remarkable for their novelty. Very rare and
beautiful horses were always sold for immense
prices by those who knew how to sell them.
Alexander gave four Roman talents, probably
about eight hundred pounds sterling (then an
enormous sum), for Bucephalus; and even our
own douce King Jamie, no very dashing cavalier,
gave five hundred pounds for a small stallion,
an amount perhaps now at least equal to five
thousand. In Canada, horses are sometimes
sold by weight, and a two-year-old, bred by Mr.
Charles Philips, of Cracop, in Cumberland,
fetched four shillings and eightpence a pound.

Our equestrian conversation concluded with
several useful hints from our host: The best
test of really good breaking is, that a horse
should have a manageable mouth. For if a
horse's hind legs are well put on, his mouth
depends almost entirely on the skill and judgment
of the breaker. It ought to be sensible
to the slightest touch. The ear of the horse
has been well said to lay in his bridle. From
the insensible quality of his hoofs, he has no
active sense of touch, and therefore no safe
guide but the bit, so that to ride a horse with a
bad mouth is a very perilous proceeding. In
hunting it is particularly so, for he can never
be prevented from rushing at his fences, or
through gates, and is very likely to jump on any
one who may be in a little difficulty in front of
him on the landing side of a fence. He
will also tire himself and his rider twice as
soon as if he went pleasantly in hand. Bits
may indeed do something for a hard puller,
and many have been invented. The best, if
chosen with good judgment, according to the
peculiarities of the horses to wear them, are:
1, the Chiffney; 2, the Gag; 3, the Bentinck;
4, the Hanover; 5, the Secunda; 6, the
Bucephalus Noseband; and 7 (for horses with
dry outstretched tongues), the Iron Duke,
A clever adaptation by our trainer's son of the
lip strap to the port curb bit, was shown to us;
which seemed both humane and effectual. But
if a horse's mouth has been roughly handled and
spoiled by the breaker, a man might as well get
astride a steam-engine at full speed, and try to
stop it by pulling at the hand-rail, as trust to
any bit or bridle whatever.

"I tell you what, sir," said our booted and
spurred Mentor, heartily, " it's of no use thinking
of trying to teach a horse, or any other
animal, without kindness and good temper.
Cruelty breeds resistance; but proper severity
breeds obedience. The horse must not be
treated with disrespect. He is a high-spirited
animal, and feels every sensation of pleasure
and pain most keen. Horses should be specially
taught the sort of work they are expected to do.
Now look at this hunter!"

A light-built, gay-looking thorough-bred was
passing into a paddock for a lesson in jumping
over a swivel bush hurdle. Without spur or
whip, the rider—the horse-breaker'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 into work-
man-like ways; not to be fussy and flurried at
their fences, and to take good measure in their
paces, 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 afterwards. Above
all things, avoid getting them into boggy
ditches, or riding them at brooks; but they
should be practised 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 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 centre.
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 thorough-bred. 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 Yalley; 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
stargazer. 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