SCIENCE OF FOXHUNTING. 171 



that between a perfect horseman and a bad rider, 

 the latter being certain to beat his horse long 

 before the former. 



The art of riding to hounds is not to be learnt 

 in a month or a season by every man who goes out 

 hunting, or we should never behold those scenes in 

 the field which so commonly meet the eye in the 

 grazing districts, when out of such large numbers 

 assembled at the place of meeting, so few are 

 found who can live with hounds, even through a 

 short sharp burst ; and in a trying run fewer still. 

 When the fox breaks covert, the great majority are 

 so hurried and flurried that they scarcely know 

 what they are about, rushing and pressing forward 

 in a crowd, impatient for a good start, which, if 

 perchance they get they cannot keep : the cause 

 of this is that they have not served an apprentice- 

 ship to foxhunting in early youth, and do not, 

 consequently, understand how to get to or live, as 

 we call it, with hounds. Some, sailor-like, go at 

 their fences right earnestly, and at any hound also 

 which has the misfortune to be in their line, rasp- 

 ing away with loose reins, until brought down to 

 mother earth. Others take a well-known sports- 

 man for their guide, whom they will follow as long 

 as able to do so, greatly to his annoyance, and 

 perhaps detriment in case of a fall. The few 

 knowing ones choose a line of their own, listening 

 attentively to the cry of the pack whilst in covert, 

 never far from them at any time, and ready for a 

 start the moment they are away. These men have 

 learnt by experience the business part of foxhunt- 



