188 MODERN PIG-STICKING 



tied above as well as below the knees. I used to 

 exercise my horses like this before the pig-sticking 

 season started, so as to get them accustomed to 

 them. I do not believe in the combined gaiter 

 and knee-cap, which is not secured about the knee, 

 as when jumping the horse's knee is left bare owing 

 to his forelegs being bent, and if a thorn gets in, 

 the knee-cap only rubs it and makes it worse. 

 Many sportsmen wear stiff knee-guards on their 

 own knees to keep the thorns out. 



I strongly advise taking out with the tiffin a 

 packet of permanganate of potash, a pair of scissors, 

 and a pair of tweezers to deal with the thorns. 

 The legs should be washed over, as the thorns can 

 then be more easily located and pulled out with 

 tweezers. In the case of an obstinate thorn, or one 

 difficult to find the exact position of, the hair all 

 round should be cut away and a poultice applied, 

 if necessary. The legs should then be washed 

 thoroughly over with a strong solution of per- 

 manganate of potash. If these precautions are 

 taken, the risk of trouble from thorns is not great. 



Inhabitants. — These are mostly Guzeratis ; their 

 language is difficult to understand. They make good 

 beaters and are brave. There are many quite good 

 shikaries, though, like others, they fail lamentably 

 at times. They are excellent trackers (puggies), 

 and there is great scope for this science in the sandy 

 soil of Guzerat ; and many a long crawl, following 

 the trackers as they make a circle round each pug- 

 mark with their sticks, has been rewarded by 

 stirring up an old boar who had crept away from 

 the noise of the beaters, and thought himself secure 

 in a quiet hedgerow. 



