COMING HOME. 347 



out all day to ride second horses, it is equally important 

 that the one-horse lady should know when her mount 

 has had enough. It is always a safe plan for her to 

 retire at the "change of horses"; for there is no 

 pleasure in continuing to hunt on a tired animal, and 

 there is certainly danger in so doing. Old-time 

 sportsmen were content with one horse a day. 

 " Scrutator " tells us that in the time of Mr. Meynell 

 *' it was not the fashion to have second horses in 

 the field." If I may express an opinion, I think 

 that many ladies are inclined to regard horses as 

 machines, and expect too much from them. This is 

 probably due to that unfortunate saying "as strong 

 as a horse," estimating the standard of mechanical 

 power as " horse power," and so forth. I have no 

 doubt that our domestic cat would dislike the person 

 who said that cats have nine lives. A horse is, in 

 reality, by no means as strong as many of us imagine, 

 and his legs are a continual source of anxiety. Ladies 

 who hunt should get a veterinary book, preferably 

 Vetei'inary Notes fo7' Horse-owners, and when they 

 have read it through, they will not be likely to overtax 

 the powers of their hunters. I once saw in an old 

 Graphic a picture of Lady Somebody's mare which 

 that worthy dame had ridden to death. The animal 

 had, it was explained, gone brilliantly with her ladyship 

 that clay and had fallen dead w^hile passing through a 

 village. The artist had drawn the poor mare stretched 

 out, surrounded by an inquisitive field, and the owner 

 posed as the heroine of a great achievement, instead of 



