272 JUMPING. 



able and willing to jump a great height without touching 

 the obstacle. As he is not required, like the hunter, to 

 jump high and wide at the same time, he is trained to go 

 up to his obstacles, with the exception of the water-jump, 

 at a very short and greatly collected canter, so that he 

 may take off as near the proper spot as possible, and raise 

 his forehand to the required height before projecting 

 himself upwards and forwards with his hind legs. The 

 angle of elevation of his centre of gravity would conse- 

 quently be greater and better adapted to his work than 

 that of the free-striding hunter or chaser. As I have 

 analysed, in Points of the Horse, the movements in 

 leaping, I need not go into the subject here. I may point 

 out that although attempts are made at Ball's Bridge 

 (Dublin) and elsewhere to make the jumping ring a mimic 

 hunting field ; the usual conditions of such contests agree 

 with what I have said. In the training of the show- 

 jumper, we should first of all teach him the short canter 

 by collecting him and making him circle and do the figure 

 of 8 at that pace on very small circles. For example, he 

 ought to be able to canter steadily round a circle of eighteen 

 feet in diameter, and to take a stride of not more than five 

 feet in length. My readers will, I trust, understand that I 

 am here writing about his training, and not about his 

 performance in the ring. In teaching him to jump I 

 would supplement the long rein work with a good deal of 

 practice '* at liberty," over stiff bars and gates placed on a 

 small circle, say, one of twenty yards in diameter, and 

 gradually raised until he could easily clear five and a half 

 feet without touching the timber. I would suggest the use 



