RIDING TO HOUNDS 235 



A horse trained to jump timber will be sure to 

 jump walls, but the reverse of this is by no 

 means the case. A careless wall- jumper is unsafe 

 at timber, and the trick of taking off the top 

 stones does not pay when applied to an unbreak- 

 able fence. 



Wide water should be ridden at at a good pace, 

 with a firm hold of the horse's head. Within 

 reason, the firmer he is held the further he will 

 jump. To see wide drains jumped properly it is 

 well to visit the Ward Union district, round 

 Fairyhouse, near Dublin. The fields there are 

 divided by wide, very deep ditches, mostly di-y, 

 but their width and depth make them most 

 formidable obstacles. They vary from twelve to 

 sixteen feet wide ; and some are deep enough to 

 contain both a horse and his rider, without it 

 being even possible to see the latter's hat, while 

 still mounted. The habitues of the hunt do not 

 ride very fast at these obstacles, but at a steady 

 hand gallop, giving a horse time to measm'e his 

 ground so that he can take off at the very edge, 

 and thus reduce the width as much as possible. 

 In most English hunts, if there is any choice in 

 the matter, it is common to see men ride at a 

 wide ditch where there is a fence in front of it, 

 " to make the horse rise," they say ; but a Ward 

 Union man would never dream of doing such a 

 suicidal thing. He would pick out, a spot where 

 there was no hedge, so that the horse, by merely 

 extending himself, can cover the width with the 

 minimum of exertion. The best horse that ever 

 was foaled would soon be beaten, if he was asked 

 to go on jumping ditch after ditch in the Ward 

 country, with a high fence in front of each. 

 Much time and care is expended in teaching 



