254 



CHAPTER VII. 



TEACHING HORSES TO JUMP. 



General instruction — Jumping faults — The hunter — The chaser — The 

 hurdle racer — The show-jumper — -Time required to teach a horse 

 to jump. 



General instruction. — Although I strongly advocate the 

 practice of giving a horse his first saddle lessons in a small 

 enclosure, such as a riding-school, I think it advisable for 

 the hunter or chaser to obtain all his jumping instruction 

 in a field or other open place, work in which would be less 

 liable to get him into a " cramped " style of fencing than 

 in a manege. The tendency of horses to become routine, 

 to which I shall make further allusion on page 283, is often 

 well shown in jumping. Hence, I would advise, that practice 

 over a particular line of fences should be restricted, in the 

 case of an intended hunter, to teaching him the necessity of 

 clearing them, and that his subsequent schooling should, as 

 far as possible, be over strange obstacles. I have known 

 some animals become so " tricky " from being frequently 

 ridden over the same jumps, that they would not negotiate 

 a new one, however small, without a refusal or two. The 

 less plucky a horse is, the more inclined will he be to acquire 

 this very grave fault. I may point out that it is compara- 



