158 LEAPING. 



of its hind fellow by the surcharge of the fore-hand. The 

 heavier the fore-hand, other things being equal, the 

 farther forward, when landing over a jump, will the hind 

 feet be carried as compared to the fore feet ; and vice 

 versa. Hence, the faster the pace, the greater will be 

 the tendency to over-reach. This is especially the case 

 in jumping water, at which, not only is the speed as 

 a rule high, but the ground on landing is often soft and 

 " holding " from the infiltration of moisture. It is 

 evident that the " deeper " is the ground, the more 

 difficult it will be for a horse to extricate his fore feet 

 out of it, in time to make way for his hind feet. Hence 

 the advisability, in such cases, of leaning well back in 

 the saddle. Figs. 252, 253, and 254 show consecutive 

 movements of the horse after landing over a jump. 



A horse should not land with his head and neck bent, 

 as might be caused by the action of a severe bit which he 

 is afraid to " face " ; for when the neck is bent, the 

 muscles which draw the fore legs forward and enable 

 them to reach well to the front (p. 43), will be more or less 

 thrown out of action. Therefore, the rider ought to give 

 the horse plenty of rein on landing, and should try to 

 avoid bringing his weight forward. As an interesting 

 point in the action of a severe bit in leaping, I may mention 

 that if we observe a horse that is being ridden up to a 

 high jump in a bit which he is afraid to " face," he will 

 land, in the event of his clearing the obstacle, more or 

 less on all four legs at the same time, in his endeavour 

 to save his mouth from any sudden " job," by keeping 

 the weight as much as he can off his fore-hand. He may 

 act in the same way, even with a snaffle, if a short 

 running martingale be used. The two " defences " which 

 a horse generally uses against a severe bit, are to 

 poke his nose up in the air, and to draw his chin in 

 towards his chest, and thereby arch his neck. Many 

 persons, against the evidence of photography, assert 

 that a clever jumper will generally land first on his 



