RIDING TO FOX-HOUNDS 



the latter case, and for this little hint I am 

 indebted to Lord Wilton, do not increase your 

 speed so as to gain in distance, rather preserve 

 the same regular pace, so as to save in wind. 

 Descending an incline at an easy canter, and held 

 well together, your horse is resting almost as if 

 he were standing still. It is quite time enough 

 when near the bottom to put on a spurt that will 

 shoot him up the opposite rise. 



On the grass, if you m2{st cross ridge-and- 

 furrow, take it a-slant, your horse will pitch less 

 on his shoulders, and move with greater ease, 

 while if they lie the right way, by keeping him 

 on the crest, rather than in the trough of those 

 long parallel rollers, you will ensure firm ground 

 for his gallop, and a sounder, as well as higher 

 take-off for the leap, when he comes to his 

 fence. 



I need hardly remind you that in all swampy 

 places, rushes may be trusted implicitly, and 

 experienced hunters seem as well aware of the 

 fact as their riders. Vegetable growth, indeed, 

 of any kind has a tendency to suck moisture into 

 its fibres, and consequently to drain, more or less, 

 the surface in its immediate vicinity. The deep 

 rides of a woodland are least treacherous at their 

 edges, and the brink of a brook is most reliable 

 close to some pollard or alder bush, particularly 

 on the upper side, as Mr. Bromley Davenport 



179 



