TRAINING 101 



have learnt to know how painful is a rap over the 

 shins when jumping a stiff post and rails, and how 

 sharp and prickly is a well-laid stake and bound. 

 But if the o^vner is wise he will not allow them to 

 test the strength of timber, or the sharpness of a 

 stake, except in the very early stages of training 

 when the obstacle is extremely small and un- 

 alarming. Never allow your horse to make a 

 mistake if it can possibly be avoided; a mistake 

 means that the progression has been too fast. 

 Only ask him to jump what you know he can do 

 without a mistake, no matter if a rail has to be 

 lowered to a foot off the ground. 



There is one more point : I do not believe in 

 " brush" fences for training. They only teach a 

 horse to be sloppy in his jumping, and he soon 

 gets into the habit of going through as much as he 

 can. Still less do I agree with furze. No one 

 expects a horse to clear a furze fence, but, on the 

 contrary, we know that he will go through the 

 greater part of it. Now, how can one expect 

 jumping to be attractive, if every time he is pricked 

 all over, and returns to his stable more like a 

 porcupine than a horse ? The best form of jump 

 is the stiff rail which can be lowered or raised at 

 will, and for all early training purposes none other 

 is required. 



Before leaving the subject of training, there is 

 still one point I ^vish to refer to. When out 

 hunting, the obstacle that frightens people more 

 than anything else is a blind ditch on the take-off 

 side. If a rider is on an untrained horse, he has 

 every justification for his dislike of this form of 



