146 MODERN PIG-STICKING 



not go into the vexed question as to whethe^ horses 

 or ponies are best ; this each must decide for him- 

 self. It depends very much on the rider's weight 

 and build. Riding 14 stone, or over, as some of 

 us do, I prefer a short-backed active little horse, 

 clean bred if possible, with the best of shoulders 

 and knowing how to use them. A good rein and 

 a bold eye, standing 14.3 to 15.2. His weight 

 carries him better through heavy-going or grass 

 jungle than a pony, and he often finds that spare 

 leg and reserve of balance, which is so difficult to 

 describe, and which so often saves a fall when a 

 pony must come down. Personally I prefer a 

 rich chestnut or bright bay, though I have seen 

 good pig -stickers all colours down to skewbald, 

 and sex is, I think, immaterial ; many of our best 

 pig-stickers have been mares. 



Among many good horses, the first that comes 

 to my mind is " Diana," a little thorough-bred mare, 

 standing about 14.3 up to 14 stone, belonging to 

 Billy Barker. She could pull a bit, having started 

 her career in a racing stable, though she had many 

 a fine boar killed off her. 



Elliot Hills's "Waitress," "Squire" Cresswell's 

 " Blackie," Tom Westmacott's " Priestess," Crum's 

 "Cluny," W. K. Dods's "Fame" (winner of the 

 Ladies' Paperchase Cup), Jim Crawford's " Napier," 

 and Ferguson's " Red Deer " and " Comrade " 

 were all very good ; my own horse " Alba " would 

 have been so too, but for the bump on his forehead, 

 which in his case showed him the advisability, at 

 times, of not going too near a fighting boar. 

 " Priestess " was a staunch old mare, and took 

 eighty-one first spears during ten years' hunting. 

 The horses brought up by those fine horsemen, 



