It may fairly be accepted as a general rule, that a horse should not be ridden over a fence upon the curb alone. The rule, however, has its exceptions. One of these is the possible case of a lady being placed in such a predicament that she has no alternative in the presence of imminent danger but that of leaping her horse to avoid it, and in such case it may be (and, indeed, in my own experience has occurred) when the lady was riding her horse with a single curb bridle. If the fair equestrian so placed lacks the necessary nerve, dexterity of hand, and firmness of seat, she must come to certain grief. It is therefore highly desirable that, although on ordinary occasions she should use both snaffle and curb in leaping, she should also be thoroughly au fait at doing it, if the necessity arises, upon a "hard and sharp," or single "Hanoverian."

Again, leaping on the curb rein only teaches the pupil the full value of every particle of her balance and muscular grasp on the saddle, while it also shows her that, although as a rule a horse requires to be kept well together, there are exceptional instances in which it is necessary to yield the hands freely to him. The above-named is one of these cases. The leaping lessons, however, which lead up to the point of proficiency at which the pupil should be permitted to attempt so critical and difficult a piece of riding must be carefully and inductively given.

Assuming that the fair tyro rides her horse boldly and confidently over the ordinary fences used in a school, and can execute an "in and out" jump without derangement of seat or hand, the effort of the master should next be directed towards teaching his pupil how to cause her horse to extend himself over a jump where there is considerable width as well as height. I must repeat that, for this purpose, a horse should be used that is thoroughly up to his business—one that will stride freely away and gallop at his fence. The best practice to begin with, in what I may perhaps call "fast jumping" for a lady, is at an artificial brook.

This is easy enough to arrange in a riding school. It requires only a sheet of canvas, painted the colour of water, of such dimensions that the people in the school can increase or diminish its width at pleasure. This canvas should be long enough to extend from one side of the school to the other, which can be managed by fastening the canvas to a couple of light rollers. On the taking-off side of this artificial brook there should be some low wattles, gorse bound, or otherwise; and these also should extend quite across the school. There is then no chance of a well-broken horse refusing.

Before the canvas arrangement is stretched across the riding-house, the pupil should be instructed to set her horse going at a free striding canter—as fast as is compatible with safety in turning the corners, which should be well cut off in this case, the pupil riding a half-circle at both ends of the school. After two or three turns round the house at this pace, in order to get the horse well into his stride, the assistants should arrange the jump while the instructor prepares his pupil for it. And now let me endeavour to explain the difference in the position and action of the hands of the rider necessary for a long jump as compared with that requisite in a short one. In the latter, safety consists in a horse jumping well together or collectedly, because in a cramped or crooked place speed is almost certain trouble. Where, on the contrary, there is a broad sheet of water to be got over, "plenty of way" on the horse—sufficient speed to give great momentum to his effort, is indispensable. In the short leap or crooked place, then, the horse should be made to jump throughout right into his bridle; and for this purpose the position and steadiness of hand described in the last article, accompanied by such pressure of the leg as will keep him up to it, is the true mode of "doing such places."

But to clear a wide jump, it should be remembered that the horse must not only go a good pace on it, but he must be allowed to extend his head and neck the instant he takes off. If this is neglected, the fair equestrian, in attempting a water jump, will inevitably find herself in the brook.

Now, a man in riding at water has this great advantage over a lady in the same case, that, having equal power with both legs, he can force his horse up to any length of rein, no matter how long, in reason, and compel him to face it, thus enabling the rider to hold him through every inch of his jump, while he gives him plenty of scope to extend himself. For a lady to do this is impossible. Too much pressure of the left leg or repeated use of the spur, even if counteracted on the off side with the whip, would cause the horse to throw his haunches to one side, and he would not jump straight. Steadiness of seat, hand, and leg are therefore indispensable to the lady. The horse ought to be well practised at the particular jump before she is allowed to attempt it, and therefore should require no rousing or urging, to get plenty of way on, for his effort. But before the pupil faces her horse towards the brook, she should be emphatically but quietly enjoined by the instructor to respond to his word "now" as follows: Let it be understood that her elbows should be drawn back until they are three inches or thereabouts behind her waist, the hands about the same distance below the elbows, the former about six inches apart, with the fingers closed firmly on the reins and turned inwards and upwards until they touch the waist, the reins divided, as for galloping, but with the slightest possible feeling upon the curb. With her hands in the above-named form she should ride her horse to his jump, never moving them until she hears the sharp sound of the word "Now!" from the instructor, when at the same instant the body, from the waist upwards, should be thrown back and the hands shot forward, the elbows following, until they are just level with the front of the waist. As the hands go forward, the little fingers should be turned downwards and the knuckles upwards; this will bring the middle joints of both hands with the nails downwards against the right thigh, about four to six inches above (or, as the rider sits, behind) the knee; and this turning down of the nails and forward motion of hands and elbows will give the horse free scope of his head and neck, while the hands coming in contact with the right thigh will still maintain the proper appui, and support the horse when he lands in his jump. Although the foregoing appears prolix in description, it occupies little time to explain viv voce; and with the instructor by her side the lady may practise the action two or three times while her horse is standing still before he faces his jump. The instructor should then quit the lady's side and place himself near the brook in such a position that he has a fair view of the horse as he takes off. The pupil should turn her horse quietly about, and ride to the left into the corner of the school, and as soon as the horse's head is square to the jump, and himself square to the boards, the master should give the word smartly, "Canter." With plenty of vivacity, the pupil should immediately strike her horse into a striding pace, keeping her hands well back and hitting him smartly once with the spur. An assistant with a whip should also crack it slightly behind the horse.

Let the master then closely watch the moment at which the horse's fore feet quit the ground, and give his word quickly and sharply, and in nine cases out of ten the jump will be a success.

The artificial brook should be arranged about two-thirds of the distance down the school, so as to give the horse plenty of space to get into his stride before he comes to it, while there will be sufficient room to collect him after he lands. If he does it well the first time (and with the above described handling he will scarcely fail to do so), and the rider performs her part moderately well, the jump should not be repeated. If, however, it is necessary again to go through the instruction, the horse should not be put at the place back again, but the end of the canvas be rolled up and the wattle removed, so as to admit of his passing to the longer reach of the school. These lessons should be given daily until the pupil executes them with the requisite energy and correctness of riding, the instructor taking special care never to ask his pupil, however, to do such jumps unless he sees that she is quite equal in health and good spirits to the occasion. For riding which requires any extra "dash" about it must never be attempted by anybody if they are at all out of nerve.

After the pupil does the brook well, it may be replaced by a double set of gorsed hurdles, placed just so far apart as to necessitate their being done at a single jump. In this case, however, the pupil, while giving her horse by the action of her hands sufficient scope to allow him to jump a considerable distance, should not be allowed to ride so fast at the obstacle, about half the speed necessary to do water being quite sufficient; and the off-side hurdles should be so placed that if the horse strikes them they will give way.

As a rule ladies do not perform, even in Leicestershire, over big double fences, or very strong oxers, and the indication of what is required to do them should be sufficient for riding school practice.

As I have elsewhere observed, a horse will jump higher and further when going with hounds than you can with safety ask him to do when in cool blood, or when only roused to extraordinary effort by the use of the spur or whip. And no man in his senses in the hunting field would ever think of piloting a lady to a place which he would only ride at himself at a pinch. Such jumps, therefore, as I have endeavoured to describe within doors should represent the biggest which most ladies are likely to encounter with in a fair hunting country. As regards riding over a fence, with the curb rein unrelieved by the snaffle, the practice should be as follows:

A hurdle should be well sloped, so as to render the leap a very moderate one. The rider should quit her hold of the reins, which should be knotted and fastened by a thong to the mane. A leading rein should then be attached to the ring of the snaffle, and the horse led quietly up to the fence, and halted. The pupil should then draw her hands back until they are in the same position as she would place them in putting her horse at his jump, with the hands closed firmly, which will give steadiness to the body. She must take a determined hold of the upper pommel with her right knee, and be ready with the figure perfectly poised to throw her weight back at the proper moment; placing her left thigh also firmly against the third crutch, her foot well home in the stirrup and well forward, the shoulders perfectly square, and the waist quite pliant. An assistant should then crack a whip smartly in rear of the horse, without hitting him; this will cause him to spring lightly over the hurdle. If the position of the pupil before the horse takes off is carefully looked to, there will be little derangement of seat.

This lesson should be repeated until it is executed with precision. At the same time, two or three jumps of this sort are quite sufficient in one day, because, if repeated too often, the horse, missing the support of the hand, is apt to blunder. When the lady can ride over her fence in the above-named form, she should take up and arrange her reins, so that, while that of the snaffle is not in the horse's way, she feels him on the curb only. She should give him fair length of rein, draw her left hand back to her waist, and place the right hand lightly on the left, just in front of the knuckles; but the reins should be held military fashion—the little finger between them, the leather over the middle joint of the forefinger, the thumb closed firmly on it, the little finger well turned up towards the waist. The horse must be ridden at a smart walk, well up against the curb, until he is close enough to the hurdle to jump. The whip must again be used, and the instructor's word again sharply given, when the pupil should yield both hands freely, turning the little fingers downwards, and slipping the elbows forward. Great firmness and steadiness of seat are necessary to do this lesson well, and considerable practice is necessary to insure complete unity of action in the body and hands, the former being yielded quickly as the latter is actively thrown back. To assist the pupil in her first attempts at this portion of the leaping lesson, the curb chain should be slackened as much as possible, and it should be one that is broad and well padded.

As the lady acquires the requisite lightness of manipulation and additional firmness in the saddle, the curb (link by link) may be tightened until it is in its proper place, namely, so that it admits of the play of one finger only between it and the jaw of the horse. But the greatest care on the part of the instructor is necessary in watching how both horse and rider behave before this can be accomplished.

The lesson is called technically "jumping from the hand," and once thoroughly acquired, the pupil has little to learn, as regards indoor work, in the way of riding over her fences. She may in that respect be considered fit to take her place any time at the covert side, and hold her own, under proper pilotage, with hounds, where of course she will use snaffle and curb reins equally, or according to the temper and breaking of her mount.

During the leaping lessons, and in fact throughout the whole course of equitation up to this point, the pupil should be put upon as many different horses as possible consistent with her progress, care always being taken that she is thoroughly master of one before she is put upon another. The action of horses varies so much in degree, no matter how much from similarity of breed and form it may assimilate in kind, that to attain anything like proficiency the rider's mount requires frequent changing; otherwise, when put upon a strange horse, she would find herself sorely at a loss.

With the exception of one practice, which in some degree resembles the leaping lesson, we may now safely dismiss our fair pupil from technical indoor instruction, except in the way of an occasional refresher, whenever those about her discover any inclination to lapse into a careless form of riding. This both men and women are so apt to do (imperceptibly to themselves), that an occasional sharp drilling does no harm to the most practised rider of either sex.

The final instruction to be given in the school is called the "Plunging Lesson," and maybe briefly described as follows, premising that although it is the bounden duty of every man who has anything to do with a lady's riding to avoid by every means allowing her to be put on a restive horse, yet it is always possible that, from some unavoidable cause, a lady (especially in the colonies) may some day find herself on a bad-mannered animal that will "set to" with her. In order, therefore, that in such an undesirable case she may not be at a loss, it is well that when thoroughly practised in leaping, she should be put upon a horse that will kick smartly whenever he is called upon by the master. Such a horse is useful for the above purpose, and is generally to be found in most riding establishments. The trick is easily enough taught, and requires no description. Neither is it at all incompatible with general good manners.

The first thing, then, as regards the pupil, is to impress upon her that whenever a horse "sets to" kicking with her, that her tactics should consist first in keeping his head up, and, secondly, in finding him something else to do than kick.

A horse cannot have his head and his tail up at the same time, therefore, when he kicks, his first effort is to get his head down. This should be immediately counteracted by the rider sitting well back, keeping her hands up as high as her elbows, feeling the horse firmly on the curb reins as well as the snaffle held in one hand, while she applies the whip vigorously across his neck. This will have the effect of causing him to keep his head up and go to the front. The same firm treatment will be successful in most cases where a horse attempts to plunge. But in the latter case the hand must be yielded if there is any attempt to rear, and if the last-named dangerous vice is carried to any length, the rider should not hesitate to take fast hold of the mane, or put her hand in front of the horse's neck. Both rearing or plunging, however, may be effectually prevented by the use of the circular bit and martingale, described under the heading "Rearing Horses and Runaway Dogs" in the Field of Nov. 11, 1871. In my humble opinion, every lady going to India and the colonies should have one or two such bits among her outfit of saddlery, and if properly fitted in the horse's mouth, all risk of rearing or even violent flirting is done away with. Such tackle, however, does not prevent a horse from kicking, and although no lady should ever attempt to ride one that is possessed habitually of this vice, a sudden accession of kicking may arise in an otherwise good-meaning horse from some ill-fitting of the saddle, or similar casualty, causing tender back or otherwise upsetting him. Of course, no punishment should be resorted to in these cases; but it is as well for a lady to be able to keep her seat in such an emergency, and this she will easily do if she keeps the horse's head up, and her leg well pressed against the third crutch.

On Brighton Downs, some years ago, I saw a young lady thoroughly master a kicking horse in the manner above described, accompanied, however, with a considerable amount of punishment, most resolutely applied with a formidable whalebone whip. No second glance was necessary to perceive that in this case the lady was well aware of the horse's propensity, and had come out for the purpose of thoroughly taking it out of him, which certainly she did effectually, and as he was a vicious-looking weedy thoroughbred, "it served him right."

But I must again enter my protest against ladies running such risks, however accomplished they may be as horsewomen. Let them accept the respectful advice of a veteran, and avoid vicious horses. Brutes that run back, plunge, rear, or kick from sheer vice (and there are many that do) are fit only for the riding of the rougher sex, and only of such of them as have the ill fortune to be compelled to get their living by riding. The so-called plunging lessons above alluded to, however, will give a lady a thorough insight into the form in which to ride in case of emergency.