judges of horses held it as a maxim, that " a good hunter could be purchased any day, but a good hack not more than once a year;" and in bygone days such a maxim was perfectly just. Any horse that could bear six or seven hours' fatigue, gallop a moderate pace, and jump safely at very moderate fences, was a hunter: but in those days the hack, to be a perfect one, required a multitude of good qualities, he wanted as much speed, when called on, as the hunter, good temper, the best of action in all his paces, going with ease to the rider and himself, not too hasty but always ready to go, a perfect mouth, perfect safety, the best of legs and feet, and the best of constitutions, to which must be added indomitable game; for while the hunter has the excitement of the cry of hounds, and the bustle of a crowd of horsemen, to keep his spirits up, the hack has nothing but the gameness of his nature to enable him to finish with cheerfulness and safety the last twenty of a journey of sixty or sometimes eighty miles, in thirteen or fourteen hours. Time was, and indeed not more than a century back, when it was only on the high road that a carriage could travel at anything beyond a foot's pace, with an occasional jog-trot; and even on the best turnpike roads six miles an hour was held fair work; in fact, the mails astonished the whole country in undertaking to do eight. Under such circumstances, a

really safe and good hack was invaluable to men who, from motives of business or pleasure, wished to get over the country with expedition; and this fully justified them in valuing such a horse as a greater treasure than a good hunter. I remember, as a boy, a friend of my father's had a horse he always rode as a hack in summer, and as cover hack in winter. This horse looked a hunter all

over.

Some one asked why he never hunted this horse: "No," said he, "he is too valuable as a hack to risk him with hounds." Now-a-days such horses are quite at a discount; for anything that is good looking, safe on a smooth road, pleasant to ride, and has that kind of knee-up action that would some years since have caused his immediate rejection, is quite good enough for a hack. A pleasant riding horse is now, and possibly ever will be, wanted; but a thorough game hack is uncalled for; for who that had sixty miles to go would ride that distance on a high road, when he can now go quicker and far pleasanter in a light trap, and four times as fast by a railroad? and even that I hold pleasanter than riding a distance on a high road. I have heard old men mention many persons they knew who, a century back, would give their hundred for a good hack, when fifty was thought a strongish price for a hunter.

These two horses have, therefore, quite changed places since the days I refer to. To be in all

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49

particulars a good hunter, HE must now be the good horse, for ridden as hunters now are in countries where hounds go like greyhounds, unless a horse is really good he cannot live at the pace. It is true there are horses that would bring a long price, though it is known that, figuratively speaking, they are not worth a farthing after the first burst; and such horses are really valuable to certain men of large fortune: such a horse is probably most brilliant in his performance for thirty minutes, his master then jumps on his second horse, the first goes home, and is not wanted again for eight or ten days. Now supposing this to be the case, on a rough calculation of what this horse costs in keep, his share of strappers, stud groom, stabling, and so forth, his master is riding him at a trifle under eighteen pence a minute, and at the rate of four pounds some shillings per hour for the time he rides him.

I know a man particularly fastidious in his snuff and cigars; for the particular kind he takes of the first he pays tenpence an ounce, and for very choice and old cigars he gives anything that is asked him. I know he gave a shilling a piece for some said to have belonged to the late Duke of Sussex; of each of the cigars he buys he only smokes half, and then declares "the aroma becomes vitiated." Now he has only to ride at eighteen pence per minute, and his hunting,

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snuffing, and smoking, would make a very gentlemanly amount of expenditure.

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Such a horse as I have mentioned is certainly a very clever hunter, and affords the rider a great treat for the short time he is carried by him; but we cannot call a horse who would shut hounds went a few fields beyond what in racing phrase we should term "his length" a GOOD hunter, that is, he is not comparatively so; and yet, if a horse can go brilliantly for thirty minutes over a flying country, he must not be called half a bad one, though he is not one to bear longcontinued fatigue. Now, singular as the assertion may at first appear, if I were a man of very large fortune I would never wish to ride what are commonly held to be good horses, that is, very lasting ones, for such usually take more care of themselves than I like; and, personally, I would not ride the best horse in the world twice if I had to be "getting him along," and driving him at every fence he came to. Such are good horses for men who hunt three times a week with a couple; but for a man who wishes to be carried pleasantly, they are execrable, for it is the difference between being carried like a gentleman for amusement, or like a whip while doing his duty.

I never could bear riding horses that were not, in stable phrase, a little "above their work." Now there are two ways of having them always so.

CUT YOUR COAT TO YOUR CLOTH. 51

The man who keeps a stud of fourteen or fifteen hunters may do this and hunt six days a week, having a second horse out each day; but a man who keeps but few, if he wishes to have his horses as fit to go as those of his wealthy brother sportsman, must limit his hunting to the strength of his stable; he may (if from the fixture he anticipates a regular clipper) occasionally treat himself to having a second horse out; but he must also occasionally, if he has had a burster with a first fox, go home; for ditto with a second would probably prevent his horse coming again for ten or a dozen days. By this management I have, with my short stud, at times hunted six days a week; but to do this a man must not take liberties with his horses. I do not call getting a good place and keeping it taking liberties, for I am quite satisfied that a man who judiciously goes straight distresses his horse the least; but then he must have tact, judgment, and a watchful eye, to make the most of his horse at proper times, and in proper situations; and, what is still more necessary, to (if I may use the expression) make the least of him when and where he can do so without losing his place: this is done by regulating the pace and form of your horse's going in accordance with the ground you are going over, by never omitting to take a pull at him the moment you find he wants it, by taking