138 LEAPING. 



which draw the fore legs forward and enable them to reach 

 well to the front, will be more or less thrown out of action. 

 Hence, the rider ought to give the horse plenty of rein on 

 landing, and should try to avoid bringing his weight forward. 

 As an interesting point in the action of a severe bit in 

 leaping, I may mention that if we observe a horse that is 

 being ridden up to a high jump in a bit which he is afraid 

 to " face," he will land, in the event of his clearing the 

 obstacle, more or less on all four legs at the same time, in his 

 endeavour to save his mouth from any sudden "job," by 

 keeping the weight as much as he can off his forehand. He 

 may act in the same way, even with a snaffle, if too short a 

 martingale be used. I may remark that the two " defences" 

 which a horse generally uses against a severe bit, are to poke 

 his nose up in the air, and to draw his chin in towards his 

 chest, and thereby arch his neck. Many persons, against 

 the evidence of photography, assert that a clever jumper 

 will generally land first on his hind legs, and will then 

 (so they say) be in the best position to "get away " quickly. 

 They quite forget (or perhaps do not know) that the hind 

 limbs of the horse are altogether unfitted to stand the 

 violent shock which would be transmitted through them, if 

 they had to bear the weight of the body on landing. 

 Such poor weight-bearers are they, that they have great 

 difficulty, as a rule, in enabling a horse to walk a few 

 yards on his hind legs. Almost all circus horses which have to 

 perform this trick, throw out, after a short time, curbs, spavins 

 and thorough-pins of amazing size. What, I wonder, would be 

 the state of the hocks of a hunter or chaser, had he always to 

 land first on his hind legs ! The fore limbs, on the contrary, 

 being attached to the body only by muscles, are singularly 



