28 RIDING, DRIVING AND KINDRED SPORTS 



to ride at fences, it should be as slowly as the 

 size of the obstacle and the temperament of the 

 horse will allow. In the same way a horse 

 should have plenty of rope at his fences. To 

 give length to the reins is the means of saving 

 many a fall. All horses when recovering from 

 a blunder use their heads as a means of regain- 

 ing their balance, and will be sure to stretch out 

 the neck. The horse's head should be as free as 

 possible when he lands ; and if your nerve will 

 stand it, as soon as he is about to take off, the 

 reins should be slackened so that in the act of 

 springing and landing he may take out as much 

 rein as he requires. But I readily concede that 

 different horses require different handling. For 

 example, I once bought a horse which had been 

 ridden by a hunt servant. This man was a 

 good man with hounds and a bold rider, but he 

 had no hands to speak of. and I have seen him 

 when turning hounds take his horse short by 

 the head and with a twist of his wrist and a 

 " Come up, OSS," jump out of a road over a fair- 

 sized hedge and ditch, and land safely too. 

 When I got the horse I found him an admir- 

 able fencer, but not at once prepared to fall in 

 wnth my ways. In those days I was more 

 attached to theories of horsemanship, and less 

 inclined to modify them, than experience has 

 since taught me to do. The first obstacle 



