THE HUNTER AND HIS EDUCATION 



should decide at the beginning which style of 

 leaping he prefers : the " flying," wherein a 

 horse goes fast at ail his fences, taking off a few 

 feet away from them, or the deliberate, wherein 

 he goes close " under " them ; " lobbing " over, 

 and jumping from a trot when occasion serves. 

 The latter has always seemed the best for every 

 reason ; horses are more temperate, they may be 

 stopped at the last moment if deemed wisest (and 

 discretion is as valuable in hunting as in other 

 pursuits); we seldom have to jump anything 

 with a ditch, etc., on the " take-off" side, and 

 horses take much less out of themselves. The 

 " flying " fencer, on the contrary, becomes a 

 "rusher" under average handling; he cannot be 

 easily stopped or turned, and be it five inches or 

 five feet, he goes at it thirty miles an hour, taking 

 just that much more useless exertion. If this is 

 the " sort " desired, it is only necessary to have a 

 "rail" or a little " gripe " a short distance in 

 front of every schooling fence, and to let him go 

 along at them ; he will quickly learn to " stand 

 away " from everything, and swing over a fair 

 space of ground on both sides. The concluding 

 objection, and a very strong one it is, to the 

 " flying " leaper is that while you may at any 



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