236 A HUNTING CATECHISM 



horses to jump these ditches properly, a pupil 

 being made to jump moderate-sized ones back- 

 wards and forwards, perhaps thirty or forty times, 

 till he will jump them in a skimming fashion, 

 without rising into the air at all. So long as he 

 essays to jump as if there was a small fence in 

 front, he must be kept at it, until at length he 

 will gallop and take it in his stride, keeping his 

 head level, not dropping it in the least to look at 

 the ditch, nor rising at all into the air. When 

 hunting in that country, if some one is descried 

 riding at a hedge in front of a ditch, it is a 

 common remark to hear made, " Halloa ! there's 

 an Englishman." Every one within hearing will 

 then turn in his saddle to watch the performance, 

 for the mere fact of not riding at a ditch where it 

 is ojjen at once betrays a stranger to the practised 

 eye. 



When riding at water, the most important 

 thing is to pick out a firm take-off, and sound 

 ground preceding it for at least several strides. 

 If the ground is treacherous it is impossible for a 

 horse either to time himself properly or to make 

 a vigorous spring, and to obtain such an advantage 

 a little extra width to be covered may well be 

 ignored. 



Almost equally important is a firm landing 

 place, and if this happens to be a trifle lower 

 than the take-off it is an advantage ; for in open 

 ground the horse can note there is a drop, and 

 prepare himself accordingly. The contrary is 

 the case when a hedge screens the landing from 

 view, and the difference in level of only two or 

 three inches is quite sufficient to bring many 

 horses to grief, when racing over fences at their 

 full stretch. A horse then expects the ground on 



