44 HEAVY WEIGHTS. 



quite clear this not a time for welter weights to 

 shine, or even to hold their own, independent of 

 Nimrod's ideas of heavy weights breaking their way 

 through fences. I have certainly heard the remark, 

 and have made it, that the greater proportion of our 

 best sportsmen, best and most forward riders, were 

 heavy men ; but it certainly is not their weight that 

 tells in their favour : that is, it is not their weight 

 that gets them along; but I trust I can point out 

 what does do it, namely, what gets Captain Peel 

 along — " head and resolution^ He did not get either 

 in the riding school ; nor would he or any other man 

 have ever learned to ride a four-mile steeple-race by 

 practising between four walls. His head was given 

 him before he saw the school, and I dare say the 

 resolution too : if not, he has taken care to get a 

 pretty good share of it somewhere else. 



But in allusion to heavy men riding well ; in the 

 first place, if a man is heavy, unless he wi3s enthusi- 

 astic in the pursuit, he most probably would never 

 have attempted to hunt at all ; but if he does, aware 

 of the impediment his weight must be, he knows he 

 shall require every aid that can be got to make some 

 amends for it. This induces him to make himself a 

 first-rate horseman. He knows that a perfect know- 

 ledge of hounds and hunting is an incalculable 

 advantage to a man riding with them ; so he becomes 

 a sportsman and fox-hunter. He knoAvs it will not 

 do for him to be picking and choosing the safest 

 places, or turning far out of his way to find them. 

 If he gets behind, he is probably behind for the day, 

 or certainly for the burst. Few horses lightly 

 weighted can catch hounds with impunity : what 

 could they then do with a heavy weight on them ? 



