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the hunting-field of late years — that of wearing long-shanked spurs, 

 ome being straight, making the danger still more pronounced. 

 Now, to my ideas, no new innovation upon our old fashions is more 

 objectionable and dangerous. Men throw horses very much oftener 

 than horses throw men. Nine out of ten falls may be assigned to the 

 rider's hands and heels. That good authority, old Mr. William Quin 

 of Loughloher, told me once, "When you jump into a field, fix upon 

 the place you will jump out of it, and go straight for it ; steady your 

 horse when within a few strides of the fence, to get his hind legs 

 under him, and then leave the rest to his own honour I" Yes, if you 

 want to get safely over a country the less you meddle with your horse 

 while fencing the better ; it is therefore manifest that the shorter 

 your spurs are the less likelihood there is of touching him uninten- 

 tionally, and no matter how short they are, a man will do so at times 

 when he gets a shake, even though he be an accomplished rider. A 

 man with a bad seat actually excoriates the shoulders of his horse with 

 long-shanked spurs even when galloping. For my part I always 

 wore spurs with which I could touch my horse only with grea^ 

 difiiculty. In his advice to " ingenuous youths," that renowned and 

 practical workman, Mr. Jorrocks, says of spurs, " the less they use 

 them the better." 



I remember once extricating Lord Marcus Beresford from an awk- 

 ward and dangerous predicament into which he got, owing to one of 

 these infernal spurs. The horse he was riding gave him a fall, and ii« 

 got hung up by the leg in a complicated entanglement of boot, girth, 

 and stirrup-iron, which were all kept skewered together by his long- 

 shanked spur. But for the docility of old Bed Herring the results 

 might have been very serious to Lord Marcus, for he could not have 

 liberated himself. 



Though I said in the opening lines of this chapter that I did not 

 mean to enter into the scientific mysteries of hunting, I will just giva 

 a hint. Nothing can teach a man the real science of hunting better 

 than carefully watching a pack of beagles or harriers hunting a hare 

 if they he lejt entirely to themselves. With foxhounds many things 

 distract a man's attention, and as there are times when all his energy 

 and faculties must be centered in himself and his horse, he cannot 

 learn very much, but with the " thistle- whippers " it is dififerent. 

 When a man takes his Bachelor degree with harriers he soon 

 qualifies as Master of Arts with foxhounds, if not as a Senior Fellow. 



I go with my friend Jorrocks, whose sound, sensible sayings I quote 

 so very often, where he says that " all men who wish to do so can 

 hunt," even upon very limited incomes, but they must deprive them- 

 selves of other enjoyment, and be content to ride a screw, and turn 

 out less smartly than others. The privilege of riding in breeches 

 and leggings should be allowed to the poor but sporting fellows who 

 elect to adopt this laudable method. With that garb, however, I 

 think a pot hat should be worn, but it must suit the man. By the 



