ENGLISH SYSTEM OF TRAINING HUNTERS.
Owing to difference in customs of the two nations, such horses as the
English hunters are not the most desirable for use in this country, and
the system of training adopted to suit the animals to the requirements
of English gentlemen, are seldom called into requisition here. Still, as
we desire our work to be as complete as possible, and as the method of
training is interesting, though it may prove useful to but few of our
readers, we introduce it. We take this spirited description from “A
Holiday on Horseback,” from the pen of an English writer whose name is
not given:
“A light built, gaylooking thoroughbred was passing into a paddock for a
lesson in jumping over a swivel bush hurdle. Without spur or whip, the
rider—the horsebreaker’s son—rode the mare steadily at the fence, and
she went over without touching a top twig, clearing nine yards in the
leap. ‘The great thing, sir, is to bring them into workmanlike ways; not
to be fussy and flurried at their fence, so as to take off at the right
spot.’ Then he went on to inform us that hunters should be carefully
handled at a very early age, if they are intended to become temperate
and handy. They may be ridden gently by a light weight with good hands,
at three years old, over small fences. At four they ought to be shown
hounds, but they should only be allowed to follow them at a distance,
after the fences are broken down, for if you put them to large leaps at
that age they are apt to get alarmed and never make steady fencers
afterward. Above all things, avoid getting them into boggy ditches, or
riding them at brooks; but they should be practiced at leaping small
ditches, if possible, with water in them, the rider facing them at a
brisk gallop, for this gives a horse confidence and courage. The old
custom of teaching colts to leap, standing, over a bar is now obsolete,
and they are taught to become timber jumpers simply by taking timber as
it comes across the country—the present rate of hounds gives no time for
standing leaps. The circular bar, however, is not a bad thing if in a
good place and well managed. Every description of fence that your hunter
is likely to meet with should be placed within a prescribed circle on
soft ground, the man who holds him standing on a stage in the center.
Another man, following the colt with a whip, obliges him to clear his
fences at a certain pace, and in a very short time a good tempered colt
will go at his jumps with pleasure.
“Here let me observe—for the conversation had ended—that no matter how
carefully a hunter may have been trained, until you taste and try him in
the field, it is hard to say whether the right stuff be in him. The best
judges are often deceived by outsides and school performances. A few
general rules may, however, be given, which will be found of certain
application. In a hilly country, for instance, nothing has a chance
against a pure thoroughbred. Lengthy horses always make the best
jumpers, if they have good hind quarters, good loins and good courage.
Extraordinary things have been done by such horses. In 1829 Dick
Christian jumped thirty-three feet on King of the Valley; and Captain
Littler’s horse, Chandler, cleared thirty-nine feet over a brook at
Leamington. The most dangerous of all horses in the field is a star
gazer. A hunter should carry his head low, as by so doing he is less
liable to fall, and gives his rider a firmer seat. All wild horses lower
their crests in leaping. It is, however, the peculiar excellence of
going well through dirt which decides the real value of a horse for our
best hunting counties. To find out this quality he must be ridden fair
and straight. If he flinch on soft ground he is of no use. No matter how
wide a horse may be, if he is not deep in the girth he cannot carry
weight, and is very seldom a good winded horse, even under a light man.
One of the best things that can be said of a hunter is, that at first
sight he appears two inches lower than he really is. Short legged horses
leap better and safer than long legged cattle, and go faster and farther
under hard riders. Horses with straight hind legs never can have good
mouths. He should have well placed hind legs with wide hips, well spread
gaskins, as much as possible of the _vis a lergo_, well knit joints,
short cannon bone, oblique pasterns and largish feet. The bone of a
hunter’s hock cannot be too long. These are the points for strength and
bottom.
“‘Handsome is as handsome does,’ and an old whip once said to a nobleman
who remarked that his staunch old horse who had carried him through so
many troubles had an awkward head: ‘Never mind his ’ed, my lord; I ain’t
a going to ride on his ’ed.’ Indeed, what is called the perfect model
horse is by no means the best. A horse’s constitution may be too good.
Horses of a very hard nature, and very closely ribbed up, are large
feeders, with great barrels, and do not make brilliant hunters. They
require so much work to keep them in place and wind that their legs
suffer, and often give way when their constitution is in its prime.
Horses with moderate carcasses last much longer, and, provided they are
good feeders, are usually bright and lasting enough, if otherwise well
shaped. Finally, a hunter should be well seasoned. Few five year old
horses are fit to carry a gentleman across country; for they cannot be
sufficiently experienced to take a straight line. About fifteen hands
two inches is the best hight for a hunter. His action should be smooth,
or it cannot last. The movement of the fore legs should be round, not
high; the horse should be quick on his legs as well as fast.”