Читать книгу Haney's Art of Training Animals онлайн

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“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.