68 MODERN PIG-STICKING 



judgment on my part and fine horsemanship on 

 his. I ought to have utilized my pace to get as 

 far ahead as possible, so that I might go slow on 

 the pig and, if need be, take a jink before N came up. 



It is common to see men in every hunt who ride 

 really hard, and well, yet do not get many first 

 spears. This is often so among men who have 

 hunted much at home. They realize the necessity 

 for pace and for riding a good hunt, but they do 

 not always acquire the savageness and devil which 

 must make them go in at the end. It is simply 

 that they are accustomed to have their fox pulled 

 down for them, and also because they wish the other 

 fellow to have a chance of joining in the fun. A 

 good man in front of me at the end of a hunt as he 

 twists and turns with his pig, determined to kill 

 at all hazards, always strikes me as horribly selfish. 



I have tried to deduce some rule for learning 

 from a hog's ears and tail, and the turn of his head, 

 which way he is going to jink. But I have found no 

 certainty. 



Apart from the question of being ready for a 

 pig to jink to his point, I find the best place to 

 ride after a boar is about a horse's length straight 

 behind him, and the least shade to the near side. 

 Here you are well placed to take a jink either way, 

 you are ready for your spurt, and he must indeed 

 be a ruffian who would pretend you are not on 

 the pig. 



If you have the faster horse, and are riding 

 against one other man who is your intimate friend, 

 or if you are in a competition, you must get the 

 spear even on a little jinking pig. A decent boar 

 wants no manoeuvring. Go ahead at once, and 

 ride half right or half left between your opponent 



