282 HUNTING. 



lo. It is most probable that in a large establishment, of 

 the sort we are considering, this proportion will be consider- 

 ably exceeded ; or, if kept, will be kept by the employment of 

 an inferior class of servant, casual helpers, men of odd jobs, 

 who prefer beer to elbow-grease, and regard an inn rather as a 

 place to take their ease than to work in. If you place a groom 

 of your own in charge, he will live, it is almost certain, in a 

 perpetual feud, at any rate in a state of more or less armed 

 neutrality, with the keeper of the stable. It must not, of course, 

 be forgotten that we are now playing the part of the advocatus 

 diaboli. We are putting every possible objection in the strongest 

 possible light. But we are very far from saying that to all livery 

 stables, or even to the majority, these objections apply either 

 wholly or in part. No doubt there are many to be found up 

 and down England all that the most exacting could desire ; 

 stables where your horses will be as well fed, as well groomed, 

 as well exercised, and generally as well cared for, as they would 

 be in their own stable at home. But such perfect places are 

 not likely to be common ; perfection is common nowhere 

 among human institutions, to say nothing of equine. You will 

 at least be wise to stand prepared for troubles : and this perpetual 

 watching and waiting for troubles, what a trouble is it in itself ! 

 To have your own private establishment is, of course, the best 

 plan. If you can trust your groom to carry on matters as well 

 thirty or fifty miles off as though he were only round the 

 corner and liable to visits from the master at any moment, 

 there is really nothing to be said against this plan that cannot 

 with equal justice be said against the keeping of a hunting 

 stable at all. It will of course be cheaper, too, than carrying 

 your horses about on the rails with you ; for to the ordinary 

 cost of a hunting establishment you will have only to add your 

 own travelling expenses. Provided stable and groom are all 

 they should be, your horses will last much longer treated thus. 

 The strongest constitution and most even temper ever enjoyed 

 by a member of the equine race will not long stand the wear 

 and tear of those frequent rattlings over the rails, and all their 

 inevitable discomforts and mischances. 



