Lord Willoughby de Broke 



a good deal of county business, and was a regular attendant 

 at Newmarket, besides being a member of the Grand National 

 Hunt Committee ; but it is in the hunting-field that he will be 

 chiefly remembered. 



Added to his talents as a huntsman, he had a wonderful 

 knack of getting over the country close to his hounds without 

 tiring his horse. He would tell you that the right way to do 

 this was to hold your horse together, choose the b^st and 

 firmest ground, even though it seemed a little bit out of the 

 way ; never to extend him at full speed ; and, above all, to ride 

 steadily, even slowly, at the fences. To pull back on nearing 

 the fences enabled the horse to catch his wind and have a good 

 look at the place. 



His system was certainly successful if one judges by his 

 immunity from bad falls. 



There is another school whose pupils not only ride very 

 fast across fields, but begin to hurry the horse even faster as 

 soon as they get on to terms with the fence. No doubt they 

 get over some very big fences, but would probably be nowhere 

 to be found at the end of a severe run. 



On retiring from the Mastership in 1900, Lord Willoughby 

 de Broke was presented by the gentlemen of the hunt with a 

 testimonial, which took the form of a piece of plate and a 

 painting of himself on horseback, surrounded by a few of his 

 favourite hounds, amongst them being Talisman, Sailor, Tar- 

 quin. Turncoat, and Jimcrack, a reproduction of which accom- 

 panies this biography. 



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