The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-11-12
SPORT FOR MAN AND BEAST
THE FOX HUNTERS SPEED ENJOYS
 IT AS VEIL AS HIS RIDER.


 IT AS VEIL AS HIS RIDER.
 Some Points as to the Pursuit of One O.
 the Best of sports-The Breeding and
 Education of Horses That Follow th'
 Hounds.
 Drink, puppy drink, and let every
 puppy drink
 That is old enough to lap and swal-
 low.
 For he'll grow into hound, and we'll
 pass the bottle round;
 And merrily we'll ''whoop!' and
 we'll halloo.
 The season is here when sportsmen all over the country where opportunity for such sport exists, are turning their at tentlon to the pursuit of Reynard. The horn which has lain idle for twelve month is furnished up, the kennel is visited daily, and the music of the pack is the sweetest tune the hunter can hear Apropos of this season a brief review of the sport in the past and the pursuance of 1t in the present is opportune.
 England, of course, stands at the be- ginning of the noble sport. Historians have said that it was born in France, and while such may have been the case
 flor there are few countries where the fox lives that he is not hunted in some manner-England is properly speaking, ha of ho inin al fov c the sport is recognized to-day. In the pursuit of the coveted "brush" began all the forms of point to point" racing, ''steeplechasing," drag" hunts and 'cross-country riding. Reynard cannot be overtaken in any country where he lives without leading jolly dance over heart-breaking fences. Hence the ori- gin of the breed of horse known as the hunter. England is the home of the sport of fox hunting, and indeed is now famed for her splendid hunt club or ganizations and packs of great hounds, but when this country became colony of Great Britain the cavaliers who set tied in the south, and especially those who remained in Maryland and Vir- ginia brought their love for the sport with them Reynard was found In num- bers, and the horses and hounds were a natural consequence. The sport throve and the Father of His Country, history tells us was an enthusiastic follower of the pack over the hills of his Vir- ginia home. Slowly the sport spread, and even the stold Dutchmen and Brit ish Puritans became, half heartedly, at first, and, finally, enthusiastic followers x>f Ins,t nn,.tb its introduction into this country it has grown steadily. Nothing is reserved to hinder its progress, and to-day Ameri- can hunting horses, American hounds, and finally American horsemen, &C., Knowledge no peer even among their English cousins, whence 1t came.
 Hunting clubs are found all over that l part of the United States where the sport is indulged in at all, such as the | Genesee Valley Hunting Club of New York State, Chevy Chase of Washing ton D. C.; Elkridge, Overland Pat apsco and Green Spring Valley clubs of | Maryland, and clubs too numerous to name throughout Virginia, principal | among them being those in the heart of | the horse and fox-hunting section the state in and about the counties of Lou ] doun and Fauquier, Va. where the Piedmont, Leesburg and Warrenton Hunt clubs head the list.
 From the last named section have come, and continue to come, some of the finest fencers and all-round hunters in the country. There many horses now, with big records and prices after their names, first saw the light of day Tn ho Ina crpoo the base of the beautiful old Blue Ridge mountains. No grander country for the use 1t is put to can be imagined The fertile lands, watered by mountain streams as clear as crystal, flow through the blue grass meadows, where the young colts soon to begin their education play in grass up to their knees. Truly it is the horse para f, disc. The land, for the most part. is owned by men who make the breeding , raising and training of the hunter speciality, and the animals they have i sent away, speak more eloauentlv of their success than can any written | statement The breeding and education of the | hunter is an interesting study for those f WnO take an interest in the horse. It is z Ihe ann, of course, to get a breed of I horse, winch, as nearly as possible. I should fill the following requirements. z First, he should have enough of the ! thoroughbred in him to give him "bot- I s0m" or endurance, and also courage He should be compactly and firmly built, With clean legs and muscular f shoulders and thighs, to aid him in his ! wirk. and lastly he should jump. Of :, ,ourse, the many animals are instinct f ve Jumpers. This horse is about as z dose to the perfection hunter as one p 'an be. The size, of course, is a con- Alteration, though not vital one, for d many small horses have achieved won- 1 1ers. The nearer a horse can come to a