THE HUNTER. 125 



a critical moment, and so give him his first lesson in " sticki- 

 ness " a great fault in a hunter. At the outset, the leading 

 rein fastened to a caveson is to be preferred to driving the 

 horse over fences with long double reins. 



It is important that only small places be selected until the 

 colt will trot up and jump them readily. The trainer will at 

 first be accompanied by an assistant, who may lightly hold 

 the horse while the trainer gets over the first little ditch or 

 hedge ; and here the trainer may be advised not to turn round 

 and stare the pupil full in the face when asking him to jump. 

 He should stand sideways to the obstacle, so that he can see 

 all that the colt is doing without frightening him. The same 

 rule holds good when taking a horse into a horse-box for the 

 first time. The person in charge should never turn round and 

 look the horse in the face, but should precede the horse by a 

 foot or two, and keep his back towards him. The assistant 

 should be provided with a whip, but it is to be used sparingly, 

 and not at all if possible a slight cracking of it will nearly 

 always suffice and, above all, the trainer must not be in a 

 hurry. If he set about his work properly, nineteen colts out of 

 twenty will give no trouble whatever, especially if they have 

 been in the habit of jumping the rail to get their food. Nor 

 must the trainer be in too great a hurry to increase the size of 

 the fences he selects ; small places only should be picked out 

 till the pupil jumps them without hanging at them. 



It would be beyond the scope of these remarks which are 

 intended for beginners to deal with the advanced education 

 of a hunter. The person who undertakes to ride a young 

 horse over a country should be a man of experience. If, 

 however, the breeder be not a good horseman, and if he will 

 educate his young stock on the lines here laid down, he may 

 feel sure of being able to realise the best price for what is 

 little more than raw material. The buyer will see that he 

 has a good foundation to work upon, and will not have to 

 spend a long time in unlearning several bad habits, which 

 he would certainly have to do had some unfinished horse- 

 man undertaken the education of the colt. 



