14 SKETCHES IN THE HUNTING FIELD. 



that the fault is generally with the horse, for he rides 

 animals which he believes to be as nearly as possible 

 thoroughbred, and quotes Dick Christian, to the effect 

 that thoroughbred horses are nearly always frightened 

 of water, though they jump it beautifully when they get 

 used to it. 



His stud has never got quite used to it yet. 



How Checkley came to be so well up on his gallant 

 bay, Pytchley, on the occasion of the famous run of the 

 South Wessex just referred to, is a mystery to those 

 who have watched his mode of progression in the field. 

 The line of country traversed that day had certainly 

 been a stiff one, and few lived to the end of it. The 

 tongue of malice and uncharitableness, of course, sug- 

 gests that it was an accident ; that Checkley, having 

 ridden boldly through a gate into a field with a gapless 

 fence on the far side, had, after carefully inspecting the 

 formidable obstacle, turned his horse's head and ridden 

 boldly through the gate out of the field again ; had 

 taken to the road, and was quietly trotting home when 

 he came upon the hounds, which had been running in a 

 semi-circle along the base of which he had ridden ; so 

 that all Checkley and the gallant bay did was to trot 

 through a gate, and join in with the half-dozen or so 

 who had ridden the line, and who, jumping their last 

 fence, found Checkley already on the spot. 



There he was, however, and after all that is the great 

 thing. Perhaps it was his superior knowledge of wood- 

 craft that enabled him to se© the finish on that ex:- 



