The Horse, as Comrade and Friend 



times, and he will quite understand what you 

 want him to do, and you can tell by the way he 

 goes for either of them what is his own opinion 

 of his capacity to clear it. When the exact 

 taking-oS place arrives, say " jump " again as 

 a sharp order, and you will find that in a few 

 times he will value your judgment as to taking- 

 off and follow it. When you want to intimate 

 to him that after a few more jumps you are 

 going to make him rely on his own judgment 

 in taking-off, lower your voice in giving the 

 " jump " order, and give less and less emphasis 

 to the word until it is just a mere observation 

 en passant. Probably you have never thought 

 of giving the verbal order to jump to a horse, 

 but, when you give it a systematic trial in 

 training a youngster, it will astonish you what 

 a real help it is. You can, if you like, carry 

 it so far that a horse, on level ground and with 

 no obstacle before him, will take a high jump 

 in the air just on your order. There is a 

 practical side to this accomphshment, for a 

 horse so trained can safely jump over bare 

 barbed wire.* 



Putting him at the casual natural obstacles 

 one meets on moorland and in forest, gradually 



♦Many Boer farmers in the Transvaal train their ponies to 

 jump naked barbed wire. 



150 



