352 ACTION, HANDINESS, AND CLEVERNESS. 



(Figs. 243 and 244) ; and to clear the object, if it be one 

 that is hkely to tax his powers to " negotiate/' he should 

 raise his knees well and should bend them as much as he 

 can. The instant the hind feet quit the ground, they 

 should be drawn up as quickly as possible and close to 

 the body (Fig. 246), so that, in high jumping, they may not 

 catch in the fence, but be ready to save the animal from a 

 fall in the event of an accident, and to enable him to land 

 in safety. On clearing the obstacle, the fore feet should be 

 brought well to the front, and as they respectively come to 

 the ground, their knees should be quite straight (Figs. 

 228 and 251). The head should be somewhat raised 

 and the muzzle drawn in a little, so as to bring the weight 

 back, and to enable the horse to see where he is going to 

 place his feet. 



Handiness and Cleverness. — The " handiness " or 

 " cleverness " of a horse depends on his conformation, 

 disposition, and training. Animals which have been 

 brought up in " the open," on rough and mountainous 

 ground, are far cleverer, as a rule, than those which 

 have spent their early youth in small paddocks. It 

 goes almost without saying, that a placid - tempered 

 animal would be easier to stop or turn than an ex- 

 citable one, and would be consequently handier ; but 

 I cannot say that he would be cleverer. I have 

 known several terribly hard-pulling steeplechasers which 

 were as "clever as cats," and always had a "spare 

 leg " for every di^culty, provided their rider did not 

 interfere with their mouth ; and I have seen other 

 equally stiff-necked, cross-country horses, whose sole 

 delight, no matter how lightly they were handled, 

 seemed to be punching a hole in every fence they met. 

 Some temperate ones are just as " chancy," apparently 

 from pure laziness ; though many quiet animals are in- 

 capable of making a mistake. 



