Bits & pieces from the classics

Discovered while browsing my bookshelf this morning:

MENTAL HAZARD JUMPING

A jumping competition which tests the training of the horse. The jumps are not high but are peculiar. They may be such things as a wheelbarrow, a pair of chairs set seat to sear, a baby's bathtub filled with water, a bassinet, a row of pails hung on a rod which are rattled as the horse approaches, etc. One way of scoring this competition is as in golf. Each time a horse approaches a jump it is one "stroke," if he shies out or refuses it will cost him another "stroke." Thus the par of a ten jump course would be ten.

from the Horseman's Encyclopedia by Margaret Cabot Self (1946)

We once had to move crates of (highly agitated) live chickens from one barrel to another in trail class. I can vouch for the fact it was a LOT more entertaining for the spectators.

I also like this one:

MALLENDER

The mallenders are the chestnuts or small callosities appearing on the insides of the horses' legs. There is some disagreement as to exactly what these are, though some authorities feel that they are all that remains of the fifth toe of the prehistoric horse.

Never heard that name for them before.