102 COURSING 



Stamina, then, is as important as pace, and many a half- 

 trained flyer is out-counted by a plodding dog who means 

 ' being there ' as long as the hare lives. 



Now comes the question of gallops, and, to begin with, it 

 will be necessary to find a strip of sound turf on the decline, or 

 slightly undulating. With young greyhounds it is a fatal mis- 

 take to gallop them uphill ; for that, we have no doubt, is highly 

 prejudicial to speed, and induces an undesirable shoulder 

 action, whereas a gallop on a decline is calculated to produce 

 speed and develop the shoulder. There are several ways of 

 galloping greyhounds, and the one usually practised is for a 

 boy to take the string some three furlongs from the trainer. 

 The latter then holloas or whistles, and the boy releases one 

 that is sure to go straight ; when this one has traversed a 

 couple of hundred yards another is slipped, and so on until the 

 whole string is under weigh each one will strive to overtake 

 the dog in front of him, and will thus be properly extended. 

 If sufficient interval is not allowed they overtake one another, 

 and rough play begins, generally ending in torn flanks and 

 perforated thighs. 



When the gallops are increased in length, the trainer must 

 mount his horse and gallop away whistling, when in like 

 manner the dogs are slipped one by one, and in their eagerness 

 to overtake the horse they will refrain from interfering with one 

 another. 



It is very important that the horse selected for this duty 

 should be thoroughly quiet, or disastrous results mav ensue. 

 The most likely animal is a hunt servant's horse, that is 

 thoroughly accustomed to hounds crowding round his legs ; 

 such a one is not only free from kick, but will carefully avoid 

 treading on them, whereas one that has not been accustomed 

 to hounds is almost sure to let fly when they come racing up 

 to his heels bounding and barking as is their wont and even 

 if he refrains from so doing, is likely by clumsiness and 

 fidgetting to put his hoofs on their precious toes. 



