TRAINING ENGLISH HUNTERS. 33 



afterward. Above all things, avoid getting them into boggy 

 ditches, or riding them at brooks ; but they sholild be practiced 

 at leaping small ditches, if possible, with water in them, the 

 rider facing them at a brisk gallop, for this gives a horse con- 

 fidence and courage. The old custom of teaching colts to lear*, 

 standing, over a bar is now obsolete, and they are taught to 

 become timber jumpers simply by taking timber as it comes 

 across the country — the present rate of hounds gives no time 

 for standing leaps. The circular bar, however, is not a bad 

 thing if in a good place and well managed. Every description 

 of fence that your hunter is likely to meet with should be placed 

 within a prescribed cu*c1q on soft ground, the man who holds 

 him standing on a stage in the center. Another man, following 

 the colt with a whip, obliges him to clear his fences at a certain 

 pace, and in a very short time a good tempered colt will go at 

 his jumps with pleasure. 



" Here let me observe— for the conversation had ended — ^that 

 no matter how carefully a hunter may have been trained, until 

 you taste and try him in the field, it is hard to say whether the 

 right stuif be in him. The best judges are often deceived by 

 outsides and school performances. A few general rules may, 

 however, be given, which will be found of certain application. 

 In a hilly country, for instance, nothing has a chance against a 

 pure thoroughbred. Lengthy horses always make the best 

 jumpers, if they have good hind quarters, good loins and good 

 courage. Extraordinary things have been done by such horses. 

 In 1829 Dick Christian jumped thirty-three feet on King of the 

 Valley j and Captain Littler^s horse. Chandler, cleared thirty- 

 nine feet over .a brook at Leamington. The most dangerous of 

 all horses in the field is a star gazer. A hunter should carry 

 his head low, as by so doing he is less liable to fall, and gives 

 his rider a firmer seat. All wild horses lower their crests in 

 leaping. It is, however, the peculiar excellence of going well 

 through dirt which decides the real value of a horse for our 

 best hunting counties. To find out this quality he must be 

 ridden fair and straight. If he flinch on soft ground he is of no 

 use. No matter how wide a horse may be, if he is not deep in 

 the girth he cannot carry weight, and is very seldom a good 

 winded horse, even under a light man. One of the best things 

 that can be said of a hunter is, that at first sight he appears two 

 inches lower than he really is. Short legged horses leap better 

 and safer than long legged cattle, and go faster and farther 

 under hard riders. Horses with straight hind legs never can 

 have good mouths. He should have well placed hind legs with 

 wide hips, well spread gaskms, as much as possible of the vis a 



