Thoughts upon sport : a work dealing shortly with each branch of sport ..: to which are added, a complete history of the Curraghmore Hunt and memoirs of notable sportsmen . to conform with therule that a fence 3ft. high, with a 6ft. grii) in front, should b 3 in everytwo miles of a course—the natural doubles doing the duty over theremainder of grand old Punchestown. It is not everybody who can lay out a steeplechase course to be racedover with reasonable safety. Few indeed can do so, and a most extra-ordinary fact is that very often the best rider over the course when laidout is the worst man
Thoughts upon sport : a work dealing shortly with each branch of sport ..: to which are added, a complete history of the Curraghmore Hunt and memoirs of notable sportsmen . to conform with therule that a fence 3ft. high, with a 6ft. grii) in front, should b 3 in everytwo miles of a course—the natural doubles doing the duty over theremainder of grand old Punchestown. It is not everybody who can lay out a steeplechase course to be racedover with reasonable safety. Few indeed can do so, and a most extra-ordinary fact is that very often the best rider over the course when laidout is the worst man to lay it out. This has been demonstrated many times. About the very best gentleman jockey of the present day, in replyto a question I asked him lately as to the height of the double intothe Herds Garden at Punchestown, and which he had ridden over atleast one hundred times, said it was five feet high, and would havebet me a tenner on it had I allowed him. Now, the fact is, the actualheight of that fence from the edge of the grip on the take-off to wherethe horses land on top is about 2ft. 9in., certainly under 3ft. This \3 uJ -i^ ?4^ O c. Vi 0^ o0- 1 i ^-i 7 -. --I A 147 statement will astonish many, and few will credit it; but let them goand measure the fence—meanwhile dont bet I am wrong. I mention this to show how little is known about a steeplechasecourse, even by those who would be expected to know. I need not saymy object is not to depreciate the double at Punchestown for testinga horses capability for jumping or a mans capability for riding, for weall know it is fully equal to the task. Its dimensions are as nearly aspossible :—Grip on take-off, 6ft. 6in. wide, 3ft. deep. Height of fence fromtake-off, 2ft. 9in. Width on top, 6ft. 6in. Drop, 4ft. Grip on landing«ide, 4ft. wide. This I show more clearly by the annexed section. I have asked many people what the height was, and no one eversaid it was under four feet, while some said it was over six feet. Thefact is,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecthunting, bookyear1895
