IRISH HUNTERS 



ing countries, do not therefore despond. If he 

 fail in deep ground, or labour on ridge-and-furrow, 

 remember he possesses this inestimable merit, 

 that he can go the shortest way ! Because the 

 fence in front is large, black, and forbidding, you 

 need not therefore send him at it a turn faster 

 than usual ; he is accustomed to si^xm<g j /om his 

 back, and cover large places out of a trot. If you 

 ride your own line to hounds, it is no slight 

 advantage thus to have the power of negotiating 

 awkward corners, without being " committed to 

 them " fifty yards off, unable to pull up should 

 they prove impracticable ; and the faculty of 

 "jumping at short notice," on this consideration 

 alone, I conceive to be one of the choicest qualities 

 a hunter can possess. Also, even in the most 

 favoured and flying of the "grass countries," 

 many fences require unusual steadiness and 

 circumspection. If they are to be done at all, 

 they can only be accomplished by creeping, some- 

 times even climbing to the wished-for side. The 

 front rank itself will probably shirk these un- 

 accustomed obstacles with cordial unanimity, 

 leaving them to be triumphantly disposed of by 

 your new purchase from Kildare. He pokes out 

 his nose, as if to inspect the depth of a possible 

 interment, and it is wise to let him manage it all 

 his own way. You give him his head, and the 

 slightest possible kick in the ribs. With a cringe 



149 



