LEAPING. 63, 



and the school well arranged, I prefer the right 

 hand, because a fall to the right is then clear of the 

 wall. This is a case in which an instructor must 

 depend upon his own judgment. 



The teacher stands as I have indicated above, 

 holding a whip with a long lash, not to strike the 

 horses, but to prevent refusals. 



One after another the pupils should leave the 

 line, and advance at a walk, until they get on 

 the side of the school where the hurdle has been 

 placed, when they will canter, but without any ex- 

 citement ; and they will find it useful to count one, 

 two, three, until the three movements of the body 

 have become mechanical from practice. 



During the course of the more advanced lessons, 

 it will still be useful to practice some flexions, in or- 

 der to be sure that pupils keep supple. They should 

 also learn to take the foot out of the stirrup at any 

 gait, and replace it without stopping, and to rise at 

 the trot, the foot being out of the stirrup, which is 

 not so difficult as it appears. They should also be 

 drilled to walk, trot, or gallop by twos and threes, to 

 learn to accommodate their horses' gait to that of a 

 companion. The teacher should be sure that, at the 

 end of their lessons, the pupils can trot or gallop for 

 at least a mile without stopping; and, to gain this 

 result, he must proceed by degrees, with the object 

 of developing the lungs and giving a freer respira- 

 tion. Nothing is more ridiculous than to see a 

 rider, who has proposed a trot or canter to her com- 



