FENCING. 26T 



horses, " rushing fencers," as they are termed, 

 never perfectly acquire it. It is a serious fault 

 in a horse to take his spring sooner than he need 

 take it ; and perfect fencers go close up to their 

 fences before they rise at them, particularly to 

 hedges when the ditches are on the landing side. 

 Horses, however, of hasty tempers, particularly well- 

 bred ones, with great jumping powers, cannot al- 

 ways be made to do so. Neither will they save 

 themselves by walking into, or pushing through, 

 places which do not require to be jumped ; on the 

 contrary, many otherwise excellent hunters will 

 scarcely suffer a brier to touch their legs. A good 

 bridle-hand here comes into play, more especially 

 with horses who are rather difficult to handle, either 

 from too fine a mouth, or a loose, ill-formed neck. 

 It is difficult, however, to offer instruction here, as 

 there ought to be an absolute interchange of feeling 

 between the instructor and the instructed, to ren- 

 der them intelligible to each other; but we will 

 endeavour to make ourselves understood : — When 

 you approach a fence with a horse of this descrip- 

 tion, you should leave him as much to himself as 

 you find it prudent to do, particularly when within 

 a few yards of it. If you are obliged to check his 

 speed, do so with as light a hand as possible ; and 

 if he shows a dislike to be much checked, by throw 

 ing up his head, or otherwise, drop your hand to 

 him, and let him go. He has by this time most 

 probably measured the fence by his eye, and it may 

 not be safe to interfere with him. 



Double fences, particularly with a horse not quite 



