Chapter XII 



THE HUNTER AND HIS EDUCATION 



THE ancient receipt for "jugging" 

 hare or rabbit began with the rather 

 useful advice, " First catch your 

 hare;" and an equally important de- 

 tail concerning the education of hunters is to 

 first get your apparently suitable raw material. 

 Horses which in appearance and conformation 

 are well worthy of consideration are passed by, 

 or put to other work, far more generally than 

 one would suppose, because the average buyer 

 has set up false idols of worship, has been influ- 

 enced, consciously or insensibly, by the drawings 

 of Leech and of Sturgis, the works of Whyte- 

 Melville, the Badminton books, etc. ; has, in fact, 

 acquired a "false eye," and accepted quite errone- 

 ous impressions as to what comprises essential 

 hunter conformation and weight-carrying ability; 

 demanding a bulk and height which are not only 

 absolutely unnecessary, but possibly detrimental. 



