JUMPING 125 



can easily be overdone. It stands to reason that in 

 jumping anything over three feet, which height ean 

 be easily negotiated by most horses from an absolute 

 standstill, a certain amount of pace is required in order 

 to give the horse sufficient momentum to get up in the 

 air. The more slowly the horse jumps the less mo- 

 mentum he has, the more vertically he is obliged to 

 raise himself over the jump, and the more fatiguing 

 the jump will be for him.* In order to jump grace- 

 fully, and without unnecessarily tiring himself, a cer- 

 tain amount of pace should be maintained, and all that 

 is necessary, in order to enable him to jump safely, is 

 that whatever the pace of approach he should be able 

 to set himself and get his hocks under him before tak- 

 ing off. 



It is absolutely impossible to give any hard-and-fast 

 rule as to how a horse should be put at his jumps, 

 or at what exact pace; for horses differ as much as 

 human beings, and what would be correct for one 

 would be quite wrong for the other. Refusers have 

 to be urged and hot horses steadied, while, again, some 

 horses have been badly broken and jump well only 

 when they are allowed to rush. Others require to go 

 so slowly that they appear almost to stop before they 

 "pop over," and, in all cases, the rider who wishes to be 

 considered a finished horseman or horsewoman, must 

 adapt himself or herself to the horse in hand. 



They must be able not only to ride each horse dif- 

 ferently, but often ride the same horse differently at 

 different fences. On the whole, however, a well- 

 broken horse who has been taught to jump correctly 



* Furthermore, in jumping slowly a horse requires more freedom of 

 the head and neck, and therefore it needs more delicacy on the part 

 of the rider not to interfere with the animal's mouth. 



