74 PRACTICAL HINTS FOR HUNTING NOVICES. 



mth regard to seeds or wheat. The same people are 

 by no means deaf when wire is shouted instead of wheat, 

 so that there is really no excuse for them. Though 

 the rough element is not composed of novices, the bold 

 novice who is not frightened of a big obstacle may be 

 easily drawn into it, and it is most important that every 

 beginner should closely observe which section of the 

 hunt is the right and which the wrong one, which, indeed, 

 he should copy and follow, and which he should avoid. 

 He should have no difficulty whatever in finding this 

 out for himself if he watches closely what takes place 

 when hounds are running on a weak scent, and he will 

 be well advised if he keeps back on such occasions. 

 When hounds really travel fast he will have ample 

 opportunities of showing what he is made of, but if he 

 presses on when hounds are constantly checking he 

 will soon incur the wrath of the Master, and might easily 

 gain a bad character, when in reality he has erred 

 through ignorance alone. 



With regard to equipment, I may be excused for 

 returning to two points, viz., the wearing of spurs by 

 women, and the wearing of scarlet by men. As regards 

 the former, I have lately heard the strongly-expressed 

 opinion of a Master of hounds of nearly twenty years' 

 standing who in his younger days was a well-known 

 performer between the flags. This authority is most 

 emphatic in his dislike of the spur, urging that in the 

 hunting field only horses which are given to refusing 

 require a spur at all, and that confirmed refusers should 

 not be taken out hunting. A spur, he says, is all very 

 well in a race occasicnally, and is useful for a rough 

 rider who is schooling a horse, but he maintains that 



