124 HOESES AND EIDIXG. 



by hi? horse's head at a jump, and wishes to be sure, 

 let him try the following exjDeriment. Let him 

 punch two little holes in each side of one of his 

 reins near the bit, and three or four inches apart ; 

 then let him get two bits of worsted and tie them 

 one to each of the pair of holes, so that the worsted 

 is tighter than the rein, and will break if you pull 

 at the rein. 



IS'ow let him trot, not gallop, his horse up to an 

 ordinary fence with only this rein in his hand, and 

 see if he can get over the fence and go fifty yards 

 on the other side without breaking the worsted. I 

 will venture to predict not only that he will break 

 the worsted the first time he tries, but that he will 

 have to try a good many times before he succeeds 

 in performing the test. 



The way to avoid doing it is to either ride up to 

 the fence with the reins loose, or to hold them in a 

 grasp that is sufiiciently loose to allow the horse to 

 draw them through your fingers with a very slight 

 pressure, taking care, however, that he does not jerk 

 the reins altogether out of your hands. 



When a horse jumps a small fence or ditch, he 

 lights on his fore legs and picks them up again 

 before his hind feet come to the ground ; but in 

 jumping a larger place he will often alight on all 

 four feet at once, and this is the safest and best way 

 for a horse to come down after a leap. If a horse 

 comes down on his fore feet after a large jump, and 



