BUCK-JUMPING. 255 



on his hind-quarters, to be far more effective, than by 

 " showing " him the whip (Fig. 206), in the usual way. We 

 should bear in mind that the faulty action of the hind 

 quarters have nearly as much influence in the production 

 of boring as that of the head and neck. It is evident that 

 if a horse has his hind legs well under him and properly 

 placed, he cannot be heavy in front. A standing martingale 

 fixed to the rings of the snaffle will often give the rider a 

 good deal of power over a horse that bores to one side. 

 With such an animal, we may pass a strap through the ring 

 of the snaffle on the opposite side to which he bores, and 

 through the loop formed by the throat-latch, and tighten the 

 strap as may be required. This arrangement will often 

 make him go with an even feeling on both reins. 



BUCK-JUMPING 



Appears to be an instinct formed in horses when they 

 were preyed upon by carnivorous animals which made their 

 attacks by jumping on the backs of their quarry. I am 

 inclined to think that buck-jumping is a vice common among 

 all wild and semi-wild horses ; for I have seen it among such 

 animals that were bred in Australia, New Zealand, North and 

 South America, South Africa, and on the Russian steppes. I 

 have never known English, East Indian or Arab horses buck, 

 and find that this vice is becoming comparatively rare among 

 Australasian horses which are reared under civilized condi- 

 tions. Forty years ago, almost every "green" Australian horse 

 bucked. The buck-jumper, with the quickness of thought, 

 throws his head between his fore legs. At the same moment 

 he arches his back, bounds in the air with his head and 

 shoulders down and his croup up, and with his fore legs thrust 

 straight out to the front, and his hind legs gathered under 

 him. The difficulty in sitting him consists chiefly in the fact 

 that the suddenness of the downward movement of his 



