LESSONS IN RIDING 389 



side, he should ride his horse home and dismount at the door 

 or at the stable as may be most convenient, and mount him 

 there on the following day, and always in future ; but if he 

 mounts or dismounts at the stable the horse's croup should at 

 the time always be turned towards the stable-door. He should 

 .also before mounting be required to look round his horse 

 to see that he is properly girthed up, and the bit and curb 

 properly fitted ; in fact, to see that his horse is in every way 

 properly turned out. 



LESSON XXVI 



As it is proposed at the end of this lesson to try a little 

 jumping, the first part of the lesson should be out of doors. 

 The pupil should not now be confined to the roads, but taken 

 to the fields also. A good- sized grass field, where the instructor 

 can ride some distance from, but nearly in line with him, is 

 best. He should be made to trot and canter the same as in the 

 school, the instructor occasionally halting his own horse and 

 making his pupil describe a large circle round him, then going 

 forward again, increasing the pace by degrees and decreasing it, 

 so as to make sure the horse goes at the pace required and 

 does not regulate it for himself. He should be kept out for 

 about an hour and then taken into the school. The reason for 

 beginning the outdoor work first is that the rider will be firmer 

 and more confident at the end of the lesson, and the horse, 

 having had a certain amount of work, steadier than at the begin- 

 ning of it. The bar should at first be laid on the ground so 

 that the horse can walk over it. The pupil must be instructed 

 to ride entirely on the bridoon reins. After walking over it a 

 few times the bar may be put up into the first hole, which 

 should not be more than eighteen inches from the ground, the 

 horse should be led up to within about three horse's lengths of 

 it, and then let go quietly ; but before doing this it is necessary 

 to explain to the rider, and to get him thoroughly to understand, 

 what he is to do. It is no use talking to him while he is on the 

 move with the bar in front of him, for it is ten to one that he is 



