LEAPINC. 49 



garden wall as it is for any rider to '' lift" his horse. Although 

 the horse must be made to feel, as he approaches the 

 fence, that it is utterly impossible for him to swerve from it, 

 yet the instant he is about to rise the reins should be slacked 

 off, to be almost immediately brought to bear again as he 

 descends. 



Irish horses are the best jumpers we have, and their 

 excellence may justly be ascribed to the fact that, for the 

 most part, they are ridden in the snaffle bridle. If the 

 horse be held too light by the head he will " buck over " 

 the obstacle, a form of jumping well calculated to jerk the 

 beginner out of her saddle. After topping the hurdle, the 

 horse's forehand, in his descent, will be lower than his hind 

 quarters. Had the rider leant forward as he rose on his hind 

 legs, the violent effort or kick of his haunches would have 

 thrown her still further over his neck, whereas, having left 

 the ground with a slight incUnation towards the croup, 

 the forward spring of the horse will add to that backward 

 tendency and place her in the best possible position in 

 which to counteract the shock received upon his forefeet 

 reaching the ground. If the rider does not slacken the reins 

 as the horse makes his spring, they must either be drawn 

 through her hands or she will land right out on his neck. 



I have referred to the *' buck-over" system of jumping* 

 which is very common with Irish horses. A mare of mine, 

 well-known in days of yore at Fermoy as " Up-she-rises, 

 would have puzzled even Mrs. Power O'Donoghue. She 

 would come full gallop, when hounds were running, at a 

 stone wall, pull up and crouch close under it, then, with 

 one mighty effort, throw herself over, her hind legs landing 

 on the other side little more than the thickness of the wall 

 from where her forefeet had taken off. It was not a 

 " buck," but a straight up-on-end rear, followed by a frantic 



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