36 Cross Country with Horse and Hound 



jumpers, but if he has never found a partner with intelli- 

 gence enough to enjoy the sport as well as he himself does, 

 he has yet to enjoy one of the principal delights of a day 

 with hounds. Such horses are not plentiful. When a man 

 finds one, he will probably regret it as long as he lives if he 

 parts with him. Out of a hundred hunters you can prob- 

 ably count the genuine sportsmen, the genuine hunters, on 

 the fingers of one hand. In this respect the Irish hunters 

 outclass all others. They are like the people who breed 

 them, always ready for a lark, yet having the keenest in- 

 stinct for self-preservation. They are light-hearted to a 

 degree, and nothing suits them better than to have a hurly- 

 burly rough-and-tumble scurry across country. They are 

 just reckless and bold enough for such a game, and when 

 mouthed and educated as only Irish hunters are, they will 

 give you a day's hunting to be remembered as long as 

 you live. I have seen them so joyous at the sight of hounds 

 as fairly to squeal with delight, jumping and playing from 

 sheer effervescence of light-heartedness. Such an one is 

 the horse for a companion, the horse for a partner in a 

 day's sport. A genuine sportsman himself, he will pull you 

 through. His heart as well as yours is in the game. 



There remains the final test of what may be called " the 

 personal equation.'* If he fails to pass this, reject him on 

 the spot. You may be surprised to find your supposed ideal 

 hunter not at all to your liking. He does not fit you, and 

 you cannot seem to make yourself fit him. You feel un- 

 comfortable on him, just as you would on a rocking-horse 

 or a rocking-chair that pitched you too freely forward or 

 backward. Seated on a horse that feels comfortable under 



