272 Modern Riding and Horse Education 



enjoy it if not jobbed in the mouth and given too 

 much of the exercise. 



The beginner must be taught to stand off and 

 jump well out. Getting too much under the fence 

 and landing on his shoulders are faults which are 

 very common in the young horse. For this reason 

 the first few lessons should be over an obstacle that 

 is broad at the top; either two hurdles bunched 

 together of the sort shown in Fig. 5 or the trunk of 

 a large tree, the latter having the advantage that a 

 horse will never try to go through it. The young- 

 ster should not be allowed to jump fast, whether he 

 is worked on foot or ridden, until he has learnt to 

 get his hocks well under him. Many people com- 

 mence with a single rail. Dick Christian (born 

 1779), a celebrated trainer of hunters, always did 

 this, but I am inclined to believe that it is not the 

 shortest way to the end in view, for reasons that I 

 have given above. 



The trainer may well begin on foot, and use 

 any of the appliances already mentioned; excellent 

 results can, however, be obtained in a school without 

 them. Lead the horse up to the obstacle and jump 

 it yourself alongside of him; after a few times it 



