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  physical and moral dispositions of both rider and horse, it clearly becomes impossible to lay down any invariable rule that shall make every jump invariably like every other.

But after all is said, clearing an obstacle is largely a matter of confidence on the part of the rider. A horse does not, of course, apprehend directly the rider's morale. But he does appreciate to the full the lack of confidence of a rider who, on coming to the jump, stiffens himself, shifts in his saddle, or pulls against his horse's mouth; and it is this lack of confidence, thus communicated to the horse, that causes the animal to hesitate, refuse, or bolt.