258 HOESEMANSHIP. 



or satherinor a liorse too^ether, to shorten his stride 

 previously to his taking his leap, is a very great 

 relief to his wind, as we know from the effect a 

 good pull at his bridle, towards the end of his 

 course, has on that of the race-horse. At several 

 kinds of fences, likewise, it is necessary that he 

 should be pulled up nearly, if not quite, into a 

 walk, to enable him to take them with safety, such 

 as fences by the sides of trees, hedges with ditches 

 on each side of them, particularly if they are what 

 is termed " blind :" in short, all places known in the 

 hunting vocabulary as cramped places, as well as now 

 and then a timber fence, which must be taken nearly 

 at a stand. And it was the old system of taking all 

 upright fences, such as gates, rails, stiles, and hedges 

 without ditches, at a stand, that enabled the low- 

 bred hunter of the early part and middle of the 

 last century to live with hounds as well as he did 

 live with them. The very short time that it takes 

 for a horse to recover his wind, to a certain extent, 

 mio^ht be proved by a reference to stage-coach work. 

 Previously to the perfect manner in which it is 

 now horsed, and the superior condition of the cat- 

 tle, from their owners havins^ at lengfth found out 

 how to feed them, it was not unusual for a coach- 

 man to have a high blower, as a thick or bad winded 

 horse is called on the road, in his team, which 

 might scarcely be able to keep time. If he found 

 him distressed, he would pull up his coach on the 

 top of a hill, and draw back the distressed horse 

 from his collar. But how long would he keep him 

 in this position ? Why, not many seconds, before 



