Dick Christian s Lechtre. 355 



again before the rushers. If a horse can't Hght on his 

 hind legs, he soon beats himself: good rumps and 

 good hind legs, them's the sort ! A man should get 

 his horse collected. Modern gentlemen are so quick 

 at their fences, their horses don't get up, and don't 

 spread themselves. Their front legs should be higher 

 than their hind ones when they come down,, but not 

 bucking — I don't mean that. Lots of these young 

 riders, they know no more than nothing at all : they 

 think horses can jump anything if they can only drive 

 them at it fast enough. They'd never get hurt if 

 they'd collect their horses : they force them too much 

 at their fences. If you don't feel your horse's mouth 

 you can tell nothing about him. If you hold him he'll 

 make a second effort ; if you drop him he won't. 

 (Here the Professor rose from his chair, placed his 

 hands in attitude, and went at a fence in the spirit). 

 I've seen Mr. Holyoake go like distraction for fifteen 

 minutes, but Mr. Smith, and Mr. Greene, and Mr. 

 Gilmour, and Lord Wilton, they're the men to go 

 when others are leaving off. Lord Rancliffe, he was 

 a very sweet rider. This Captain Lloyd, too, he's a 

 fizzer. Those young men they're always pulling at 

 their horses with both hands. I never do that : it's 

 no use. Pull with your right and bear with your left ; 

 keep putting of it down gradual, and a horse must 

 stop. (We are bound to say that in this passage 

 we consider the Professor obscure ; but he could, no 

 doubt, have illustrated the operation to our riding 

 readers, as he did to us.) Horses have a bad mouth 

 on the near side, because they're always ridden with 

 one hand : a horse should have his mouth light on 

 the left ; his quarters should be out, and his head to 

 the left when he's walking. You may see ten horses 

 walk past this window, and nine of them, I'll be bound, 

 will have the wrong leg first. I hardly ever used 

 spurs ; if young horses wanted them, I used one on 

 my left leg. A leaping bar should never be above 



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