ACTION. 99 



sportsmen have paid dear for it on this particular 

 point. In fact, next to ascending steep hills under 

 great weight, nothing puts the physical powers 

 of a horse to so severe a test, as carrying a heavy 

 man, at a quick rate, over a country that sinks 

 under him at every step. Mere strength alone 

 will not do it. It must be the result of a combina- 

 tion of strength with agility, good wind and speed, 

 to produce which, the most perfect arrangement of 

 the acting parts — although the exact symmetry 

 and proportion of them may not be exactly discern- 

 ible to the eye — are requisite, and, we may be as- 

 sured, are present. As the beauty of all forms is, 

 in great part, subordinate to their utility, a horse 

 of this description, that is, one which can carry six- 

 teen stones well up to hounds in any or in all coun- 

 tries, at the rate they now run, not only, as has 

 before been observed, commands a very high price, 

 but, to a person who loves to study nature, presents 

 a feast to the eye. 



A hunter should be what is called very quick as 

 well as very fast ; by which is implied, that he 

 should not only have great speed, but that he should 

 be very quick in regaining his speed after taking 

 his leap, or being pulled up from any other cause. 

 One so gifted will cross a country, especially a close 

 one, in less time than one that is more speedy, but 

 not so " quick on his legs," as Jockies term it. It 

 is also very agreeable that a hunter should be safe 

 in his slow paces on the road ; and, if a fast trot- 

 ter, he relieves himself by changing the action of 



