A, B, and C, put an equal sum into a hat. C, who is the handicapper, makes a match for A and B, who, when they have perused it, put their hands into their pockets, and draw them out closed; then they open them together, and if both have money in their hands, the match is confirmed; if neither have money, it is no match: in either of these cases, the handicapper C draws all the money out of the hat: but if one has money in his hand, and the other none, it is then no MATCH; and he that has the money in his hand, is entitled to the whole deposit in the hat.
A HANDICAP PLATE is the gift of an individual, or raised by SUBSCRIPTION, for which horses are generally declared the day before running, at a certain hour, by written information privately delivered to the Clerk of the Course, whose province it is to make out the list, and hand it to the Steward of the Race; when the weight each horse must carry is irrevocably fixed, (by whoever the steward may appoint), and appears in the printed lists of the following morning. Horses thus entered, and declining the weight appointed for them to carry, are of course permitted to be withdrawn, without any forfeit or loss.
HANDING
—is sometimes used to express the HANDING of a COCK during his battle in the pit. It is, however, considered merely provincial, and peculiar only to some particular parts of the country; the hander of the cocks being now more generally known by the denomination of a SETTER-TO.—See Cockpit Royal.
HANDLING
,—a term applied by COCKERS to the judicious handling of a COCK, when brought up from his walk, to ascertain whether he is in proper condition to be placed in the PENS, and prepared to fight in either the MAIN BATTLES, or the byes. This is done by a particular mode of taking the girt of the body by grasp, to discover the shape and substance, the bone, the probable strength, as well as the firmness or flaccidity of the flesh; upon the aggregate of which so much depends, that in proportion to these qualifications, he is ACCEPTED or rejected accordingly.
HARBOUR
—is a sporting term, applicable solely to DEER, and used only in STAG HUNTING; when going to covert, and drawing for an out-lying deer; upon finding, it is customary to say, We UNHARBOUR a stag, (or hind.) As with HARRIERS, We find or start a HARE; or with fox hounds, We unkennel a FOX.
HARE
.—This small, harmless, inoffensive animal affords a greater diversity of sport in the field, and a greater degree of luxurious entertainment upon the table, than any species of GAME in this, or, probably, in any other country. The form, shape, and make of the HARE is too universally known to require description; but the most curious naturalists describe, and affect to believe, there are four kinds of hares in different parts of the kingdom. The fact is not so; the species is strictly the same; but they are known to differ in size, speed, substance, and somewhat in colour, according to the soil, climate, fertility, or sterility, of the country where they are bred.