m of truth in
this, especially with young horses, and young horsemen too for that
matter; but when an old hunter gets a "bad" fall, I doubt whether he
ever recovers his jumping form again, any more than we ourselves who may
have come an awful "buster" after we have reached the "age of
discretion." Horses frequently refuse on account of some physical
infirmity. Unsoundness in one or both fore legs naturally makes a horse
chary of jumping, because of the painful jar which he will receive on
landing, when he is obliged to place his entire weight on his fore legs.
Then again, if his feet are not in a hard and sound condition, he
"funks" the pain of landing over a fence and tries his best to avoid
jumping. Many unsound horses, generally hirelings, are hammered along
out hunting, especially on roads, with most inconsiderate cruelty. I
once tried to hunt on a hireling which, I soon saw, was not in a fit
state to carry me without pain. Had I insisted on having my money's
worth out of the animal, it would have been nothing short of gross
cruelty. His fore legs were bandaged, as is usual with hired mounts, and
he galloped and jumped several small fences soundly, as far as I could
feel; but when he came to a rather formidable one, he stopped and tried
to rear. I at once found an easier means of egress, which took me for a
short distance on a road, and the hard ground of only about 20 yards
seemed to tell so much on one leg, that I felt him going decidedly
short, pulled him up and walked him home. When I arrived in Melton
Mowbray, a lady, the last person in the world whom I would have cared to
meet, hailed me with the news that Miss So-and-so had broken her
collar-bone, a fact which appeared to give her more pleasure than
sorrow, "and you" she said, "have lamed your horse"! The dealer
evidently expected this result; for when I rode the horse into his
yard, so that I might personally explain things to him, he told me that
the animal, which was only a four year old, had been "ridden very hard"
by an officer, who, I am sorry to say, has since lost his life in South
Africa. The dealer tried his best to make amends by subsequently
offering me another mount for nothing; but he certainly did err in
letting out this young unsound animal, and spoiling my day's sport, for
which I had paid the usual guineas. My only regret in the matter is that
I galloped and jumped an animal which was not in a fit state to perform
such work.

Horses are fre