66 TRAINING YOUNG 



jumping them on a circle with the long reins. 

 When ridden they must be driven well up to 

 their bits and held straight with the reins. 

 This fault is more troublesome in the case of a 

 steeplechaser than a hunter. The former may 

 be got right in the hands of a strong rider, but 

 with a weak horseman such horses will become 

 a source of danger to the other competitors in a 

 race. 



THE AMOUNT OF SCHOOLING A 

 YOUNG HORSE MAY BE GIVEN 



If the reader schools on the lines I have suggested 

 he can let his horse jump four days a week 

 without any fear of his becoming stale. The 

 action of jumping muscles a horse and helps 

 to balance him. Poor Dugdale, late of the 

 1 6th Lancers, whose sad death took place last 

 December near Rome, in a report he sent 

 home, wrote: " It is impossible to lay down any 

 rule about the rate of progression ; at Pinerolo 

 it seems extraordinarily slow, but the result is 

 that all horses jump exceptionally well. Start 

 with a bar on the ground, go over this at all 

 paces until the horse has absolute confidence, 

 and then raise the bar a notch at a time. For 

 the first six weeks at Pinerolo the bar was 

 never raised more than one foot from the 



