116 HORSES AND RIDING. 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 



LEAPING. 



It is a very commonly prevailing idea, and a very 

 erroneous one, that it is a bad thing to let a young 

 horse refuse a fence, and that if you once put him at 

 a fence you ought to make him go over. No idea 

 can be productive of more mischief in teaching a 

 horse than this, and it is the chief cause of a great 

 many horses not being better to ride than they are. 



It is quite as much a proper part of a good hunter's 

 education that he should go up to a fence without 

 jumping it, when occasion requires, as that he should 

 jump it. If a horse stops at a fence, unless he is a 

 restive horse, it is because he has some reason for it ; 

 either he thinks he cannot jump it or he is afraid to 

 try. In either of these cases, you only make him 

 worse by frightening him still more, which you 

 certainly will do if you make him jump it with whip 

 or spur. 



A horse will sometimes stop at a fence the first 

 time, but will jump it if he is ridden at it a second 



