100 HUNTING THE FOX 



bred hunter sires exhibited at the King's Premium 

 Show. Ten or fifteen years ago the King's Cup 

 could be won by a horse who would to-day hardly 

 get a premium, and certainly not a super-premium. 

 In those days five hundred pounds was considered 

 a good price to pay for a King's Premium winner, 

 and from two to three hundred pounds was some- 

 where near the normal price ; but during the last 

 decade, especially since the super-premium was 

 offered, some exhibitors began to pay as much as or 

 more than a thousand pounds for a horse, with the 

 result that the Show Yard at Islington in March 

 1916 presented a finer sight than any country in 

 the world could produce. Well over a hundred 

 British thoroughbred stallions under one roof, is 

 an exhibition that has never been equalled any- 

 where. These magnificent creatures, under the 

 admirable organization of the Board of Agriculture, 

 are available to breeders in all parts of Great 

 Britain for a fee that is not worth talking about. 

 To be able to command for a trifle of one or two 

 guineas the services of a thoroughbred horse who 

 has stood the test of training and won races, does 

 away with all vestige of excuse on the part of the 

 hunting community for not doing its very best 

 to provide the mares and make the attempt to 

 supply the market upon which so much depends. 

 One of the best ways to encourage the breeding 

 of hunters is by a liberal prize-list at shows for 



