82 CARRIAGE OF HUNTERS 



chief object is to produce horses for hunters nearly 

 clean bred, but with the shape, substance, and action 

 of the half-bred ; and, as I have before observed, their 

 hind-legs must be well placed under them, so as to 

 enable them to go in a country in which the banks 

 are narrow and rotten ; and they must be well 

 ribbed up, to allow of the hind-legs being tucked 

 under them. 



A hunter should carry himself higher than a race- 

 horse, even though the latter be going at three-quarter 

 speed only. If it were not for his galloping too low, a 

 thoroughbred would, of course, make the best hunter 

 of all ; but owing to his style of galloping he is very 

 apt to rush through and into his fences rather than 

 over them, and very few thoroughbreds carry them- 

 selves high enough to see what sort of fence is before 

 them, or how to negotiate it. When men do ride 

 thoroughbreds out hunting, the getting them safely 

 and satisfactorily over a country depends more on the 

 man than the horse. Therefore those men who prefer 

 thoroughbreds as hunters handicap themselves very 

 heavily, especially if in a stiff, close country, inasmuch 

 as the riding of such horses demands extra care and 

 judgment. 



The points to be observed as of importance in a 

 hunter vary somewhat from those usually found in a 

 thoroughbred. To particularize them I may remark 

 that amongst those of principal importance a good 

 mouth is a necessity ; for a hunter must be light in 

 hand, and in order to secure this his head must be well 

 put on, his neck thin, especially so beneath, crest firm 

 and arched, and wide between the jaws. His head 

 will thus be well set on, and form with the neck the 



