132 RING-RIDING. 



JUMPING. 



Although tliere are some riders who have horses that 

 can jump exceptionally well and high, for the majority of 

 riders it can hardly be of interest to practice jumping for 

 the purpose of seeing over how high a hurdle they can get 

 their horses to jump ; neither is it advisable to practice very 

 high jumping, as it has some elements of danger that one 

 should not incur. Leave that to the professional or the en- 

 thusiast. 



Jumping over moderately high hurdles or bars can do no 

 harm, and is of especial benefit in imf)roving the rider's seat 

 and the grip of the legs, and making it immaterial to him if 

 he does occasionally lose one or both stirrups. 



I would recommend a class to practice by jumping the hur- 

 dle first in single file, then forming and jumping the hurdle 

 by twos, then by threes and fours, and, if there be room, with 

 still more in line ; this will help very much toward perfect- 

 ing the rider's control of his horse, as he must keep in line 

 while approaching and crossing the bars as well as in ordi- 

 nary movements, probably very hard to do at first, but be- 

 coming more easy at each attempt. 



The hurdle can at first be kept quite low and raised grad- 

 ually, but at no time for class riding higher than any ordi- 

 narily good jumper can easily clear. 



Sometimes a sluggish horse will touch the bars, even if 

 low, then he must be animated and spiirred to arouse him to 

 a sense of his duty. Although not advocating very high 

 jumping, still the bars should be put high enough to give 

 the horses some ambition to exert themselves. 



The class could also practice jumping in tandem riding, 

 'and figures could be made to include jumping at certain 

 points. 



In jumping, all horses are inclined to become excited, and 

 the riders should allay their excitement, or at least not in- 

 crease it, by keeping cool themselves and only calling on the 

 horse for extra exertion at the proper moment. 



