JUMPING. 281 



or turning his animal off it, he should do so with the clearest 

 "indications" of leg and rein, so that the horse may not 

 make the mistake of thinking that he is allowed to refuse. I 

 have ridden some horses who were passionately fond of 

 jumping, and who would have taken a lot of stopping to 

 have made them turn away from a fence at which they 

 were put. Such desirable animals are unfortunately rare 

 exceptions, probably, more from the fault of riders, than 

 from that of Nature. 



Riding in a flying country is somewhat like steeplechasing, 

 in which the possession of the powers for galloping, staying, 

 and jumping makes the perfect horse. As every rider who 

 steers his own horse has a right to study his own convenience 

 as to the pace at which his animal should go at his fences, I 

 have nothing to remark on this subject beyond saying, that if 

 a horse which is going fast, requires to be steadied at a jump, 

 the pull ought not to be taken nearer, as a rule, than about 

 forty yards away from it, and that the horse ought to be 

 allowed for that distance to make his own pace up to it ; 

 always supposing that the rider has a steady feeling on the 

 animal's mouth. As the mouths and manners of horses 

 greatly vary, it would be useless for me to lay down rules 

 about steadying them, or riding them at fences, except in 

 general terms. As a rule, clever jumpers fence best when the 

 rider lets them have their head, and allows them to make their 

 effort without either rousing or restraining them. Many 

 horses, however, are so shifty and uncertain that they need 

 all the assistance they can get. Those of us who have gone 

 in for athletics, must have sometimes felt, when running up to 

 a jump, that the steps we were taking would not give us the 

 proper take-off, and that it was necessary for us, in order to 

 obtain it, to lengthen or shorten our stride. We may experi- 

 ence the same feeling when riding a horse up to a fence, and 

 if we have had sufficient practice and are possessed of the 



