A Glance at the Evolution of a Foxhound 8i 



tandem — hounds and fox first and field afterwards — 

 there seems to have risen a certain amount of com- 

 petition betwixt the twain — which can be bred the 

 fastest. The hound has ever won the race. Many 

 men, if not the greater number, now ride horses 

 clean thoroughbred, or nearly so, whilst " the 

 blood 'un " has come to be looked upon as the best 

 lady's hack. Not a few of these have won races, 

 or are expected by their owners so to do. The first 

 holloa from the huntsman and the first couple of 

 hounds away from covert is equivalent to the 

 raising of the much-discussed starting gate, except 

 where there is a martinet master or field-master, 

 and hounds are frequently over-ridden, thus handi- 

 capping both their efforts and those of the huntsman, 

 and spoiling sport into the bargain. The fact that 

 hounds are over-ridden does not, however, go to 

 prove that they are unequal to the pace of the horse ; 

 indeed, despite all arguments, the whole of the evi- 

 dence goes to show that the horse has neither the 

 pace nor the staying powers of the hound. This 

 has ever been the case. If we turn to the earliest 

 of the racing calendars, that pubhshed by W. Pick 

 of York, in 1785, we find that in 1779 the famous Col. 

 Thornton made a match for a piece of plate with Sir 

 Harry Featherstone and Sir John Ramsden, Barts. 

 The match was that the Colonel would find a fox 

 either on Hambleton or in the Easingwold country 



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