RIDING OVER THE SHIRES 217 



improved, nor would a man, who was otherwise a 

 gentleman and a once popular subaltern in a good 

 regiment, be ostracised for his economies. There 

 are, of course, a certain class of men who might sneer, 

 but these are they whom wealth has raised socially 

 without elevating either their minds or their manners. 

 Such, however, are few among hunting people, for 

 in the hunting-field, as in a public school, men soon 

 find their level. Nowhere perhaps are men more 

 valued for what they are rather than what they 

 have, for wealth, though it has some consequence, 

 has little influence in that most democratic of in- 

 stitutions, the hunting-field. 



We have seen what some of the riders of the past 

 were like, though I have touched upon but a few. 

 No word has been said of Lord Gardner, who knew 

 what pace was and could make a horse do anything 

 with his fine hand ; of Sir Frederick Johnstone, who 

 was noted for his love of timber and seldom saw a 

 flight of rails without having a fling at them ; of 

 Whyte-Melville, who for many years saw much sport 

 with the Pytchley with but moderate horses, and 

 who has recorded his own experiences in " Market 

 Harborough " for those who can read between the 

 lines ; of Charles Payn, one of the famous huntsmen 

 of the past ; of Colonel Anstruther Thomson, who 

 went through the stiff Pytchley country because his 

 weight forbad that he should ride over it ; of Mr. 

 Maher and Mr. Little Gilmour and many others. 

 All, however, are agreed on certain points : to ride 

 slow at timber and aslant at big fences ; to avoid 

 riding straight over ridge and furrow ; to put on 

 pace for a rasper ; to ride steadily, but not too slowly, 

 at their fences ; and never to turn their horses' heads 

 from the hounds if they can help it. As I have already 



