CHAPTER VIII 



STEEPLECHASING AND HURDLE RACING 

 THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEEPLECHASING 



In writing of " Steeplechasing," the first thing which 

 strikes one is the absurdity of the name that has been 

 accepted as descriptive of the sport. One cannot 

 " chase " a thing that does not run away, and steeples 

 are not itinerant. But the origin of the word is 

 sufficiently clear. "Steeplechases" were first of all 

 spins across country, and some prominent landmark 

 had to be named as a goal, A steeple stood highest ; 

 and so, when men who desired to test the capacity of 

 their hunters combined with their own skill came 

 together to fight it out, their attention was directed to 

 a steeple in the distant landscape, and they were told 

 that in a certain field close to it posts had been placed, 

 the first man who passed between which was to be 

 accounted the winner. These were genuine hunt- 

 ing contests, especially when they were not set to be 

 decided over an unmerciful distance. The hunters 

 that ran were good jumpers, possessed of what their 

 owners considered a turn of speed and sufficient 



