IN THE FIELD. 331 



a deal of time and patience to make a good fencer, 

 although, of course, some horses learn the art much 

 more quickly than others. Although few horses enjoy 

 jumping, they, luckily for us, detest falling, and I 

 feel sure that if people would only leave their mouths 

 alone and regard the use of the curb at fences as a 

 death-trap, we should hear of far fewer falls in the 

 hunting field. Captain Elmhirst truly says : " Horses 

 are very sage at saving themselves and consequently 

 you. They care little for the coward on their back ; 

 but for their own convenience they won't fall if 

 they can help it." To prove this I may relate 

 the following interesting and instructive fact : Some 

 years ago I was giving, at Ward's Riding School, 

 Brompton Road, London, practical demonstrations of 

 riding over fences without reins, my husband driving 

 on foot a horse which he had taught to jump, with 

 the long reins. When my part of the show ended, 

 a single pole was raised to a height of five feet, 

 and Gustave, which was the name of this amiable 

 grey horse, was asked to go and jump that fence by 

 himself. He was allowed only a short run at it, as 

 the school is not a large one, but in his desire to 

 obey orders he would canter up to the pole, and if 

 he considered that he had misjudged his correct 

 distance for taking off, he would go back of his own 

 accord and take another run at it. My husband was 

 as much surprised as I was when we first saw the 

 horse do this, as we had not credited him with so 

 much intelligence. Therefore, when I hear people 



