A LESSON IN JUMPING. 75 



kinds of fences, do not actually do so when ridden in a 

 determined manner, though they may jump short or 

 bungle in one way or the other. A steeplechase mare 

 which I afterwards bought, and which was the animal 

 whose tricks I described on page 46, had, during the 

 early part of her career, a strong objection to water. 

 The moment she saw it in front of her, she used to " dig 

 her toes into the ground," and try to stop or " run out ; " 

 while if she was ridden resolutely, she would simply 

 jump into the centre of it, and she would then scramble 

 out, as she was far too clever to "come down." To 

 cure her of this trick, her owner, a brilliant horseman 

 and fine judge of racing, constructed, on a small private 

 course of his own, a deep water jump, at the bottom of 

 which he laid down bundles of thorny bushes and 

 weighted them till they were nearly flush with the 

 surface of the water. That done, he mounted the mare 

 and took her at the artificial brook as fast as he could 

 send her along. She tried her best to stop, and then 

 jumped as usual straight into the middle of it, out of 

 which she bounded twice as quick as she had leaped 

 into it. For a full week after that, her owner and groom 

 were occupied in picking the sharp thorns out of her 

 belly and legs ; but the lesson had its effect, as she 



