RIDING REFUSERS. 73 



reputation for courage would suffer. The contest is such 

 a one-sided affair that none but a coward would accept it. 

 Were the horse free to kick and bite the man, as he is at 

 liberty to flog and spur his animal, there might be some 

 merit in the rider's exhibition of cruelty. The moment 

 w^e find that punishment does not succeed, we should 

 resort to some other means for accomplishing our object, 

 for the more we punish, the worse will the effect of the 

 horse's ultimate victory be on him. 



However senseless it may be for a man to fight his 

 own horse for the unworthy object of gratifying re- 

 sentment and " showing off," the action is trebly 

 unjustifiable when the horse belongs to someone else, 

 especially when the rider is a hired servant. We pay 

 our jockeys to win races, our grooms to exercise and 

 school our hunters in the best possible manner, and 

 not to afford them an opportunity of displaying their 

 bravery at the expense of our four-legged property. 

 Nothing is more apt to disgust a horse with jumping 

 than the practice of " larking " him several times over 

 the same obstacle. If a horse which one is training, 

 determinedly baulks at a fence two or three times, the 

 best plan to break him of the vice, is, if one has the 

 means at hand, to get off, put a stout halter or cavasson 



