^02 Among Men and Horses 



mouths, form their paces, and teach them to jump ; but mere 

 instruction in the taming of wild horses or of exceptionally- 

 vicious ones is, practically, of no use to them ; and they 

 naturally resent it being foisted on them as an all-sufficient 

 system of horse instruction. 



I thought the judging of the jumping particularly good ; 

 for the rule of taking the horses over all the fences at fair 

 hunting speed was insisted on throughout. I must say that 

 the majority of the horses pulled hard ; and consequently 

 were badly broken-in. How true the old saying is, that 

 manners make the horse. The jumping course was in the 

 form of a horse-shoe of about 300 yards in extent. The 

 first fence was a low hedge in front of water about 9 feet 

 wide ; the second, which was opposite the stand, was a ditch 

 about 4 feet wide in front of a bank about 3 feet high, 4 

 feet wide on the top, and without a ditch on the landing side ; 

 the third, a 4-foot wall, the upper third of which consisted of 

 loose stones; the fourth, an on-and-off, about 5 J feet 

 high, with 4-feet ditches and nearly straight sides ; the fifth, 

 a 13-feet water jump with a hedge in front of it; and the 

 sixth and last, a sort of flattering compromise between a 

 hedge and a hurdle. The first fence was, as it ought to have 

 been, of an easy character ; the second presented still less 

 difficulty, and could have been negotiated by any ordinary 

 10-hand Shetland pony ; and the last one could be brushed 

 through with immunity. The 4-foot wall, the big bank and 

 the water jump required a clever horse to take them properly. 

 Besides this regular course, there was a 4-foot-9-inch wall, 

 which was capped with loose stones, and which was reserved 

 for special competitions. By the kindness of the committee, 

 I was allowed to come into the jumping enclosure, and while 

 there, one afternoon, I had a short conversation with Lord X, 

 who is considered in Ireland to be a great authority on 

 horses. For information sake, I asked him why there was no 

 gate or posts and rails on the jumping course, and suggested 

 that, for instance the substitution of a gate in front of the 



