RIDING TO HOUNDS. 251 



resist him sufficiently to throw him down. Their 

 height varies from three to five feet ; but as there 

 never is a ditch on either side of them, and the 

 ground is generally firm in the parts of those 

 counties which are inclosed with walls ; those even 

 of the last-mentioned height may be taken with 

 safety by a good horseman, on a horse that is accus- 

 tomed to them, and is not distressed at the time 

 by the pace ; for, as " it is the pace that kills,''^ so is 

 it the pace that causes falls. 



The following directions may be serviceable to a 

 young beginner in the hunting field: — When hounds 

 find and go away, place yourself well down in your 

 saddle, on your fork or twist, and don't be standing 

 up in your stirrups, (as formerly was the fashion, 

 and the cause of many a dislocated neck,) sticking 

 out your rump as if it did not belong to you. Let 

 your knee be not very far from straight, with your 

 foot well out in front of it, and feeling in the stir- 

 rup as if it formed a sufficient fulcrum for your 

 bodily strength to act upon, in the assistance your 

 horse may require from you. Be assured that the 

 military seat, with the very long stirrup leathers, 

 will not do here, however graceful it may appear 

 on a parade. There must be a kind of obstando 

 power in the rider, to act against the preponderance 

 of his horse, particularly at what are called drop- 

 leaps ; or, in case of his making a blunder, or get- 

 ting into false ground, in his gallop. Having got 

 well away with the pack, keep your head up, with 

 your reins in the left hand, and your whip in 

 your right, held perpendicularly upwards, with the 



