though our Irish neighbours find the
curb has its advantages, we must admit that they keep it in its proper
place and do not allow it to usurp the snaffle when riding over fences.
The sportsmen of Tipperary, Kildare, Cork and other parts of Ireland,
who have to negotiate immense banks, would ridicule the idea of riding
at such obstacles on the curb, because no sane person would think of
checking a horse in such a manner; and the solid "cope and dash" stone
walls of Galway also require to be taken by an animal whose mouth is not
interfered with. Here in England we see these Irish hunters frequently
ridden at fences on the curb, and the poor brutes, in order to save
their mouths and keep on their legs, throw up their heads and give a
half buck over the obstacle, landing on all fours, and then get a cut
with the whip for having jumped badly! This is how many refusers are
made. Another recipe for making a refuser is to pretend to ride hard at
a fence and, at the last moment, turn the animal's head from it, and
then loudly rate and "lambaste" him for refusing! Still another method
is to "funk" the obstacle when it is too late, and check the horse with
the curb _after_ he has made his spring, which will cause him to crash
into the middle of the fence, and probably bring both himself and his
rider to grief. My husband, being a veterinary surgeon, has had hunters
brought to him in a most pitiable state of laceration, caused, I
believe, in many cases, by "funk" and curb, a most disastrous
combination. We have in our stable at the time of writing, a very
intelligent hunter who was dreadfully injured from having, it is said,
"jumped bang into a fence," but I wish that patient sufferer could tell
me the real cause of his accident. It was one of those crumpling falls
which seem to mean death to both horse and rider, but luckily in this
case, the rider escaped with a few bruises and a smashed hat. The horse
was also fortunate in a way, as no bones were broken; but the skin and
flesh of his near fore-leg were torn off from almost the shoulder to the
knee, and I wondered, as I looked on that gaping, bleeding wound, and
the poor animal quivering with pain and hardly able to bear even placing
the tip of his toe on the ground, if he would ever have the courage to
face a fence again. Luckily, he is all right now.

I have heard people talk about a "good fall" being the best means for
teaching horses how to jump, and there is a certain modicu