If the first run of the day be a good one, rest satisfied with it, and do not attempt another, unless you have a second horse out. If your mount should chance to lose a shoe, especially a fore one, make at once for the nearest forge. If one of the hind feet has sustained the loss, you may continue the run, provided the going is over soft ground--but when a fore shoe happens to go, pull off without a moment’s delay. I have always thought it an admirable plan to _carry_ a shoe, or slipper, slung on (in its neat leather case) cavalry-wise, to the saddle. This, in case of accident, obviates the necessity of waiting at the forge while the smith manufactures one--and of course on arrival at home it can readily be changed for a more durable foot-protector. I have even known some sage old sportsmen carry in their pockets a little American hammer and nail-box in one, and do their own shoeing when they found themselves in difficulties and at a distance from professional aid.
Dismount when there is a check, if only for an instant; and, when there is time, shift your saddle an inch back or forward, the first for preference. This will prove a great refreshment to your mount.
Be uniformly kind and courteous to everybody. If you chance to distinguish yourself by good riding, or good fortune, make no fuss about it, or look for adulation. Always carry a yard or two of twine, a pick, and a few shillings along with you; there may be uses for all.
When riding home, if you _do_ ride, grasp the first opportunity of getting your horse some warm gruel, and take him through a shallow ford or pond to wash the mud from his legs and belly. When you get him to his stable do not allow him to be tormented by elaborate grooming; see that he is given an abundance of straw to roll in, and a good bucket of linseed tea to drink; have his ears dried by pulling them, bandage his legs with flannel, and give him an abundance of _fresh air_, which is of far more consequence to an exhausted hunter than either food or water. I greatly disapprove of admitting draughts, especially thorough ones--but it is a dire mistake to cram a horse into a close stable, with every chink stopped up, and then put a huge quantity of hay and oats before him. Bad air and improper feeding soon do their work. Some valuable animal is taken ill, a farrier is sent for, he tries bleeding to stop the terrific action of the heart, and before morning the horse is dead.