PASTERN— FOOT 85 



higher action enables him to clear his fences safely, 

 and also to double his legs under him when ' taking off.' 



The pastern of the hunter must be shorter and less 

 slanting, though, of course, oblique enough. The use 

 of long pasterns in the thoroughbred is to diminish the 

 concussion which must result from his immense stride 

 and speed, and for this purpose it is most beautifully 

 adapted, but strength must be sacrificed by such 

 formation to elasticity. The stride of the hunter being 

 less, he does not require the same length of pastern, 

 but the greater strength to support his own heavier 

 body and that of his rider, as well as for the purpose 

 of sustaining a greater amount of fatigue ; a certain 

 degree of obliquity is, however, necessary, or else the 

 concussion which must result from galloping and 

 jumping would soon tend to lame him. 



The foot of a hunter must necessarily be perfect, 

 for he has to gallop over all sorts of ground, hard and 

 soft alike, and this, if his feet are faulty, must very soon 

 lame him. Racehorses suffer very much from con- 

 tracted feet — indeed, they are their curse, though 

 horses whose feet are so constructed are able to 

 race for a time. The position of the feet is also 

 important : they should be perfectly straight to the 

 front. If they turn out a little it is perhaps not so 

 serious an objection as if they turn in, for in the latter 

 case they are dangerous to ride when fatigued by a 

 long run or journey, and under such circumstances they 

 are apt to be careless and come down ; although my 

 mare Fidget, which was so extraordinarily good a 

 hunter, was very peculiar in this respect, but that was 

 the one exception I have known. 



The body of a hunter requires to be more compact 



