SCHOOLING 177 



low hurdle will be quite enough to start with, and it 

 is a good thing to have a steady, trustworthy old horse 

 to lead the young one in his early lessons. A leaping 

 bar is not to be recommended, as it gives way when 

 struck, and the horse will be apt to get an idea that 

 he may take liberties, a notion which later on is apt to 

 be forcibly dispelled. On some courses, indeed, horses 

 can brush through their fences, and even when they 

 are strongly made up, one not seldom sees huge pieces 

 of them knocked out as some clumsy jumper plunges 

 through ; but at other times, if the fence is really stiff, 

 a bad fall is the result, and the horse should be taught 

 that he must clear what he is put to. Further refer- 

 ence is made to this in the chapter on " Steeplechase 

 Courses." Very often, in his early lessons, the horse's 

 fault may be that he will jump too high, and this is 

 very detrimental, for he will, as the phrase goes, be 

 apt to "beat himself jumping." Crossing hurdles is 

 a business by itself, and differs from jumping fences. 

 It may be added that hurdle racing is indefensible 

 as a sport, being neither one thing nor the other — 

 steeple-chasing nor flat-racing — though it is certainly 

 a picturesque and pretty sight to watch a jumper that 

 really knows his business. The ideal hurdle racer is a 

 horse that clears the obstacles as if they were not there, 

 taking them in his stride, and it is wonderful how 

 the very best (there are extremely few of them) will 

 contrive to do this. The jockey who rode Chandos 

 in most of his races describes how, some strides from 



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