THOROUGH-BRED HORSES 



He bends kindly to the bridle he objected to 

 all the morning, he tucks his quarters in, and 

 scoui^s through the deep ground like a hare, he 

 slides over rather than jumps his fences, with 

 the easy swoop of a bird on the wing, and when 

 everything of meaner race has been disposed of 

 a field or two behind, he trots up to some high 

 bit of timber, and leaps it gallantly without a 

 pause, though only yesterday he would have 

 turned round to kick at it for an hour ! 



Still, there are many chances against your 

 having such an opportunity as this. Most days 

 the hounds do not run hard. When they do, 

 you are perhaps so unfortunate as to lose your 

 start, and finally, should everything else be in 

 your favour, it is twenty to one you are riding 

 the wrong horse ! 



Therefore, the process of educating your young 

 one must be conducted on quieter principles, 

 and in a less haphazard way. If you can find a 

 pack of harriers, and their master does not object, 

 there is no better school for the troublesome or 

 unwilling pupil. But remember, I entreat, that 

 horsebreaking is prejudicial to sport, and most 

 unwelcome. You are there on sufferance, take 

 care to interfere with nobody, and above all, 

 keep wide of the hounds ! The great advantage 

 you will find in hare-hunting over the wilder 

 pursuit of the fox, is in the circles described by 



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