( 6i ) 



CHAPTER II. 



RIDING OVER FENCES. 



Jumping — Riding Refusers. 



As it is essential for safety and comfort, when crossing 

 a country, that the horse should take his fences in a 

 steady, business-like manner, the rider ought to try 

 to avoid betraying any unusual eagerness or anxiety, 

 beyond showing, by a firm pressure of the legs, and 

 a good hold of the horse's head, that he means 

 the animal to go straight, when approaching an 

 obstacle. He should eschew the vicious habit of shift- 

 ing about in his seat, and of working with the reins, or 

 *' niggling " at the horse's mouth, as we sometimes call it 

 in Ireland. I may say that the art of riding well, over a 

 country, chiefly consists in making as little as possible 

 of the jumps, and that the fact of the rider treating 

 fences and level ground with equal indifference, will 

 inspire his horse with confidence to take things in the 



