108 HUNTING THE FOX 



ditches to make him clever with his feet. As 

 soon as he is over the fence the driver should 

 loose the offside rein from his hand, and the horse 

 will halt or come round in obedience to the pressure 

 from the nearside rein. Horses learn this habit 

 very quickly, and soon begin to stop of their own 

 accord when they are over the other side. It is 

 well to have two assistants on foot standing on 

 the taking-off side of the obstacle on each side of 

 the selected place, in order to supply a little moral 

 suasion by the voice. The whip should not be 

 used except as a last resort ; the mere presence of 

 the men is generally enough ; most young horses 

 have sense enough to give in to the weight of 

 numbers. The first few fences that our young 

 horse is asked to jump should no doubt be small 

 and perhaps thin, simply for the purpose of giving 

 him confidence. But it is probably a mistake to 

 practise too long over places that can be tampered 

 with. The thing becomes too easy, and the pupil 

 may very well become slovenly and careless. He 

 should be made to learn that jumping — like all 

 other accomplishments — requires a certain effort, 

 and that it is safer to negotiate obstacles with 

 something to spare. For this reason the natural 

 country is a better field for practice than an 

 artificial school, however cunningly it be contrived. 

 An artificial school is of some value in teaching a 

 young horse to balance and stand on his hocks. 



