HORSES AND HOUNDS. 271 



The Irish train their horses by leading them with a long rein 

 over their high banks and walls, a man following behind with a 

 driving whip. A few practical lessons of this kind teach ahorse 

 Low to use his legs, and after two or three rolls he becomes 

 au fait at his business. He is then backed and ridden across 

 country. The use of a leaping bar is now become almost 

 obsolete in this country, but I always considered it a necessary 

 appendage in a hunting establishment, where a breeding stud is 

 kept up, to supply a succession of horses for the field. A horse 

 which will not submit to be led as well as ridden over fences, 

 cannot be considered a perfect hunter. Although the practice 

 of leading over fences sJiould never be resorted to as long as 

 a chance remains of getting over them in the saddle, yet occa- 

 sions will arise where leading over is not merely the quickest 

 but only way of obtaining a footing on the other side. Fox 

 chases lead one into very queer places sometimes. Outhouses 

 and gardens about villages are often resorted to by foxes as a 

 last refuge, and I am quite satisfied I never could have been 

 with my hounds through such places, unless my horse had been 

 properly trained to follow as well as carry his master. 



I remember once coming to a plank bridge only, over a canal. 

 On the taking-off side there was a stile, and on the other side a 

 cradle for foot people only to get over. You could not jump 

 the canal, as there was a row of cottages just opposite. No time 

 was to be lost, as the hounds were over the water, and running 

 hard away from us. The horse I was riding had been bred and 

 trained by myself, and would follow me like a dog, always being 

 directed by the voice what to do. Immediately dismounting, I 

 got over the stile on to the boards ; my horse followed, and we 

 arrived safely on the towing-path the other side. Not another 

 would follow. The rattling on boards terrified the other 

 horses, and they would not attempt it. Some then pushed their 

 horses into the water, and guided them over by the side of the 

 foot bridge ; others went off to another place. By this ma- 

 noeuvre I was alone with the hounds, deciding at once what to 

 do, and the rest of the field could never make up the lost 

 ground. 



In villages there are often narrow lanes with stiles at each 

 end, sometimes doorways. Through such places I have led my 

 horse, I was going to say hundreds of times ; very many times 

 I certainly have, and I am quite satisfied I never could have been 

 with my hounds had not my horse been as good a foUower 

 through cramped places as a perfect fencer across country. A 

 drop leap into a hard road is another place where you ought to 

 dismount at once, running your whip through the rein, and 



