244 MODERN PIG-STICKING 



troublesome in the near fore-fetlock, and I was told 

 that I had better shoot him, he must have sesamoid- 

 itis. By good luck I met my old friend Captain 

 Mellard, A.V.C., in Delhi. He knew the horse well, 

 and after a careful examination ordered me to work 

 him hard. I did so and tried to break him down. 

 He was never lame again, and few horses' legs have 

 stood my work and weight like his. I sold him for 

 2000 rupees, and he has just died in his prime of 

 an unfortunate accident. I do not believe much 

 (I speak as a fool) in blistering or firing ; I am sure 

 massage and steady work are better. They have 

 paid me well with several horses of my own and 

 of " R." 



I kept one valuable horse, that I got cheap, for 

 eighteen months curing one leg, which he had hurt 

 hunting with the Peshawar Vale. We cured the bad 

 knee, but he had stood so long on the other leg that 

 his fetlock went to pieces, and I had to shoot him. 



As regards destroying a horse, one ought never 

 to go pig-sticking without a firearm. Staff- Sergeant 

 Farrier Bradford, R.F.A., who had been Lord 

 Robert's farrier at Candahar, taught me, when I 

 was a youngster in the 49th Battery, R.F.A., his 

 way of shooting a horse. I have always followed, 

 his teaching and have never known a failure. 

 You rest the muzzle of your weapon in the hollow 

 above the eye and aim for the base of the opposite 

 ear. You can meanwhile fondle the muzzle of the 

 horse with the other hand. There is little blood, 

 and the horse generally stands for half a second and 

 then falls forward dead. The system is mechanical, 

 even the unsteadiest amateur can scarcely miss. 



When I was in the 49th, H and E were the other 

 subalterns. H went off after tiger for three months. 



