292 Modern Riding and Horse Education 



mounts and pulls the animal over by the reins, 

 lengthened by the addition of the whip-thong. 



Except with very young horses, it is best not to 

 allow them a lead over a fence, as it is in a sense a 

 moral support, and if we pander to them in this re- 

 spect we cannot expect boldness — the most valuable 

 characteristic in the jumper ; and, I might also add, 

 an indispensable one in the horseman. 



Horses are seldom fit for really hard work before 

 they are six years old, and we in England should 

 do well to follow Continental nations a little more 

 in this matter. In the English Cavalry Training 

 Manual of 1904 it was laid down that the trainer 

 should aim at making his horse as handy as a polo 

 pony, as clever as a hunter, and as quiet as a shoot- 

 ing pony. The ideal is an excellent one, and sel- 

 dom impossible if the training is scientific. 



THEEND. 



