-43- 



cutting your whole body and will into it. 



I remember once, years ago, standing by the open 

 ditch at a small country meeting. Four horses came alor 

 and one, a chestnut mare, stuck in her toes and cut it. 

 Arthur Nightingale, then at the top of the tree, was 

 riding her, and I watched him closely. He gave her 

 two of the best as he took her back just far' enough to 

 give her a run, turned her round and drove her at it. 

 Both hands on the reins, the mare seemed held in a vice, 

 and it was easy to see that almost every rnuscle of that 

 •oowerful jockey T s body was at work; one noted the grim 

 determination in the face, but could only wonder what 

 the lateral pressure per square inch on that mare's ribs 

 amounted to. She got over the big fence, one of the 

 most obviously reluctant I have ever seen forced into 

 the air. I walked away confirmed in my opinion that 

 the winning-post is not the only interesting spot on 

 a racecourse. 



en fighting a horse, either a refuser or a "mean" 

 horse who has stuck up with you in the road, look out 

 for a moment when he wavers in his determination; such 

 a moment nearly always comes, and if you are 'ready for 

 it and exert all your muscle and will-power, you win. 

 Allow it to pass, and the fight will go on. The man, 

 who loves horses and is constantly riding all sorts de- 

 velops an instinct which helps him at such times. I 

 have watched a fight and felt inclined to yell out "To. ! 

 when the horse appeared to me to waver. a often as 

 not, if the rider had not the true instinct, he would 

 select that moment to blow his nose or otherwise rest 

 from his exertions. 



The greatest success I ever had with a refuser 

 was with a seven-year-old chestnut horse that I bought 

 from a friend. He had not hunted him and did not pre- 

 tend to know much a . but he did remark that he 

 would not jump in cold blocd, and had evidently been de- 

 feated by him. I got the horse home and took him for 

 a ride, with no intention of asking him to jump. I was 

 trotting him round a field, when we suddenly came on a 

 tiny ditch, no bigger than many a cart rut, running out 



