42 HORSE-KEEPING FOE AMATEURS. 



Now as to the sort of horse you have under you. ** I 

 don't mind how slow he is, so long as he'll try every- 

 thing I put him at," said one of the best men to 

 hounds that ever breathed ; and there is much that is true 

 in this ; not that I, for a moment, undervalue a fast horse. 

 His very pace enables you to keep him going so as to live 

 with the first flight, without driving him at all ; but, after 

 all, it is better to have one as slow as the proverbial "man 

 in boots," if he will really try all his fences, than a Derby 

 winner who shirks them, and then requires a hundred -acre 

 field to turn himself in. I say "try" advisedly, because we 

 ought not to grumble if, in doing his best, our horse gives 

 us a fall. What I, personally, do object to, is the cowardly 

 brute who gallops straight up to his fence, and then, whipping 

 suddenly round, almost sits on it, or else falls, neck and 

 crop, into it. Horses will also, occasionally, let themselves 

 fall out of sheer temper ; but this is rare. 



As it is not the lot of every man to get hold of a jumper, 

 let us consider how you can best make your horse a pleasant 

 and sate conveyance, assuming he is neither the one nor the 

 other when you get him. Take him into a field by himself — 

 or a farm is a capital schooling ground — walk him through 

 any gaps, and try to induce him — letting him take his own 

 time about it — to leap a small ditch or two. Always endeavour 

 to let him think 3'ou have an object in getting to the other 

 side, and never take him backwards and forwards over an 

 obstacle, for fear of disgusting him. When he has accomplished 

 what you asked him to do, make much of him, pat his neck, 

 and speak approvingly to him. Do not do too much with 

 him at first, and avoid coming back by the same way that 

 you went in to the field. If you issue forth at another place, 

 he will be under the impression that he has done something 

 useful, and will not suspect that he has simply been taught 

 a lesson. Next time you may try him over something bigger, 

 but clean, such as a rail or a small sheep hurdle. It will 

 be very useful here if you can get a friend, on a staid old 

 hunter, to assist. Without any unnecessary fuss, start at a 

 canter, the Mentor lying three or four lengths in front of 

 you, and let him show the way over a succession of small 

 obstacles, such as low brush fences, sheep hurdles, or plain 

 rails. Your horse, for company's sake, will follow, and, in 

 all probability, blunder over the brush fence, knock down 



