'HANDS' AND OTHER MATTERS 111 



cloak of repetition. " I have said it three times, 

 and therefore it is true," is humorous because it 

 contains an underlying sophism. In this case there 

 is no truth in it, even though it has been repeated 

 often. The reverse is indeed the case, for hands 

 are made. They are only born in so far that any 

 man who possesses balance, confidence and sym- 

 pathy, possesses the potentialities of " hands." 

 Education and practice should do the rest. 



When a man is jumping a fence, and jabs his 

 horse in the mouth, he does so because he is im- 

 balanced, and at that moment has bad hands. 

 But when not jumping he might have splendid 

 " hands." Or, again, a horse shies suddenly, and 

 the rider, in order to prevent himself from falling, 

 hangs on to its head. At that moment his hands 

 are extremely bad, for the sole reason that the 

 rider is off his balance. But directly he has 

 recovered himself he may resume riding with 

 perfect " hands." So that it is clear that first 

 and foremost the question must be regarded as 

 one of balance. The next consideration is that of 

 confidence. A man is considered to have bad 

 hands if he is always " niggling " a horse's mouth 

 as he approaches a fence. (This is a very common 

 reason for a horse refusing.) The reason for his 

 doing this is purely from a lack of confidence. A 

 man who is riding a keen horse that is going faster 

 than he wishes, however good his hands may be 

 on a quieter mount, if he lacks the confidence 

 necessary to deal with the matter, will start 

 holding him tighter. As his confidence decreases, 



