HAND 



a hundred yards. Keep your hands quiet and 

 not too low. It is a well-known fact, of which, 

 however, many draughtsmen seem ignorant, that 

 the horse in action never puts his fore feet beyond 

 his nose. You need only watch the finish of a 

 race to be satisfied of this, and indeed the Derby 

 winner in his supreme effort is almost as straight 

 as an old-fashioned frigate, from stem to stern, 

 while a line dropped perpendicularly from his 

 muzzle w^ould exactly touch the tips of his toes. 

 Now, if your hands are on each side of your 

 horse's withers, you make him bend his neck so 

 much as to contract his stride within three-quarter 

 speed ; whereas, when you carry them about the 

 level of your own hips, and nearly as far back, 

 he has enough freedom of head to extend himself 

 without getting beyond your control, and room 

 besides to look about him, of which be sure he 

 will avail himself for your mutual advantage. 



I have ridden hunters that obviously found 

 great pleasure in watching hounds, and, except 

 to measure their fences, would never take their 

 eyes off the pack from field to field, so long as 

 we could keep it in sight. These animals, too, 

 were invariably fine jumpers, free, generous, 

 light-hearted, and as wise as they were bold. 



I heard a very superior performer once remark, 

 that he not only rode every horse differently, but 

 he rode the same horse differently at every fence. 

 G 79 



