QUALIFICATION 195 



Mr. Arthur Yates's stables ; there was rarely a better 

 judge and scarcely a better exponent of the art of 

 cross-country riding. Dollery, his old companion, is 

 still in the plenitude of his powers, and a bolder 

 horseman never rode at a fence. Williamson is 

 another of the leading jockeys of the day. 



Qualification 

 A few years since, as already mentioned, an absurd 

 distinction was drawn between "hunters" and "handi- 

 cap steeplechase horses," and it may be interesting to 

 trace the changes that have been made. Formerly 

 there were steeplechases and hurdle races expressly 

 for "hunters"; only hunters could run in flat races 

 under National Hunt — or, as they were then called, 

 Grand National Hunt — rules, and, if hunters ran out 

 of their own class, they lost their certificates. Not 

 seldom owners sacrificed whatever advantages were 

 supposed to attach to the possession of these certifi- 

 cates, and the ridiculous nature of the distinction was 

 rendered evident when they did so by running their 

 horses in the Grand National. Old Joe was a " hunter " 

 when he won that race, and he afterwards ran in the 

 Cesarewitch. The idea was to keep apart the real 

 hunter, the veritable "fox-catcher," and the racehorse 

 that had been put to jumping ; but as a very general 

 rule the only actual difference between the two 

 animals was that one had a certificate representing 

 him to be what he was not. To be able to run in 



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