209 



leaping over a drain, ditch, rivulet, &c. or over 

 a bar, gate, or any other elevcition of a mode- 

 rate height. In the first, the horse must not 

 be thrown too much on his haunches, because 

 his object is rather to leap str-.i'^ht forward 

 than to rise; he must therefore have more rein, 

 and his head consequently more freedom. But 

 in this, as well as in every other viol -nt exer- 

 tion of the horse, the rider must use all his 

 caution, especially if he be unaccustomed to it. 

 It is necessary, therefore, at the moment the 

 horse contracts himself for the purpose of 

 leaping, that the person on his back should be 

 prepared, by taking a firm seat in the saddle, 

 and by pressing the hollow part of the thighs 

 with adequate force against the sides of the 

 horse; which is not only a security against 

 being thrown by the agitation, but also relieves 

 the rider from the violence that accompanies 

 a reliance on the spring of the foot. This ob- 

 servation, it must be confessed, is quite un- 

 necessary \o the man of experience ; but to 

 those who are at the commencement of their 

 field career it may not be an unacceptable hint. 

 In the pursuit of pleasure in tlie field, careless- 

 ness is the prominent feature of almost all 



