HUNTER
.—A hunter, in its strictest implied signification with the SPORTING WORLD, is a horse or mare of superior description and qualifications, appropriated to no other purpose whatever than the enjoyment of the chase. As it is the highest ambition of every SPORTSMAN to be in possession of a HUNTER, numbers are so called, who are by no means entitled to that distinction. Various opinions are entertained respecting the more minute properties of a horse destined to the particular purposes of the field, and this diversity can only be justified by an allusion to the kind of hounds with whom he is intended to hunt. Horses of an inferior description, cross bred, and without a point of perfection, or the property of speed, may be called HUNTERS with harriers; but prove mere roadsters, when brought into the field with either STAG or FOX. One third of a century since, moderate horses were called hunters; and those about HALF BRED went tolerably well up to most hounds; but during the last twenty years, so great has been the rage for improving their speed, that in the present day, any horse may follow the hounds; but BLOOD HORSES only can go by the side of them.
The horses now denominated HUNTERS, are mostly three parts and full bred; for the great number of blood horses not turning out WINNERS, as well as those not trained for the turf, come of course to the hunting stables, and keep up a constant supply. Under the head HORSE, three distinct kinds are mentioned generally, and the purposes to which they are assigned; but no particular description is made of a HUNTER, whose qualifications are properly reserved for this place. A hunter for constant use with fleet hounds, should be well bred on both sides; not less in age than five years old off; from fifteen hands and an inch, to fifteen three and sixteen hands, but not to exceed it: large and heavy horses, in deep or hilly countries, frequently tire themselves. To be handsome, he should be strong in the frame and formation, short in the joints, firm in his fetlocks, quick in the eye, and agile in action. He should have a light airy head, wide nostrils, prominent lively eye, slight curve in the crest, long in the neck, wide in the breast, deep in the chest, high in the withers, straight in the spine, short in the back, round in the barrel, full in the flank, (the last rib coming well up to the point of the hip-bone,) his loins wide, and rather circular than flat; the summit of the hind-quarters, between the fillets and the tail, should nearly form one section of an oval; the tail should be high, and well set on, in nearly a direct line from the back, and not in a drooping degree below the rump: there should be perceptible strength, uniformity and substance in the thighs, and a prominent muscular swell in the exterior of the gaskins; a great length from the hip-bone to the hock, short from thence to the fetlock, which should be nearly round, and well united; the pasterns rather short than long; fore-legs straight, and upright; hoofs, black, and of a strong firm texture; great courage, good temper, and pliability of disposition.
These are the rules by which thousands will admit a HUNTER should be chosen; and they will also as readily admit, the very great difficulty with which horses of such description are to be obtained. However, as such an accumulation of perfections is so rarely to be found in the same object, the most emulous and judicious will be the more anxious to come as near to such criterion as circumstances will permit; but as it is not to be expected the young, any more than the inexperienced, can retain the minutiæ of a description to which they have been so little accustomed, as well as recollecting the force EXAMPLE is said to have beyond precept, the PORTRAIT of a HUNTER is introduced, who, for all the qualifications already described, was repeatedly in the field (with his Majesty's stag hounds) honoured with the royal approbation. He was got by Eclipse, dam by Blank, and possessed every requisite in the field to render himself an object of universal attraction: after HUNTING two seasons, and COVERING one, he was purchased, and taken to America as A STALLION.
Having explicitly laid down the rules by which a horse should be selected for the purpose particularly expressed, some farther hints become necessary for his general management, if a wish is entertained to preserve him in a state of purity; for it is well known, there cannot be a greater stigma annexed to the character of a professed sportsman, than his having a GOOD horse in bad condition. The next great qualification to SPEED and TEMPER in a hunter, is the property of leaping, both standing and flying; without those (in an enclosed country) his leading perfections are very much reduced in the estimation of the field: on the contrary, if he is in the full and unrestrained possession of these additional, and, indeed, indispensible requisites to complete and confirm his character, a purchaser may always be commanded at any price. One great error is generally prevalent in teaching horses to LEAP, by the young, petulant, and hasty, when first they are brought to the BAR, particularly in and round the Metropolis, where an assistant is frequently seen with a whip to expedite what cannot be proceeded upon with too much kindness and circumspection. Young horses driven to a bar with a whip, and once alarmed, are sometimes prevented from becoming good standing leapers during their existence. Instances are very rare of well-bred horses being bad FLYING LEAPERS, particularly with hounds; few, if any, have ever been seen willing to stay behind when the pack were before them; they of course require no other instructions, than what the experience of the field affords them. When horses are intended for the field, they should be brought and accustomed to the bar, previous to their being put upon their mettle, and flurried with hounds; when there, the bar should never be less than three feet from the ground; if lower, it only induces the horse to attempt it with one foot, as if to walk or scramble over it; and this is a bad habit to acquire: he should never be permitted to make an effort, till taught to rest entirely upon his haunches, and to raise slowly and gradually both his feet before at the same moment.
Nothing can be more contemptibly ridiculous, than the absurd practice of clothing the BAR with bushes of furze; and this is generally introduced, under the plausible pretence of making the horse clear his leap; although it is a fact, that almost every horse is terrified in approaching it; and when compelled to take it, or is rather driven over, it is in a JUMP of fear and agitation; not in a cool, temperate, and steady leap of safety, fit to qualify a HUNTER for the FIELD. A horse can only be made a good standing leaper, by affording him ample time to measure his leap before he attempts it; that is, to observe its height, and take the space necessary for the bend of his knees, the contraction of his legs, and his own altitude to cover the leap with certainty; and this a well-taught horse, of tolerable temper, will generally do, if permitted to adopt his own plan, and use his own exertions: but if unnaturally hurried by the petulance, impatience, or inhumanity, of those about him, failure, injury, and disgrace, frequently ensue. The proper covering for a leaping-bar should either be fern, or clean wheat straw, well secured by a strong packthread, bound transversely and longitudinally in a kind of net-work, (bracing equally every way,) which is not only exceedingly durable, but being composed of articles to which the horse is so accustomed, he naturally approaches it, if gently used, and patiently encouraged, without the least fear or agitation.
The proper stable discipline, and general management, of hunters, are so perfectly understood in the present state of equestrian emulation, and universal improvement, that a few experimental maxims only are required, as mementos to shield the young, inconsiderate, and unwary, from unthinkingly encountering various foundations of vexation, trouble, expence, and disappointment. Those of immense fortunes, and adequate establishments, are not so liable to this aggregate of ills, as those whose more humble and confined possessions restrain them within a much smaller sphere of gratification. To the latter, therefore, it is, such hints of utility are more particularly addressed and submitted, who not having the good fortune to be surrounded with a profusion of subordinates, by whom such offices are generally executed, feel the necessity, and enjoy the happy opportunity, of sometimes personally superintending their own concerns. The great exertions in respect to speed, labour, and durability, of which the well-bred hunter is so evidently capable, are almost beyond belief; and eminently entitle him to every adequate tenderness, care, and attention, that can be possibly bestowed in return. When it is within the compass of the reflecting mind, that an animal of this description is frequently most laboriously engaged for the whole of a dreary winter's day, encountering and surmounting difficulties in succession almost beyond description, (till in many instances nature is nearly exhausted,) no doubt can arise, but the frame must sometimes stand in need of extra assistance upon such occasions.
Of this greater proof need not be adduced, than the deaths of horses which have recently happened, (particularly with the King's stag hounds,) some in the field, and many within a few days after different chases of singular severity; one instance of which is so truly remarkable, that it lays claim to record in the annals of sporting, to prevent its being buried in oblivion. The DEER was turned out at Ascot Heath, and, after making Bagshot Park, crossed the whole of the heath country, to Sandhurst, through Finchamstead Woods, Barkham, Arborfield, Swallowfield, and the intervening country, to Tilehurst, below Reading in Berkshire, where he was taken unhurt after a chase of FOUR HOURS and TWENTY MINUTES; horsemen being thrown out in every part of the country through which they passed: one horse dropt dead in the FIELD; another, after the chase, before he could reach a stable; and seven more within the WEEK: of such speed, and almost unprecedented severity, was this run, that tired horses in great danger were unavoidably left at the different inns in the neighbourhood. A tolerable idea of the powers of an English hunter may, from this description, be formed by those who are not sportsmen, and have consequently a very imperfect conception of the task he has to perform; of which incredulity Mons. Sainbel, professor of the Veterinary College, gave sufficient proof, treating the subject with the utmost indifference, very little short of contempt; declaring, "it was all chimerical, and that no horse could be found to continue a chase of that kind four hours in succession."
That such exertions may be continued till nature itself is totally exhausted, must be admitted beyond a doubt; but that they in general happen to horses by much too slow for the CHASE, and to those in improper condition, is as clearly ascertained. The result of which facts clearly demonstrate the truth of observations previously made, and forcibly inculcate the indispensible necessity of selecting horses properly formed for the purpose; and as forcibly urge the propriety (indeed the safety) of getting them into condition for the field. When taken up from his summer's run at grass (which every perfect hunter is entitled to) he should go through his regular course of physic; the strength and number of doses to be regulated by the accumulated flesh, and general appearance of the horse: if in a fair, good, clean state, not loaded in substance, and perfectly clean in the skin, more than TWO doses may be superfluous; if labouring under a weight of flesh, flabby, and fluctuating under pressure, less than THREE will prove insufficient; which should be preceded by BLEEDING in either, according to the state of the horse. During the operation of physic, the subject should undergo moderate exercise, and great friction in the stable; both which tend to remove and circulate the stagnant fluids, that they may be carried off by the evacuations. Great, regular and patient leg-rubbing is not only absolutely necessary at all times, but more particularly during physic; it braces the solids, and preserves them in a proper state of elasticity; for want of which, they frequently acquire a degree of flaccidity; the legs swell, and, if brought into work too soon, continue in that state, more or less, during the season.
After the chase (during the dressing in the stable) observation should be made whether injury of any kind has been sustained during the day; either by the heat and friction or pressure of the saddle, the loss of a shoe, stubs, treads, over-reaches, bruises, or lameness of any kind; for any of these once discovered, the necessary remedy should be immediately applied; as it not unfrequently happens, that what in the first instance would only prove a slight or trivial grievance, continues to increase in proportion to the delay in discovery. Horses evidently distrest and fatigued with the labour of the day, displaying lassitude, bodily debility, and loss of appetite, should be nicely attended to; a cordial ball becomes more applicable and useful at this time than any other; frequent supplies of water, with the chill off, in moderate quantities, should never be neglected; every horse is invariably thirsty after a hard day; and many will take repeated supplies of water, and plenty of hay, when they will eat no corn; in which case, a good warm mash, of GROUND MALT and BRAN, is an excellent invigorating substitute, and in many of the best managed establishments is never omitted (particularly with tender, delicate, or violent tempered horses) after a long or rainy day, as a preventive to COLD, as well as to DISEASE.
Hunters, after long and severe chases, should not be brought too soon into similar exertions; numbers are crippled, broke down, and irrecoverably ruined, for want of a little precautionary patience: brought into the field too early, with a stiff rigidity in the limbs, and without the wonted pliability in the joints, the spirits, as well as the frame, become affected by a consciousness of the deficiency; and the RIDER, upon making the discovery, moves in little less misery than the HORSE, who, feeling his temporary imperfection, seems in fear of falling at every stroke. A horse is best recovered from the visible effect of over fatigue, by a great deal of patient walking, exercise upon the turf, and equally patient friction in the stable: no horse perceptibly affected in FRAME or SPIRITS, by long days or severe chases, should be brought into exercise GALLOPS, till every degree of stiffness is previously worn away, and obliterated in gentle motion, of which they are the first to make discovery, by a renovation of strength and action. It is in many hunting stables an invariable practice, upon the appearance of LAMENESS, to bleed and follow up that with a dose of physic, exclusive of whatever local applications it may be thought necessary to make to the part affected; and this, it must be acknowledged, is very frequently attended with the most salutary effects: naturally, however, leading the mind of scientific investigation to believe, much of the advantage may be derived from the rest obtained during the course, as from the operation of the medicine.