106 HUNTING THE FOX 



comfort and pleasure of a day's hunting. In 

 addition, it is of course postulated that his mouth 

 is properly made, and that his make and shape 

 are such that he can move well in all his paces and 

 be able to gallop fast. If so, he is at four years old 

 not very far from being a made hunter. " You 

 can teach him to jump," said a wise and witty 

 judge of horses, " but you cannot teach him to 

 gallop " ; and, indeed, the teaching of a young 

 horse to jump is the easiest and most delightful 

 part of his tuition. Nearly all horses come to it 

 in time ; some do it more comfortably than others ; 

 some seem to be natural jumpers the very first 

 time they are asked to get over a country ; but 

 there are surprisingly few horses who are really 

 bad jumpers. The proof of this is that, out of a 

 large Field, many indifferent riders are mounted 

 on indifferent horses and still manage to get over 

 big fences with comparatively few mistakes, even 

 if they are not in the first flight. But, in spite of 

 this, our young horse should be given every chance 

 of acquiring the accomplishment with confidence 

 and ease. For this purpose it is well that he 

 should be driven with long reins over fences when 

 he is young, before he is ridden over them. Captain 

 Hayes' long -rein system cannot be beaten for 

 breaking and mouth-making young horses, as well 

 as for teaching them to jump. The tackle required 

 is a thick un jointed snaffle, a standing martingale 



