THE CHASER. 249 



THE CHASER. 



All the remarks I have made in this chapter respecting 

 the jumper in general and the hunter in particular apply 

 to the steeplechase horse. Although his final test will 

 be racing over fences, we should not attempt to take him 

 fast at them until he can negotiate them faultlessly at 

 a steady canter ; for the slower the speed, the easier will 

 it be for him to collect himself and to accurately measure 

 his distance, which are two of the chief tasks for him to 

 learn ; the third being to make the necessary effort to 

 clear the obstacle ; the fourth, to take his fences at nearly 

 full speed ; and the fifth, to get quickly away into his 

 stride again after landing. The third is a question of 

 practice, for the solving of which the rider may at times 

 give a hint with leg, voice, or whip. As jumping too 

 " big " is a fault on the right side, and as experience will 

 generally correct it, I do not think any attempt should be 

 made to remedy such a tendency by the restraining in- 

 fluence of the reins ; for the effect of such a proceeding 

 would not improbably be to make the horse slow at " getting 

 away " on landing. The power of jumping while going 

 at a high rate of speed is also a matter of practice, though, 

 of course, some horses acquire it far faster than others. 

 The ability to get quickly away from a fence will in no 

 way be marred by practice in jumping at a slow canter, 

 so long as the moderation in speed is due to the inclination 

 of the horse, and not to the fact that the rider has a tight 

 hold of him by the head. In steeplechasing, and to a 

 lesser extent in hunting, the horse's imitative faculty, if 

 indulged, is liable to cause him to make " mistakes " ; 

 one of the most common being that if he is galloping along 

 with another horse, but slightly behind him (say, half a 

 length or so), his instinct will prompt him, on nearing 



