A J^ISK V PERFORMANCE 2 1 



would turn her head towards home and try to get the 

 hounds (my own harriers) to go with her, but when 

 they would not go, she would not leave them. As a 

 rule, after the hare or fox had been broken up, if not 

 over-done, she appeared always eager for another 

 gallop, but when she was tired she invariably tried to 

 go home. 



Once, when hunting with the Meath hounds, I per- 

 formed a somewhat foolhardy feat with this mare. 

 The field were ' pounded ' by a boggy river, the only 

 way across which was by means of two planks, which 

 were used for the purpose of wheeling barrows across. 

 I dismounted, and she followed me over like a cat, 

 much to the chagrin of many hard-riding men, who 

 were forced to go a mile round and lost the rest of 

 a orood run. 



I once rode this mare in a run for a bet, with the 

 rein buckled round her neck instead of to the bit, and 

 she carried me perfecdy. As I had run the reins 

 through the breastplate, I was able to get quite 

 sufficient support without interfering with her wind- 

 pipe in any way. One of the hardest men ever known 

 in Ireland, Mr. Kennedy, of Fleemstovvn, Co. Dublin, 

 had a wonderful mare which he always rode with the 

 reins hanging quite loose on her neck. She was as clever 

 as a cat, and could do anything without the help of reins, 

 and nothing could beat her in a run. Even Mr. Leonard 

 Morrogh (the Nimrod of Ireland) found it a difficult 

 matter at times to live with this wonderful little mare. 

 She could go down anywhere, and up anything, like a 

 car, her rider always allowing the reins to hang loose. 

 She took her fences almost at a stand. The way she 

 crossed a country was a sight worth seeing. It but 



