222 BREAKING AND ENTERING. 



hare and rabbit; but too much must not be attempted with them 

 until they are entered to fox, as their spirit and dash would be dis- 

 couraged, if the whip or scold were always being used without the 

 counter-cheer in favor of some kind of game. 



All hounds require daily exercise, without which they cannot be 

 preserved in health, nor can their high spirits be controlled, for, if 

 they are not exercised, they will always be requiring the whip. If, 

 however, the huntsman takes them out daily in the morning on the 

 road, which hardens their feet, and in the evening in the paddock, 

 they are so orderly that anything may be done with them. For 

 this purpose the men should be mounted in the morning, but in 

 the evening they may be on foot. 



Cub-hunting, which is the name given to the process by which 

 young hounds are entered, begins in August as soon as the wheat is 

 cut, and the time will therefore vary with the season and the 

 country. In some places it may be carried on at any time, but 

 this month is early enough. It is better to take out the old hounds 

 once or twice, until they have recovered their summer idleness, aa 

 a good example is everything to a young hound. When the young 

 entry are tc be brought out, it is very desirable to find as quickly 

 as possible, and some cautious huntsmen go so far as to keep them 

 coupled until the old hounds have found their fox ; but if they 

 have been made steady from "riot" there is no occasion for 

 this. If, however, they have never been rated for " riot," there is 

 no great harm in their hunting hare or anything else at first, until 

 they know what they ought to do; after which they must be 

 rigidly kept to their game. But cub-hunting is not solely intended 

 to break in and " enter" the hound. It has also for its object to dis- 

 perse the foxes from the large woodlands which form their chief 

 holds in all countries. Independently of the above object cub- 

 hunting is practised in August, September, and October, first, in 

 order to give the young hounds blood, which they can obtain 

 easily from a litter of fat cubs ; secondly, to break them from 

 " riot," while they are encouraged to hunt their own game ; and, 

 thirdly, to endeavor to break them of sundry faults, such as skirt- 

 ing, etc. ; or, if apparently incurable, to draft them at once. 



