248 FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES 



" Thank you," was the answer, " but if he is worth 

 400 to buy, he is worth keeping to ride." There are 

 men who are obhged to sell when they have the chance, 

 but it is not the best plan, even for the fine riders. 

 Of course if a man uses his pluck and skill in horse- 

 manship to diminish his expenses, there is nothing to 

 be said. But the ordinary person will not make much 

 money, and is very likely to lame his horses and to 

 break at least his collar-bone if he pursues the will-o'- 

 the-wisp of coping in the hunting field. The sport, 

 as much sport as possible and nothing else, should be 

 the standard set before himself by the man who would 

 really enjoy his hunting. When we consider the 

 charm of the sport and the comparatively small 

 amount of it that we can enjoy in an ordinary lifetime, 

 it seems hardly worth while to waste our energies 

 on buying and selling horses, at which game the pro- 

 fessional will always beat us. I cannot think that a 

 certain noble duke was wise when he said, " I will 

 buy no more made horses. I am young enough to 

 make my own, and I will do so." There is, no doubt, 

 a pleasure in making horses, but there are very many 

 who can ride a made horse creditably who only spoil 

 their horses and their own riding when they try to 

 school hunters for themselves. 



I do not deny that there is a great pleasure in 

 making a hunter out of a raw four-year-old, and a 

 still greater in riding one that we have schooled our- 

 selves, but this is not for the majority, at least until 

 horsemanship, as compared with fair riding, is much 

 commoner than it is at the present time. Many men 

 never climb into a saddle between one hunting season 

 and another, and first-rate riding is one of those things 

 that need constant practice. Nowadays, it is true, 

 the game of polo does much to raise the average of 



