274 HORSEMANSHIP. 



the next fence, when he will be more careful where 

 he puts his feet, and take a greater spring. A 

 horse knows his errors ; also, when he is corrected, 

 and when cherished, each of which he should be 

 subject to in their turns ; but as, according to the 

 old adage, a coward and a madman are equally un- 

 fit to be horsemen, the correction of a young hunter 

 should not be severe. Nothing would be more 

 likely to make him what is called a " rushing,'" 

 and consequently an unsafe fencer for the rest of 

 his life, than beating him severely^ for any trifling 

 faults he may commit in the field. Martingals on 

 hunters are now generally condemned ; but, in our 

 opinion, more generally than they deserve to be, 

 particularly during the first season of a young 

 horse, as a long martingal serves to steady his 

 head, if he is a little impetuous, and saves him 

 many falls, which, putting his rider out of the 

 question, are injurious to him, as all horses become 

 large fencers, in a great measure, by having confi- 

 dence in themselves, which falls must necessarily 

 shake. All horses, indeed, whose necks are weak 

 and loose, may be ridden with advantage by the 

 aid of a martingal on the bridoon rein, the rings 

 coming quite up to their jaws, when it cannot inter- 

 fere with their galloping or their leaping. We re- 

 member the time, indeed, when the first sportsmen 

 and hardest riders of the day, were never seen 

 without a long martingal, o?i hoi^ses ichose head's were 

 not quite in the right place, and be it remembered 

 that nineteen out of twenty race -horses are ridden 

 in martingals. Nevertheless we would avoid the 



