98 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS 



establishment does not conduce to popularity in the 

 field. Nothing, in fact, annoys a Hunt more than a 

 stingy Master. It is taken by all concerned as a 

 personal injury, and the wise Master will bear in mind 

 that he has to come in for abuse enough in the ordinary 

 way without inviting more by cheeseparing. 



For this reason, if for no other, I would counsel all 

 young Masters in embryo that if they do not see their 

 way to doing the thing well they had far better leave it 

 alone altogether. Otherwise they will find themselves 

 engaged in a weary struggle to keep up appearances, 

 and I can assure them that there is quite trouble 

 enough in the management of a pack without this one. 

 Shabby gentility is distressing in every walk of life : in 

 the Master of Hounds it is fatal. 



Going to the other extreme, we sometimes see a rich 

 young man mounting his men on expensive horses not 

 suited to the country, with the result that big Leicester- 

 shire horses are compelled to attempt the impossible, 

 to creep about under trees or crawl up and down rotten 

 banks, which is what a huntsman's horse has to do all 

 day long in a banking country. A big woodland with 

 sticky rides will soon pull the big horses to pieces, and 

 the hills are far more demoralising to them than a far 

 longer run over a stiff vale. 



For an ordinary provincial hunt, horses from 15.2 to 

 15.3, or thereabouts, are quite big enough to carry the 

 huntsman, who is usually a light weight. These 

 horses, which must be well bred, quick and active, may 

 he found all over the south of Ireland, and they 

 generally jump like cats. 



