The following items, from “Baily’s Hunting Directory,” a British annual, give some idea of certain primary formalities and practicalities of hunting: 

     HINTS TO BEGINNERS

     Buy the best horses you can afford; but remember that a workably
     sound horse, though blemished or a bit gone in the wind, will give
     you plenty of fun, if you do not knock him about.

     Obey the Master’s orders without argument; in the field he is
     supreme.

     Hold up your hat if you view the fox away; do not halloa.  If none
     of the hunt servants see your uplifted hat, go and tell the nearest
     of them.

     Ride fast at water; if hounds clear a brook a horse has a good
     chance of doing so.  Steady your horse and let him take his own pace
     at big timber.

Keep well away from hounds, and down wind of them at a check.  The steam from heated horses adds a fresh difficulty to recovery of lost scent.  Look out for signs that may indicate the whereabouts or passing of the fox.  Huddling sheep, staring cattle, chattering magpies, circling rooks, may mean that they see, or have just seen, the fox.

     Never lark over fences; it tires your horse needlessly and may
     cause damage and annoy the farmer.

Never take a short cut through a covert that is likely to be drawn during the day; and keep well away from a covert that hounds are drawing if you start for home before the day’s sport is over, lest you head the fox.

     Always await your turn at a gate or gap; do not try and push
     forward in a crowd.

     If you follow a pilot, do not “ride in his pocket”; give him plenty
     of room, say fifteen lengths, at fences, or if he falls you might
     jump on him.

     If your horse kicks, tie a knot of red ribbon in his tail.  N.B.—­Do
     not be guilty of using this “rogue’s badge” for the sake of getting
     room in a crowd, as some men have been known to do.

     If a man is down and in danger of being kicked, put your own saddle
     over his head.

     HINTS CONCERNING THE HUNTER

It should be remembered that in the ordinary routine the horse is fed three or four times a day.  On a hunting day he gets one good feed early in the morning and loses one or two feeds.  Moreover, he is doing hard work for hours together, with a weight on his back.  Carry a couple of forage biscuits in your pocket to give him during the day.  Also get off and relieve him of your weight when you can do so.

     When he is brought home, put him in his stall or box, slack the
     girths, take off the bridle and give him his gruel at once.  Throw a
     rug over his loins and pull his ears for a minute or two.

     An old horse needs more clothing than a young one.