298 HUNTERS OF THE PRESENT DAY. 



lessons as now. A snaffle-bridle mouth being then 

 considered of great importance in a hunter, great 

 pains were taken to make young horses go lightly 

 in hand, with ease to themselves and comfort to 

 their riders, and change readily their paces ; in 

 fact, training then was, as it ever ought to be, a 

 gradual process. What is it now ? A four or five 

 year old horse, when not half broken, is ridden by 

 a rough rider across country, as it is termed — 

 tumbled into ditches, rolled over gates and hedges, 

 and half-drowned in a brook, and then he is 

 called a hunter ! 



These horses go rushing and dashing at their 

 fences, and must take them in the manner they 

 have been taught, or will not take them at all ; 

 and as for the mouths of many — you may as well 

 pull at an alligator's. I have ridden as bad-tem- 

 pered horses as any man ever possessed (not ex- 

 cepting Cruiser), which would fight with fore and 

 hind legs, and with their teeth also ; but by pa- 

 tience and perseverance, and without punishment, 

 I could make them do almost everything I told 

 them — jump fences, or walk over or through them 

 • — follow me like dogs, or go before me — clear 

 brooks or wade through them. In short, there 

 can be little doubt that horses by kind treatment 

 will become as tractable and obedient as dogs. 



