FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE 



wall country, but they are no more formidable in 

 reality, the only difference being that your novice 

 not improbably tries to break them when he is 

 fresh, and certainly will when tired. The post is 

 the safest thing to aim for unless it is too high 

 above the top rail ; your horse will try hard to 

 clear it because it seems solid, and a rail broken or 

 carried away may split and fall so as to impale him. 

 Gates are always highly dangerous, for if they are 

 hit, the latch is generally so weak that the gate 

 swings with you, and you may get an awful fall. 

 However, no sane man will ever essay a gate on 

 a "green" one, if any alternative offers. 



Opinions differ as to the pace to be employed 

 at timber, but as rails are really no more formid- 

 able than walls, the same calm and collected rate 

 should be preserved at both, more especially at 

 timber, if no gripe shows beyond. A deliberate 

 horse may always be hurried, if needful, and so 

 far as pace having any bearing on the height to 

 be successfully cleared, we all remember Ontario, 

 who used (at last) to turn round the edge of the 

 wing at a walk, make perhaps three strides, and 

 clear six feet and upward. Lord Minto and 

 many other extraordinary high jumpers approach 

 their fences at a hack canter. Even the rushers, 



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