54 PRACTICAL HINTS FOR HUNTING NOVICES. 



many of these men take infinite pains and trouble 

 over their customers, especially when they see that 

 they are being trusted. Of course, the question of 

 luck enters in some degree into this matter of hiring. 

 The new beginner may chance to pick the one bad- 

 mannered horse of a stable of twenty, or he may find 

 himself on a horse which pulls too hard, but is in other 

 respects a good hunter. Again, he may have very 

 heavy hands, and may quickly convert a light-mouthed 

 horse into a runaway, or he may fret a sober animal 

 until it becomes restive and difficult to ride. These, 

 however, are questions of horsemanship, and, as every- 

 one knows, " hands " are to a great extent a gift, 

 though bad hands can be greatly improved if the pupil 

 is willing to learn. 



Quite the best thing which the novice can do when 

 about to make his first appearance in the hunting field 

 is to go to a respectable man who lets hunters by the 

 day, month, or season, and put himself entirely in the 

 livery stable keeper's hands. It is no use attempting 

 to conceal the fact that he is a beginner, and it is even 

 sillier to try to pose as being experienced in the hunting 

 field. No amount of plausibiHty will go down with the 

 man who has been concerned with horses and hunting 

 all his life. In two minutes he will have reckoned 

 his customer up, and will have arrived at a very true 

 estimate of what that gentleman knows about horses 

 and hunting. And, if he thinks that the novice is 

 trying to humbug him, he will naturally be less inclined 

 to interest himself in the business or to of!er 

 advice. 



if, on the other hand, the would-be customer is 



