436 THE HUNTER. 



hunter fully shares in the enthusiasm of his rider.. But if 

 the horse be thus ready to exert himself, it is brutal to urge 

 him beyond his own natural ardour ; yet we seldom hear of 

 a " hard day's run," without one or more horses having 

 either died on the field, or when they reached home. One 

 of the severest chaces on record was with the king's stag- 

 hounds. There was an uninterrupted burst of four hours and 

 twenty minutes. One horse dropped dead on the field 5 another 

 before he could reach the stable j and seven more within the 

 week. It does sometimes happen that the horse disdains to 

 yield till he falls and dies ; but much oftener the poor animal 

 painfully and falteringly proceeds, tortured with whip and 

 spur, till he drops and expires.* The steeple chase, a relic of 

 ancient fool-hardiness and cruelty, is getting into gradual 

 disuse : this kind of sport being justly denounced even by 

 sportsmen as discreditable to those who engage in it. Sir 

 John Malcolm heard an Arab, who had seen an English fox- 

 hunt, give the following laconic account of it to his countrymen. 

 " First came the fox at a great rate. I hallooed, but no one 

 heard me, and I thought he'd get away j but when he got out 

 of sight, up came a large spotted dog, then another, and another, 

 all with their noses to the ground crying, whow, whow, whow, 

 so loud I was frightened. Away went these devils, and soon 

 found the poor animal. After them galloped all the horsemen 

 shouting, and trying to make a noise louder than the dogs. No 

 wonder they killed the fox among them." 



THE ROADSTER, OR ROAD-HORSE. 



This is an improved breed from the old English hackney, 

 which was also the chief stock of our best saddle-horses, 

 whether for the road or the field. The roadster should be bred 

 according to the nature of the country, and the work required 

 of him. He should be high in the forehead, round in the 

 barrel, and deep in the chest. " If he be worth having," says 

 * See page 139. 



