FEATURES OF COUNTRIES. 129 



sliii'e : liere tlie same sort of liorse would do well 

 also; but we could, in a general way, improve 

 him, by taking a slice off the sheer strength, and 

 adding it to the speed; for though at times parts 

 of this country ride very heavy, it is by no means 

 as universally so as the Holderness. Hounds can 

 get over turf in any state faster than ploughed 

 land ; so the pace is faster here, though not more 

 severe perhaps on the horse than the other. All 

 men will allow the Leicestershire fences are bia- 

 enough to please any one, and, if they would allow 

 the truth, too big to please the generality of per- 

 sons ; but here, though more varied, they are not, 

 one and all and every one, a regular tilter, and 

 horses want very often the " in and out clever " 

 way of doing the thing, particularly when a little 

 blown : in fact, the Leicestershire hunter should 

 be a race-horse that can ^'^jump a bit; '^ though, 

 of course, he need not be anything like a first- 

 rater as a race-horse. 



We will now look at Bedfordshire. Here we 

 only want a fair proportion of blood and moderate 

 speed; but in fencing, a horse should, in slang 

 phrase, be up to every dodge in this craft ; in 

 short, always have " a leg to spare,^^ for he will 

 meet with all sorts of obstacles in the shape of 

 fences : he may " fly a fence ^^ into a field, and 

 must then, perhaps, creep through or over one to 

 get out ; in fact, no country makes horses more 



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