254^ HORSEMANSHIP. 



of the pack, and to obtain the character of a sports- 

 man, observe the following rules : — Never press 

 upon hounds, even in chase. When they have 

 lost the chase — in other words, when they are at 

 fault, pull up your horse, and keep wide of them ; 

 and, in the words of a celebrated old sportsman, 

 " always anticipate a cheeky 



Never, for the sake of displaying your horseman- 

 ship, or your horse, take an unnecessary leap when 

 hounds are running, nor a large one when a smaller 

 is in your view, unless the latter take you too much 

 out of your line, or for a reason which we shall 

 presently give. If your horse is a good timber 

 leaper, and not blown, prefer a moderate timber 

 fence to a rough and blind hedge-and-ditch fence, 

 as less likely to give you a fall, neither will it take 

 so much out of your horse. But when your horse 

 becomes distressed, avoid timber, for if he do not 

 clear it, he will give you a worse fall in that state 

 than if he were quite fresh. A blown horse falls 

 nearly as heavy as a dead one. There is, however, 

 another precaution to be observed with horses a 

 good deal beaten by the pace. Have an eye, then, 

 rather to the nature of the ground on which it is 

 placed than to the size of the fence ; that is, prefer 

 a good-sized fence, where you see firm ground for 

 your horse to spring from, to a small one, where it 

 is soft and sticky. Moreover, a distressed horse 

 will often rise at a fence of some height and appear- 

 ance, whereas he will run into, or, at all events, 

 endeavour to scramble through a small one. If 



