THE HOUND 53 



useful for taking out the pack, and it is easy to 

 regulate your pace with them. Remember your 

 hounds cannot be too fit when they begin 

 hunting, and the whole success of your future 

 season will depend on their condition. I would 

 rather have a moderate pack in good condition 

 than better hounds that were not fit, if I had 

 the choice of the two to hunt a fox. The 

 reason hounds often check after running very 

 fast for a short time, when there is no apparent 

 cause, is because they are blown and in that 

 state they cannot smell. A hound ought to be 

 able to run at top speed for three miles without 

 taking one irregular respiration, and unless he 

 can do that he is not in the condition to hunt. 

 Keep your pack healthy in the summer, begin 

 exercising in good time, and when the first hunt- 

 ing day arrives you will find them more than a 

 match for the stoutest fox. 



I shall speak of hunting in another portion of 

 this work, but before we leave the hound I should 

 like to add a word or two on feeding. Custom^ 

 and experience have proved that the best old 

 oatmeal and horseflesh is the diet best suited to 

 hounds in hard work, and I do not advise you 



