COERCION. 29 



plete, are apt to get very close to their fences, pre- 

 ferring, as it would seem, to go into them on this side 

 rather than the other. It is not a style that inspires 

 confidence ; yet these crafty, careful creatures are safer 

 than they seem, and from jumping in a collected form, 

 with their hind-legs under them, extricate themselves 

 with surprising address from difficulties that, after a 

 little more tuition, they will never be in. They are 

 really less afraid of their fenceSj and consequently less 

 flurried, than the wilful, impetuous brute that loses its 

 equanimity from the moment it catches sight of an 

 obstacle, and miscalculating its distance, in sheer 

 nervousness most fatal error of all takes off too soon. 

 I will now suppose that in the wake of your pilot you 

 have negotiated two or three fences with some ex- 

 penditure of nerve and temper, but without a refusal 

 or a fall. The cutting-whip has been applied, and the 

 result, perhaps, was disappointing, for it is an uncertain 

 remedy, though, in my opinion, preferable to the spur. 

 Your horse has shown great leaping powers in the 

 distances he has covered without the momentum of 

 speed, and has doubled an on-and-off with a precision 

 not excelled by your leader himself. If he would but 

 jump in his stride, you feel you have a hunter under 

 you. Should the country be favourable, now is the 



