such an act. If one hears 

 of an unregistered horse being entered in a thorough- 

 bred class, of a ribbon winner appearing in a novice 

 class, or a horse who never to your positive knowledge 

 has had a day with hounds being sneaked into a " quali- 

 fied hunter" class, the time to enter your protest is 

 before not after the class has been judged. Do not 

 wait until the horse has beaten you and then kick up 

 a row, but go to the committee before and make your 

 complaint in a sportsmanlike manner; for by so doing 

 you will be protecting not only yourself but all the 

 other exhibitors. 



On the whole, however, if you hope to be popular 

 in the show ring, you could not do better than to fol- 

 low the example of: 



"The wise old owl who sat in an oak, 

 The more he saw the less he* spoke, 

 The less he spoke, the more he heard, 

 Why can't we be like that wise old bird." 



