COERCION 



many perfect hunters do any of us ride in our 

 lives ? The chestnut is as fast as the wind, stout 

 and honest, a safe and gallant fencer, but too light 

 a mouth makes him difficult to handle at blind 

 and cramped places ; the bay can leap like a deer, 

 and climb like a goat, invincible at doubles, and 

 unrivalled at rails, but, as bold Lord Cardigan 

 said of an equally accomplished animal, " it takes 

 him a long time to get from one bit of timber to 

 another ! " While the brown, even faster than the 

 chestnut, even safer than the bay, would be the 

 best, as he is the pleasantest hunter in the world 

 — only nothing will induce him to go near a 

 brook I 



It is only by exertion of a skill that is the 

 embodiment of thought in action, by application 

 of a science founded on reason, experience, and 

 analogy, that we can approach perfection in our 

 noble four-footed friend. Common-sense will do 

 much, kindness more, coercion very little, yet we 

 are not to forget that man is the master ; that 

 the hand, however light, must be strong, the 

 heel, however lively, must be resolute ; and that 

 when persuasion, best of all inducements, seems 

 to fail, we must not shrink from the timely 

 application of force. 



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