Fig. 50.—Comanche bridle, off side.
perfectly still, and unheld, while another jumps over him. We might, then, adopt the following procedure. Take an enclosed ring, like that of a circus, and close to its side, and on one of its diameters, construct a trench about 3 feet deep, and 2 feet 6 inches wide, with a ramp leading
Fig. 51.—Comanche bridle, near side.
down to it. Within this trench, place a clotheshorse, or other convenient stand, with rugs over it, and teach, with the long reins (see [page 172]), the jumper to go round the circle, and jump this
Fig. 52.—The knot on off side of Comanche bridle enlarged.
stand. We should continue the instruction, until he will jump it without reins. To attain this, when he is loose, we may have to keep on the standing martingale, or use side-reins; so as to obtain the necessary control. We may, then, substitute, for the dummy, the real horse, and teach him to stand perfectly still, by means of the rope-twitch (see [page 113]). All that, now, remains, is to gradually fill up the trench, while continuing the lessons.