296 THE HORSE. 
INDEPENDENTLY of hounds, every rider should take a line of his own, or 
if he is unable to do this and must follow a leader, Jet him keep such a 
distance behind that if a fall takes place he can avoid jumping upon him. 
In a large field of horsemen, every one cannot possibly take a different 
line, nor is it easy to keep always at a safe distance ; but at big places 
there is generally some hesitation, and a proper interval can be maintained. 
No one should attempt to pass his neighbour either on the right or left 
of the line he has chosen, when near a fence; but of course this is not 
to deprive him of his chance of taking the lead in the middle of a large 
enclosure, when a little racing can do no harm. By the adoption of this rule, 
jostling and crowding at a weak place are avoided, which without it would 
be sure to lead to serious accidents. 
User YOUR JUDGMENT in saving your horse in deep ground, making up 
for the apparent loss by putting him along whenever a sound headland or 
good turf can be obtained. It is not going straight over sound land that 
distresses a horse, but the making use of him over deep ground, and at 
the wrong time. Many men seem to know no difference between sound 
turf and rotten or wet arable, and will kick their horses along over high 
ridge-and-furrow in a wet clay district, at a pace which no horse can bear 
for more than a mile or two in such a country. A workman would look 
out for headlands or footpaths, &e. ; and would, by a slight détowr, gain 
upon those who disdained to leave the line even for a few yards. Wet 
and sticky ridge-and-furrow tires a horse dreadfully, and the consequence 
is, that if he is pushed over it he speedily loses his powers and wind, and 
falls in a very ugly way at the first fence he comes to of a size above the 
average. Hence, every man who aspires to go well to hounds must learn 
to be “a judge of pace,” and should endeavour to make out the signs of 
distress, and the best way of avoiding it. So much depends upon condition 
and breeding, that it is very difficult for a man with a strange horse to 
know what liberties he may take with him. Some well-bred ones will be 
blown, yet if nursed they will come again and again, while the dunghill- 
animal will give up when once he has lost his wind, and is gone for that 
day at least. In ascending steep banks, a careful and active horseman 
will dismount and lead his horse up, and by so doing often gains a mile or 
two upon his less humane and cautious antagonist. In ascending hills it 
is often expedient to make a zigzag ; but in descending you can never go 
too straight, as the opposite course often leads to a dangerous slip on the 
side, with a crushed knee or ankle as a consequence. Few horses fal: 
forwards, and they always manage to save themselves by slipping down on 
their haunches. This is a point of great importance, and should always 
be strictly attended to. 
THERE ARE TWO GENERAL DIRECTIONS, which will serve for almost all 
descriptions of fence. These are, that if a height is to be overcome, the 
horse should be taken slowly up to it, in a collected manner, with his 
haunches well under him. On the other hand, width requires impetus, and 
the pace should be forced during the last few strides up to a very high 
rate. Under the former head may be classed timber (in all the varieties of 
gates, single posts and rails, stiles, and palings), walls, strong pleached 
fences, and banks. To the latter belong water in all shapes, double posts- 
and-rails, bullfinches, and those fences with a ditch on both sides, as well 
as those which have a wide one on the landing side. In addition to these 
there are the actual standing leap, seldom practised in the present day, the 
creeping style, the “on and off” leap, and the “ drop,” which is a variety 
of the standing leap. 
