THE APPROACH 89 



I do not believe in high jumping, and have never 

 gone in for it in any shape or form as a competition, 

 but I do know that if a horse can jump four feet 

 well, then he can jump any other height up to 

 the limits of his capacity. On one occasion I was 

 induced to put two of my horses over a rail six 

 feet high, as an exhibition jump. The first horse 

 I put at it was well in hand, and cleared it at the 

 first attempt quite easily. My second horse was 

 *' fretful," and I couldn't get him to answer to the 

 leg and rein, and when at the crucial point (about 

 thirty-six feet away) I could not get him to place his 

 fore feet on the spot I required. The consequence 

 was, that I had to make several efforts before I 

 could get his stride right. To the onlookers he 

 appeared to be refusing, but such was not really 

 the case, because, as I knew his stride wasn't 

 correct, I didn't ask him to jump. But after a 

 little while, I did manage to get him right, and at 

 the last stride, I gave him the " office," and he 

 was over with a good six inches to spare. I 

 mention this to show how necessary it is to have 

 one's horse so trained that there is no fretting, 

 or yawing, or rushing. He must be completely 

 obedient while approaching the fence, then we can 

 give him his head for the last three strides, and a 

 perfect jump will be the result. 



Horses that have not been trained to jump 

 properly, are very apt, even when they have been 

 correctly " put " at a fence, to put in a short stride. 

 This is due, generally speaking, to one or all of 

 three causes : firstly, he has never been taught 



