3 02 THE SPORT OF KINGS 



and a rare good fellow, and for a wonder he had a 

 grievance against hunting men, though he did not 

 make a loud complaint. He had, it seems, a four- 

 year-old horse, a well-bred and valuable animal, 

 which he was anxious to sell, and he asked several 

 gentlemen, members of the hunt within the district 

 of which he lived, to come and look at his horse. 

 Not one of them was a purchaser, and eventually 

 he sold his horse to a dealer for the same price, a 

 very large one, which he had asked his hunting 

 friends. He argued that if a dealer could afford 

 to give such a price surely the hunting man could. 

 But this is precisely what the hunting man cannot 

 afford to do. Unfortunately times are changed 

 from the days when men were always on the look- 

 out for a likely four-year-old, and liked to see the 

 talents of two or three promising youngsters de- 

 veloping under the fostering care of accomplished 

 stud groom and rough-rider. The incomes of 

 many hunting men, especially of those whose 

 property principally consists in land, has diminished 

 considerably of late years, and the chances are in 

 favour of contraction rather than expansion. 

 Superfluous horses are therefore no longer to be 

 found in their stables — to use the old adage, 

 " They keep no more cats than catch mice." It 

 is evident to the most ordinary understanding that 

 a four-year-old horse is not fit to take his turn 

 through a hunting season, and that if he is com- 

 pelled to do so, the only result would be pre- 

 mature break - down. So clearly is this fact 

 established, that the principal hunter-dealers will 

 not buy a horse under five years old, and many 

 hard - riding men, especially if they be heavy 

 weights, will not buy one under six years old. 



