THE HUNTER. 595 



can present. The courage and bottom of the horses, and 

 the boldness and address of the riders, are deserving of great 

 admiration ; and it may be safely said, that there is no 

 school of horsemanship in Europe which can at all be com- 

 pared with an English Hunting-field. .But perfect as the 

 general system has been rendered, it is to be feared that re- 

 finement has been carried to its limits. The rapidity of the 

 pace has been carried to a degree that assimilates the sport 

 to a race, animating, certainly, in the highest degree, but dif- 

 fering in its character, and in the feelings which it excites, 

 from the legitimate exercise of the Hunting-field. The effect 

 begins to be perceived in the character of the horses em- 

 ployed, which, in the great hunting countries, are manifestly 

 tending to a lighter form than ought to characterize the 

 genuine Hunter. Nay, it is now very common for sportsmen 

 to use horses entirely thoroughbred ; and, if such horses are 

 sufficiently trained for ricling, it cannot be denied that they 

 possess properties which fit them for the short and violent 

 exercise which they are required to undergo. The fact, how- 

 ever, proves, that the increased speed and diminished length 

 of the chase have been carried even beyond the bounds which 

 a just consideration of the nature of the pursuit should as- 

 sign to it. 



An argument employed in justification of the excessive 

 speed of the modern chase is, that it has become necessary, 

 in order that the hounds may escape from the pressure of 

 the crowd of horsemen, who are now more numerous than 

 in former times. The reason can scarcely be held to be suf- 

 ficient. The present mode of riding to hounds is merely a 

 fashion, introduced at the end of the last century, and may, 

 like every fashion, yield to the influence of the taste and 

 judgment of those whose situation enables them to set an 

 example. The modern Fox-hound could easily be bred back 

 a little to the older standard, without any impairing of his 

 essential properties ; while a more subdued system of riding 

 would probably afford a pleasure more accordant with the 



