REFUSING. 451 



into the middle of the fence, and probably bring both 

 himself and his rider to grief. My husband, being a 

 veterinary surgeon, has had hunters brought to him 

 in a most pitiable state of laceration, caused, I believe, 

 in many cases, by " funk " and curb, a most disastrous 

 combination. We have in our stable at the time of 

 writing, a very intelligent hunter who was dreadfully 

 injured from having, it is said, "jumped bang into a 

 fence," but I wish that patient sufferer could tell me 

 the real cause of his accident. It was one of those 

 crumpling falls which seem to mean death to both 

 horse and rider, but luckily in this case, the rider 

 escaped with a few bruises and a smashed hat. The 

 horse was also fortunate in a way, as no bones were 

 broken ; but 4he skin and flesh of his near fore-leg 

 were torn off from almost the shoulder to the knee, 

 and I wondered, as I looked on that gaping, bleeding- 

 wound, and the poor animal quivering with pain and 

 hardly able to bear even placing the tip of his toe on 

 the ground, if he would ever have the courage to face 

 a fence again. Luckily, he is all right now. 



I have heard people talk about a "good fall" being 

 the best means for teaching horses how to jump, and 

 there is a certain modicum of truth in this, especially 

 with young horses, and young horsemen too for that 

 matter; but when an old hunter gets a "bad" fall, I 

 doubt whether he ever recovers his jumping form again, 

 any more than we ourselves who may have come an 

 awful "buster" after we have reached the "age of 

 discretion." Horses frequently refuse on account of 



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