Evening star., 1934-11-04

fences you may have to Jump. The man
who hunts only to ride sooner or later
gets into trouble with the master. The
first thing you have to remember Is that
you should know Immediately If the pack
in front of you check or turn to the
right or left, and this you can do only
by watching and listening, even II you
are galloping and jumping in your spare
time. It is not wise to rely too much
on the man in front Of you for this
information; he may be one Of those who
hunt only to ride and so lead you astray.
A pack of hounds will check for some
known and many unknown reasons;
they will often do so at starting, and
when only field or so from the covert
side. 1t may be that they are over
excited like yourself and have flashed
over the line when the fox slightly
altered his direction; or it may be that
they have lost the scent on a piece Of
cold scenting ground, freshly manured
a check occurs the field behind must
stop with them and not override the
pack or press them on.
It Is usually in these first checks that
novices get into trouble. They have pos
sibly jumped one or two fences, felt the
thrill and excitement of being out hunt
ing and forgotten all about the pack
they are supposed to be following. An
older hand would probably have an
ticipated the check-have seen its
likelihood noticed the plowman In the
field ahead who has caused the fox to
turn: but the beginner in his excitement
Is not looking out for such things and
trouble occurs. He does not notice the
man in front of him stopping. or. If he
does, he gallops past him, seeing only
the nice jumpable fence ahead. Sud-
denly he finds himself riding at it alone
does not hear cries of Hold hard!"
behind him, and before he realizes it
he lands In the next field in the middle
of the casting pack!
This Is time when no excuse Is per-
missible; 1t Is another unforgivable sin
and the masters voice, in language
strong and unparliamentary, forcibly
impresses this upon the offender. How
ever good the hunt, however nice fence
may be in front of you, when hounds
check you must do likewise and at least
100 yards away.
Do not ride directly behind hounds,
but always on one side or the other. As
q fox more often turns down wind than
against 1t, the down-wind side Is OBJ
viously the one to choose II choice is
possible Always stand still when hounds
are casting; never follow them round,
and move on only when they hit of the
line again. If you view q sinking fox,
keep quiet The less noise at such a time,
the more likely are hounds to kill him.
II you are sure you have seen the hunted
fox and want to tell the huntsnan and
his casting pack, hold your hat above
your head and point the direction-never
attempt to catch the quarry yourself.
THERE is only one reason why the
master keeps pack of hounds-and
that is for them to hunt, catch and eat
foxes. Unless you feel inclined to eat
a fox don't try to catch him yourself.
When hounds are breaking up their
fox be careful to keep your horse well
away from them. At such time even
the best-mannered hunter may kick,
owing to the smell of blood.
There are, of course, many other pitt
falls for the novice when hunting for
the frst time in England, and probably
the same holds good when hunting in
America.
The procedure of the huntsman may
be as follows: At the meet he sits
quietly on his horse in the middle of
the pack, possibly receiving instruc-