"There's far more of the circus than of legitimate sport about the sort of thing we have just seen," said Tom Bulteel; "in short, it doesn't appeal to the hunting man at all. Who wants the high jump, or the wide jump for horses? English jumping is practically confined to the hunting field, and the steeplechase course, and all the best hunters, if well ridden, can be taught to cross all reasonable country, while the 'chasers' are schooled to jump what is known as the regulation course." "Hear, hear!" cried Effie, and Tom went on warmly. "This high jumping is a trick--and the horses who do it, mustn't on any account be hunted, or they lose the knack of flinging themselves over a high bar--and personally I prefer a clever hunter. In fact, the so-called champion hunter class is a misnomer, and putting the qualified hunter classes in the evening is a huge mistake. Of course a hunter ought to be able to jump these fences, as far as height or width are concerned, but it's no part of a hunter's business to jump over white fences under the glare of electric light." "All the same," said Rensslaer, "I confess that I should like to see the Army devoting itself to the art, as the Italian Army does, and it would be to the good if private and public schools provided ponies, and taught the young idea how to ride, as well as how to shoot. A troop of boy rough-riders would be a lively accompaniment to the corps of sharp-shooters multiplying under Lord Roberts' organisation. The Army here, in buying horses, demands from the farmer horses already highly trained, which is obviously impossible. How different the behaviour of the Italians and the Belgians! The horses they ride are almost exclusively Irish. The dealers resident in Ireland are continually shipping young Irish horses, which go straight to the colonels of the several regiments, who get them trained; the officers buy and train their private horses in a similar way, and regard the education of a horse as one of, if not quite, the best of sports." "Anyway," grunted Tom Bulteel, "if England has something to learn from Continental rivals in methods of training, we may find consolation in the fact that it is from British equine flesh, bone, and blood that competitors abroad have been able to produce the splendid animals that are winning the judges' encomiums to-day. Their clean action in harness, and over the sticks betrays their British origin, whatever may be the nationality of their owners." "Bravo, Tom!" cried Effie, and slipped her little hand in his.