60 HINTS ON RIDING TO HOUNDS 



jumped a horse too slowly at a narrow bank which 

 had become hollowed out by the floods on the far side, 

 and I felt quite plainly that although he had cleared it, 

 he made a second kick in the air, there being nothing 

 to kick back at, and he slightly ricked his back in 

 so doing. I fortunately discovered the injury in time ; 

 had I gone on to the next fence, he must have fallen, 

 and would most probably have had to be destroyed ; and 

 as he was a perfect hunter, he would, in again kicking 

 back, have cracked the sinews on his back in the action, 

 and so would have been for ever useless. However, 

 with a fortnight's rest and a liberal use of Farrell's vesi- 

 cant, he got all right, and carried me for years after 

 without giving me a single fall. 



6. Hold your reins firmly with both hands close 

 together, and do not jerk the bit or saw through the 

 horse's mouth with it, unless when he is bolting with, 

 you, in which case the latter will answer the purpose of 

 bringing him to reason far sooner and more effectually 

 than the former method. If a horse is a confirmed 

 ' bolter,' he must be bitted accordingly, or else he is 

 almost certain to come to grief by hauling at his 

 mouth : such treatment will not serve to mend matters, 

 but only make them worse. Never try to, as it were, 

 ' scoop ' a horse up at his fences ; such ' lifting,' as it is 

 erroneously termed, is often mistakenly supposed to 

 assist a tired horse ; it is, on the contrary, most 

 detrimental to the 'take off' which he has calculated 

 for, and is very likely to bring him to grief. Keep 

 your hands low, almost touching the pommel of the 

 saddle, but nearer than it to your body. A ' boring ' 

 horse will doubtless mark the first joints of the third 

 and fourth fingers of the left hand, but such marks are 



