112 



LEAPING. 



The horse should be taught to leap with 

 a leading line, or, if necessary with one on 

 each side, and without a rider, for the first 

 two or three lessons, but the jumps should 

 be small and the lessons short. To be slow 

 and sure in this business is a saving of time 

 in the end. Some corn sacks filled with 

 straw, and laid flat on the ground, can now 

 be ridden over, so as gradually to get his 

 hind quarters into good condition. A little 

 later, a bar covered with hay or straw 

 bands may be negociated, the sacks lying in 

 front of the bar. The height of the bar may 

 shortly be raised to three feet, and the 

 sacks be placed on end leaning against it. 

 The next step is to use hurdles with the 

 bar, and when the horse is ready to 

 accomplish a wider jump, two bars with 

 hurdles or sacks of straw may be placed 

 about twelve inches apart, and be gradually 

 moved farther from each other as the horse 

 increases in jumping power. For a horse 

 finishing a course of training, and in first 

 rate condition, the hurdles may be placed 

 with sacks on the top, and the bars 

 may be so fixed as to make a jump 

 upwards of five feet high and eighteen feet 



