98 



No. 7. — Persist in backing the horse. If he attempts to rear a 

 breaker's martingale will prevent him. 



No. 8. — Place the collar on him an hour or two before he is 

 wanted to work, and lay him up without food or any other amuse- 

 ment. 



No. 9. — Wait quietly until he will start. It is often a good plan 

 to turn the horse round, after which he will go off in the right 

 direction. On no account use the whip, or attempt to drag the 

 horse off. 



No. 10. — In India the natives often tie a piece of string just above 

 one of the fore knees of the horse, and pull him gently onwards. 



LEAPING TO TEACH A HORSE. 



It should always be remembered that jumping is a natural quality 

 in horses. Prefer the double line system, it is less likely to cause 

 refusals. Begin by crossing the lines (common plough lines) under 

 the chin, to the rings of the snaffle bit, and then pick out a small 

 broken-down bank, over which a horse can climb. Put one man on 

 the landing-side with the lines ; another man leads the horse up to 

 the fence ; and the man with the lines calls to the horse, who in a 

 very short time finds out what is wanted. The lesson is then 

 increased in difficulty, but care must be taken not to render it too 

 long. Begin (and continue for the first four or five days) to jump 

 your horse in hand, and make him a "standing-jumper" before you 

 let him go fast. The best thing at first is a fallen tree ; lead him 

 up quite close to it, and let him smell and examine it ; then, by a 

 little encouragement from a groom behind, bring him over. He will 

 soon learn to rise quietly, and spring from his haunches. Continue 

 this practice, without more excitement or punishment than is abso- 

 lutely needed, for half an hour at a time, till he jumps cheerfully 

 and in a well-balanced form. After a while pass on to a low stiff 

 bar (if a "leaping bar," it should be fixed, and covered with furze, 

 and the side posts should not be too high to prevent the rein passing 

 over them), but do not continue too long at one bar, and by all 

 means do not raise it higher and higher till the horse falls ; this is a 

 common and fatal mistake in bar practice. Taking him over a farm, 

 find out suitable fences (not wattle hurdles — they give way easily, 

 and engender carelessness) over which to put him, at one time 

 standing, at another from the trot ; taking care to select fences with 

 a fair-sized ditch, and such as are neither blind nor "trappy." 



After four or five days' practice in hand, begin to ride him over 



