THE STEEPLECHASER 



him to jump clear over anything, either, as that 

 entails waste of power, but to " hear his feet 

 rattle " at every fence, as an assurance that not an 

 inch too much is essayed. All his leaps will be 

 regulation fences — banks, brush, water, and that 

 idiotic " Liverpool," the most senseless, useless, 

 trifling, un-American contraption ever incorpo- 

 rated in requirements. Of these he will find cer- 

 tainly ten inches flimsy brush, so that if he clearly 

 and with certainty jumps three feet six inches the 

 fence is not built on American courses that will 

 put him down, nor is there anything to be gained 

 by asking him to jump higher, by more than an 

 inch or two. Some of our 'chasing enthusiasts 

 perpetually school their horses over larger fences ; 

 but the returns do not show that they profit by 

 it — either owners or charges — but rather the 

 reverse ; nothing is more irksome than rehearsal 

 when the actor knows himself letter perfect ; 

 some of these everlasting schoolmasters kill and 

 maim not a few of their animals, while the balance 

 of them fall about as often as those more leniently 

 treated. 



The variety of jumps advised and legalized by 

 the National Steeplechase and Hunt Association 

 is sparse, and the obstacles are not those which, 



187 



