THE HIRING QUESTION. 55 



perfectly frank, and states that he wants to hunt, but 

 knows little about it as yet, he will probably — indeed, 

 almost certainly — find that the hack owner will meet him 

 more than halfway, and that he is put on to some- 

 thing which will give him no trouble. The most awful 

 thing which can happen to a new beginner is for him 

 to make his debut on a horse which he cannot ridei 

 Instead of being able to look about and gain experience 

 from all he sees, his whole time and attention is occupied 

 with his horse, and he is exceedingly likely to offend 

 against some of the unwritten laws of hunting etiquette. 

 And, a propos of beginning on queer horses, the novice 

 should never be tempted -into going out hunting on a 

 harness nag, even if he is offered the loan of one. Of 

 course, there are harness horses who are good hunters 

 as well, but the average harness horse is quite likely to 

 go half mad with excitement when he sees hounds and 

 a crowd of galloping horses, and when this happens 

 he will very probably lose his head altogether and 

 bolt. 



I remember once going to stay with the owner of a 

 large stud, who hunted in the grass countries. Overnight 

 we went round the stables, and horses were fixed for the 

 following day. My friend placed two at my service, 

 one a good hunter which I had ridden before, the other 

 a very sporting looking horse which he (the owner) 

 stated he knew little about. He had gone leader 

 in a team during the summer, and during the autumn 

 he had been driven in a dogcart and used as a covert 

 hack, but had not been hunted, because he was not up 

 to his owner's weight. However, he v/as a hunter 

 all over to look at, and I mounted him with some 



