THE CHASER. 269 



of which he cannot be regarded as a safe conveyance over 

 a country. For this reason, hunters of seven or eight years 

 of age are valued in Leicestershire more highly than those 

 of four or five, other things being equal. Supposing that a 

 horse fresh to the game gets five weeks' cub-hunting, and 

 regular hunting from the first Monday in November, at 

 Kirby Gate, to the second Wednesday in April, with the 

 Belvoir ; he will, as a rule, require all that time, with a 

 competent man and an average of three or four days a fort- 

 night, to learn his business. We should initiate the young 

 one very gradually ; should leave him a good deal to his 

 own devices ; should keep him out a long time, say, to the 

 change of second horses, so as to prevent him from becom- 

 ing impetuous ; and, above all things, we should impress 

 upon him the necessity, when put at a fence, of getting to 

 the other side. In order not to disgust him with the work, 

 he should always be taken home before he is tired. In the 

 Shires, instruction in making him steady when opening 

 gates and when holding them open, is imperative. 



The chaser. — All the remarks I have made in this 

 chapter respecting the jumper in general and the hunter in 

 particular apply to the steeplechase horse. Although his 

 final test will be racing over fences, we should not attempt 

 to take him fast at them until he can negotiate them 

 faultlessly at a steady canter ; for the slower the speed, the 

 easier will it be for him to collect himself and to accurately 

 measure his distance, which are two of the chief tasks for 

 him to learn ; the third being to make the necessary efi'ort 

 to clear the obstacle ; the fourth, to take his fences at 



