JUMPING

A very useful apparatus for teaching the horse to jump cleanly and willingly is a little gate or hurdle, about three feet wide, made with three bars; the lower one fixed at eighteen inches from the ground to bind the uprights, which should be about three feet in height; the other two bars being removable, one to fit in slots two and a half feet from the ground, the other to fit on the top of the uprights. But of course any bar will answer the purpose.

With the upper two bars removed, the hurdle should be placed on a bit of level ground and the horse led over the lower bar two or three times, the trainer holding the snaffle-reins near the bit. When the horse has been accustomed to walk over the bar, the man should take the ends of the reins and let the horse cross in a slow trot; this the animal will probably do in a leap, when the man should bring it to a halt and reward it with caresses. Then the next bar should be placed between the uprights, and the horse, held by the length of the reins, be brought up at a trot to jump the hurdle and rewarded for its obedience. After a few lessons given with the two bars, the third bar should be placed on the uprights and the horse be made to take the jump of three feet in the same manner, being rewarded after each leap.

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If the horse attempts to avoid the hurdle by running out at either side, it should be corrected by a harsh word and brought back to make another trial; and if it becomes stubborn and persists in its disobedience, it should be given the first lesson of walking over the lowest bar. Whenever a horse shows a settled indisposition to do what is demanded, the trainer should endeavor to get some little pretence of compliance and give up the work for the day. For if the horse is not in humor for the work, it is idle to persist.

When the horse is jumping in hand, the trainer must look to it that the leaps are perfectly made; that is, that the horse rises high enough in the forehand, and no higher than is requisite to enable it to clear the obstacle with the fore legs, and that the hind legs are gathered sufficiently under the body to bring them clear.

Should the horse not bend the fore legs to his satisfaction, the trainer should touch the fore legs with the whip just below the knee as the horse rises; and should the horse be careless in the action of the hind legs, a whip stroke under the belly will make the animal gather the hind legs under its body.

After the horse takes the hurdle with perfect calmness when held by the snaffle-reins, the trainer should accustom the animal to jump over the obstacle while on the longe-rein, the trainer being then twelve or fifteen feet away from the hurdle. Then, the horse being habituated to jump the narrow obstacle without reluctance, rugs, colored cloths, or anything of the kind that might ordinarily alarm a horse should be placed, first near the hurdle and then upon it, as the horse jumps it at the length of the longe-line.

The trainer should then mount and ride the horse over the bar fixed at two and a half feet. He should first take the horse up to the obstacle in a slow, collected trot, using the snaffle-reins, and when the horse is by its momentum committed to the jump, he should give it liberty to take off as it pleases and offer a light support as the forehand again comes to the ground. If the horse does not flex the hind legs sufficiently, a whip stroke behind the girths will induce it to bring the hind legs well under the body. But as far as is possible the use of whip or spur as the horse jumps should be avoided, and the animal should be mettlesome and lively when it approaches the obstacle, and be ready to exert itself with a will. The top bar should then be placed on the uprights, and the horse be ridden over the hurdle now three feet high, first in the slow trot, then from the halt, and finally from the slow gallop.

In the jump from the walk, the trot, and the slow gallop, the rider should incline his body slightly forward as the horse rises and bend his body back, more or less depending upon the height of the drop, as the forehand comes down,—his feet carried to the rear, so that there shall be no pressure against the stirrup to disturb the seat. Horses jump in all sorts of forms. Some horses do not rise until quite under the obstacle, when they squat down, go up almost perpendicularly, and drop on the other side quite as suddenly. Others take off at a fair distance, jump easily, and land steadily. The rider must be prepared, however, to bend his body in accordance with the movements of the horse.

In riding at a very high obstacle, the horse should be slowly collected at a moderate gallop; and when the horse has faced the leap, the rider's hand should give the animal liberty to act freely, and as it alights he should offer some support.

I think that nearly every work on riding warns the reader that one cannot raise the horse. It is true that in the state of collection in which most horses are ridden it would take a block and tackle to bring up the forehand; but what shall we call the pirouette, the curvet, the pesade, or even the support the rider gives the stumbling horse so that a leg may be put under the falling animal, but a raising of the forehand?

In jumping, however, the rider must not attempt to lift the horse; he must trust to the instincts of the animal necessary to clear the obstacle and for the disposition of its bearers to secure safety in landing.

After facing the horse to the jump, the rider should give the animal freedom of action, not by making such a change on the tension of the reins as might bring the animal down, but by giving his arms such play that the horse may extend itself. When the animal alights, it must find some support from the bit, so that in case of a peck or of a stumble the forehand can rise until a bearer comes under the centre of gravity and saves a fall. The bending back of the rider's body as the forehand reaches the ground is, of course, of great assistance in recovering from a misstep.

In taking low jumps at a racing pace, the rider need not lean back as the horse alights, for the momentum is so great that no change in the body of the rider is required.

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Sometimes, even under such circumstances, the expected consequences do not follow a mistake, and it is astonishing to see how a flying horse, encumbered by a man upon its shoulders, may recover from a stumble. But hurdle-racing is poor sport, neither jumping nor racing.

When the horse will leap the hurdle willingly and perfectly, it should be taken into the fields and put over fences, ditches, and streams. Most horses are at first timid in facing water, but with a little care a horse may be made to attempt any obstacle that is offered. In riding at broad water or at any wide jump, the rider should sit down in his saddle and send the horse forward in a good pace so that the momentum will carry the mass over.

In Great Britain and in Ireland, in those countries where banks are sometimes the boundaries of fields, the horses are taught, usually by easy lessons in the cavesson or by being driven before the trainer in long reins, to leap upon the top of the bank and from thence across the ditch. The dexterity and cleverness with which these animals will poise themselves on the top of a slippery bank, and the security with which they will leap from such insecure footing, are things to be wondered at.

We are told that some hunters are taught to drive themselves forward by kicking back at a stone wall. I do not dispute this, but I can say that I have seen scores of hunters going over such obstacles, and any displacement of stones or striking of the walls was manifestly accidental; and that from a study of the actions of the horse, the kick, while in air, would in most instances result in disaster, for both fore legs and hind legs would be extended at the same time. I have had horses kick out when jumping on the longe, but the forehand would then be on the ground, and a kick given at such a time would not benefit the jump. The books say that in the capriole the kick to the rear is given when the horse is in air, but the photographs prove that it is given after the horse alights.

In jumping for practice, 4 feet or 4 feet 6 inches should be high enough. Most horses enjoy jumping, but they should not be asked to do too much, for they readily take a dislike to the sport. A horse should never be punished as it is about to make a jump; the rider should sit quite still, and he should avoid raising an arm as the horse goes into air, as so many men do, for the motion will distract the attention of the horse at a critical moment.

The standard of jumping has gone up so much in recent years that one hesitates to say where the limit will be found. A friend of mine has kindly offered me a moment photograph of a horse of four years of age passing over the extraordinary height of seven feet one and three-quarters inches (7' 1¾").

I once asked a professional rider of long experience, the son of a professional rider, what advice he would give regarding a fall from or with the horse. He said that in falling he always bent his chin toward his chest to save the neck, and made himself as like a ball as possible. To this I will add that the man should retain the reins in case of a fall until he knows that he is free from the stirrups.

Horses used for jumping should have strong hind quarters, sloping shoulders, and good fore legs.

It must be admitted that some of the finest performers over high jumps have upright shoulders, but the horses are good in spite of the defect; and on the steeplechase course we often see broken-down blood-horses come on as winners, but these animals are none the better for their injuries, and are certainly dangerous to ride.

When a woman rides at obstacles, her line should be on an arc to the right rather than to the left, so that if the horse falls she will be on top of the animal and not pinned beneath it.

The design in giving the early lessons in jumping over the narrow hurdle is to habituate the horse to take what is offered it without running out, for when it has been disciplined to leap an obstacle that could readily be avoided, it will not look for means of escape when brought to face other objects. My horses will cross over doubles, in and out, the reins hanging upon their necks, and the obstacles no more than two feet in width. In fine, a well-trained horse will jump anything within its powers without urging and in the safest manner.