74 THE HUNTING FIELD 



be sorry to say the same of hounds and their attendants ; 

 but we should Hke to see a httle more reasoning power, and a 

 little less whip-cord used in some hunting establishments — to 

 hear men talking to their hounds instead of rating them. 



It has been well said that no animals take their character 

 from their master so much as hounds do from their Huntsman. 

 If the Huntsman is wild, noisy, or nervous, so will his hounds 

 be ; if steady, quick, and quiet, he may rely upon it that his 

 pack will be the same. 



The same gentleman* who made that observation gives the 

 following judicious advice to Whippers-in : — 



" In going through riot, let not the hounds be driven in a 

 heap under their Huntsman's horse, and indiscriminately rated 

 without reason, as is too often the case ; but, on the contrary, 

 let the Huntsman seem carelessly to trust them, at a certain 

 distance from him, to take their own way, with the simple 

 precaution of having his men a little wide on either flank ; he 

 will then see which hound is to be trusted and which not, and if 

 riot is begun, his men are rightly placed to check it, with the 

 further advantage of knowing and rating the hound that offends, 

 instead of chiding indiscriminately. If hounds are driven under 

 their Huntsman's horse when approaching riot, they will pass 

 it by without looking it in the face, noticing it no more than 

 they would if a hare were turned down in their kennel while the 

 men stood by with their whips. Such treatment cannot make 

 hounds steady ; on the contrary, they have sense enough to 

 know when they are out of your reach, and, like boys from 

 school, on the sudden removal of unnatural restraint, they are 

 the more inclined to join in any riot that may offer. A rate 

 when given at an improper time does more harm than good ; it 

 disgusts your honest hound — it shies and prevents from hunting 



* " Skim,'' in the "New Sporting Magazine," describing the Hon. Grantley 

 Berkeley's system of management. 



