TRAINING 9t 



it is common to see a bit of " scuffling," especially 

 if they have jumped off their unaccustomed leg. 



In order to test this, the management at Olympia 

 in the year 1913, I think it was, had the course 

 laid on the figure-of-eight plan, and it was very in- 

 teresting to note the result. Many riders never 

 thought of "changing" at all, and others who 

 did "change" at the turns, "changed" again 

 before jumping, showing that their horses had been 

 trained entirely on one rein. Such matters as 

 these are not of much importance if we are only 

 training hunters, but they make a good deal of 

 difference if we intend to aspire later on to higher 

 flights. In any case it is just as easy to start 

 in the one way as the other, and as it adds very 

 much to the interest of training, it is to be recom- 

 mended from whatever aspect we take it. A 

 trained jumper in the field of athletics must be 

 thinking solely of the effort he is going to make. 

 His stride and "take off" are automatic. And 

 so with horses. No horse can jump his best if 

 he is constantly changing his legs. 



So that before we raise our rail we should be 

 quite sure that our horse can canter over them 

 "true and united" on either rein at will. We 

 must also assure ourselves that they approach the 

 rail without rushing, that they canter up in a 

 perfectly collected manner until within thirty feet 

 or so of it, and then increase their pace slightly, 

 entirely at the will of the rider, and take off when 

 given the " office," and so jump off their hocks in 

 every case. There should be no sign of fretting or 



H 



