THE HQRSE WILLIAM S. TEVIS, Jr. 3 9090 014 558 486 vyAsbder Family Library of Veterinary Medicine Curmnings School of Veterinary Medc^ ad Tufts University 200 Westboro Road HorVh Grafton, MA 01636 THE AUTHOR THE HORSE WILLIAM S. TEVIS, Jr. Privately Printed SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA December, 1922 r zfK Copyright 1922 By William S. Tevis, Jr. To MY FRIEND Whose interest and help made possible this little book CONTENTS Page Introduction 9 CHAPTER I. How to approach a horse — Bridling — Saddling — Mounting — Dismounting — An episode near Lake Tahoe 11 CHAPTER II. Balance — How to keep it — Experience with bucking horses — Correct length of stirrup — Grip — How it counteracts inertia — European cavalry man's experiment — Seat — What it means in the saddle — "The End of the Trail." 19 CHAPTER III. How the rider controls his horse — Bits, and how they work — The Martingale — Spurs — Whips — Balance — How to start and stop a horse — How to make a horse slide — Backing a horse — Changing direction — Changing leads at a gallop — Teaching the horse to trot and to walk — Riding without reins 26 CHAPTER IV. Reining a horse — Use of different bits — How his mouth is made — The natural gaits — The walk, the trot and the canter — Natural gaits more useful than acquired gaits — Popularity of five-rjaited horses for show purposes — Jumping and swimming 34 CHAPTER V. Riding up and down hill or on a pavement — The right and wrong ways of doing so — Xenophon's comments about ancient hill riders — Opening a gate when on horseback — Talking to horses — Efficacy of a well-spoken word — The art of falling off — How best to escape injury — A midnight runaway and a drop in the darkness 42 CHAPTER VI. Racing and race horses — Early training — Reasons for the light bit and the short stirrup — Use and misuse of the whip in racing — Horse show ethics — Looks are every- thing— Satisfy the judge — Importance of etiquette — Polo ponies — They just happen and are not bred — Difficulty of finding them — Amenities of the polo pony trade — What constitutes a perfect polo pony 50 CHAPTER VII. Page Habits of the horse, natural and acquired — Getting up and Lying down — Balking — A useful method of treating it — Rolling — How to prevent it — Pawing — Rearing — Striking — Kicking — Biting — Cinch Binding — Shying — How to make a shying horse go past the object of his terror — Stumbling — Falling — Prancing — Plunging — Crow-hopping — Bucking, buck jumpers and how to ride them — Some general remarks about equine idio- syncrasies 56 CHAPTER VIII. Running away — A dangerous habit and difficult to cure — Story of an incorrigible runaway and his fate 69 CHAPTER IX. Breaking a colt to the saddle — A short method of taming and training — How the colt is taught to tolerate hand- ling— How he is saddled and cinched the first time — How he is ridden 75 CHAPTER X. Buying a saddle horse — Age shown by the teeth — How to detect poor vision and other defects — Splints, ringbone, spavin — Sore backs, what they indicate — Shoulder lameness and navicular disease — Laminitis or founder — Testing a horse for wind — How to recognize a wind- sucker or crib-biter 86 CHAPTER XI. Teaching children to ride — Cannot begin too young — An old plug better than a pony — Experience the best riding master — Psychology of the horse — He has not the power of deduction — Trick horses — How they are made to appear to have reasoning faculties — They only obey commands 92 INTRODUCTION The horse in its prehistoric species was indigenous to the five great continents. In America the rock formations, antedating the glacial period, give us an approximate idea of the animal in its early stages of development. With the glacial period, the species became extinct in America. Not until the sixteenth century did the horse again make its appearance on the Western Continent, and then only in its domes- ticated form, with the advent of the Conquistadors and gold-seekers from the Old World. Indian massacres and other disasters to various mounted expeditions sent out by the invaders re- sulted in many of the horses brought across the seas by the Europeans coming into the possession of the Indians, Others, escaping the pursuit of the sometimes victorious aborigine, ran wild and mul- tiplied in the fertile valleys of Mexico and in that portion of America which is now the southwestern part of the United States. At the present time, several States in the western part of America gave forage to the untamed horses that have flourished in those localities since their ancestors sought refuge there in the turbulent pio- neer days. Science encroaching upon nature has reduced to a mechanical basis nearly all lines of human en- deavor, but the horse can never be entirely replaced by a machine. The horse can carry a man over many places where it would be impossible for a machine to go, and in many places where machines can be operated the horse is used for economy. The horse, being a living thing, embodies a kind of perpetual motion, of which no mechanical pro- duction is susceptible. 9 Range riding, mountain trails, cavalry, horse ar- tillery, hunting to hounds, and polo belong to the horse alone, and it is reasonable to suppose that in the future, as in the past, the horse will hold his place as the animal most useful to man. In the following pages it is sought to give the reader some practical information and advice about the saddle horse, where he comes from, how to ride him, his habits and idiosyncrasies, how to handle him for such various purposes as racing, polo, and the horse show, how to break him in for use as a saddle horse, and many other matters of analogous import. The chapters devoted to the actual technique of riding are intended, principally and necessarily, for the instruction of persons not already proficient in horsemanship. They point out the right way of doing most things that are customarily associated with equitation, from first approaching a horse to falling off its back. Therefore it is hoped that, as well as being of some interest to the seasoned horseman, the book may prove of some primary and instructive value to the amateur. 10 THE HORSE CHAPTER I. How to approach a horse — Bridling — Saddling — Mounting — Dismounting- — An episode near Lake Tahoe. Approaching. — The safest way to approach any horse is to do so from a point off his near shoulder, with the hand extending toward the animal's neck. It is advisable always to make a horse aware of one's presence before he is touched. The near side of the horse has been used since the time of Simo, said to be the earliest writer upon horsemanship, for nearly all purposes such as approaching, mounting and dismounting. The physical character of horse and man make easier a friendship that is begun on this side. To handle a horse on the off side would be as unsatisfactory to the average horseman as trying to eat with the left hand would be to most people. When a vicious horse is approached, it is possible for him to cow-kick, strike or bite, and the part of the shoulder one should ap- proach is that point which is most difficult for the animal to reach with fore feet and hind feet, so that there will be some uncertainty in the horse's mind which weapon he may best use. While he is reflecting in this manner, the shoulder can, perhaps, be stroked. THE-:- HORSE Xenophon's "Treatise on Horsemanship," written in the fourth century, B. C, empha- sizes this essential in approaching a horse: "But whoever is employed about a horse, ought to know that to do these things, and everything else that he has to do, he must come as little as possible near the face and the tail ; for if a horse is inclined to be vicious, he has in both these parts the advantage of the man. But a person who approaches him at the side can manage the horse with least dan- ger to himself, and with the most power over the beast." Bridling. — Hold the whole bit with the left hand directly under and within a foot of the horse's lower jaw. Take the reins in the right hand, slip them over the head, letting the buckle joining the reins together rest on the neck immediately behind the ears, then pull the reins with the right hand tight around the neck, and hold them together with the right hand resting directly under the horse's jaw. The purpose of doing this is to faciUtate brid- ling, in as much as the horse's head may be pulled toward the one who bridles by the reins. Move the bit upward toward the right hand, so that the fingers of the right hand may sup- port it for a moment, while the left hand re- leases the bit and grasps the headstall at its uppermost point, which is the middle of the band behind the ears. Then, releasing the bit THE-:- HORSE with the fingers of the right hand, let it hang suspended from the headpiece, while the left hand carries the whole bridle forward to a point directly in front of the horse's head. Now bring the left hand toward the horse's head until it touches the upper part of the nose in such a way that either side of the cheekpieces hang on their respective sides of the horse's face. Now the right hand may be released from the reins and it should be brought quickly to change places with the left hand holding the headpiece. The left hand simultaneously is dropped so that it grasps the left side of the bit above the mouth-bar, v/itli the forefinger protruding in such a way as to hold the curb chain extended. The horse's head is now halfway into the bridle, and the movement of the head may be more or less directed by the pressure of the cheek straps. When the horse's head is sta- tionary, the bridler quickly raises the bit for- ward and directs the middle of the mouth-bar toward the center point between the animal's teeth; meanwhile, with the fingers of the left hand, he pries open the jaws of the animal. This is done by exerting pressure upv/ard and downward at a point on the near side of the animal's mouth to the right of his incisor teeth. The pressure of the left hand on the side of the bit is now directed in such a way as to bring the bit into the horse's mouth; mean- 13 THE-:- HORSE while the right hand takes up the slack of the cheekstraps, and at the same time pulls the headpiece over the ears of the horse. The left hand may then release the bit, and pull the browband to its proper position directly in front and below the ears of the now nearly bridled horse. To complete the operation, reach under the neck with the left hand and take the buckle of the neckstrap, which should be hanging on the right side of the horse's head ; pull it under the animal's neck and, with the right hand, pull the near side of the neckstrap through the buckle and its proper keeper. Saddling. — Place the saddle blanket well forward on the animal's withers, and then pull it a few inches back. This insures the hair lying smooth underneath and helps to prevent sore backs. Take the pommel of the saddle with the right hand, holding the left stirrup and the cinchstrap in the left hand, and swing the saddle upward toward the withers of the horse with sufficient force to make the right stirrup and the complete cinch swing clear over the horse's back. Then, releasing the saddle with the left hand, put this hand under the saddle blanket immediately above the horse's withers, and pull the blanket upward toward the fork, so that the part of the saddle blanket immediately under the fork will not touch the horse. 14 THE-:- HORSE Continuing to hold the saddle and saddle blanket in this way, move them forward to- ward the horse's neck, and then with the right hand taking the cantle-flap and saddle blanket immediately under it, pull the blanket and saddle toward the tail of the horse until the proper place is reached on the horse's back. This leaves the saddle sitting with its fore- part over the animal's withers. Cinch the horse carefully, being sure that the cinch and strap are not turned, and pull the cinch tight enough so that the saddle can- not be moved easily to either side. A very loose cinch is likely to chafe the horse's girth, and a very tight cinch may cause a swelling and probably impede his action. Mounting. — To mount, stand facing the horse at a point about a foot away and oppo- site his near shoulder. Take the reins in the left hand so that the length of the right and left reins, respectively, are the same from the bit to the hand. Place the hand, holding the reins, on the neck of the horse, immediately above the withers, and draw the lines through the fingers so that a slight feel of the horse's mouth may be maintained. Take the left stirrup in the right hand and pull it forward until it almost touches the horse's foreleg. The rider should partially turn his left shoulder toward the horse and place the toe of his left boot into the stirrup, then releasing the stirrup IS THE-:- HORSE with his right hand he should move this hand over the middle of the saddle and take a firm grasp of any protruding leather on the saddle's right side, or the pommel itself if the saddle is Mexican. Now put the weight of the body into the left stirrup, keep the toe of the right boot on the ground until a balance is arrived at, then springing from the ground with the right foot, swing it clear of the back and cantle, straightening the left leg until the rider's weight is placed evenly in the middle of the saddle; put the right foot through its stirrup, release the right hand, and the horse is mounted. Dismounting. — To dismount, lean forward in the saddle and place the palm of the left hand on the animal's neck above the withers, at the same time holding the reins with this hand so that a slight feel of the horse's mouth is maintained. In this position the thumb of the left hand should be pointed toward the saddle and the fingers pressing the reins against the animal's neck. The rider should now take a firm grasp of any protruding leather on the right side of the saddle near its center, or the pommel itself if the saddle is Mexican, and loosening the right foot in the stirrup, swing the right leg backward and over the cantle to the near side, meanwhile allowing the toe of the left foot to pivot so that it points toward the horse's 16 THE-:- HORSE girth. Then place the right foot on the ground about one foot from the horse's near shoulder, release the left foot from its stirrup and bring it also to the ground, so that a standing posi- tion is assumed facing the animal's near shoul- der, as in mounting. On a vicious horse that is likely to kick, the rider can, by giving a jump from his left foot, just before the right foot reaches the ground, throw himself several feet from the horse, and, incidentally, out of reach of his legs. Near Lake Tahoe, California, I saw one day a cowboy mounted upon a notoriously vicious horse. An Indian was standing by who wore very long spurs. The cowboy dismounted and requested that he be allowed to borrow these enormous rowels. He then remounted his animal, and, in order to see how these spurs worked, he tickled his mount in the ribs with them. Thereupon the animal, with a, wild scream, leapt into the air and did some sky- scraping bucks. The cowboy, being ill-advised, was taken by surprise, and having slightly lost his seat from the first leap into the air, seemed unable to regain it. With his right hand he seized the lariat rope, which was firmly attached to the off side of the saddle, and was suddenly thrown toward the ground off the near side of the now thoroughly enraged animal. His right spur caught the back of the cantle, and by 17 THE-:- HORSE still grasping the lariat rope he succeeded in keeping his head a foot or two off the ground. His head by this time was at the point which, in another chapter, we have discussed as being the most efficacious place to approach a horse. The animal, surprised at being grap- pled in this manner, suddenly ceased his gyra- tions and stood for a moment perfectly still. The rider hung motionless. Any effort he might make to regain the saddle would cer- tainly fail and mean certain injury, because at the man's first movement, the horse, whose eyes were now red, would give him a terrible fall with bucks and kicks, which from his posi- tion he would be powerless to avoid. There- fore, as he explained to me afterwards, the rider decided to dismount. So, suddenly, he let himself drop and rolled out; of the line of danger a mere fraction of a second before the horse struck out wildly with his legs and, kick- ing and bucking, disappeared into the neigh- boring pine trees. Some argument then arose between the in- terested spectators as to whether the episode they had just been regarding should be de- scribed as a man dismounting from or a man falling off his horse. The cowboy sought to dispel all doubt on this issue by maintaining, with typical profanity, that he merely figured it desirable to dismount. Personally, I think the cowboy was right, only I would call it dis- mounting under pressure. 18 T H E -:- H O R CHAPTER II. Balance — How to keep it — Experience with bucking horses — Correct length of stirrup — Grip — How it counteracts inertia — European cavalry man's experiment — Seat — What it means in the saddle— "The End of the Trail." Balance depends upon the proper adjust- ment of weight, and is arrived at by the em- ployment of stirrups, seat and hands. The reins should never be used as an aid to balance. If they are used for this purpose it is an evi- dence of very bad horsemanship. Unfortu- nately, this evidence is not rare. The reins being attached to the bit, if pres- sure is brought upon them, for any purpose other than guiding or steadying one's mount, it naturally has a disorganizing and confusing effect upon the horse; also, frequent pressure in this way has a tendency to make the ani- mal's mouth less sensitive, and upsets the gen- eral well-being of the horse when in use. From a standing position, if the horse jumps forward, balance is best achieved by leaning the weight forward at the moment of move- ment, with the legs forcing the stirrups in the general direction of the horse's tail, and at this moment by pressure in the stirrups the rider's body is held forward on the horse's back. This counteracts the tendency of the rder to become unseated by the horse jumping forward from under him. 19 THE-:- HORSE If a fast-moving horse stops suddenly, bal- ance is best maintained by either a knee grip, with the stirrups held slightly backward by the legs and the weight thrown forward, or by the rider's body being held well backward on the back of the horse and the stirrups held forward by the legs, at the same time receiving the pressure of the rider's weight which would necessarily prevent his body coming forward when the horse stops. In lateral balance, if the rider's weight is overbalanced to the near side of the horse, pres- sure is put against the left stirrup, which has a tendency to push the rider's body toward the point of balance, and the pressure of the right leg, which is in a forked position with the knee as apex, is brought to bear upon the off side of the horse's body, which has the tendency to pull the rider back in place, in which way his balance is maintained. Losing his balance to- ward the right side, it would naturally follow that the above principles would apply, merely substituting right for left. In difficult or unexpected moments, an aid to balance may be had by placing pressure against the horse's neck with the hand or hands. Rough riding on a ranch is one of the quick- est ways of learning balance. The discomfort occasioned by falling from a half-broken mus- tang is a big incentive to the rider to let his 20 THE -> HORSE thoughts dwell on the best way of maintaining equilibrium. In this case proper length of stirrups plays an important part. The practice of using very short stirrups is indicative of the rider depending more upon balance than upon grip, or, in other words, allowing a greater scope for the employment of balance, since, by the judicious use of short stirrups the rider may lean farther from the horse and maintain his balance. It is true, however, that most expert horse- men ride more by grip than balance. At the beginning of my riding experience on a ranch I started to use very long stirrups, so that when seated in the saddle my legs were nearly straight, with but the toes of my boots touching the stirrups. The first bucking horse I mounted threw me with great rapidity over his head. I realized, when thinking over the matter, that I had lost my stirrups first and my balance shortly afterwards, so I took up the stirrups of the saddle one hole before rid- ing the next bucking horse. I was once more, without delay, precipitated over the animal's head. Again I noticed that I had lost my stir- rups immediately. After about eight of these unpleasant experi- ences my stirrups were considerably shorter than at the outset. Subsequently, though I was sometimes bucked over the head of a particu- larly rough-going horse, I invariably lost my 21 T H E -:- H O R S E seat before my stirrups, which proved that I had finally succeeded in bringing the stirrups to the proper length, at least for my individual requirements. This is not a pleasant method to be followed in order to determine what the length of one's stirrups should be, since most persons of less optimism would become dis- couraged before they found the proper length. The correct length of the stirrups for any rider, in real action, is that length which would permit his boots to rest in the stirrups with average pressure if his legs were bent to the natural position that would be assumed by that rider in clinging to a fast-turning horse bareback. When at rest or at the steady paces of a horse, a longer stirrup is usually found more comfortable, and with a longer stirrup the rider unquestionably makes a better appear- ance. Grip. — Broadly speaking, grip is a pulling force which, when applied by a rider, assists in keeping him and the saddle together. Tak- ing hurdles or riding a fractious horse requires particularly the application of grip. The chief factors in its application are the heel, leg, knee and thigh. If the horse catapults from the ground, whether to clear some obstacle or owing to the exuberance of spirits, it is neces- sary for the rider to cease the upward move- ment simultaneously with the horse and to 22 THE-:- HORSE descend firmly seated upon his back in order to avoid receiving a very unpleasant jolt in a sitting position. When the horse has reached in the air that theoretically stationary moment before his re- turn to earth, grip is most necessary to the rider. The force that has carried the rider upward, suddenly is taken away, and the ten- dency of the rider would be to continue up- ward until gravity counteracts inertia. Grip applied at this moment, with sufficient force, has the desired result and makes possible a uniform return with the horse to the ground. The kind of grip most effective, needless to say, depends entirely upon the physical attrib- utes of the rider. A foreign cavalry man paid me a visit once at Stockdale Ranch. He examined the Mexi- can saddles with interest, having never pre- viously seen equipment of this kind, and was particularly pleased with the horn. He ven- tured the opinion that by the judicious use of this instrument for a handhold he could not be thrown off. A horse was led out, which was able, with provocation, to buck. I made a noose with my riata around the animal's flanks, and the officer, having seated himself upon the animal, firmly grasped the horn with both hands, with- out troubling himself about the reins. On be- ing informed all was in order, I pulled the rope 23 THE-:- HORSE and the horse leapt into the air with one terrific buck. The soldier held firmly to the horn of the saddle, but the rest of his body continued upward until he had assumed the position of standing on his head above the horn of the saddle. As the horse rose from the ground a second time the officer's body toppled and meeting the neck of the horse with his own back, his hands were pried loose and he was left in a heap on the ground ; which helps to prove that grip, no matter how firmly taken, can be an entirely minus quantity un- less it is had in conjunction with a proper balance Seat. — A seat, when spoken o£ in regard to a mounted person, is an expression of a rather intangible character. A good seat, however, is a matter of fundamental importance in horsemanship. To a rider, a seat kept or lost is as important as a battle won or lost to a general. Innumerable positions can be assumed upon the back of a horse, but these positions all de- pend upon the correct appliance o£ the prin- ciples of balance and grip, founded upon an in- telligent knowledge and anticipation of the movements of a horse. A seat when partially lost is difficult to re- gain. It is easier to keep a perfect seat all the time than to lose one's balance and regain it later. The personal equation enters largely 24 THE-:- HORSE into the correct seat of an individual, and the rider's individuality is more strongly demon- strated by the seat than in any other way. The average natural seat is depicted in a marvelous manner by the silhouettes of the famous warriors of the Horse Indians, such as Sioux and Comanche, which have been given to us by observation or by the paintings of Remington and his contemporaries. A statue by James Earle Fraser, "The End of the Trail," depicts an Amerind, the last of his tribe, exhausted at the completion of a terrible ride, still seated upon his jaded horse, with nothing further to look forward to, and with weary miles of trial and hardship behind, the lines of his natural grace giving evidence of a perfect seat, which alone made it possible for horse and man to have in reality reached "The End of the Trail." 25 H E -:- H O R S E CHAPTER III. How the rider controls his horse — Bits, and how they work — The Martingale — Spurs — Whips — Balance — How to start and stop a horse — How to make a horse slide — Backing a horse — Changing direction — Changing leads at a gallop — Teaching the horse to trot and to walk — Riding without reins. Control. — The four principal factors through which the rider maintains control over his mount are the reins, whip, spurs and balance. Bits. — The two basic principles of practi- cally all bits are snaffle pull and shank leverage. A snaffle is a bar bit broken in the middle, held up in the mouth by the headpiece and prevented from being pulled from the side of the mouth by the chinstrap. The force of the bit applied in this way, for the purpose of control, is the pressure of the broken bar on the tongue and the lower jaw. The leverage bit — for example, the Pelham — controls the horse by the up- ward pressure of the chinstrap and the downward pull of the straight mouthpiece, which, when force is exerted, has the tend- ency to hold the lower jaw in a kind of vise, and the back pressure of the reins has a deterrent effect and a tendency to hold the horse back. The severity of this kind of a bit depends especially upon the ratio between the length of that part of the shank extending 26 THE-:- HORSE from the mouthpiece to the rein inception ring and the length of the part from the mouth- piece to the curbstrap ring. The first part of this ratio we shall call "A" and the second part "B." It will easily be understood that the difference between the length of "A" and "B," if "A" is the greater, will determine the severity of the bit. In other words, the greater the length of "A" as compared to *'B," the greater the severity of the bit. These principles we have just considered are the most important in regard to all bits. Port, Spade and Ring bits are primarily de- pendent upon the above principles, and added to them have their specific values, such as, in the case of a Spade, prying the horse's mouth open as well as exerting the forces already dis- cussed. The bit I like best for general use is the double-reined Pelham. It is not as cumber- some as the bit and bridoon, but it practically combines the forces of the snaffle and leverage bits. Some horses with sensitive mouths need only the pressure of the snaffle on ordinary occasions. If, however, it is desired to secure instant control of a horse that is in an excited condition, the leverage bit may be used to ad- vantage, either alone or in conjunction with the snaffle. For a hard-mouthed horse, a suit- 27 THE-:- HORSE able bit should have *'A," the length of the shank from the mouthpiece to the rein incep- tion ring, at least twice that of **B," the length from the mouthpiece to the curbstrap ring. Martingale. — A martingale consists of a nose band, a breast band and a strap from the nosepiece to the cinch. This is for the purpose of keeping the horse from throwing his head, and, if properly adjusted, has the tendency to keep the horse's head in the best position for control. The reins should be at- tached at the ends and be of such a length that when the ends are permitted to rest on the horse's withers, there will be enough slack between the ends and the bit to allow the horse perfect freedom of head. Spurs. — I believe it is unnecessary to have spurs with sharp points. I think the most useful English spur is the kind that has a rather long shank and no rowel, while the best Mexican spur should have a long hook and blunt rowels. Whip. — As to the whip, a stiff crop, or a rawhide quirt, seems each to be the best in its respective line. Balance. — A perfect balance tends to keep the stride of the horse in better rhythm, also to keep his pace uniform, and assists him to change leads when desired. If the weight of the rider is thrown to one side of the horse it necessarily follows that the animal's inclina- 28 THE-:- HORSE tion will be to give to that side, in order to bring into balance the weight of the rider. Starting. — From a standing position, to start a horse forward lean slightly forward in the saddle, loosen the reins and bring the heels in under the horse's flanks, letting him feel the spur if necessary. Stopping. — To stop a horse progressing at an easy pace, give a gentle pressure on his mouth, leaning a little back in the saddle, and increasing the pressure so that the desired re- sult is obtained. If the horse is difficult to stop, instead of a steady pressure, catch him in short jerks, so that pressure on his mouth is brought when he is off balance, and in this way he is more apt to decrease his pace in order to regain his balance. Sliding. — Sliding is a big asset in horses that are required to stop and turn at excessive speed, such as cow horses and polo ponies. All well-broken cow horsey slide. This is the quickest way of coming to a standstill from a fast gallop. The hind legs are the chief fac- tors used in sliding. When done properly, the horse's position in sliding is one where the forelegs are extended forward and are used chiefly for balance, while the hind legs are brought well up under the body, supporting practically all his weight. A good sliding horse, when stopped suddenly from a fast gal- lop on a slippery or fairly hard piece of ground, 29 T H E -:- H O R S E can be made to slide fifteen or twenty feet be- fore his forward motion ceases. To slide a well-broken horse from a gallop he must be caught on his stride at the moment his forehand leaves the ground, because at this time his hind legs are well under him, and will have the tendency to continue there if con- comitantly a firm pull on the animal's mouth is taken and held. A horse extended at top speed can never be made to slide until he is pulled down to a slower pace. Before the final pull is given, the horse's mouth should receive several checks from the rein in order to prepare him for the final stiff pull. Backing. — In order to back a horse, from a standing position the rider brings pressure on the bit, keeping the reins tight along the neck, and the animal, if taught properly, will begin to back. When it is desired to cease backing, it is often a good plan to jump the horse for- ward before he realizes he has actually ceased his backward motion; because the horse that is accustomed to jump forward immediately after a backward motion is not so apt to want to stop backing, on account of the subsequent greater exertion of having to jump forward with which it is associated in his mind. To teach a horse to back, when the horse is standing and the rider dismounted, the rider should tap the horse on the front part of his 30 THE-:- HORSE more advanced foreleg with the riding crop, and at the same time taking the reins with one hand the rider should give a pressure back- ward, preferably with little jerks, so that he will not try to pull against the bit, which he might do if an even pressure were applied. Changing Direction. — To change direction to the right, a little extra pressure should be brought to bear upon the right rein, with one or two almost imperceptible jerks to bring the horse's head in the direction in which it is desired to go, and a firm pressure should be maintained on the right rein, which has the tendency to pull the horse's head to the right, and the right rein should be a little shorter than the left. The left rein is brought to bear its pressure on the near side of the horse's neck. In this way the average saddle horse can be made to turn to the right. To go in the opposite direction, the same system of control applies, but inversely. Changing Leads at a Gallop. — In changing leads at a gallop, to turn to the right, the horse, if not leading to the right, should be made to do so, because only in this way will he be able to make a perfect turn. In leading to the right at a gallop the horse's right leg makes a longer stride, and when the two fore- legs strike, or nearly strike the ground, the leg on which he leads is always in front. The horse in leading right, since he keeps his left 31 THE-:- HORSE foreleg more under him, shoves away toward the right with greater ease. On the other hand, if he tries to turn left when leading right, it will easily be seen that with his right foreleg advanced his scope for side pressure would not be so great, since his foreleg, al- ready extended to the extreme front, would necessarily find difficulty in extending itself also to the side. A horse suddenly throv^^n off balance, from the left toward the right, will generally re- gain his balance with a right-foot lead, because a right lead in this case will have the tendency to keep the horse in better balance by allow- ing him to continue right with greater ease. For a left turn, it would follow that the horse would only make a correct turn in this direc- tion when leading on the left leg. The horse's hind legs, to make a perfect turn, should lead right or left, following the example of the fore- legs. When going at a gallop, to change to a trot with a horse properly broken, it may be neces- sary to pull him to a very slow gallop, so that the horse is practically forced to change to a slower gait. Then it will not be difficult to gain a faster trot by allowing him to accelerate speed in this gait. A kind of inertia will make the horse more inclined to continue in the trot once he has begun. To make a horse walk from a slow trot, if 32 THE-:- HORSE he shows a disincHnation to walk, he must be held at an extremely slow pace, so that he is hardly able to move forward, and if patience and perseverance are maintained and this very slow pace continued long enough he will eventually walk. When walking he can be allowed to accelerate the walking gait, taking advantage of the same inertia mentioned in regard to trotting. Riding Without Reins. — Many well-broken horses can be ridden without reins and be controlled to a certain extent. Balance to the respective sides will of itself make such a horse turn right or left. Suddenly leaning forward, throwing the weight to the fore part of the horse, will give him the tendency to stop. Some horses will make a beautiful performance if for control nothing but a rope is placed around their neck, and the horse will answer the pull of this rope very much in the same manner as he would the pull of the bit. To make a horse stop and turn with a rope around his neck, jerk him until he responds, being careful to take no steady pull. To use this method effectively, slip the rope up the horse's neck toward his head. Since the throat is the most sensitive part of the neck, he will respond more quickly to pressure applied at this point. High-school horses are often controlled by the whip and made to stop and turn in this manner. 33 H E -:- H O R S E CHAPTER IV. Reining a horse — Use of different bits — How his mouth is made— The natural gaits — The walk, the trot and the can- ter— Natural gaits more useful than acquired gaits — Popularity of five-gaited horses for show purposes — Jumping and swim- ming. Reining a Horse. — There are many effect- ive methods of reining a horse. I shall try to describe one of these, which I consider involves the principles pertaining to all. In- cidentally, for general purposes, I consider it the best. A horse should first be properly halter- broken. Halter breaking is easily accom- plished, and is largely done by merely tying the horse by the halter to some stationary object, so that no matter how much he strug- gles he cannot break loose. After a time the horse learns to keep his head toward this object or to the manger of the stall, as the case may be. When the first attempt to lead a horse is made he will probably try to run away. A man can usually maneuver so that the animal will be running at right angles to him, from which position a strong pull on the part of the man will usually jerk the horse's head around and end in pulling him to a standstill. When the horse finally gives up his idea of trying to break away, and allows himself to be led around, he is halter-broken. 34 THE-:- HORSE A person standing in front of a horse and trying to pull him forward, against his will, will be quite unsuccessful. A horse standing still, not wishing to move, should be pulled from the side so that his neck will be bent around by the pull and he will have the tend- ency to move his legs in order to straighten his body in a line with his neck to keep his balance. This procedure will make the horse move a step or two in the direction desired. A helper with a whip, to urge the horse for- ward when he is pulled on the halter, facili- tates matters a great deal. The horse, having been halter-broken, has some idea of being pulled around, and for the first ride or two on a raw colt a snaffle bit should be used. He should then be ridden in some kind of an inclosed place, so that he may have the minimum opportunity for running away. He can then be pulled a little on one rein until his head comes around and his body will be inclined to follow. This pulling should be done a little, alternately, on both reins. Pulling in this way and the use of the snaffle bit will probably make the animal's mouth sore. After one or two lessons of this sort, which should not last more than ten or fifteen minutes, a hackamore, instead of a bridle, should be placed on the horse. A hackamore is a kind of rawhide halter, 35 THE-:- HORSE with the nosepiece very low and taut around the animal's nose. The horse should now be one-reined. If, for example, he is to be turned right, a firm pull should be taken on the right rein and the left rein rubbed against the near side of his neck. After a period that naturally varies with the apti- tude of the horse, the animal when turning to the right will respond to the feel of the left rein on his neck, and a much greater pull on the right rein will not be necessary in order to make him turn in this direction. To rein to the left, the same principles are applied inversely. A horse is generally used in a hackamore for about a year, and then he is double- reined for another year. Double-reining consists in putting a Spanish bit bridle over the hackamore and allowing the animal to carry the spade bit in his mouth for this length of time. During this period, how- ever, he is controlled almost entirely by the hackamore, and merely allowed to carry the bit in his mouth in order to become used to it and play with the wheel at the fore part of the spade, which has the tendency to keep his mouth wet.* The horse by this time should be com- pletely bridlewise to the hackamore and by Note. — See page 53 on the subject "Polo.' 36 T H E -:- H O R S E degrees this knowledge can be transferred to the spade bit, so that he will stop and turn by a pull on this bit and the feel of the reins on his neck. To teach a horse to stop properly is discussed in "Sliding." A quick way to rein a horse is to reverse this process, using the hackamore for the first few rides and then a snaffle bit for about a year, and when the horse is bridlewise to the snaffle a light Pelham may be used, and by that time the horse's mouth will be practically made. To use a hackamore successfully, never keep a steady pressure on the horse's nose; while, on the other hand, a slight feel of the bit at times may be maintained. Gaits. — The ordinary horse has three gaits : the walk, the trot and the canter. Such a horse is called three-gaited or square-gaited, and these are the natural gaits of a horse. A running walk, single-foot, rack, which approx- imates a fast single-foot, foxtrot, and pace are so-called artificial gaits. In some in- stances they are natural to the horse, espe- cially the pace. A square-gaited horse is generally better for mountain use or when working over rough country, because he carries his legs higher from the ground than the animal that single-foots or paces. Also a square-gaited horse is apt to be more agile on its legs than 37 THE-:- HORSE the artificially gaited animal, because the three natural gaits are more readily adjusted to quick turning and starting than are the artificial ones. There are contrivances, such as lateral biped straps, for the pacer, and also methods of training by which almost any horse can be made to perform one of these artificial gaits. Urging a horse faster than a walk and the constant restraint from a trot, if persisted in, will probably make the horse so shuffle up his legs that he will find himself perform- ing the shuffle or single-foot. Five-gaited horses are used to a great ex- tent for park hacks and always find a popu- lar place in the Horse Show. The five-gaited horse generally walks, foxtrots, trots, racks and canters. Jumping. — A jumper taking an obstacle leaves the ground with his forefeet first and returns to the ground in the same order. There are three kinds of jumping horses: the horse that takes the jumps from a very slow speed, walking or trotting; the horse that takes the jumps at an average speed; and the horse that rushes the jumps. The slow-speed jumper rears on his hind legs and catapults into the air. This is usually the type of jumper that can clear the greatest height. The rusher is the type that can make the greatest broad jump. The type 38 THE-:- HORSE that takes a jump from a moderate gallop is the most common and the most generally useful. A good jumper must be a good judge of distance, since the take-off is of vital im- portance. If a four-foot hurdle is to be cleared, a jumper of the common type should take-off at about three feet from the obstacle. The rider in taking a jump, riding a horse of the kind we are discussing, should, as he approaches the obstacle at a moderate pace, accelerate his speed, gather the reins under him, lean slightly forward, and a moment before the take-off urge the horse with extra pressure of the knees or heels, being careful to avoid taking any stiff pressure on the ani- mal's mouth. The horse rises in front and finally leaves the ground with his hind legs, gains the maximum height, is carried by the force of the impetus over the obstacle, and descends with his fore hand first. The rider's body should be thrown back and a firm pressure on the reins taken in order that the horse may be steadied when alighting. Upon the consummation of the jump, however, the reins should be loosened at once, in order that the horse will not ac- quire the idea of being pulled up immedi- ately he has taken the hurdle. 39 THE-:- HORSE Swimming. — All horses are able to swim after a fashion. A horse that swims badly will probably only succeed in keeping his head above the water for a few minutes, pro- vided there is no weight on his back; while a horse that is a really good swimmer can nego- tiate a current in which no man could live. Such a horse can swim several miles with ease and keep his head above water as long as his strength lasts. In crossing a river of considerable volume and swift current, in circumstances that jus- tify a reasonable doubt that the horse will be the victor, unless every assistance is given him by the rider, the best way when starting to swim is for the rider to dismount on the near side, holding the reins, and guiding the direction of the horse with his left hand, while holding on to the pommel of the saddle with his right. The weight of the rider will be carried by the water, and in this way will not act as an extra burden to the horse and impede his action. Care must be taken, if the current is strong and the river has to be crossed, to keep the horse's head upstream at an angle of approximately forty-five de- grees, because a horse carried head-first downstream by a swift current will have great difficulty in ever fronting the current from that position. When a dangerous crossing is to be made, 40 THE-:- HORSE try and conserve the animal's strength as much as possible, so that at a crucial moment, such as when trying to make a projection on the opposite bank before being carried past it, whipping, shouting and pulling on the reins will produce the maximum effort of which the animal is capable. It is a common idea that the proper way to swim a horse, in any body of water, is with the rider holding on by the animal's tail. While in this position, however, the rider has the minimum control of direction. Off- setting this disadvantage is the fact that the horse thus maneuvered cannot kick the person holding his tail until he reaches shallow water. H E -:- H O R S E CHAPTER V. Riding up and down hill or on a pavement — The right and •wrong ways of doing so — Xenophon's comments about ancient hill riders — Opening a gate when on horseback — Talking to horses — Efficacy oi a well-spoken word — The art of falling off — How best to escape injury — A midnight runaway and a drop in the darkness. Riding a Horse Up and Down Hill and in Other Difficult Places. — Consensus of opin- ion tells us that it is always detrimental to the constitution of a horse to ride him rapid- ly up or down hill, on a pavement, or, in fact, any place where the ground is hard. This is true for the general run of riders, and indulgence in such riding would un- doubtedly work a hardship on the horse so ridden. But let us now examine in exactly what way the hardship is wrought. The ordinary unskilled and ignorant horse- man, who delights in running his horse up hill, will probably not realize when the horse is winded, and will continue the exercise until the horse's wind is permanently af- fected. The same person riding a horse rapidly down hill, will probably not keep the animal under him collected, and some time on the downward slope he will be the cause of over-balancing the horse, making him lose a step, or strike the ground with an excep- tionally hard blow with his hoof in an effort to regain the balance lost. 42 THE-:- HORSE Riding a horse in this way has undoubtedly a detrimental effect upon the soundness of the animal's legs and is likely to cause al- most any kind of localized hurt. In the same way, riding a horse rapidly on a very hard or slippery piece of ground will usually cause harm. The hurt does not take place merely as the normal consequence of riding him on this kind of ground, but because the horse has momentarily lost his balance, and in an effort to regain it has strained him- self; it follows that the average rider would do well to refrain from this kind of equita- tion. An expert horseman, however, may do all of these things without injuring his mount. He instinctively feels the position of the horse's legs under him, and, with his aids to control, he keeps the animal at all times collected. He also maintains a more or less uniform gait, which has the tendency to keep the horse balanced and in his proper stride. Hard work on very hard ground will often make the horse's legs "stock up," but will rarely do any real injury. The tendons merely fill a little. If the horse is very old, it is true that this would be a reason for him to "go sore." The problem of riding down hill was not overlooked by Xenophon, whose views on this subject, written twenty-three hundred years ago, are still worth quoting: 43 THE-:- HORSE **To make him (the horse) go down steep places, we must begin to train him on soft ground; and at length, when he is accus- tomed to this, he will run much more readily down a slope than up it. As to what some people fear, that horses will dislocate their shoulders in being ridden down steep places, let them be under no apprehension, when they are told that the Persians and the Odry- sae all ride as fast as they can down steep hills, and yet have horses not less sound than those of the Greeks." In the ascent, the mane, or some part of the horse's equipment that is attached to the neck or shoulder, can be taken hold of with advantage, and the stirrups pressed back to- ward the tail so as to prevent the body of the rider from slipping backward. The reins also should be left loose, in order to allow the horse to have free use of his head and to be able to rush a piece of ground so steep that the forward momentum lost for a mo- ment would cause the horse to slip back- ward. In descending a steep incline, how- ever, the reins should be held taut, the body of the rider thrown well back in the saddle, and his weight put as much as possible into the stirrups. In this way the horse can be steadied, and it will give him more confi- dence in keeping his balance. 44 THE-:- HORSE Opening and Closing Gates. — To open a gate from the back of a horse that is not broken to this maneuver may often require a great deal of patience on the part of the rider. Bring the horse up to the gate and urge him with the heel or whip until he is stand- ing sideways and next to the bolt. When he is standing in this way care should be taken to make no sudden movement on his back. The rider should then lean slowly toward the gate, keeping at least one rein taut. When the lock is open, with the proper aids, move the horse toward or away from the gate, as the case may be, before he, of his own ac- cord, moves. To close a gate, riding the horse to the new position of the gate upon its hinge, swing it to, and follow quickly with him to the closed position of the gate. If the gate swings back toward the horse, and the horse shies back from the gate, this procedure will have to be continued until the animal will advance quickly toward the closed position of the gate and stand without moving, even though the gate may swing back against him. In this way the gate can be closed. Talking to a Horse. — Some horses are peculiarly susceptible to sound, and at a crisis, or at a time when it is desired that every fac- ulty and every muscle of the horse should 45 THE-:- HORSE strain to do its utmost, a word in a firm reas- suring tone will often elicit a response that in no other way could be obtained. A word at the wrong time will often have the opposite effect and be disconcerting. A horse going to a high jump about to take off, if spoken to at the wrong moment, is likely to become confused, and make a worse per- formance than if no word had been spoken. Many horses are made to obey words. If, for example, "Get up" is said, accompanied with a loose rein, the pressure of the heel, or a rap of the whip, and this is done often enough, the horse will learn to move forward to avoid the rap which he expects to receive, and in the same manner if "Whoa" is said invariably before pulling on the reins, to stop, the horse, at the time associating "Whoa" with the pull of the reins, will stop before he feels the pull which he expects, and thus seek to avoid the pressure on his mouth. Falling Off. — There are times when it is wise to fall from the back of a horse, but more frequently a fall is forced upon a rider by the mistake of his horse. The use of short stirrups is of great assistance in enabling a rider to throw himself, without injury, from a falling horse, because the rider, if adept, can jump from such stirrups and fling himself out of reach of the horse's falling body. Since the knees have to be bent to jump, it can easily be 46 THE-:- HORSE seen that long stirrups would be disadvanta- geous to a rider in such circumstances. Most persons, who give the matter consid- eration at all, prefer to fall from the left side of a horse, since it gives greater scope for agility. The most important principle to be observed in falling from a horse with the minimum risk of injury to the rider, is that of allowing one's muscles to relax, and rolling as far as possible, either as a result of the impetus given to the rider by the animal, or by the use of the rider's own energy. If possible, the rider should let himself slip down slowly at first, until his body is near the ground, and then throw him- self with all his force for the purpose of rolling. In this way injury from the horse's hoofs or falling body can best be avoided. If the horse falls over backward, the rider should jump forward on the left side from his near stirrup at the moment of the horse irrevo- cably losing its balance. If the horse falls on his head, the rider, without resistance, should allow himself to be projected forward out of the saddle, and add in any way possible to the natural impetus the horse has given him towards rolling. If the horse falls on his right side, the right leg from the knee to the heel should be thrown upward and toward the back of the horse. The 47 THE-:- HORSE rider's leg will not be injured unless the horse turns a complete somersault, which is very improbable. A fall of the horse on his left side is probably least dangerous to the rider, as the left leg from heel to knee can be raised more quickly than in the case of the right leg, while the right leg makes its normal swing as in dismounting.. The rider, freeing himself from a falling horse, should do so on the side toward which the horse is falling, thus avoiding being kicked by the legs of the probably struggling animal. One night, while riding home from Bakers- field to a neighboring ranch, at a walking gait, I fell asleep on my horse. My mount was a notorious runaway, and my dreams were dis- turbed in the following manner: The horse, frightened, I believe, by a chained dog, jumped forward and in a moment was away at the top of his stride. His first jump threw me back- ward over the cantle of the saddle between which and the horse's tail I hung suspended. The reins had been jerked out of my hands. Instinctively I grasped the cantle at the mo- ment of awakening. My situation was not enviable. Pitch blackness all around. The racing hoofbeats in my ears. What to do now was the vital question. To continue in the position I held was but to postpone the inevitable. Barbed wire fences and trees loomed ominously ahead. To crawl forward 48 THE-:- HORSE over the cantle would mean certain death should, at that moment, a collision occur. This is what I did: I jumped a few inches upward from the horse's back, allowing the animal to pass out from under me. Although I received a very hard fall, it was the only way I could have escaped a greater injury. 49 H E -:- H O R S E CHAPTER VI. Racing and race horses — Early training — Reasons for the light bit and the short stirrup — Use and misuse of the whip in racing — Horse show ethics — Looks are everything — Satisfy the judge — Importance of etiquette — Polo ponies — They just happen and are not bred — Di&culty of finding them — Ameni- ties of the polo pony trade — What constitutes a perfect polo pony. Racing. — The race horse is usually halter- broken when it is a few months old. From the time of its birth it is constantly handled by man, so that even from colthood it is a very domestic kind of animal. Its training begins when it is a yearling. The lightest possible rider is found in order that the minimum risk may be taken of injuring the animal's legs, which are naturally very subject to injury at this time. Many of the most important races in the history of a horse are run when he is but two years old. Horses of this age, and under, generally are "breezed" (exercised) about an eighth of a mile once or twice a week. To determine the possibility a horse has of winning a given race, the weight carried and the length of the race must be known, the horse's staying qualities, its breeding and past performance borne in mind, and its probable behavior at the line-up taken into considera- tion, so that some idea may be had of what kind of a start is to be expected. The method adopted in racing a horse and 50 THE-:- HORSE getting the greatest speed out of him consists, first, in the proper use of a very light bit, and taking a steady pressure on the horse's mouth, so that the horse in turn will take a steady pressure on the bit and will pull against the hold of his rider. This kind of treatment will obtain from a horse far more consistent speed than a loose rein will produce, since the horse, once taking hold of the racing snaffle, will tend to keep the same pressure against the bit, no matter how^ exhausted he may feel. Very short stirrups and the rider's weight placed above the shoulders of a horse allow him the maximum employment of his hind legs and muscles which are the chief factors in propulsion. A whip, when applied at the right moment, has "a stimulating effect, and will give a horse the desire to run with the greatest possible speed. If applied at the wrong moment, it has the opposite effect, and will often make the horse "dog it." Experience and knowledge of the individual horse alone can indicate the proper moment for the use of the whip. A horse that is doing its utmost, if whipped beyond a certain point, will react with resent- ment or give up. A whip can be used advan- tageously for a quick break away. A sting of the whip at the right moment will sometimes make the co-ordination between the mind and muscles of a lagging horse more taut. 51 THE-:- HORSE At the Horse Show. — Appearance is the most important factor at a horse show, and a well-groomed horse will have a great advant- age in the ring over another animal whose intrinsic worth may be the same, but who has not had the same care. Since the winning of prizes depends entirely upon the decision of the judge, the personal equation is most important. To satisfy the judge should be the primary object of each contestant. No two judges have quite the same thought about a horse, and if the identity of the presiding judge is known before the show, it will facilitate a contestant, who has a number of horses from which to select, to choose the ones that would have the greatest chance of winning. Some horses, especially those of the phleg- matic type, show to a better advantage in the ring, than at any other time. The music, and commotion incident to a large number of per- sons assembled together, stimulate the animal. On the other hand, a horse inclined to be ex- citable, although for general use he may fulfill the work required of him in an efficient way, in the ring will become nervous and give a poor performance. Etiquette is an important thing. It is cus- tomary for those winning premiums to place the ribbon in the mouth, and ride once around the ring. The exit from the ring, through 52 THE-:- HORSE which horses are led out, sometimes of itself gives rise to the horse acting badly. Care should be taken when the animal is passing such a place instantly to counteract any in- clination he might have to leave the ring. Po/o.— Polo ponies happen — they are not bred, at least to no greater extent than apti- tude can be inherited. The chief factors per- taining to a polo pony are speed, staying qual- ity, and a good mouth, which will continue sensitive no matter how winded the animal may become. (A mouth that becomes dry, and loses its saliva, will invariably lose its sensitiveness. Therefore some idea can be had, by looking at a horse's mouth after he has been through violent exercise, whether his mouth is sensitive or not.) A well-reined horse, without any habits of shying off a mallet, or off other horses, is necessary. The horse should be able to jump forward quickly, and accelerate his speed so that in a few lengths he has his full stride. A horse that is about fifteen hands in height and runs low to the ground is perhaps the best for this purpose, when the length and weight of the average polo mallet are considered. Fine polo ponies are often found on the big cow ranches in the western part of North America. I have had ten years' experience buying and selling these animals. It is diffi- cult to tell, with any certainty, whether a horse 53 T H E -:- H O R S E will make a fine polo pony or not, unless he has actually been taken and played on the polo field. To go polo pony hunting through the cattle ranches is very interesting. The polo pony buyer is confronted with a number of animals ; anything from a Shetland pony to a shire horse. If he is not personally acquainted with the owners, he will do well to be ready for any kind of a ride, since a bucking horse or two may be among those shown. This is a kind of Western humor that is irrepressible. A horse that shows breeding, has saddle marks, a hackamore nose, and a sleepy look in its eye, is likely to prove interesting to the polo man. Such a horse having been saddled, the buyer mounts and works him in circles, figure eights, and races him up and down, taking note of the horse's staying qualities, the resiliency of mouth, and how he handles his hind legs when suddenly brought to a stop from a fast gallop. The buyer watches the faces of the horse owners and continues this exercise as long as they seem willing to have it progress, because to get any idea of the value a horse may have for polo, he must be worked fast up and down for quite a long time. Such a horse, that will continue to respond quickly to every demand of his rider will prob- ably make a good polo pony. A good polo pony will always stake race 54 THE-:- HORSE well, but a good stake horse will not neces- sarily play polo well. The reason for this is that a stake race only involves one turn, and a period of polo involves many turns and the continual pulling and mauling of the animal's mouth. Some horses will make one or two quick turns and then lose sensitiveness in the mouth. Such horses will be useless for polo. Sometimes a polo horse buyer is able to pur- chase an animal for around a hundred dollars, and after keeping him for a few months may sell him for two or three thousand dollars. On first thought this would seem to include a profit beyond all reason, which would involve "stealing" him in the first place and his sale at an exorbitant figure a few months later. An opportunity of this sort, however, occurs very rarely. If we take into consideration the fact that such a horse, for the purposes of his original owner, could probably be duplicated for less than a hundred dollars, and that the polo man has bought from fifty to one hundred head of horses that he has had to sell at a loss in order to obtain a single really good one, the profit will not seem so excessive. Also it must be remembered that the polo buyer can never be sure that he has secured a very fine polo pony until it has actually played a month or two. 55 H E -:- H O R S E CHAPTER VII. Habits of the horse, natural and acquired — Getting Up and lying down — Balking — A useful method of treating it — Roll- ing— How to prevent it — Pawing — Rearing — Striking — Kicking — Biting — Cinch Binding — Shying — How to make a shying horse go past the object of his terror — Stumbling — Falling — Prancing — Plunging — Crow-hopping — Bucking, buck jumpers and how to ride them — Some general remarks about equine idiosyncrasies. Getting Up and Lying Down. — A horse rising from a lying position on the ground will straighten out his forelegs first, raising the forepart of his body until he is almost in a sitting position, and then, by a contrac- tion of the muscles, bring his hind legs under his body, and raise his hindquarters from the ground. When preparing to lie down, a horse will often first go to his knees, and will always nearly touch the ground with his nose, letting the forepart of his body rest on the ground first. Balking. — Balking, ordinarily, is the pre- rogative of the mule. It is an unfortunate inhibition on the part of an animal and dis- turbs the less philosophical rider. The ani- mal in this case stands perfectly still and refuses to move in any direction. Some well-meaning persons advise as a cure the building of a fire under the balking ani- mal, or some other measure equally drastic. Such treatment, however, is not be be en- couraged, because although it will undoubt- 56 THE-:- HORSE edly eliminate from the animal's mind the desire to balk, it will anger or pain him to such a degree that he will probably run madly away and cause the ill-advised person injury o£ some sort. Balking is a habit that is usually produced by bad management, and is more prevalent in old and long-suffering animals than in others. If a horse, who is predisposed in this way, sees in front of him a steep hill, and is allowed to stand for a few moments contemplating it, he will probably become discouraged and balk. A deep river or heavy sand will often produce the same effect. To prevent a horse from balking, the rider should hurry him up or through these places, so that but a moment of time is allowed the animal for meditation. In the middle of Taylor Creek it was my misfortune at one time to find myself seated upon an animal which assumed a balking position. The art to be employed in dis- couraging a horse from balking depends upon some method of annoying the beast, by de- grees, so that he becomes disgusted with himself and is willing to cease. Finding my- self in this position in midstream, I took off my hat and filled it with water, which I slowly poured into the animal's ears, taking care to allow only a very fine stream to enter. The animal gave evidence of being displeased, 57 THE-:- HORSE and, being unable to make me aware of his displeasure by continuing in a stationary attitude, he, after the first application of water, shook his head violently and rushed from the stream. Where there is no water, the best way to get a balking horse in motion is to take a whip and hit him gently and frequently upon one front leg until it moves, and then upon the other. I say front leg, because a horse associates a front leg almost entirely with forward movement but is apt to think of kicking when having his attention called forcibly to a hind leg. I have never seen the above treatment fail, if continued a reason- able length of time. Rolling. — A horse usually rolls for the purpose of rubbing his back. Horses have been known to roll in order to rid them- selves of their riders, but this is very rare. Some horses have an unfortunate inclination to roll when crossing a shallow stream or a very muddy place. The rider will do well, the moment the animal has assumed a stand- ing position in a place of this sort, with head down and knees slightly bent, to urge him vigorously ahead with whip or spur, since it often takes drastic measures to overcome this desire of the horse. A horse before rolling will nearly always try and stand still for a few moments, and 58 THE-:- HORSE will shift his weight from one front leg to the other, with lowered head. A rider ob- serving these symptoms should act at once. Pawing. — Pawing is a nervous movement made by the horse, particularly when being restrained in his desire to move forward. In the act of pawing, the horse stretches one front leg forward, strikes the ground with its hoof, toe pointed downward, and carries the hoof back and up toward the girth. Most horses at some time paw. The habit is not serious. Rearing. — In rearing, the horse has the tendency to stand straight up on his hind legs. Bad handling will often cause a horse to do this. Cinch-binding is also a cause. It is said that a bottle of charged water broken upon the horse's head, between his ears, in such a way that its contents will run down the face of the animal, will eradicate the horse's desire to rear. This may, in part, be true, as a blow of sufficient force adminis- tered to the head will act as a kind of panacea and will eradicate the desire to rear, as well as all other natural instincts to which the horse is heir. However, this method is self- evidently foolish. The best preventive method is to avoid any sudden pull upon the reins, especially when the horse is standing still, because it is at this time he will most likely rear. 59 THE-:- HORSE Striking. — When a horse kicks with his forelegs it is called striking. To do this he rears on his hind legs and can only be really dangerous on the downward and outward stroke of his forelegs. A man does not need to stand directly in front of such a horse to receive a blow from his forelegs, because in rearing to strike he will often pivot on his hind legs in order to get in line with his target. When the horse rears to strike, real presence of mind will usually enable a per- son, within the radius of his forelegs, to jump backward before the horse can com- plete the downward stroke. A horse can only strike from a standing position, and having struck once, independent of hitting his target, will hardly ever strike a second time in rapid succession. Kicking. — A horse can kick in almost any direction with his hind legs. The target, however, that appeals most to the horse is at a point about two feet from and directly be- hind them. This preference aside, however, the horse with his hind legs can kick effec- tively forward and sideways. This last is called cow-kicking, because the cow is espe- cially apt in this form of exercise. A person seated on a clever kicking horse is not neces- sarily placed beyond the animal's reach. I remember once having the shank of my spur kicked off when riding upon such an animal. 60 THE-:- HORSE A vicious horse will often kick at his rider's stirrups when bucking, because when in the air his legs are not needed to keep balance. A person who stands right up against the horse's hind legs will suffer far less injury from a kick than one who stands a foot or two away. However, neither position is to be recommended when working near a vicious horse. Biting. — Untamed horses will nearly al- ways use their teeth as a weapon of defense. Even gentle horses will sometimes bite under provocative circumstances. Cinch tightly an old horse, so disposed, and leave his head loose, and he will probably take a piece out of the would-be rider's left arm. Fore- thought will very easily eliminate the pos- sibility of this. The rider need only take the near cheekpiece, directly above the bit, in his left hand, and, placing his knuckles against the cheek of the horse, cinch with his right hand. If the horse tries to turn his head to bite, a poke with the knuckles will discourage him. Vicious stallions and mares show a great partiality toward biting. If one must work within reach of the teeth of such a horse, the judicious use of a small club, or the butt end of a whip, will help keep the animal's mouth where it belongs. I once saw, between the Rattlesnake Moun- tains and Carson Sink, on a desolate alkali 61 THE-:- HORSE waste, a veritable battle of the stallions. One day when we were returning to camp near the Walker River, while hunting Fuzztail, the wild horse of Nevada, we halted at the edge of a rock barrier, and there, several hundred yards before us, were two great stallions, leaders of rival bands, engaged in a battle to the death, as it shortly proved. With screams of rage and ripping teeth they fought until one, gashed in the throat, was left convulsed in its death struggles on the alkali waste that it long had called its own. The big Jacks of the mule-breeding ranches are more terrible with their teeth than the horse. They have the tenacity of the bulldog in combat, and fortunate is the fighting stallion that has steered clear from such an issue. Cinch-binding. — Cinch-binding is a habit generally founded upon predisposition. It is manifested by the horse cringing when cinched and rearing with legs stiff. Un- usually fine hair and delicate skin are the commonest causes of this habit. If a horse is inclined this way he should be cinched carefully, the cinch being tight- ened by degrees, and then the animal should be led around several steps before being mounted. Many cinch-binders have fallen over backward with a too-impatient rider. 62 THE-:- HORSE Bad cinch-binders will always fall over backward if mounted and started off too quickly. Shying. — Shying is a common habit of the horse and is often caused by defective eye- sight. It usually manifests itself by his dancing away from an object, or suddenly stopping dead in his tracks. Often, too, a horse in shying spins away from the source of fright. Fluttering paper, or almost any other unusual object, will cause him to shy. Understanding well the nature of a horse, and being able to anticipate what will frighten him, will enable the rider to throw his balance so that it will be more in har- mony with the shying horse. If it is de- sired to take him up to the object at which he shies, infinite patience should be used, so that, by degrees, the horse will accustom himself to the object and see for himself that it should give him no occasion for alarm. Urge him forward at the object, then, if he shies away, ride him a little further away from it than shying would naturally take him, and start him back again toward the point of fear. The fact that he finds himself actually going forward toward something of which he is inclined to be afraid helps give the animal confidence. Xenophon's observa- tions in this matter are undoubtedly true: "As to those who force horses forward with 63 THE-:- HORSE blows, in such a case, they only inspire them with greater terror; for they imagine, when they suffer any pain at such a time, that what they look upon with alarm is in some way the cause of it." Some years ago, near Lake Tahoe, I rode a horse toward Taylor Creek. My objective was on the other side of the stream. About two or three hundred feet from the bridge my horse began to shy and at first refused to go closer. The melting snow of spring was no great inducement to me to try and swim the river, although it was necessary for me to get to the other side. The horse I rode was an inveterate shyer. I was in a hurry so I used the following expedient. Quite a distance from the bridge I started the horse toward it, hoping that the force of his momentum would carry him well into the shying zone before he could succeed in stopping his for- ward movement. If a horse can be induced, by subterfuge or otherwise, to arrive in the middle of a place of which he is afraid, he will undoubtedly shy, but he will be willing to shy in almost any direction so that only a little persuasion from the rider will deter- mine the direction. In this instance my horse so handled his legs that he stopped on the outskirts of his shying zone in such an able manner that he nearly precipitated me over his head. I resorted then to the next 64 THE-:- HORSE trick in my repertory. Facing the unwilling beast around so that he presented his tail to the bridge, I succeeded in backing him up until he was upon the bridge before he realized it. Thus I was able to persuade him to shy off the bridge's other end, which brought me in good time to my destination. Stumbling. — Stumbling is a kind of habit with many horses. Horses that keep their hoofs close to the ground are predisposed to stumble. Phlegmatic and careless horses are apt to stumble. Faulty conformation is often a cause. If such a horse is to be taken over an uneven piece of ground, it is well, with the use of a whip or other aid, to keep him in an excited condition. When excited, he will be more on the alert and more apt to lift his feet high from the ground than he would be in ordinary circumstances. Falling. — Some horses throw themselves purposely, but this is very rare. A bad rider, in saving his own balance, often pulls over backward a horse that is inclined to rear. The usual cause of falling, however, is a per- fectly normal one, and is merely produced by the horse slipping, or crossing his legs, which is the result of slipping. To turn when gal- loping in excess of a certain rate of speed on a slippery place or an uneven piece of ground is a very common cause of a horse's falling. A stumbling horse will often fall, but usually 65 THE-:- HORSE only to his knees, which is hard on the knees, but not so serious to the rider. Prancing. — Prancing is a harmless form of activity often indulged in by a high-strung horse. It consists merely in a kind of hop- ping up and down, and occasions a rider with a poor seat discomfiture, since he finds it dif- ficult in keeping in rhythm with the action of* the horse. Hard and long rides have a seda- tive effect in this regard upon the horse and lessen his desire to jump up and down. Plunging. — Plunging is a kind of exagger- ated prancing. A plunging horse will easily turn into a runaway. Crow-hopping. — Crow-hopping is a mild form of bucking, in which the fore feet and the hind feet of a horse leave and return to the ground alternately. This motion of a horse should not occasion a good rider any discomfort. An old horse that has passed its bucking sage will often crow-hop as a result of a tight cinch and a cold back. Bucking. — Of the many annoyances that a horse can occasion his rider, bucking is by far the worst. The best rider in the world will some time find a horse that will buck him off, and the most terrific bucking horse will some time find a rider that he cannot throw. Most horses on the American and Aus- tralian continents have been allowed to run wild from colthood. These will instinctively buck the first time they are ridden, unless 66 THE-:- HORSE great care is taken in getting them gradually accustomed to the feel of the saddle and the ways of man. Bucking with all really wild horses is con- genital, being part of the strongest instinct, self-preservation. The horse in its evolution was ever subject to attacks by beasts of prey, and the great cats of prehistoric times were probably the first living creatures to try riding upon the back of a horse in order to kill from this point of vantage. Thus it has become instinctive with the horse to try and throw the thing that may have obtained a lodging upon its back. Experience taught him that bucking was most effective, and sometimes it does not take so very much provocation to make the present-day horse revert to the defensive measures used by its ancestors. If a rider can stay on the back of a horse for the first ten bucks he is not likely to be dislodged, since most horses perceptibly tire from that time on. The ordinary horse will rarely make more than twenty or thirty bucks at one time. Bucking is performed by the horse placing its head between its front legs and catapulting itself into the air, leaving the ground usually with its front feet first. To prevent a horse from bucking, the rider should, by a succession of jerks on one rein, try to keep him from putting down his head. By pulling on one side in this manner, the 67 THE-:- HORSE rider makes it less easy for the horse to give free play to his muscles, also a semblance of control is maintained, which psychologically helps to discourage the animal from its at- tempts to throw its rider. To stay on the back of a bucking horse large and dull Mexican spurs may be used to advantage. The rider can either hook the cinch with the spurs, or the horse's flanks. It is not well, however, to hook the horse's flanks until, in the vernacular, "he is going high and crooked," because it would be like touching a match to a keg of dynamite when an explosion might have been averted. The explosion, however, having once taken place, it is safe to suppose that the horse is exert- ing himself to his utmost, and that no form of grip the rider may take will cause a greater exertion on the part of the animal. At this time the reins, gripped firmly in the left hand, will assist greatly in keeping the rider in the saddle, and his right hand swinging free will assist in maintaining his balance. General Remarks. — Bad habits in a horse and innate viciousness, in a general way, are best overcome by gradually making the animal realize that opposition is futile. Make him understand that no harm, un- reasonable annoyance or hardship is in- tended. His resentment and desire to forcibly rid himself of the discomfort and fright occasioned by man will then cease. 68 H E -:- H O R CHAPTER VIII. Running Away — A dangerous habit and difficult to cure— Story of an incorrigible runaway and his fate. Running Away. — This is usually the mani- festation of panic in a horse. He is con- fronted suddenly with an unreasoning fear and runs wildly, expending energy so power- fully generated that it requires an outlet of this kind. Blind fear will usually make a horse run wildly. When he is madly running away, it is far more difficult to stop him than it would have been to prevent him from start- ing in the beginning. A horse running away becomes entirely obsessed with the idea of running. It is a kind of inertia that carries him along and usually ends only with ex- haustion. Even though a horse has a good mouth, fear and the terrific strain of the muscles of his body will make that mouth rapidly lose sensitiveness until it becomes entirely impervious to even the action of a very severe bit. An excitable horse will more readily run away, since its excitability will quickly turn to fear. Also a hard mouth shows a pre- disposition to running away, because a horse being so equipped will not readily feel the restraining influence of the bit, and, perhaps, will get his full stride before he can be made to feel any attempt at control. 69 T H E -:.- H O R S E In riding a horse that is predisposed toward running away the rider should always keep a firm hold of the reins in order to be able, at any moment, to counteract his first forward jump. The safest way to impede a horse when he is actually running away is to seize one rein with two hands, and with a succession of yanks, with short intervals be- tween, bring his head around to one side. In this position it is physically impossible for the horse to run so fast, and the position of his head will give him the tendency to circle in the direction toward which his head is pointed. In this way some sort of control is obtained, and any control, no matter how slight, is advantageous, because the psychol- ogy of the horse is such that, as soon as any sense of restraint is recognized, the animal is inclined to resume making concessions to the will of his rider. In the spring of 1912 or thereabouts, the Rancho Del Paso, which for a long time had belonged to the Haggin Estate, was sold, and the remnants of the thoroughbred horses there were shipped to the Stockdale Ranch at Bakersfield. In their veins ran the blood of Salvator and of many other famous race horses that for long years on the American turf had car- ried the Haggin colors to victory. The younger horses of this shipment ran 70 THE-:- HORSE wild for a number of years at Stockdale, and then several of them were broken by the cow- boys on the ranch. I undertook the breaking of one of these colts, and rode him two or three times in a large corral. In order to mount the horse it had to be thrown on the ground and held. After several of these les- sons, I decided it was time to give the animal a saunter in one of the lanes leading through the ranch, and asked the nearest cowboy to herd for me with a riata. The gate of the corral was thrown open. The horse, seeing freedom ahead, made a wild rush for the lane. The cowboy, instead of keeping my horse at a few feet distance from his own, by taking proper turns on his pommel, threw away his slack, tying only the end of his rope to his saddle. The horse, dashing through the gate at a terrific pace, was thrown to the ground with great force as soon as the rope tautened. Having the fraction of a moment to contem- plate the unfortunate incident that was about to occur, I braced myself and was still on the back of the horse when he regained his feet. The next day I decided to start my ride from the middle of the lane. The horse was held down with blinds over his eyes by two wranglers. Before I quite managed to get my seat he reared high in the air, knocking down one of the men. The other man let the ropes loose and dodged. With the blinds 71 THE-:- HORSE over his eyes he ran madly away, heading for a hay wagon. Without an attempt at direc- tion he would probably have hit the wagon at an angle and would have broken my leg. I knew I could not pull him clear of the wagon, but by employing all my strength directed him head on, and the collision occurred in this position. The horse re- bounded over backward. Two planks were smashed to splinters on the floor of the wagon, and a gash across the horse's chest left upon him a mark that never diappeared. On my next ride, hoping the animal had some sense knocked into him, I managed to start out at a moderate gait. In a few mo- ments, however, he started bucking, rapidly increasing his pace so that the bucks finally flattened out into the tearing stride of a run- away horse. A single tree was directly in the path, and, pull as I would, I saw that a collision could not be averted. This supple tree, being struck, was the cause of the animal's rebound- ing several feet in the direction whence he came and assuming a position upon his back with legs extended upward. During this occurrence I rolled off, but remounted the animal before he had regained his wind. I realized, however, that this was an incor- rigible runaway. Having a friend, one Ramon Felis, bucka- 72 THE-:- HORSE roo foreman of San Emidio Ranch, and knowing he was in want of a horse, I nat- urally had him in mind, and sent the animal to him without delay. In order to keep the ranch records balanced, it was his privilege to return a horse to me for the one I had sent, and, it is true, a great deal of disturb- ance was caused by the hard-bucking animal which I received from Ramon, one of the cowboys having a leg broken as the result of its advent at Stockdale. Except for the courteous expression of gratitude for the horse I sent him, I heard nothing for many months as to how the animal fared in San Emidio's remuda. Long afterward I chanced to hear two men dis- cussing the loss of a very good saddle. It appeared that Ramon had received as a pres- ent a fine looking horse, and that he took the precaution, which is the usual wont of com- petent foremen, to order one of his men to bestride the newly arrived animal, before mounting it himself. The animal being un- able to buck very hard, and ridden in a corral, did not have a fair chance to show off his real paces, so Ramon, encouraged in this manner, subsequently bestrode the animal and led his cowboys to a round-up in the hills. Before reaching their destination, to the marvel of the assembled men, Ramon dis- appeared at break-neck speed over an ad- 73 THE-:- HORSE jacent bluff. The cowboys, accustomed to feats of horsemanship, thought no more of the matter and went about their business. The next morning, however, when a certain concern for Ramon's health was beginning to be felt, his much-bedraggled figure ap- peared at the bunk house. It was nearly a week before the cowboys succeeded in find- ing the horse which had last carried Ramon, and several weeks afterward a few remnants of the saddle were found where they had been left by the coyotes. 74 H E -:- H O R S E CHAPTER IX. Breaking a colt to the saddle — A short method of taming and training — How the colt is taught to tolerate handling — How he is saddled and cinched the £rst time — How he is ridden. A number of horses are running wild in a pasture, perhaps several o£ them are from two to five years of age. Four years of age is the best time at which to break a horse, because at that age he is young enough to be tractable, while his bone and tendon are so adequately developed as not easily to be in- jured. These horses may never have felt restraint of any kind save that of the fence that bounds the pasture, nor have known any laws other than those that nature taught them. Of course, wherever there are horses now- adays, man also is near. But the unbroken colt's knowledge of the human being is limited to an occasional glimpse at one and that vague hereditary fear which most wild things feel toward man. One of these horses in our pasture has the appearance of being fast and intelligent, and of having excellent action. It is decided to make of him a riding horse, to change this raw material into the finished product — a perfectly broken saddle animal. Several men on horseback enter the pasture 75 THE-:- HORSE where the horses are and drive them some- where to a corral. A round corral is best when horses are to be handled because in such a corral there are no projections that might be the means of crippling animals that, in the circumstances, would be restive and trying to find a way out. All the horses, except the good looking animal we have spoken of, having been cor- ralled, are allowed to pass out through the gate. The selected horse, however, is roped, or, preferably, is driven into an adjacent chute and there haltered. In the event of the horse being roped, the halter must be put on him at the first pos- sible moment. This must be done so as to minimize the risk of straining or choking the animal by the tightening noose of the rope around his neck. An upright pole should be planted firmly in the ground in the center of the corral, and the latter should be about fifty or sixty feet in diameter. If the horse has been driven into a chute adjoining the corral the matter of haltering him is simpler. It is done by standing above the animal on the near side, the horse- breaker holding the halter in his right hand by the end of the long headpiece, throwing this over the animal's head and catching the short strap buckle in the left hand when the 76 THE-:- HORSE horse's struggles have ceased sufficiently to permit of doing so. Then the horse-breaker slowly works the opening of the halter up- ward and forward towards the animal's nose, pulling it over the nose, and snapping the buckle behind the near ear. A rope at least thirty feet long, preferably of hemp, and an inch in diameter, should be attached to the halter. The horse-breaker opens the gate of the chute, lets the animal come back into the corral, and takes his posi- tion near the center of the ring. If the horse has been roped, the horse- breaker should take about a turn and a half of the rope around the post in the center of the corral, and let the horse tire himself fairly well out in his struggles to get free, the horse-breaker in the meanwhile being careful to give the animal as few short "check ups" as possible by keeping the rope taut. When the horse is sufficiently tired, the man, after two or three attempts, if he is without a helper, keeping several turns of the rope around the post mentioned, goes toward the horse along the rope, holding its loose end in the left hand, being careful to be on that side of the rope which will bring him to the near side of the horse, which, if the rope is taut, is facing him. He should ad- 77 THE-:- HORSE vance rather rapidly with the right hand ex- tended toward the animal's nose. As the man nears the horse he must be careful to approach from the side as well as the front, because there is always danger of the horse striking and plunging forward. The moment the horse can be touched on the side of the neck, the halter can probably be adjusted in more or less the same manner described in haltering the horse in the chute. The next step after the horse is haltered is to take off the lariat rope and take a turn and a half around the pole in the center of the corral with the loose end of the halter rope. Flagging is next. For this purpose several sacks, or part of a blanket, attached to a pole, are useful. The colt, held tied to the pole in the middle of the corral, is generally facing the man in the center, because the rope being attached to the under part of the halter, has the tendency to jerk the head of the struggling animal towards the hitching post, leaving him with outstretched legs pulling back on his haunches. The horse- breaker, keeping several turns of the rope on the hitching pole, again approaches the horse from the front, and extending the flag projecting on the pole toward the horse*s head and back, he allows it to pass over the animal's ears and neck, and eventually rubs 78 THE-:- HORSE the horse all over his back. The pole should be long enough to allow a safe distance from the heels of the animal. After a while, the horse, finding he is un- able to escape from this rather novel massage, reconciles himself to these manipulations, and allows the flag to be passed all over his body without protesting. Slap the horse on the neck and back with the flag after it has been removed from the pole, and also rub it on his neck and withers. This will gradually accustom the animal to being touched all over. Next he should put the noose of the lariat rope around the body of the horse at withers and girth. This is easily done by placing the loop over the horse's back and letting him back his hind legs through it, or letting him pass through the loop in front; then, stand- ing out of reach of the horse's heels, the breaker should pull the noose tight, which will usually cause a number of rapid gyra- tions from the surprised animal. The pur- pose of this last exercise is to accustom the horse to the tightening of the cinch when the saddle is to be placed on his back. When only the loop of the lariat is tight- ened around the body of the horse, in the way we have described, he can fall forward or backward and kick out in all directions without doing much harm, After the animal 79 THE-;- HORSE has become accustomed to being cinched in this manner, the blanket may be brought, and this the horse-breaker uses as he has pre- viously done the flag until he feels the ani- mal is calm enough to allow the blanket to be placed on his back. The bridle is then brought, preferably a strong head stall with a snaffle bit, and long, thick reins having the ends buckled. These reins should be slipped over the horse's head first and then the head stall placed on the head of the horse in very much the same manner as described for placing the halter, only that by putting the left hand in the corner of the near side of the horse's mouth, the jaws of the horse are forced open, and in this way the bit is directed into the mouth, while the remainder of the bridle is slipped over the head. The reins should now be pulled tight on the right side, brought over the horse's head behind his ears, carried down the left side of his face, and then under the jaw and looped over the right rein as it starts from the bit. The left rein is also pulled tight and has been made part of this loop. A knot is then tied of a sufficient size to prevent the ends of the reins from protruding too far and in any way becoming tangled with the horse. The saddle is then brought (Mexican), THE-:- HORSE which is held by the pommel in the right hand with its right side toward the near side of the horse. The right stirrup is fastened over the saddle horn and the cinching para- phernalia is brought from the right side over the back of the saddle and allowed to hang on its left side. The saddle is then moved forward toward the horse, until it touches him at a point in the neighborhood of the shoulder, and is moved rapidly away again before the horse has time to resent its approach. As the horse becomes used to the saddle touching him on the shoulder, the horse-breaker contrives to slip it onto his back at a point above the withers and takes hold of the left girth strap with the right hand. The saddle is allowed to overbalance a little on the right side, so that if the horse takes a sudden jump or kicks, the equilibrium of the saddle may be maintained by keeping a certain pull on the left cinch strap. When it is evident that the horse will stand still, allowing the saddle to sit in this way upon his back, the cinch ring can be slipped over the saddle horn, which permits the cinch rigging to fall on the off side. The problem is now to bring the cinch from the right side up under the girth of the horse and buckle it on the near side. It is usually risky to try and reach this cinch 81 THE-:- HORSE under the stomach of the horse with the hand. The best way is to hold the end of the near side cinch strap in the right hand, letting the rest of it hang in a loop toward the ground. Swing this loop slowly back- ward and forward under the stomach of the horse until the cinch strap catches the cinch ring in its loop. The horse-breaker should now pull this cinch, which is caught in the loop, under the girth of the horse, slowly toward him, and catch the cinch ring in his right hand, directing the ring to its buckle, then draw the cinch tight enough to make the saddle firm on the back of the horse, and release the right stirrup from the saddle horn. Unwinding the rope from the pole in the middle of the corral, the horse-breaker holds it firmly with his hand, and lets the horse have a little slack, at the same time urging the animal to move. The horse will probably make a few kicks or bucks as he starts forward around the edge of the corral, meanwhile the horse-breaker should pull the animal's head toward him, quieting the horse as soon as possible, and, holding the rope taut, should approach the animal's neck, always taking care to be on the near side. Now, untying the reins from under the animal's jaw, he should bring the right rein over the horse's head down toward the left side of the bit, and seize this rein at that 82 THE-:- HORSE point with his left hand. Holding, also in his left hand, the left rein at its starting point from the bit, and the left cheek piece of the head stall as it starts from the bit, he should take the left stirrup in his right hand. Taking care not to let more than the tip of his boot pass through, he should place his left foot in the stirrup, and raise his weight on to the stirrup, keeping his left arm taut, which is holding the horse at a point near the bit. If the horse tries to whirl away from the rider in this position, the grip of the left hand on the cheek piece may be brought to bear with such force that it will keep the horse's head toward the man, who at this time is balanced standing on the left stirrup. If, on the other hand, the horse turns to the near side to grip the man's arm or leg with his teeth, the knuckles of the left hand are shoved under the cheek piece into the jaw of the horse, which in this way can be kept at a safe distance. If the horse now rears, tries to fall over backward, bucks, or looks like turning a forward somersault, the rider should leap off his left foot several feet back from the near side of the horse into safety, and when the horse has subsided he must try the same manuevers again. Then, if the horse stands sufficiently quiet, the rider may slowly raise 83 THE-:- HORSE his right leg over the cantle of the saddle and find the stirrup on the right side. Now he may release the cheek piece with his left hand, continuing, however, to hold the reins, and bringing that hand up toward the cantle let the left rein slip through it until it is in its proper place in front of the cantle. The right rein, which will be left with too much slack, can be taken with the right hand and pulled even with the left rein. If there are any fireworks left in the horse, this is the time for the demonstration. The one object now is for the rider to keep the horse under him until he is ready, of his own accord, to dismount. For twenty minutes or half an hour, the horse may be urged slowly around the corral, and in order to get some sort of direction, the rein on the side on which it is desired to progress should be pulled, and the other rein allowed loose. To accustom the horse to all that in after days may be required of him, the rider at this time should slap the horse on its back, carry the two stirrups with his legs up toward the cantle of the saddle and throw his weight from side to side. A few rides of this sort and the carrying out of the principles noted will soon gentle any horse. His further training is discussed with the subject "Reining a horse," in Chap- ter IV. 84 THE-:- HORSE The horse, handled in this manner, becomes halter broken of his own accord, since in a round corral the man, by suddenly taking up the slack on a rope attached to the halter, will accustom the animal to have his head pulled one way or the other, and the moment the horse's head answers to the pull o£ the halter, the rope should be left slack as his reward for obedience. 9$ H E -:- H O R S E CHAPTER X. Buying a Saddle Horse — Age shown by the teeth — How to detect poor vision and other defects — Splints, ringbone, spavin — Sore backs, what they indicate — Shoulder lameness and navicular disease — Laminitis or founder — Testing a horse for wind — How to recognize a wind-sucker or crib-biter. Examination. — Beginning at the horse's head it is well to look in the animal's mouth to obtain a general idea of his age. An ap- proximation in this respect can be made from the condition of his teeth. The ordinary horse has two sets of incisor teeth, each set contain- ing three sets of two teeth. The two middle front teeth, of the respective jaws, are called the middle incisors. The two teeth which are on either side of these are the intermediate incisors. The two teeth which in turn are on either side of the two intermediate teeth are called the corner incisors. Age Index. — The animal that is two years of age has a full set of colt incisor teeth. They are of the same number and general appear- ance as horse teeth, only they are smaller, whiter and shorter. At three years of age, the two middle incisors are horse teeth, while the intermediate and corner ones are still colt teeth. At four, the middle and intermediate incisors are horse teeth, while only the corner ones are colt teeth. At five, the horse has a full mouth of horse teeth. Each of these has 86 THE-:- HORSE at the exposed ends an indenture known as a cup. At six, these cups disappear from the middle incisors, the use of the teeth wearing the ends smooth. The intermediate and corner incisors still possess the cups at this age. At seven, the cups disappear from the intermedi- ate as well as the middle incisor teeth, and at eight the cups have also disappeared from the corner ones, so that the animal has what is known as a smooth mouth. From this time on as the horse gets older, his teeth look longer, but in reality this is not entirely the case since wear and growth con- tinue to counteract each other as in colthood, but the fact that with age the gums recede also tends to make the teeth of an old horse look longer. The older a horse gets the more the width of his teeth from outside to inside diminishes. In a young horse, when his jaws are closed, the incisor teeth of the upper jaw and lower jaw are inclined to be in the same perpendicular plane. When the horse gets old, however, these teeth tend to make an acute angle with each other; the apex of the angle being where the upper and lower teeth join each other. The older the horse is, the more acute the angle. Very old horses gen- erally have yellow teeth, triangular shaped, while the teeth of a young horse are more oval in appearance. 87 THE-;- HORSE Defects. — The horse's eyes should be clear. If it is thought the animal has defective sight, moving the hand toward the eye quickly and taking it away again without touching the horse's head will aid in determining this fact. A quick glance at the horse's neck will tell whether it is free from defect such as fistula; fistula being a kind of localized open sore with a very deep root. On observing the animal's forelegs medium large and straight bones are desirable; however, that part from the ankle to the hoof, which is the pastern, should be sloping enough to minimize any danger of knuckling over. Ordinary splints do no real harm, only at incipiency they usually make the animal lame. Splints practically never come on a horse's hind legs. Side-bones and ring-bones which come upon the coronet, that fore part of the horse's foot immediately above the hoof, always end in causing lameness, and are practically incurable. Their presence can be detected by bony en- largements at the side and above the horse's hoof in the case of a side-bone, and at the side above and in front of the horse's hoof in the case of a ring-bone. Bone spavin is the usual cause of lameness on a horse's hind legs. This is a bony enlarge- ment immediately below and on the inside of the horse's hock, and can be seen best by T H E -:- H O R S E standing in front of the horse and looking between its front legs. This is an unsound- ness that can rarely be cured. The hoofs of the hind legs are less subject to ring-bones and side-bones than those of the forelegs. Sore backs constitute an undesirable factor in a horse to be used for saddle purposes, especially if the horse is sore above the withers or over the kidneys. An old kidney sore can rarely be cured, and always makes the horse weak in that part of his back. Girth sores are not of a very serious character. Most horses that are fat when taken out of pasture and ridden will acquire girth sores by the slipping forward of the saddle, but the horse when conditioned properly and hardened will readily overcome this soreness, if care is taken in cinching and keeping the saddle in its proper place directly behind the withers on the horse's back. Shoulder lameness and navicular disease are the bugbears of most horsemen. They are difficult to diagnose. If a horse is lame and no physical malformation manifests itself, the suspected leg can be raised and moved back and forth, and if the horse flinches it is prob- ably shoulder lameness. Shoulder lameness usually lasts a long time, but generally dis- appears with rest. If a horse is lame on both forelegs at the same time he is said to be "sore in front." Navicular disease, on the THE-:- HORSE other hand, is a trauma of the navicular bone, which is an ossicle, or small bone, in the center of the foot. A horse afflicted with this disease usually points his toe when standing at rest. A horse having navicular, will go quite lame when cold, but if the disease is only in its incipiency, he will often warm out of the lame- ness with exercise. Navicular is absolutely incurable. Laminitis (founder) is a very common ail- ment of the horse. It is a kind of membrane congestion, often due to overwork after over- feeding, or to excessive drinking when the animal is hot. Soreness in front and rings on the hoofs are an indication of this disease. It always constitutes an unsoundness. Before purchasing a horse, he should be made to exercise so that his wind can be examined; a horse with defective wind being, in almost all cases, very unsatisfactory for any kind of work. If a horse, after violent exer- cise, breathes hard, with an audible sound from the lungs, it has defective wind. Also a horse whose sides heave, relaxing and con- tracting to an unusual degree after a certain amount of exercise, has probably defective wind. I use defective to denote an impairment of the horse for that work which may be required of him. On the other hand, if the animal, when exercised, merely gives a snorting sound 90 THE-:- HORSE from his nostrils, or a certain sound from his larynx, which is not due to paralytic roaring, and shows none of the other symptoms that have been mentioned, he has probably nothing more than a localized peculiarity which does him no real harm in regard to work. Wind-sucking, or crib-biting, as it is some- times called, is more a habit of the horse than a defect of respiration. It is a very undesir- able habit, since the horse by indulging it inflates his inside, and thus renders himself less capable of performing the duties that may be required of him. The habit is sometimes contagious by imitation. When a horse cribs, he usually catches on to some wooden projec- tion with his teeth and takes in air with a sucking sound. If the horse's teeth are peculiarly worn down in front, or the part of the stall where he has been standing shows tooth wear, it is reasonable to suppose that he is a wind-sucker. 91 H E -:- H O R S E CHAPTER XL Teaching children to ride — Cannot begin too young — An old plug better than a pony — Experience the best riding mas- ter— Psychology of the horse — He has not the power oi deduc- tion— Trick horses — How they are made to appear to have reasoning faculties — They only obey commands. Teaching Children to Ride. — I started to ride at four years old and I believe this age not too young to commence riding with a lead rope. For a child I consider an old, thoroughly gentle horse better than any kind of pony, because his movements are apt to be slower, and he usually has more sense. A common mistake made in regard to letting small chil- dren ride, is the thought that merely because a pony happens to be very tiny he can do no serious harm to the child, and what in a big horse would be considered viciousness in a little pony is looked upon as a kind of cute playfulness. It is a fact that young children are injured far more frequently by little ponies than by horses. I think the ideal way for a child to begin riding is to place him upon an old plug bare- back. Lead the animal around slowly until the child gets used to the motion and feel of the back. He will get a natural seat far more quickly bare-back than if at first he is per- mitted to ride in a saddle. After the child becomes thoroughly familiar with the feel of the horse as he is led around slowly, a saddle 92 THE-:- HORSE may be used, and the child allowed to ride holding the reins and guiding it himself. Of course, this is presupposing that the horse in question is such a plug that nothing can in- duce it to run off and that its natural tendency will be to stand still unless forcibly urged. Variety of experience will make the child into a good rider more rapidly than books or constant instruction can possibly do. When the child becomes fairly used to riding, a good exercise is the use of the saddle without stir- rups. In order to make rapid progress in riding a child should always be made to overdo a little. For example, he should be urged to ride a little faster without holding on to the saddle than he feels he is able to do. He should be encouraged to relax on the back of a horse, and see how far he can overbalance to the sides without falling off. He should be made to ride the horse at a good trot, which at first will be very uncomfortable. The next day he should be urged to ride this way for a little longer time, and by degrees he will gain confidence and be aware of improvement, which is an important factor in the mind of a child that is learning to ride. Psychology. — It is said of the horse that, considering his size, he has the smallest brain of all the animals. It is probably as well that an animal used as a beast of burden should not 93 THE-:- HORSE be too intelligent, because if he were, it would be difficult to make him obey the whim of his rider. The horse has desires. If his desires conflict with the wants of man he is useless for the purposes of man. How to make his desires coincide with those of his rider is the real problem in the training of a horse. Animals, according to some authorities, have the power of reasoning. I think, how- ever, and believe it is the consensus of opinion, that, in the specific sense of the term, they have no such power. In the animal, keenness of sense takes the place of strength of intellect. The horse's mind is susceptible of a process, which in a very broad sense might be called reasoning. It is, in fact, an induction by analogy. His mental force is guided by a kind of channel pertaining to idea association, and in this attribute his mind and that of a human being coincide. A horse often has a marvelous memory and extraordinary power of observation. He has perception without apperception, perception being a state which has no power of thought review, and consequently cannot create a new psychological force. What follows is an example of how the horse thinks. A horse has been taken for a very long ride. Perhaps he has been quiet and displayed little enthusi- asm to increase his pace or to change his 94 THE-:- HORSE direction. He now is turned into a lane not far from and leading to his stable. At that moment he shows that he wishes to accelerate his pace and, with ears cocked forward, and prancing, gives evidence of a strong desire to move ahead. We here have the indications of a thought on the part of the animal. What is the cause of this thought? Analysis brings us to the following conclusion: Through idea associa- tion, m.ade aware of the presence of the stable, which is again associated with food, rest, free- dom from equipment and so forth, the horse is stimulated and encouraged to go ahead, because now to his mind there is a definite and desirable object in view. In like manner, a very thirsty horse hurries to water. He has not the power to draw the conclusion from the premises — first, that he wants water; secondly, that hurrying in the right direction brings one to what is wanted more quickly — that hurrying in this way will bring him more quickly to water. The fore- going case is clearly deductive reasoning, em- bodying the higher intellectual force of which the human mind alone is capable. It is true that the horse arrives at the same result that deductive reasoning would bring, but he does it in this way. He is instinctively drawn to water by physical want. He remembers that hurrying to water has actually brought him 95 THE-:- HORSE water sooner than on the occasions when his thirst was not so great and he moved slowly in the direction of the trough. He has the psycho-physiological desire for water, and he arrives at a kind of analogical induction, re- membering all the times he has hurried in order that he could drink and was able to satisfy his thirst, that hurrying to drink means immediate drinking. This, then, is the real reason for his hurrying forward, and is based upon comparison and analogy. Horses shown at circuses, supposed to be able to do mathematical problems and dis- tinguish colors pertaining to persons in the audience, are animals that have extraordi- narily keen perception. But the counting or distinguishing a color, or any other remark- able feat a horse is supposed to perform by virtue of his reasoning faculties, is accom- plished entirely by trick methods, and a super- finely cultivated sense. The horse will paw a certain number of times, or pick up a color, because his trainer has made some almost im- perceptible movement with whip, hand or body, and not because he has in any way understood from the man's discourse what he is wanted to do. Trick animals of this sort are usually in- structed according to system, and the animal is made to do a number of things always in the same order. He finally forms a habit and, 96 THE-:- HORSE like a gramophone needle will, when started off, continue in the same groove. His trainer then will often take occasion to talk at the proper intervals between the horse's perform- ances, purporting to instruct the horse what to do, but in reality merely anticipating his movements by words. Of course, the horse has an eye for color and an ear for sound, and he can be made to obey commands. For instance, a command is given. The horse disobeys and punishment ensues. In time he finds that if such a com- mand is given and he acts a certain way punishment will not follow, then associating these two things in his mind, the command having been given, he will act in that certain way so that punishment will not ensue. To distinguish colors, the problem is to make the horse by some physical manifesta- tion indicate his understanding of the differ- ence of color. Since this cannot be done, the next best thing, which is in fact what most trainers do, is to make the horse give the appearance of indicating color by an appeal (usually imperceptible to the audience) to his sensorium in contradistinction to his mind. Instinct in itself is a large subject. It is an important factor in the mind of an animal, while intuition which involves cognizance of a previously registered conclusion belongs to man alone. THE END 97 Press of The Recorder Printing and Publishing Co. San Francisco SterFam% Lfbirairf of Veterinary Mecficm School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University 200 Westboro Road North Grafton, MA 01536 ro y