THE HUNTER 63 



except in the case of veteran hunters with whom it is 

 better to leave well enough alone, a short course of 

 training to teach a horse to flex, canter slowly, leading 

 on either leg, to back readily, and even to "passage" 

 and " traverse" a few steps, cannot help but be of 

 great assistance to him in rendering him handy, 

 nimble, and clever at his jumps. 



One of the cleverest little thoroughbred hunters I 

 ever owned, who always jumped in a snaffle bridle 

 without even a martingale, would pop easily over five 

 feet with the reins loose on his neck, without touch- 

 ing a rail, and yet half an hour later he could be 

 slipped into a double bridle, arch his neck, give you 

 his "school" head, passage, piaffe, and do everything 

 short of a Spanish Walk as prettily as a little circus 

 horse. I feel quite convinced that the training he 

 had gotten in "school" methods of handling himself 

 was a distinct help to him in his jumping. Hunting, 

 racing, and polo may be the "sports" of horseman- 

 ship, but "high school" is its art. And the graceful 

 airs of the capriole, croupade, and piaffe are more 

 than merely wonderful and beautiful, they serve many 

 a useful purpose as well. "By a school training a 

 dangerous horse may be made safe, or a chronic 

 stumbler be taught to catch himself, or the average 

 ungainly, clumsily moving brute be made light and 

 handy, and responsive to the bit and leg, and this 

 demonstrates its usefulness. Is it not useful to take 

 a puller, or a horse so high-strung that it is a risk for 

 any one to ride him, and make him moderate and safe 

 for even a woman to ride, if she is taught what his 

 training is and is trained herself?"* In fact, a short 



* "Riders of Many Lands," by Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore A. 

 Dodge. 



