STEEPLECHASE COURSES 201 



tice see the 24 inches of brushwood in front of them 

 and are apt to disregard it as a trifle to be covered in 

 their stride. They may blunder in, or, what is more 

 likely, may see the water suddenly, and, making a 

 sudden effort, overjump themselves. Whether it is 

 physically possible for a horse that has risen at a 

 jump to make this effort when off the ground, with 

 nothing to give him an impetus, is a disputed point ; 

 the only thing that can be said about it is that to the 

 rider it feels as if the animal did so. A few words 

 may be interpolated here as to the distances which 

 jumpers habitually cover over fences. Some time 

 since the writer was at Danebury watching horses 

 being schooled over hurdles. One flight was placed 

 just by the side of a broad road where two carts 

 could easily pass each other. " Don't the horses 

 hurt themselves by jumping on to the road when 

 the ground is hard ? " seemed a natural question. 

 *' Oh, they always clear that, and well beyond it," was 

 Tom Cannon's reply. " You will see when they pass." 

 Four of them approached. The animal in which we 

 were particularly interested at the time was rather 

 on the small side, under 15.2. They were not racing, 

 but going a half-speed gallop. We noted where the 

 little horse took off and where he landed, carefully 

 measured the distance covered, and found it was as 

 nearly as possible 28 feet. The 2 ft. fence and the 

 12 ft. of water make just half this, it will be seen ; so 

 that the water jump is really far from formidable. 



