Hands 107 



from bad to worse until the horse becomes a confirmed 

 puller. 



I repeat, if you cannot sit a horse over timber without 

 catching hold of his mouth to support your body, you can 

 assure yourself that you are not qualified to ride a good 

 horse across country to hounds, and that the fault is with 

 your seat more than with your hands. I may be pardoned 

 for repeating again that the most important of all things in 

 cross-country riding is to give your horse perfect freedom 

 and liberty of his head when negotiating a fence, especially 

 timber. If you have so ridden him as in no way to 

 hamper his movements, except so far as your weight is 

 concerned, and he makes a mistake, it is not your fault. 

 And do not deceive yourself: a horse knows enough to 



place the blame where it belongs. Mr. , one of the 



best English authorities, says that nine falls out of ten in 

 the hunting-field are the fault of the rider, and I think he 

 is not far astray in his reckoning. A friend of mine tells 

 me : " You might say, what would be perfectly true, that 

 nine men out of ten would fall off if deprived of their 

 reins." 



It is said of the great Atherton Smith that when he 

 came to a very bad jump, rather than have any question of 

 whose fault it was, his or his horse's, if they went to grass, 

 he would throw the reins down on the horse's neck and 

 say: "Now, then, look out for yourself!" That is the 

 principle on which one should strive to make every jump. 



I confess it is much easier to tell how all these things 

 ought to be done than it is to do them. Perfect form in 

 all respects in riding to hounds is rarely seen in one man^ 



