240 JUMPING. 



which will be sufficient for the first lesson, and the horse 

 made to jump freely when circling to the right as well as 

 to the left. A second fence may be made on the other side 

 of the track, opposite to the first one. When the horse has 

 learned to jump with the outward rein low down, he should 

 be taught to do so with it resting on the pad ; as it will 

 then be, more or less, in the position it will occupy when 

 held by the rider. The horse should be taught to take 

 the fence at the walk, trot, and canter. In getting him to 

 jump width, we may bring him up to it on a large circle, 

 and straightening him as he approaches it at a fast canter, 

 we may let go the reins, which can be caught by an assistant 

 on the other side. The same remark would apply to par- 

 ticular kinds of fences, such as Leicestershire " cut and 

 laid " hedges (see Fig. in), and Irish banks, which one 

 might not be able to construct in one's breaking enclosure. 

 If it were possible to have a gap made in a fence of the kind 

 about which I am writing, one might be able to drive a 

 horse over it on a circle in the usual way without having 

 to let go the reins. 



By this method, horses, as a rule, will quickly learn 

 to jump (see Figs. 112 and 113), and not alone to clear 

 the obstacle, but also to negotiate it in the exact style 

 they are required to do when a man is on their back. The 

 more horses are practised in this manner, the more will 

 they appear to like jumping, and will very rarely exhibit, 

 as they are apt to do with a rider, any dislike to the work, 

 from numerous repetitions, backwards and forwards, over 

 the same fence. 



The old plan of teaching a horse to jump by leading him 

 over fences with a cavesson and one or two leading-reins 

 should not be employed ; for its tendency, by throwing too 

 much weight on the forehand, will be to make him slow at 

 getting away from his fences. Besides this, horses are apt 



