Jumping the Same Obstacle, 145 



will step over a high bar if you stand him in front 

 of it and encourage him. Don't scold or strike 

 her. Nothing disheartens the learning or cour- 

 ageous horse so much. 



From the days of Xenophon down, any one 

 who loses his temper in training a horse, or uses 

 any but gentle means, violates the precept, prac- 

 tice, and experience of all successful horsemen. 



" But never to approach a horse in a fit of 

 anger is the one great precept and maxim of con- 

 duct in regard to the treatment of a horse ; for 

 anger is destitute of forethought, and conse- 

 quently often does that of which the agent must 

 necessarily repent." Xen. Horsemanship, vi. 13. 



Curiously enough, in spite of this rule, Xeno- 

 phon advocates the use of the whip and spur in 

 teaching a horse to leap — the gravest error, I 

 think, of this exceedingly sensible horseman. 



It has been said that you should not make a 

 horse keep on jumping the same obstacle, because 

 he sees no reason for doing it, and feels that you 

 are making a fool of him. But my experience is 

 that a horse likes to jump at any well-known 

 thing, if he has been petted or rewarded for clev- 

 erly clearing it. A horse who has been given a 

 bit of sugar or apple after jumping is far from 

 feeling that he has been made a fool of, even if 

 he is jumped a dozen times over the same obsta- 

 cle. And every horse goes with double confi- 



