180 SYSTEM OF KENNEL AND 



CHAPTER XXII. 



Old hunters and young riders — Vacating the pigskin sometimes a 

 voluntary act — With stirruj^s or without them — Hiding for sale — 

 The mount by a friend the reverse of friendly — Rule as to 

 kickers in the field — Buck-jumpers — Two strings to your bow — 

 SnaflSe bridle — Martingales — Breastplate — Unnecessary gear — 

 Spurs — Their use and abuse — The Author's objection to them — 

 Hunting costume — Jack-boots — The old top — The cap and hat — 

 Colour of coat — The spare shoe — Eau de vie — Old Meynell's 

 cordial — Contents of waistcoat-pocket. 



The best advice we can offer to a young aspirant 

 for honours in the hunting-field is to purchase a 

 well-made hunter or hunters, which will give him a 

 more experimental and useful lesson in the art of 

 riding to hounds than we can communicate by the 

 pen. The older they are the cheaper they will be, 

 and if screws, no matter ; they will teach you in a 

 month that which we might fail to impress upon 

 your mind in twelve mouths. An old stiff-jointed 

 hunter will have things his own way, and if you 

 attempt to force him out of it woe betides you. 

 Give him his head without whip or spur, and you 

 will find him a trustworthy friend. Knock him 

 about the head and ears, and he will play the devil 

 with you. The greatest mistake a man can make 

 is to suppose that his horse will go for a fall, as his 

 master does sometimes, to get grassed on the other 

 side of a fence. An old hunter will never go for a 

 fall until there is no go left in him. Young riders 



