BUCK-JUMPING H0RSE3. 243 



turned a horse's head towards a moderate fence 

 vithout giving him time to collect himself to take 

 it properly. I have certainly, on such very few 

 occasions, found him spring or bound over from 

 the flexibility of his pasterns and hocks, as a man 

 does from the pliability of his insteps and knees ; 

 but I do not recognise having ever felt a horse do 

 this where he had time given him to prepare himself 

 for his leap. 



I saw some time ago a steeple- chase horse sold at 

 Tattersall's, called " Buck-jumper :" whether so 

 named from his being addicted to this style of 

 fencing or not I am not aware ; but if he was, I 

 should say it was a very bad fault in a horse that 

 cannot be allowed to lose time at his leaps, which I 

 conceive horses leaping in such form must do both 

 in taking off and landing. A horse cannot buck- 

 jump at speed; he must make a kind of stop to 

 spring from all-fours at once, and on landing he is 

 quite thrown out of his stride and has to collect 

 himself ere he can get into it again. Suppose in 



taking off and landing he lost a second by this way 



B 2 



