THE HORSE. 
26 
THE HUNTER. 
countries. There is assembled a concourse of persons of every rank from the farmer to the peer, all with the air and feeling of 
independence, mounted on highly-conditioned horses, and deeply intent on the dangerous and exciting game to be played. The 
Fox is almost certainly found in the first cover, or in one of the neighbouring ones, so that what are called blank days very rarely 
occur. When the fox breaks cover, followed by the leading hounds, the eager crowd of horsemen is all in motion and at speed. 
But it were useless to describe a scene familiar to so many, and which must be seen to be at all understood. It suffices to observe, 
that the chase is a rapid gallop, interrupted by the most formidable obstacles of fence, gate, stile, and brook, which a completely 
enclosed country can present. The courage and bottom of the horses, and the boldness and address of the riders, are deserving of 
great admiration; and it may be safely said, that there is no school of horsemanship in Europe which can at all be compared with 
an English Hunting-field. But perfect as the general system has been rendered, it is to be feared that refinement has been carried 
to its limits. The rapidity of the pace has been carried to a degree that assimilates the sport to a race, animating certainly to 
the highest degree, but differing in its character, and in the feelings which it excites, from the legitimate exercise of the Hunting- 
field. The effect begins to be perceived in the character of the horses employed, which, in the great hunting countries, are mani¬ 
festly tending to a lighter form than ought to characterise the genuine Hunter. Nay, it is now very common for sportsmen to 
use horses entirely thoroughbred; and if such horses are sufficiently trained for riding, it cannot be denied that they possess pro¬ 
perties which fit them well for the short and violent exercise which they are required to undergo. The fact, however, proves, that 
the increased speed and diminished length of the chase have been carried even beyond the bounds which a just consideration of 
the nature of the pursuit should assign to it. 
An argument employed in justification of the excessive speed of the modern chase is, that it has become necessary, in order 
that the hounds may escape from the pressure of the crowd of horsemen, who are now more numerous than in former times. 
The reason can scarcely be held to be sufficient. The present mode of riding to hounds is merely a fashion, introduced in the 
latter part of the last century, and may, like every fashion, yield to the influence of the taste and judgment of those whose situa¬ 
tion enables them to set an example. The modern Fox-hound could easily be bred back a little to the older standard of the 
Blood-hound, without any impairing of his essential properties, while a more subdued system of riding would probably afford a 
pleasure more accordant with the nature of the pursuit. But however this be, a relaxation of the speed of the chase would cer¬ 
tainly tend to preserve the distinctive character of that unrivalled breed of horses, which is rendered subservient to this fine and 
animating exercise. The generous sportsman may look to something beyond the triumph of his own skill in excelling a field of 
numerous comrades. He may look to the Hunting-field as an arena in which all may find delight, and which collects together 
individuals of every degree in a common pursuit. The sport is truly British, and has as yet taken root in no foreign land. It is 
a pursuit which is in accordance with the gay hilarity of early life, which binds the youth of the country to the halls of their 
country homes, and which provides a substitute for those less manly amusements which in other countries become necessary to fill 
up the intervals of more serious occupation. 
