1870—71.] BIG HORSES VERSUS LITTLE ONES. 7 



tend against. Witness Peter Collinson and liis black and tan 

 pack that Avorked such wonders in North Warwickshire ! 

 Simply they came out of a country where they had learnt to 

 depend on themselves. They would not be ridden over, heeded 

 nothing round them, and showed extraordinary sport in conse- 

 quence. But to return to the point of riding. No one will 

 gainsay that a man in the prime of his strength and nerve will 

 find greater, more perfect, and more frequent delight in going 

 to hounds in a Grass Country than elsewhere. 



Who'd not rather kiss 

 A duchess than a milkma 



And thus it is that ambition leads so manj'- to take the first 

 opportunity of migration thither. And small blame to them ! 

 for would " it not show vilely in them to desire small 

 beer ? " 



Secondly, we all look forward to a time of life when hunting 

 shall still hold forth the same enjoyment, but when we are 

 scarcely fit to compete with younger men, and a fall becomes 

 a matter of serious consideration. Then, like many a true old 

 hound who has lost his dash and pace, it will be necessary to 

 draft us ; and we hope to find a pleasant refuge in a plough 

 country, there to stud}- daily the sport we love so well, and put 

 off almost indefinitely the horrors of superannuation. In this 

 way Assheton Smith settled quietly down in Hampshire in his 

 old age, and hunted on long after most of us can expect to 

 live. He found his hunting in the woods and over the light 

 fences of the chalk, while he could still remind himself of the 

 Shires by a quick gallop over the downs. 



Of the other point on which the " Practical Man " speaks 

 — viz., as to our statement of size being essential to a Leicester- 

 shire horse — we have only to thank him for so completely backing 

 up our opinion by instancing exceptions that prove the rule. 

 For that the small horses he mentions ivere exceptional is shown 

 by the notoriety they gained ; just as every case of a policeman 

 caught sinning is eagerly blazoned forth, and many credulous 



