EATS AND SADDLES

MAJOR DWYER

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

MAJOB FRANCIS DWYEK.

SEATS AND SADDLES,

BITS AND BITTING,
DRAUGHT AND HARNESS,

AND THE

PREVENTION AND CURE OF RESTIVENESS
IN HORSES.

BY

FRANCIS DWYER,
h

MAJOR OF HUSSARS IN THE IMPERIAL AUSTRIAN SERVICE.

Vis consili expers mole ruit sua."

HORACE, Carmin, Lib. III. Ode vi.

THE FOURTH EDITION, WITH PORTRAIT OF THE LATE MAJOR DWYER.

LONDON :
W. B. WHITTINGHAM & CO., 91, GRACECHURCH STREET

[All Rights reserved.}

W. B. WHITTINGHAM & Co.,

PRINTERS,
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, E.G.,

AND

" THE CHA.HTE.RHOUSE PRESS,"

44 AND 45, CHARTERHOUSE SQUARE,

LONDON.

TO
HIS SERENE HIGHNESS

FRANCIS PAUL CHARLES LOUIS ALEXANDER,
DUKE OF TECK,

THIS BOOK

IS BY PERMISSION DEDICATED,
IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT

OF MANY KINDNESSES

SHOWN TO HIS SERENE HIGHNESS's

MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT,

THE AUTHOR.

•
.

PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION.

THE. late Major Dwyer, whose portrait is added to the
Illustrations of former editions, held a unique position
as an authority on the subject on which he wrote.
No work of a similar character has covered the same
ground, or diminished the demand for Major Dwyer's
" Seats and Saddles," which is now reproduced in a
somewhat improved form.

October, 1886.

AUTHOR'S NOTE TO PREVIOUS EDITION.

IN Part I., Chapter II., some additional remarks are
offered on the subject of the crupper for cavalry saddles.
In Part II., Chapter I., the author enters a protest
against the notion of his having ever advocated any one
shape or size of bit as being universally applicable. In
Part III., Chapter III., Fehrmann's Horse-saver (Fferde
Shconer) is described, and its use explained. There
are also some remarks on brakes, on the disadvantage
of depending on the crupper in draught, for mares or
horses inclined to kick ; on long breechings, and on the
uses and abuses of the bearing -rein; the latter arising
from its being employed to make a display, the former
being however very real, if properly understood and

carried out.

F. D.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

Various styles of riding a consequence of various kinds of induce-
ments to ride — Natural riders and instructed riders — There
is great waste of horse-flesh and premature destruction of the
animal's legs where bad methods are followed, or where no
method at all exists — English civilian riders use up an enormous
quantity of horse-flesh — Some foreign cavalry services do the
same — The causes are generally false distribution of the weight
to be carried — The horse's skeleton is the framework of the
machine we employ as a bearer — In order to adjust the burden
to this, some knowledge of the machine is required, as also of
the saddle by means of which that burden is placed and re-
tained on the horse's back — The seat is the way in which the
rider adjusts his own weight through, the intermedium of the
saddle to the horse — Varieties of seats to suit various purposes
— The bit is the instrument by which the rider's will is trans-
mitted to the horse ; it is a lever which, if accurately adapted,
will be of great assistance and value to the rider ; if unfitted in
shape, size, &c., it is not only useless, but often dangerous —
Restiveness in horses most usually the consequence of inju-
dicious treatment of some kind or other — To prevent or cure
restiveness requires a knowledge of the methods employed for
breaking-in or handling horses, consequently also of the method
in which the weight of the rider should be brought to bear,
and also how such horses should be bitted . PAGES 1-16

Vlll TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART I.

SEATS AND SADDLES.

CHAPTER I.

THE FRAMEWORK OF THE HORSE CONSIDERED FROM A MECHANICAL
POINT OF VIEW.

The four legs are the supports of the spinal column which bears
the burden directly — There is one portion of the spinal column
round which all the others move : this is the centre of motion
of the horse— The head and neck project beyond the basis on
which the animal stands ; the position of the centre of gravity
modified by this — The horse's fore legs are, more particularly,
bearers, the hind ones propellers — The action of the horse will
depend on the relative positions of these two centres, which
will be shown by the hoof-tracks, and is also easily recognisable
by the ear — The relative positions of the two centres of gravity
and motion may be adjusted as the nature of the service de-
manded requires, by simply altering the position of the head
and neck ; and this is equally true whether the horse be in
motion or at rest . 19-44

CHAPTER II.

THE SADDLE, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE SEAT.

The saddle should be adjusted to whatever seat may be adopted
for a particular purpose, and not vice versa the seat to the
saddle — Its size should be proportioned to the weight it will
have to support ; its shape should be adapted, on the one hand,
to the horse's back ; on the other, to the rider's seat and legs—
The weight should be so placed as to press equally over the
whole under surface of the saddle ; there must be no lever-
action; all of which is best attained by making the seat central,
placing the girths also in the centre of the saddle, and, finally,

TABLE OF CONTENTS. IX

the stirrups as near this point as can be conveniently done —
For military purposes, blankets in some respects preferable to
feltplates under the saddle — The crupper is utterly useless
unless the pack is built up into a mountain ; or a short rider
put on a tall horse — The breast-plate is unobjectionable 45-64

CHAPTER III.

SEATS.

The seat on horseback is maintained by balance, by friction, or
by the aid of the stirrups — A combination of all these means
affords the greatest security — The more perfect the balance
the less will be the quantity of muscular action required to
maintain the seat ; the closer the seat to the saddle, and the
greater the surfaces brought into contact, the more easily will
the balance be maintained ; the nearer the point of suspension
of the stirrup to the seat, the less will balance and friction be
disturbed, and the more will the stirrup act in support of
these, how or wherever the rider may otherwise sit — To have
a good seat, his weight must be distributed equally between
the three bones forming the angle of his fork, and not on any
two of these, or on the third alone — It is better to commence
riding with stirrups than without — The jockey's saddle and
seat — The hunting seat — Road-Riding — Rising in the stirrups
versus bobbing up and down — What is the object of both 65-89

CHAPTER IV.

THE MILITARY SEAT.

This is more easily reducible to rule than any other, the object
being alike in all cases, and the material selected with reference
to that special purpose — The cavalry seat must facilitate not
only the mere progressive power of the horse, but also such a
degree of handiness as will insure to its rider a perfect com-
mand over his weapons, and, in addition to all this, secure
for the troop-horse the longest possible period of service —

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

These latter objects are but too frequently sacrificed in favour
of mere vehemence of movement ; they are only to be attained
by very careful saddling, bitting, and a correct seat or method
of riding — Weight carried by some cavalry horses compared
with that carried by hunters and racers — Average daily work
of a man carrying a burden compared with that of a horse
under various circumstances, and at various degrees of
speed 90-105

PART II.

BITS AND BITTING.
CHAPTER I.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES.

Vulgar idea of hard and soft-mouthed horses — The horse's head
and neck levers, by means of which the animal's body may
be steered like a boat by the tiller — Baucher's ideas of the
position of the head and neck — Rational handling contrasted
with ordinary horse-breaking — Bitting must be suited to style
of riding — Value of good and careful bitting in the handling
of young horses, and the prevention of restiveness — Its great
importance for cavalry — There is no model or size of bit that
is generally applicable to all horses .... 109-122

CHAPTER II.

THE NECK — THE HEAD — THE MOUTH — THE TONGUE — CARRIAGE —

FEELING.

Varieties of shapes, &c., of horses' necks — Influence of this on
direction of pull of reins — Influence of military pack on the
same — Ditto of shape of horse's head, and mode in which it
is set on neck — The head considered as a lever — Horses that
poke out their noses or bend their necks too much — Width

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI

between jaws — Glands situated here — Conformation of horse's
chin, nose, lips, chin-groove, externally ; of mouth and tongue
internally — Average dimensions of some part of horses' mouths
— The tongue-channel— Carriage of horse's head and neck
must be suited to kind of work demanded — Carriage for
military [purposes, for racing, for hunting, for road-riding

123-148

CHAPTER III.

THE CAVESSON — SNAFFLE — NOSE-BAND — TRAINING-HALTER —
RUNNING-REINS.

The snaffle the simplest and best of all forms of bit — Requires good,
steady seat — Various forms of snaffle — Their relative value —
The nose-band, its use — Difficulties about it — Von Oeynhausen's
training-halter — Where the snaffle should be put in the horse's
mouth — Martingales — Seeger's running-reins . . 149-160

CHAPTER IV.

THE LEVER — THE BIT AND CURB — THE BRIDLE.

With a plain snaffle there is no lever-power — Orders of levers —
Lever of second order gives the action required for a bit — The
curb should not exert the slightest degree of painful action —
Whatever may be required of this should be exerted by mouth-
piece, the less the better — Consequences of curb producing a
greater amount of painful action than mouth-piece — Length of
the bars of bit, whence measured — Line of bearing — Length
of upper bar of bit — A bit "falls through" or stands stiff:
why ? — Effects of both — Angle at which reins should act on
bit — Dimensions of lower bar of bit — Curb, length of — Position
for mouth-piece in horse's mouth — Best form of curb — Curb-
hooks — Mouth-piece of bit — Port, use of — Rings on mouth-
pieces, their use — Jointed mouth-pieces — Pelham — Dumpy bit
— Method of adjusting bit and bridle — The bridoon — Bits for
harness should be made and adjusted on precisely similar
principles — Reins for double harness, how to adjust . 161-198

Xll TABLE OP CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

TAKING MEASURE FOR THE BIT — THE MOUTH-GAUGE —
THE TRIAL-BIT.

Description of these instruments, and methods of using them

199-205

PART III.

DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.
CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

The true principles of harnessing horses very unequally acted on —
What suits a town or city may be and often is inapplicable to
rural districts, and vice versa — The condition of the roads, and
the whole conformation of the country, must be taken into
consideration — The two main points to be attended to are the
size of the horse and the height of the wheel . . 209-211

CHAPTER II.

THE ANGLE OF TRACTION — THE COLLAR — THE HAMES — THE TRACE
— THE POLE AND POLE-CHAINS — THE HEIGHT OF THE WHEEL.

The best direction for applying power to a common wheel is in
the horizontal line, supposing the power itself to be capable
of being exerted in all directions with equal facility — This is,
however, not the case with horses, whose draught-power is
best exerted at an angle with the horizon, on account of the
inclination of the shoulder-blade, from which the draught is
exerted through the collar, &c. — Experiments of General
Berge on this subject — The trace should be perpendicular to
the collar and shoulder-blade, and consequently neither
horizontal nor even parallel to the surface of the road when

TABLE OF CONTENTS. xiii

inclined — The shoulder-blade of the horse is fixed near its
centre, but movable at both ends — The trace-hook should be
attached opposite to this fixed point, and act at right-angles
to the collar-bone — This is the proper angle of traction, and
the line of the trace will then coincide nearly with the line of
- propulsion of the hind legs — Both the collar and the names
must be adjusted so as to secure this angle of traction — A
neglect of this the most frequent cause of sore necks, &c. — The
length of the trace should be suited to the nature of the work
— Short traces are handier for town work, but punish the
horses unnecessarily — There is no real mechanical advantage
in a short trace, often the contrary — The same applies to the
pole and pole-chains or straps — Horses will work easier and
suffer less if not harnessed too short — Those used occasionally
under the saddle should never be trussed up between short
traces and a short pole or shafts — High wheels are an advantage,
but only within certain limits, which depend on the height of
the horse's shoulder — The horizontal pull is the most favourable
under the exceptions stated, and where the surface of the road
is perfectly level ; but an upward pull is more advantageous
where obstacles such as stones or ruts are to be surmounted —
The centre of gravity of a loaded two-wheeled vehicle should
be placed over the axle-tree ; with four-wheeled ones, nearer
to the larger pair of wheels in proportion to the difference
of size 212-242

CHAPTER III.

TRAINING FOR DRAUGHT.

Should be undertaken gradually — First accustom your horses to
the harness, then to the carriage — Take care that the harness
fits well, is strong, and that there is nothing to frighten the
horse either in itself or the carriage — Fehrmann's Horse-saver,
its use for training young horses to draught and for general
purposes — Pay especial attention to the bitting — See that there
is nothing in this to prevent the horse going ahead kindly —
Never attempt breaking into harness without one or two
assistants — If necessary, begin with a cavesson, and take

XIV TABLE OF CONTENTS.

straight lines— Be cautious of the bearing-reins and crupper
at first — It is not fair to argue from the occasional, or even
frequent, abuse of the bearing-rein that it should be totally
abolished — The crupper frequently very dangerous in harness,
and may be dispensed with, by using long breechings 243-264

PART IV.

RESTIVENESS : ITS PREVENTION AND CURE.
CHAPTER I.

HOW TO RENDER HORSES OBEDIENT.

Disobedience or restiveness not to be confounded with vice — A
horse is stronger than a man ; therefore nothing is to be done
by mere brute force — Usual cause of insubordination is inju-
dicious treatment — Character of the horse — English method
of training or handling young horses — Continental or school
methods — Advantages or disadvantages of these two ; their
description ; how they may be best made applicable to the
prevention and cure of restiveness . . . 267-290

CHAPTER II.

GENERAL RULES FOR THE TREATMENT OF RESTIVENESS.

Avoid opportunities of conflict — Ascertain how restiveness was
caused, and when first shown — The temper and general dis-
position of the animal, also its condition, must be taken into
account — If practicable, the handling of restive horses should
be undertaken in an enclosed space, a riding-school, or the
like — What may be done when nothing of this kind is available
— The first great object is to get a-horse to go somehow, then
afterwards in obedience and in a certain form — Generally

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XV

speaking, restive horses should be treated as if they had never
been handled at all ; that is to say, they should be re-trained
from beginning to end — The position generally assumed by
restive horses — How to get them out of this — " Unfixing " a
horse from the spot — Treatment of a horse that backs— How
to use the spurs and the whip 291-305

CHAPTER III.

SPECIAL FORMS OF RESTJVENESS.

Bolting. — Why do horses bolt ? — How to manage bolters where
there is room, and when one is confined to the road — Bolters
that carry their heads up, and those that carry them down
— Bucking and plunging — How to manage these — The dumb-
jockey 306-314

Rearing. — How a horse prepares itself to rear — How the rearing
may be prevented at this stage— How the horse does rear
— Method of treatment with the lounge ; or under the
rider 3M-322

Kicking. — The cause of kicking — The method of treatment 322-330

LIST OF PLATES.

I. PORTRAIT OF AUTHOR. .... frontispiece

II. THE FRAMEWORK OF THE MACHINE . to face page I

III. THE MUSCLES OF THE MACHINE . .'.',, 43

IV. BAD AND GOOD SEAT . . . . ,, 80
V. THE ARAB TYPE . . . . . . ,,86

VI. " TONGS-ACROSS-A-WALL " — THE MODERN

MILITARY SEAT ,, 93

VII. THE EXTREME CHAIR-SEAT — THE EXTREME

FORK-SEAT ,, 95

VIII. THE OPEN SEAT AND HIGH PACK — THE

CLOSE SEAT AND FLAT PACK . ,, 97

INTEODUCTOEY CHAPTEE.

IT may be well, at starting, to state the objects with
which this little book has been brought before the
public interested in horses, and at the same time, in
order to prevent misapprehension, to say that the
author has not the slightest intention of setting up any
one kind of seat or style of riding as a model for all
riders. On the contrary, he is fully persuaded that
each of these has its own merits, and, as our French
neighbours would say, its own raison d'etre — that is to
say, has been adopted for good and sufficient reasons, so
far as each individual rider possessed an insight into the
true essentials of the case, and has been able to dis-
tinguish these from what is merely matter of fashion or
supposed convenience.

Some men, and these are the naturally good or born
riders, possess the sort of knowledge in question in-
stinctively, and frequently without being able to account
either to themselves or others for the way in which
they have acquired it, or give satisfactory reasons for
the adoption of their methods. Such men are most
usually, although not invariably, of the peculiar build,
unnecessary to describe, which combines strength and
vigour with lightness and dexterity ; and must possess

B

2 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

in all cases that happy admixture of courage, prompt
decision, patience, and perseverance, that constitute the
rider's temperament, and which arrive at their greatest
perfection when coupled with an unselfish love of that
noblest and most beautiful animal the horse. It is only
necessary to put a man of this sort into the saddle and
he becomes at once a rider ; just as another becomes a
good shot, and a third an expert angler, almost from
the moment a gun or a rod is placed in their hands.

But all men are not so gifted ; whole nations, indeed,
have been at various periods of the world's history
characterised as born riders ; but it will be found, on
examination, that in these instances unmixed race,
resulting in great uniformity of stature, build, and tem-
perament, combined with what we are pleased to term
a low degree of civilization, prevailed to a much greater
dxtent than amongst ourselves. It would be invidious,
and moreover unnecessary, for the object we have in
view, to enter into a minute comparison in this respect
of our own population with others of ancient or modern
times. As regards most, if not all, of those moral
qualities that we have stated to be typical of the rider
temperament, we stand confessedly very high in the
scale, leaving altogether aside all that England has done
for the breeding of horses : moreover, we have amongst
us a much greater proportion of men who can ride tant
bien que mal than any other civilized nation ; in fact,
the class of men that ride for pleasure or convenience is
with us very large, whereas everywhere else it is very
small, almost minute ; for the equestrian nations that
still exist in different parts of the world mount their
horses as a means of gaining and maintaining their
existence much more frequently than for mere pleasure.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 6

This is, however, precisely what brings into the saddle
a great number of people who do not belong to the class
of born riders, or have perhaps neither the time, oppor-
tunity, nor desire to do more than enjoy a pleasant ride
when they can, and who are therefore content to depend
on others, who are paid for doing it, to put this within
their reach. That this luxury is, however, not always
attainable, even to a long purse, many a man can testify;
and the causes of failure are frequently sufficiently
obvious to professional riders, although seldom pointed
out by them, for very cogent reasons. It must be con-
fessed, indeed, that it is most usually a very thankless
office to offer any man that rides anything like advice,
however well meant and sound, on anything concerning
his horse, bridle, saddle, or seat. The great majority
would much more patiently tolerate very decided ex-
pressions of doubt as to their mental or moral qualifica-
tions, if only conveyed with a certain amount of tact,
than the slightest imputation of want of knowledge or
skill in things pertaining to horsemanship.

And yet there exist very incontestable evidences that
a great amount of unskilfulness, to use a mild term, in
the matter of riding does really exist amongst us. We
have the best horses in the world, and those whose
build and temper are most peculiarly adapted for riding
purposes ; notwithstanding which, the proportion of
animals with broken knees and other injuries to their
limbs is infinitely greater than anywhere else that we
know of. No doubt we demand a greater amount of
hard work from our horses than other people ; still
broken knees are the opprobrium of the rider, and point
very evidently to great ignorance or total disregard of
the very simple mechanical principles that govern the

4 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

motion of a quadruped with or without a burden on its
back. Everyone knows that the best constructed form
or chair may be upset by sitting awkwardly on it and
setting the laws of gravitation at defiance, whilst few
people who have knocked down their valuable horses by
precisely the same process seem to be in the least aware
of what they have really done : " the brute stumbled
and broke both his knees " is the only explanation they
are capable of affording ; of course it is never their own
fault.

Again, how many horses, especially young ones, are
made restive, and become plungers, bolters, or rearersr
through the intolerable pain occasioned by bits that are
wholly unsuited to their mouths, and sometimes fitter
for a rhinoceros than so sensitive and delicate an animal
as the horse. Many a curb, stringhalt, and spavin are
originated by the use, or rather abuse, of bits whose
lever power is so excessive that it is impossible to regu-
late their action, not to mention the very numerous
instances in which bits are placed in such a position in
the horse's mouth as to act on the animal's head in
exactly the opposite direction to that intended by the
rider, as shall be hereafter explained ; and thus, in con-
junction with the misplaced burden of the rider, assist
in throwing down the bearer.

It is well known that a very great and constantly-
increasing number of English saddle-horses are an-
nually exported to Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and other
great Continental cities, and many of these are there
sold at prices perfectly remunerative to the dealers, but
which are much lower than animals of equally good
figure and proportions command with ease in the
English market. This was for a time a puzzle to the

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 5

Continentals, and even to some amateur dealers, who
made bad speculations in consequence. By-and-by it
was discovered that a great majority of these splendid
animals were either more or less restive, or at least
•" difficult," as the phrase goes. Being frequently
purchased by military officers of superior rank, they
were naturally put into the riding-schools, where they
gave so much trouble that many professionals were led to
believe that English horses were incapable of any high
degree of school-training. Others who were more judi-
cious found it impossible to reconcile the well-known
docility of the English breed with the fractiousness
and intractability of these exported specimens, and
came to the very sound conclusion that the fault lay,
not in the breed, but in the previous injudicious hand-
ling of these individuals. Baucher, the French riding-
master, founded his great reputation — which, by the
way, has been much exaggerated — on his successful
conversion of the celebrated Partisan — an English horse
that was sold for a song, because nobody could manage
Mm — into a first-rate and most docile school-horse.
Some of the Germans, however, decided the question
in a still more positive manner, by buying young high-
bred horses in England that had never been backed ;
and Seeger, Yon Oeynhausen, and other first-rate
authorities, now all state that English horses are just
as capable of high training as all others, and more so
than the Arabians, who have a very peculiar trot.

It is incontestable that the English, as a nation,
possess in a high degree the physical and moral qualifi-
cations that go to make good riders. Where, then, can
the fault lie ? Evidently in something connected with
the mechanism employed in enabling the horse to carry

b INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

its rider, and the rider to maintain his seat and preserve
the mastery over his bearer ; in other words, something
peculiar in saddles and seats, bits and bitting.

It will perhaps seem to many persons impossible, or
at least improbable, that mere saddles and bridles, or
the manner in which they are adjusted to the horse's
body, can produce such very material results as those
suggested here. Well, it does seem strange ; but let
us listen, before passing judgment on the case, to some
documentary evidence bearing upon it. On the 20th
May, 1859, the French cavalry had in Piedmont 9,008
effective horses, increased subsequently by the arrival
of a whole brigade (Perouse), so that on the 24th June
(Solferino) the total number borne on the lists was
10,206.* But it subsequently transpired, from the
report of the Cavalry Commission ordered by Marshal
Eandon to inquire into the causes of the tear and wear
of horses during the campaign, that, on the day of that
decisive battle, not more than about 3,500 horses were
really fit for service, the remainder having been disabled
by less than one month's marching ; for, with the
exception of one or two squadrons that fought at
Magenta, the French cavalry was never under fire up
to the 24th June, and an immense proportion of these
had been rendered unserviceable by the saddle and
other portions of the equipment.

Most of us, too, have heard of what happened to that
portion of our own cavalry that was employed in the
reconnoitring expedition into the Dobrudscha. A
proverb current amongst the Continental military men
says, that more men are put hors de combat by the

* "Campagne de 1'Empereur Napoleon III. en Italie en 1859"
(official).

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 7

calfskin (the knapsack) than by either bullet or bayonet,
and there seems good reason to believe that the pigskin
stands in the same fatal relation to horses.

There is no lack of books in which very full and
particular descriptions of model seats on horseback may
be found, nor of riding-masters who both know how to
sit a horse themselves, and impart to their pupils their
own particular method. But this will not answer the
purpose ; for there exists not only a certain number of
typical seats, more or less suited to various ends — as
racing, hunting, the cavalry service, &c., all of which,
as has been said, have their peculiar justification — but
there is also a great variety in the build of horses, and
especially in the relative power of their fore and hind
quarters, which demands consideration, if we would
avoid the serious and but too common error of using up
one set of members prematurely whilst leaving the
others intact. For instance, nothing is more frequent
amongst ourselves than to see horses, otherwise perfectly
sound, irreparably ruined in the fore legs.

Moreover, there exists an equal variety in the build
of the riders, which also requires consideration. Dr.
Heavysterne cannot be expected to sit his horse as
Mr. Threadpaper can do, nor a well " split up " man
like one that is built on the lines of an otter ; neverthe-
less there is no reason why each and all of them should
not sit ivell and judiciously, though their seats must be
necessarily different. There is only one class of riders
from which one must and can demand a great degree of
uniformity, namely, cavalry. The necessity arises from
the existence of a special and narrowly-defined object
being to be attained — the possibility, from the fact of
both men and horses being selected with reference to

8 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

this very object. But even here a certain margin is
inevitable. It is not possible to make the Indo-Ger-
manic Prussians, Bavarians, French, English, or Irish
sit on horseback exactly like the Mongolian Magyars
and Turks, or the Semitic Arabs. Professor Max Miiller
and the author of the Adamites seem to have overlooked
this interesting fact. Still, the mutual relations of the
frameworks of the man and of the horse are such as to
admit of one general principle being set up, and this
must be adhered to as closely as possible if the real
end and object are not to be sacrificed to fashion or
prejudice.

It is more difficult to lay down anything like a prin-
ciple for the guidance of that large class of men who
ride simply for pleasure, convenience, or health. To
one considerable section of them the notion of sitting
their horses as a riding-master is supposed to do would
be simply disgusting ; it would look like an affectation, a
sort of thing to which well-bred gentlemen have a great
objection. They can afford to ride tolerably safe horses,
and depend on their saddler and groom to a great extent
for the convenience and comfort of their seat. These
important functionaries must be often sadly puzzled
how to insure this, and would be probably often delighted
to find their employer capable of giving them some
intelligible hint on which they might exercise their
ingenuity and savoir faire with a decent chance of
success.

The next section comprises those who are indifferent
to appearances, and merely desire to ride safely and
comfortably. As regards the latter point we may refer
them to what has been just said ; and as to the matter
of safety, this will be perhaps better attained by some

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 9

knowledge of where the danger lies, and how it may
be avoided, than by a practical experience of it in the
shape of a fall.

Others again, although they never followed a hound,
nor are likely to do so, adopt what they believe to
be " a hunting seat " merely because it is a prominent
type, and therefore caught their eye more readily than
the chaos that presented itself in all other directions.
Many of them would doubtless adopt with equal readi-
ness some other form that promised equal or greater
security and convenience, especially if they should
happen to discover, by the aid of a looking-glass, that
their copy is somewhat too much of a caricature.

The aim of this little treatise is therefore, by appeal-
ing to the intelligence, common sense, and good feeling
of all riding men, to enable each to discover for himself
what best suits his own peculiar case, and will .put
him in a position to make the best and the most of
every horse he may have to ride, in the safest manner,
so far at least as the matters herein treated are con-
cerned. The intention is to refrain from all dogmatism
and authoritative assertions, and merely present general
principles, derived from mechanical laws that admit
of no controversy, showing their inevitable bearing
on the most important points, and leaving the reader
as much as possible to form his own judgment indepen-
dently, and arrive at a practical application for himself.
The work is therefore not intended to represent a treatise
on equitation or the art of riding, but merely to be a
plain and easily intelligible exposition of the mechanical
problems connected with the case of a quadruped serv-
ing as a bearer to a biped — in other words, of a horse
under its rider.

10 INTEODUCTOEY CHAPTEE.

The plan to be adopted will be, first, as regards
" Seats and Saddles/' as follows: The horse's skeleton
is a framework forming the basis of the living machine
we employ as a bearer ; it is therefore necessary to
know something of its construction, less from an
anatomical than a mechanical point of view. The
principles involved are very simple, and familiar to most
people in one way or the other, regarding chiefly
equilibrium — that is to say, such a distribution of a
weight with reference to its supports as insures stability,
or, in other words, prevents its upsetting or falling ; also
something about levers.

The chief weight to be carried by the machine is, of
course, the rider, whose seat should therefore be so
adjusted as not to interfere with the free action of the
bearer and the preservation of its stability and equili-
brium. But as the seat depends to a great extent on
the saddle, it becomes necessary to examine, in the
first place, the general principles of construction of
this mechanical contrivance, by means of which the
twofold object of securing the free action of the horse
and the safety of the rider may be best attained. This
will be found to depend partly on the absolute amount
of surface coming in contact on the one hand with the
horse's back, on the other with the rider's seat ; partly
on the way in which the weight of the latter is adjusted
on the saddle: — that is to say, whether it presses more
on one part than on another, and consequently,
chiefly on one or two points of the horse's back, or
whether it be distributed equably over the whole sur-
face in contact with the latter — in other words, what
part of the saddle the rider should occupy in order to
secure the object he has in view, as stated above. It

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 11

-will further depend on the general shape of those parts
of its under and upper surfaces that come in contact
with the horse's back and rider's seat respectively,
which, of course, includes the question of its proper
place, its mode of attachment — that is to say, where
and how the girths should be fixed — and the causes of
its displacement, which depend partly on its own shape
favouring, partly on the rider's seat producing, lever
action, which again depends to a great extent on the
exact point from which the stirrups are suspended.

This will furnish data for an estimate, not so much of
the relative value of different kinds of seats — which
would only divert attention from the real object, and
provoke controversy — as of their absolute fitness for
the particular purpose they are intended to fulfil ; and
will also afford an opportunity of pointing out the
danger of exaggerations, and the gross absurdity of
applying a style of riding more or less specially adapted
to one purpose to others that have no analogy with it ;
in fact, it will be shown that different styles of riding
are not only inevitable but legitimate, because the ends
to be attained vary considerably. But at the same
time, although the general principles may be adapted
to circumstances, they can never be absolutely violated
with impunity. Let each particular style of riding be
as perfect in itself as possible without being made
antagonistic to others, or losing sight of the general
conditions that apply to all without exception. There
is a great value in schools ; for, making due allowance
for individuality, they enable us to form a correct
estimate of what the scholars can do. For instance,
in " welters " we impose penalties on professional jocks,
because we know they have been trained in a certain

12 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

school ; whereas we have no standard of comparison
for gentlemen-riders.

It is proposed to illustrate this portion of the book
with drawings of horsemen, representing various styles
of European and Asiatic riding, taken from portraits,
photographs, and pictures executed by artists who had
no preconceived theories to bolster up, and picked,
nearly at random, from such materials as were available.
They will be found to confirm, in a remarkable manner,
the truth of the general principles laid down, as well
by their discrepancies as their points of resemblance,
and will no doubt prove interesting to many readers in
other respects.

The European cavalry soldier is compelled to put 011
his horse's back, in addition to his own weight and
that of the saddle, the extra burden of a huge pack of
things forming his kit. It is obvious that the most
careful adjustment of the rider and saddle to the general
equilibrium of himself and horse will avail little if
the balance be destroyed from the moment the pack is
put on ; nor will it do to make this merely a counterpoise
to the rider, because he is frequently required to ride
either in an empty saddle or with various amounts
of pack, therefore the equilibrium must be at all times
maintainable, whatever the absolute weight may be.
The neglect of this is one of the main causes of the
sore-back disasters that usually occur at the commence-
ment of a campaign, and, to the great astonishment
of the uninitiated, frequently nearly disappear in the
further course of it.

There is another great difference between the con-
ditions under which the soldier and the civilian mount
their horses, the former being compelled to ride with

INTEODUCTOEY CHAPTEE. 13

one hand, and have the other free to use his weapons ;
besides, his life frequently depends on a rapid change
of direction at various degrees of speed, and which he
must be able to effect without great effort. The way
in which the pack is placed on the saddle has much
to do with this, as will appear when we come to the
subject of "Bits and Bitting." All these matters shall
be treated in a separate chapter, and illustrated by
figures.

The second part of the work is devoted to " Bits and
Bitting." There is much more in this than most
people may be willing to believe. A ship with a
damaged or badly-constructed and ill-fitting rudder is
not more awkward and difficult to manage than a
horse with a bit that is not perfectly adapted to his
mouth and his whole frame, or which has been ill
placed. It will be necessary here to refer again to the
horse's skeleton, and point out the beautiful series of
levers, and the wonderful lever action, by means of
which, in conjunction with the seat and legs of the
rider, his will may be conveyed from his little finger
through the reins, bit, head, and neck of the horse,
down to the very last joint of its hind legs, in the, to
the animal, most unmistakable and peremptory manner.

Although bitting finds its place here after saddling,
this is not because of its being a secondary consideration,
but rather because no man can have a light hand, or,
in fact, use any bit properly, unless he have so
steady and close a seat as to put all suspicion of what
is technically termed " rein-riding " out of the question.
This self-same rein-riding — that is, the depending to
any extent on the reins for maintaining the seat — is
ut too common, and a frequent cause of restiveness

14 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

in horses, and no end of disasters to riders. It must
be admitted that a certain exaggerated method of rising
in the stirrups and totally abandoning all contact with
the saddle, in which Sunday and holiday riders so
much delight, conduces very directly to this. Of
course no good rider cares to perform this description
of equestrian antic ; still it is sufficiently common, even
amongst men who should know better, to demand
attention, and is noticed here for the sake of illustrating
the close connection that exists between bitting and
saddling.

The mechanical principles on which the action of
the bit depends form the first subject of inquiry. Then
we shall have to examine into the internal and external
conformation of the horse's mouth to which this instru-
ment is applied ; we shall thence be enabled to deduce
the dimensions of the several parts of the bit, and also
ascertain its proper place. Some few of these dimen-
sions are nearly constant — others, again, are variable,
and the proper means for ascertaining them shall be
pointed out. The use of the snafifle, the running reins,
the nose-band, and other contrivances, demands some
attention, as also the real and supposed advantages of
various kinds of bits.

The third part is devoted to the very important
questions of " Draught and Harness." We have, in
the first place, endeavoured to show, that although the
mechanical rules applied to the traction of machines
are in themselves perfectly correct, they do not admit
of too rigid an application to the horse as a motor. In
fact it is less a question of determining in what direction
and under what angle the power can be most advan-
tageously applied to a wheeled vehicle, than in what

INTBODUCTOBY CHAPTEB. 15

direction and under what angle can the horse exert
his power of traction with least inconvenience and
fatigue to himself. And the consideration of this ques-
tion naturally led to an examination of the collar, the
hames, the trace, the pole and pole-chains, and the
wheel itself, as the most important parts of the harness
and carriage, as far as the best mode of utilising the
horse's power is concerned.

The fourth and last part of the book is devoted to
the " Prevention and Cure of Eestiveness." Violent
measures are seldom successful for the latter purpose,
and more likely to produce than to prevent insubordina-
tion. In fact, what is generally required is a complete
course of re-training, under circumstances different from
those under which the restiveness is usually exhibited.
The question then arises, On what system this re-training
should be undertaken — the usual English one, or some
modification of the school method ? The first named,
taken alone, is inadequate to the purpose ; if for no
other reason, from being generally carried out on the
roads, fields, &c. — that is to say, just where provocation
and opportunity for conflicts present themselves at
every corner. Nevertheless, it has its own peculiar
advantages, which should be utilised. The school
method is much better adapted for the correction of
restiveness, because it affords more direct and efficient
means for acquiring perfect control over the horse's
movements. It is, however, from a judicious combina-
tion of the two systems that the best results may be
hoped for. We shall, therefore, give first a general
sketch of the principles of both, pointing out as we
proceed how each may be best applied for the object in
view, as also for that of getting over difficulties with

16 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

horses that are restive. We shall next lay down the
outlines of a method applicable in nearly all cases of
insubordination ; and, finally, specify for some particular
forms of restiveness the treatment that promises the
best results ; as also what should be avoided — for very
much depends on this. In a word, we propose showing
that a rational methodical treatment of what is called
vice offers much better chances of success than violent
measures ; and with this general statement of the aim
and object of this treatise we now conclude our intro-
ductory chapter.

PAET ONE.

SEATS AND SADDLES

CHAPTER I.

THE FEAMEWOEK OF THE HOESE CONSIDEEED FEOM A
MECHANICAL POINT OF VIEW.

THE skeleton of the horse is a very wonderful and
beautiful piece of mechanism, which no one who takes
an interest in such matters can contemplate without
experiencing the pleasurable feeling that perfect harmony
of proportion always inspires. We were about to add,
fitness and adaptability to our purposes, but remembered
just in proper time that this would be, after all, a very
incorrect mode of expression ; for, in truth, what is
highly desirable is, that we should limit and adapt our
requirements to the capabilities of this mechanism, and
not simply to our own convenience, which but too
frequently leads to abuse, as we shall now proceed to
show.

The horse depicted in Plate I.* is of an average
description, and stands in a natural position, its head
and neck stretched forwards, and the hind legs, instead
of being perfectly perpendicular from the hocks down-
wards, slightly brought forward to assist in maintaining
the equilibrium. The animal is at rest; there is nothing
constrained in its attitude ; but the eye tells us at once
that a somewhat greater proportion of its weight rests
on the fore legs than on the hind ones, owing, as one
* Taken from Seeger's " System der Eeitkunst."

20 SEATS AND SADDLES.

sees, to the projecting position of the head and neck,
which are much heavier than the tail at the other
extremity.

Looking now at the spinal column, the framework of
the back, on which the rider's weight is to be placed, we
perceive that, whilst the under line of the vertebrae is
nearly straight, although not quite horizontal, inclining
somewhat downwards towards the forehand, the spinal
processes of the first thirteen vertebras of the back
(dorsal vertebrae), reckoning from the point where the
neck is attached, incline backwards, whereas those of
the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth
dorsal, and the six lumbar vertebrae, incline forwards ;
the fourteenth dorsal vertebra, with its process, standing
perfectly upright, and forming, as it were, the keystone
of the arch thus presented. It is very obvious that this
inclination of the processes towards a central point is
intended to and does limit the motion of the back
downwards and upwards (i.e., vertically), so that, in
fact, this fourteenth dorsal vertebra becomes the centre
of motion of the horse's body — the point about which
the several movements of the fore and hind legs are
performed with various degrees of rapidity, either
simultaneously or successively, and which constitute
the paces of the horse ; and this is further shown by
the distribution and points of attachment of the muscles
of the back and adjacent parts of the fore and hind
quarters. Putting, therefore, the progressive movement
of the animal out of the question as being equally
applicable to all its parts, the internal motion of the
several parts of the body increases in proportion to
their distance from the fourteenth vertebra ; and the
same is applicable to burdens placed on the horse's back,

THE FRAMEWORK OF THE HORSE. 21

especially a rider, whose frame is subject to its own
peculiar motions, some of which are caused by the pro-
gressive movement of the bearer.

It has been already pointed out, that in consequence
of the projecting position of the head and neck,
especially when the horse stands at ease, a somewhat
greater proportion of its total weight falls on the fore
legs than on the hinder ones ; and when it depresses
its head still more than is represented in Plate I. — for
instance, for the purpose of grazing — the animal puts
forward one fore leg, and usually at the same time the
hind leg of the opposite side, for the purpose of securing
its equilibrium ; and even horses standing still, espe-
cially under a load, do the same, in order to rest each
pair of legs alternately.

We learn two facts from this : first, that the fore
legs are essentially bearers, and that the hinder ones,
although chiefly propellers, are also to a certain extent
bearers ; and', secondly, that a perpendicular line falling
through the centre of gravity of a horse, as here repre-
sented, would lie nearer to the shoulder than the
perpendicular E F, which falls through the centre of
motion — that is, the fourteenth dorsal vertebra — and
would probably cut the twelfth, or perhaps the eleventh,
in some horses. Now, instead of going into the scientific
detail of centres of gravity, which might prove difficult
to some and tedious to most readers, we shall endeavour
to render intelligible all that is really important to be
known, by a very simple experiment that anyone can
repeat for themselves, a b c d, fig 1, represents a
piece of thin board 9 inches long by 4 inches wide, at
whose corners four legs of about 7J inches long are
fixed on with one screw each, so as to allow them

22

SEATS AND SADDLES.

to be moved either to front or rear, but sufficiently
tight to retain them in the position in which they are
placed. A small weight is then placed exactly on the
centre point of the board at p, the four legs being

Fig. 1.

adjusted square, as at x x x x. If the weight be not
so heavy as to overcome the slight friction of the heads
of the screws, the board will remain in its position —
that is, it will stand ; but if it be removed towards one
end of the board, say to p*-, it will cause the board to
turn on the screwheads, and, if not prevented, slide
down towards /; but if the two legs at this end be
bent backwards to x1 x1, the board will support the
weight as before. In like manner, if the weight be
removed in the other direction to p*, the legs being
square, the same thing will occur, and the board will
turn on its legs and slide down towards h, which, how-
ever, may be prevented by adjusting the same pair of
legs as before, and which here represent the hind legs
of the horse, to the position #2 x2, and in both these
cases the board will assume a slanting position, in which
the end a b will be lower. Or, the weight being at
p2, the board may be made to stand by adjusting the
other pair of legs, representing the horse's fore legs, to

THE FRAME WOEK OF THE HOESE. 23

the position x3 #3, and in this case it will slant the
other way, the end c d being lower.

Now this is just what takes place when a rider is
put on a horse's back in analogous positions, leaving
out of the question for the moment the influence of the
overhanging head and neck on the stability of the
machine, deferring back to Plate I., we see, in fact,
that the points a and d of the board correspond with
the hip and shoulder joints A and D on the one side
of the horse, as b and c do with the same joints on the
other, and these are the two points of support of the
back, whilst p corresponds with the fourteenth vertebra
at E ; and, still leaving the head and neck out of the
question, the rider placed here would sit not only
directly over the centre of motion, but also over the centre
of gravity — that is to say, a central point equally
removed from each of its four supporting points ;* he
would occupy the apex or summit of a regular pyramid,
the most stable of all forms of construction.

Let us now suppose the rider, or the weight, whatever
it may consist of, placed farther back towards the horse's
loins, corresponding to the point p1 of fig. 1. What does

* It is to be remarked that the points on which the horse's feet
stand seldom coincide exactly — that is, lie precisely under the
shoulder and hip joints respectively. The lore feet especially
seldom reach, even with the toes, the perpendiculars from the
shoulder- joints. With Eclipse they did so naturally, with tolerably
well-built horses moderately "set up" they will generally do so;
and if the setting-up is carried beyond a certain point, they not
only reach but project before them, the two hind feet either
following proportionately in the same direction, or going to the
rear, as may be seen when the horse-dealer " stretches a horse,"
in order to show how much ground it covers. There is a great
difference, too, between the jointed flexible legs of a horse and the
rigid straight ones represented in fig. 1. An animal always exerts
a certain amount of muscular action to maintain its balance even
-when resting.

24 SEATS AND SADDLES.

the horse do, if compelled to stand still under a burden
that is more than his hind legs can easily support with
perpendicular hocks? Let the reader turn to Plate VII.,
where the English hussar there presented shows the
horse extending his hind legs precisely in the way
indicated in fig. 1, xl xl. What between the rider sitting
at the hinder part of the saddle and the weight of the
enormous pack, the perpendicular passing through the
centre of gravity of the whole falls considerably in rear
of the fourteenth vertebra. This figure is photographed
from life, and is very instructive. The horse, certainly
not a fair specimen of the regiment or of the cavalry in
general, was selected, probably, for no other reason
than because he could be easily brought to stand still
during the operation ; and the clearness of the lines of
the original everywhere except about the head, which
he probably tossed once or twice, shows that he did so,
which was rendered possible, under the burden he had
to bear, and the mode in which it was placed on his
back, only by this very position of his hind legs ; he
could not stand straight under it, and the less so because
his hind quarters are weaker in proportion than the
forehand. The position of the head and neck has
much to do with it, but this we shall have to consider
further on.

The cases in which a horse, when standing still, and
weighted chiefly on his forehand, assumes with his fore
legs the positions indicated in fig. 1 by xs xs or x2 x*,
occur so frequently that it is quite superfluous to devote
a figure to their illustration. Put a man on a horse
without a saddle, and with nothing but a halter on the
animal's head, and he will inevitably slip forwards
till his seat comes in contact with the withers. Let

THE FBAMEWORK OF THE HOESE. 25

him then stand still, and the horse, especially if a young
or untrained one, will most probably shove forward his
hind or fore legs in one of these two ways.

There remains a third case for consideration — namely,
where the horse, being weighted back to the line G H,
Plate I., brings his hind legs under him up to the line
I K, but with the hocks bent. This is the position into
which manege-horses have to be brought for certain
definite purposes, the general object being to enable
them to make short turns on the hind quarters or
croup, the forehand turning round this latter ; whereas,
with a horse weighted on the centre line E F, Plate I.,
the hind and fore quarters both turn equally round a
common point, and with one weighted principally on the
forehand, the hind quarters will turn round the former.

Now, in order to avoid drawing false conclusions from
these facts, we must take another view of the question.
What we have hitherto inquired into is, the effect of
certain modes of distributing the weight on a horse's back
when in a state of rest on the position of his legs with
regard to that weight ; but the really important thing to
know is, how these various modes influence the horse's
action. It was, however, necessary to enter into the
preliminary inquiry, because most of the conditions
governing a horse's attitude in a state of rest continue
to be equally imperative after action has commenced,
and some even more so ; for it is more dangerous to the
horse to lose his balance when in motion, especially at
high degrees of speed, than when standing still.

We may put the questions to be resolved as follows :
1st, How does the distribution of the weight to be
carried affect the horse's speed ? and, 2ndly, How does
action affect equilibrium and balance ?

26 SEATS AND SADDLES.

The way in which these questions present themselves
points directly to their solution; and, as regards the
first, it is to the horse's legs, and the mode in which
they are moved, that we must look, just as in the former
case we looked to the mode in which they are fixed.
There is, however, a great difference observable between
the functions of the hind and fore legs when we come
to compare action with rest. In the latter, we were
justified in looking on both pairs equally as bearers ; in
the former, the fore legs are still employed chiefly as
bearers, and only in a smaller degree as propellers,
whereas the hind legs act chiefly as propellers and in a
less degree as bearers. It should follow from this, that
we may favour the propelling power of the hind legs by
weighting forward within certain limits ; and this we
know to be the case — the long stride of the race-horse
is favoured by the well-known forward seat of the
jockey. Well, what are the limits ? In the case of the
jockey it is difficult to draw a "hard and fast" line,
because his total weight is inconsiderable, and the
distances to be got over are inconsiderable ; and this is
precisely the reason why heavier riders, especially when
they «have to do long distances, should not ride forward
like the jockey, because they are sure, sooner or later,
to use up their horses' fore legs by making them exclu-
sively bearers ; even race-horses will break down under
the light weight, and some jocks are unfortunate in this
respect.

And if this be true, it is equally so that placing the
weight too near the hind legs must diminish their pro-
pelling power, by converting them, in a greater degree,
into bearers ; and this may be done in two different
ways, one of which, having a very definite object, is

THE FKAMEWOBK OF THE HOUSE. 27

good in its way, whilst the other is, to say the least,
of very questionable utility under any circumstances.
The manege or school rider educates his horse to bear
an increased proportion of the weight on its hind legs,
these latter being brought forward under the animal
with bent hocks ; but his object not being speed — and
it is well known that manege-training diminishes speed,
for which reason, precisely, English riders scoff at the
haute ecole, somewhat unadvisedly perhaps — the manege-
rider is perfectly justified in acting as he does in order
to attain other objects. It is, moreover, important to
remark, that if a horse's hind quarters be not sufficiently
strong and pliable to enable them to endure the increased
demand for bearing without annihilating their pro-
pelling power, such a horse will be incapable of high
training in this sense.

The English hussar-horse in Plate VII. is precisely
in this position, and having poor hind quarters, incapable
of sustaining the weight thrown on them even with
perpendicular hocks, much less with his legs bent under
him like a school-horse, he is compelled to stretch them
out like the props xl x1 in fig. 1, and is therefore, even
in the state of rest, more than halfway to the utmost
reach of his stride ; for the whole concern must roll
over if he attempted, in galloping, to bring up these legs
to the hoof -marks of the fore legs. There can be no
question, therefore, but that weighting in this manner
diminishes speed. *

Before going on to the second question, one word
more about the fore legs, which are, as has been said,

* There is a justification for this kind of riding when the fore legs
are groggy and the hind ones still good ; and this expedient is often
adopted, especially by that class of riders who sit far back and still
manage to ruin their horses' fore legs, of which more anon.

28 SEATS AND SADDLES.

essentially bearers ; they are, however, to a certain
extent propellers, and must, at all events should, exercise
a springy lever action, lifting the horse's body so as
to enable the propellers to shove it forwards. Now,
neither the propulsive nor lifting action of the fore legs
can be properly exercised unless their several component
levers (bones) form certain angles with each other, and
enable the hoof to touch the ground lightly, and ready
for a renewal of the action. The fore foot should be
placed on the ground as one places the palm of his
hand on a table ; if the leg come down straight and
stiff, end on, like the props xs xs of fig. 1 — wThich may
be as readily caused by a rider sitting too far back on
his horse, and being thrown by the action of the hind
quarter, with stiffened knees, into a stirrup that is
hung far forward in the saddle, as by one that, sitting
originally forwards, comes down with a heavy thud
directly on the horse's withers — the fore legs must
suffer. They are not so constructed as to be thrust
against the ground, end on like a pole, with impunity ;
and if either of these forms of riding be carried to an
extreme, it prevents these legs from lifting the forehand
in proper time or sufficiently ; and the propellers acting
meanwhile, down comes the poor brute on his head,
and alas for the knees ! Sooner or later horses are
educated into stumbling in this way, the fore legs being
by degrees deprived of their elasticity.

And now as to the question of the mode in which
action affects equilibrium or balance. The first point
to be observed is, that in walking and trotting the
horse moves its diagonal legs simultaneously, or nearly
so — that is to say, the off fore and the near hind leg
move together and alternate in this action with the

THE FRAME WOKE OF THE HOESE.

29

near fore and off hind ones; so that, whilst the one
pair is being moved forwards the other sustains the
weight of the animal ; and supposing the horse to be
in equilibrio or balance, we might be led to suppose
that the perpendicular line passing through the centre
of gravity would fall exactly in the centre of a line
connecting the fore and hind foot that remains on the
ground. But this is not the case, except for the moment
at which the movement is half completed. * Fig. 2, At

Fig. 2.

will make this more intelligible. The full lines connect
the pairs of feet as they alternately support the horse,
whilst the dotted ones represent the connection of those
in motion. When it comes to the turn of the near hind
foot at &, and the off fore one at b, to move up to their
next position at c d, the line a b becomes a dotted one,

* In the manege movement called piaffe, in which the horse
moves his limbs as in trotting, but without gaining ground, the
perpendicular in question does, in the alternate movement, always
bisect the line connecting the two feet which are on the ground.

30 SEATS AND SADDLES.

a1 b1, from the moment this pair of legs leaves the
ground, the near fore and off hind legs at c and b
becoming the supporters ; and so on alternately. But
the dotted lines, in coming up successively to the position
of the full ones, intersect the latter at various points
of their length : the diagram shows them at the moment
each successive step is half completed, the intersection
of the two showing where the perpendicular from the
centre of gravity falls. And this intersection — conse-
quently, too, the weight to be supported — is always
travelling towards the fore leg that happens to be on the
ground, and therefore the centre of gravity vibrates alter-
nately from right to left, and vice versa, in trotting and
walking.

In cantering and galloping the case is different : the
two legs at the same side are advanced simultaneously,
the other two remaining behind. Still, supposing the
animal to be in equilibrium, we observe the following
to occur (see fig. 2, B} : the horse " leads " here with
the two off feet — that is, canters on the right hand, the
two near ones remaining behind so long as he remains on
this hand ; there is, therefore, not the same alternate
vibration of the centre of gravity from right to left, and
vice versa, as in trotting and walking, for it is always
the same pair of feet, moreover, just as in trotting the
diagonal ones, that mainly support the wreight. In the
diagram we see that the off hind and near fore legs,
connected by the full lines, are both placed close under
the centre of gravity in the succession of bounds, as
shown at b, c, d, e,f, g, &c., and act chiefly as bearers;
whilst the near hind leg, a, acts chiefly as a propeller,
and the off fore leg, d, as a lifter, these two being
connected by dotted lines in the successive bounds,

THE FBAMEWORK OF THE HOESE. 31

e h, g k, &c., and the intersections of these full and
dotted lines remain invariable.

This will serve to explain why it is that, although a
moderate trot is less fatiguing to horses than any other
pace for a long journey, on account of the pairs of legs
being used as bearers and propellers alternately, some
horses will, under the rider, break into a canter, the
alternate shifting of their own and his weight from right
to left becoming more fatiguing than the constant use of
each pair of legs for the same functions ; and the proof
is, that many of these horses will go a steady trot in
harness when they have only their own weight to
adjust. It also explains why horses, when hurried in
their trot, and over-weighted in the forehand, whereby
the bearers (fore legs) become unable to support the
weight thrown more and more rapidly on them by the
hind legs, which now act solely as propellers, naturally,
and to save themselves from, falling, " lead " with a
fore leg, immediately followed by a hind one — that
is to say, break into a canter, which gives them,
instead of the alternate lines of support, a b, b c} c d
(A, fig. 2), a permanent triangle, k I m (B, fig. 2), as a
basis.

It may be objected that some horses will trot under
the rider that will not do so in harness ; no doubt this
is because that rider knows how to adjust his weight to
the peculiar exigencies of the horse : some, from various
causes, being assisted in trotting by the rider's weight
being adjusted in a particular way, of which a very
remarkable instance is adduced in a footnote, p. 52, of
that very admirable work, " The Handy Horse-Book."
There was some defect of the animal's construction in
this case that required the weight to be adjusted in a

32 SEATS AND SADDLES.

peculiar way; the halter and the riding barebacked tells
the tale.

For the sake of simplicity, we have hitherto proceeded
on the supposition that each of the two diagonal legs (of
every pair) is lifted and set down simultaneously. This
is not the case. One hears distinctly four beats in the
case of walking and trotting, and two, three, or four in
cantering and galloping, according as the horse's weight
is adjusted in the latter movements. Of the two legs
acting in concert, the fore one is lifted and set down
somewhat sooner than the hind one ; were this not the
case, a horse could never tread in his own hoof-marks,
much less beyond them, as we shall presently show to
be the case. A musician could easily express on paper,
by the appropriate notes, the cadence not only of each
particular pace, but for each individual horse ; * and
good judges are well aware that irregularity of beat
points out something amiss in one or more legs. The
ear often conveys to us valuable impressions on this
very point that totally escape the eye even of the most
practised. We all have heard of blind men being good
judges of horse-flesh. f

Having now seen the effect of action on equilibrium,
where such exists, it is necessary to point out its effects
and consequences in cases where it does not exist. In
the diagrams A, B, fig. 2, the horse is made to tread
with the hind foot into the track of the fore one (this is,
in fact, a consequence of equilibrium) ; but we see very

* In the " Sonnambula," Bellini has imitated very successfully
the beat of several post-horses trotting and galloping just before
Rudolf o enters on the scene.

t The theory of equilibrium, as set forth above, is not affected
in the slightest degree by this want of perfect coincidence in the
movement of the legs.

THE FRAME WOKK OF THE HOUSE. 33

many horses bring their hind feet (in all paces) more or
less ahead of the track or print of the fore ones ; indeed
almost all young and untrained horses will do so, and,
moreover, many whose work requires them to act thus —
as, for instance, race-horses. This is best seen by the
hoof-marks left on moist ground or sand, which will be
found in double pairs instead of single ones after such
horses. Now of course it would be as absurd to suppose
that, under such circumstances, a horse takes shorter
steps with his fore legs than with the hind ones, as to
ignore what the immortal Hudibras pointed out long
ago — namely, that when, having but one spur, you
make one side of your horse to get along, the other is
sure to follow ; a fact well known to Irish "bull-riders"
at Ballinasloe.

There is another class of horses that, instead of over-
stepping, come short of the track of the fore feet with
the hind ones, and almost all horses do this at starting
— in fact they cannot do otherwise ; these, too, leave a
double track.

Now those that overstep will be usually found to be
such as are over-weighted on the forehand, whilst those
that step short are usually such as are over-weighted
behind, without the hind legs being brought under the
weight in a bent position like the manege-horse, or that
have some weakness, want of due proportion or other
deficiency, in their hind quarters.

When a horse oversteps with his hind legs the track
of the fore feet (C, fig. 2), the succession of full lines
connecting the two diagonal feet in each alternate
movement is not, as shown in A, continuous, but
broken ; there is therefore an interval of time during
which the weight of the horse (and rider) is not sup-

34 SEATS AND SADDLES.

ported diagonally in the usual manner, but vibrates, as
it were, from one fixed basis to a more forward one.
The animal is off the ground with all four legs for a
moment in rapid trotting, for instance — the consequence
is, that there must be less stability ; and we know
from experience that, when this is carried to a great
extent, the horse " over-reaches," as it is called, and
conies down ; but, on the other hand, the advantage is
gained of getting over the ground more rapidly, for on
comparing C with A, it is evident that more ground has
been covered in the former than in the latter with the
same number of strides, which are therefore longer.
The advantage conferred by throwing the weight forward
is, therefore, that it tends to increase the speed; the
disadvantages attendant on it are, diminished stability
and the rapid using up of the fore legs, for it is on these
alternately that the whole weight pivots, as it were,
during the moments of vibration from each fixed basis
to the succeeding one, as explained above.

"When a horse steps short — that is to say, does not
attain to the track of the fore feet with the hinder ones
(D, fig. 2) — the exact contrary of the above takes place ;
the full lines connecting the diagonal feet overlap each
other constantly — the animal covers part of the same
ground twice in its successive strides; these, therefore,
are shorter, and it requires a greater number of them to
cover a given space. On the other hand, the stability is
more perfect, but the hind legs are unduly converted
into bearers, and suffer in consequence. That they
really are so is shown by the fact of the short stepping
taking place. They cannot act sufficiently as propellers. *

* Horses that at first naturally overstep will, after a certain
amount of work, come to step short ; the fore legs having suffered,
they ease them by throwing the weight on the hind ones.

THE FRAME WORK OF THE HOUSE. 35

What is said here applies equally to canter or gallop as
to trot. It has been pointed out above that, in the case
of the horse covering its own footsteps exactly, and
leaving only a single track, the fore legs are always
lifted somewhat sooner than the hind ones, and not
exactly simultaneously with them, which produces, as
we have seen, the cadence peculiar to each pace, audible
to the ear. If the beat be regular, and, the ground
remaining the same, the intensity of the sound alike
for each footstep, the presumption is that all four legs
are equally good ; but if one tread be heavy and another
light, we may take it for granted that there is something
amiss with the foot or leg that makes the latter. With
horses, however, that either overstep or tread short
(C and D, fig. 2), the case is different ; we hear con-
stantly two stronger and two weaker beats, supposing the
legs and feet to be sound. The former — stronger ones —
will be found to proceed, if we pay attention, from
the fore legs in the horse that oversteps — the two hind
ones, chiefly used as propellers, "dinting" into the
ground with the toes ; with the short stepper, on the
contrary, we perceive that they proceed from the hind
legs, which are stamped down ; and if one leg be
defective, we hear, in such cases, three different degrees
of intensity of sound, which vary according to the leg
and mode of action. * *

We must now remind the reader that we have, up to
this point, taken no account of the influence exercised
by the overhanging weight of the horse's head and neck
on the animal's equilibrium, having proceeded altogether

* Dishonest dealers are well aware of this, and, to cover it, will
sometimes make a horse temporarily lame on one foot to conceal
a permanent defect of the corresponding one ; the horse will then
tread " gingerly " on that pair.

36 SEATS AND SADDLES.

on the supposition of this being analogous to that of the
little instrument represented in fig. 1. It has been
shown, however, that the centre of motion — that is to
say, the point round which all other parts of the animal
move when in action — or, what comes to the same
thing, the point where the least motion is felt — is
situated somewhere in a perpendicular falling through
the fourteenth dorsal vertebra, Plate I. ; and it has
been intimated that the perpendicular through the
centre of gravity of a horse naturally falls through
some one or other of the vertebrae from the tenth to
the thirteenth, that are situate nearer to the neck. A
horse can go with these two centres in the relative
position described here. It favours certain special
purposes — as, for instance, racing, and perhaps riding to
hounds, to a certain extent — just as it suits the purpose
of the manege-rider, to bring the centre of gravity
further back towards the loins than the fourteenth
vertebra ; but for all general purposes it is of the greatest
importance that the two perpendiculars passing respec-
tively through these two centres should be made to
coincide — and this is the aim and object of all school-
riding, except for the haut manege. Above all, it is
indispensable for military purposes.

In fact, in racing, and to a certain extent in hunting,
a horse is not required to move otherwise than in
nearly straight lines or gentle curves. A jockey that
understands the work will ride differently in the latter
and the former, and will immediately change his seat
when he comes " into the straight." * On the contrary,
the manege-rider requires very short deliberate turns

* The speed of race-horses is notoriously different on straight
and circular courses. The absolutely speedier horse does not
always come first to the post on the latter.

THE FRAMEWORK OP THE HORSE. 37

at low degrees of speed, and attains his object as above
described; but for general riding it is of great importance
— for the cavalry, indispensable — to be able to turn in
sharp curves at higher degrees of speed.

Instead of instituting a mathematical and physical
inquiry into the advantages of making the centres of
gravity and motion coincide, let us take from e very-day
life one or two instances that illustrate the principle
very satisfactorily. In a common two-wheeled cart the
whole body of the machine turns round on the axle,
and the centre of motion lies in a perpendicular falling
through the mid-point of this. A carter that under-
stands his business always adjusts the load in such a
manner that it neither presses too much on the horse's
back by lying too far forward, nor on his neck by being
too far back in the cart — in fact he makes the centres of
motion and gravity to correspond as nearly as possible,
knowing from experience that his horse draws the cart
with greater ease, and can tarn, corners, &c., more readily,
when the load is thus adjusted, than in any other
manner. For special purposes, as going up hill, he shifts
the weight forward, but he is cautious in turning the
horse when the load is on the back : there is always
danger of falling. Sometimes, when his object is to
turn the cart round sharply on its own ground, he shifts
the weight to the rear, the horse having then perfect
liberty to circle round in the required direction ; but
he never adopts this for a journey, be it ever so short.

Again, in a ship or boat of any kind, people that have
experienced sea- sickness soon find out where the centre
of motion lies, and nestle round it ; and the master who
sails her knows well that his cargo or load, whatever it
may be, must be so stowed away that the centre of

38 SEATS AND SADDLES.

gravity of the whole coincides with the centre of motion
of the vessel. This is what is called " trim," as we all
know ; and the yachtsman knows well the effect of
sending a man or two into the bows, when running
before the wind, and the use of keeping his hands aft
when in stays ; but he will be chary of altering the
builder's trim, which makes these two centres coincide
mathematically ; he may never find it again, as has
happened in some remarkable instances. Now the
horse under a rider must have the trim that suits the
objects of the latter ; and for general purposes the ship
builder's trim or the carter's trim will be found the most
advantageous. The bringing the rider's body, from the
hips upwards, slightly forwards or backwards, will
answer exactly the same purpose as the shifting the
hands in a yacht or the sacks in a cart. It can answer
no good purpose to alter the regular trim. To persist
in sailing a boat out of trim ends in a capsize, or in
carrying away spars at least ; just as riding out of trim
usually terminates in a " purl," and always in the
premature destruction of the horse's legs.

And just as too heavy a bowsprit or jib-boom will
destroy the trim of a boat, the overhanging position of
the horse's head and neck destroys the animal's proper
trim after a rider is placed on its back ; and the question
is, therefore, how this may be remedied, seeing that
we cannot shift a head and neck like a jib-boom.
Fig. 3 shows three levers d N, d 0, d P, of equal
length, all moving round the same common centre or
prop dj which corresponds to the junction of the ver-
tebrse of the neck with those of the back in the horse.
Now the longer the lever the greater its power — that
is to say, a given weight will act more powerfully at .

THE FRAMEWORK OF THE HORSE.

39

the extremity of a long lever than of a short one, in
the exact proportion of their relative lengths. The
true expression is, however, that a given weight acting
on a lever of this kind exercises a downward (perpen-
dicular) pressure in direct proportion to the distance
at which the perpendicular from (or through) it falls
from the prop. Therefore, if the head and neck, d N,
be stretched out horizontally, the relative weight is
represented by the whole amount by which the point
N lies outside the basis b b ; and if the head and

NN' N'

Fig. 3.

neck be lifted to the position d 0, it will be repre-
sented by the shorter distance d N' ; and if still more
elevated to d P, then by the still shorter one d N".
Consequently, the relative overhanging weight of those
portions of the horse's body may be diminished in pro-
portion as their position is brought nearer to that
represented by d P in the figure ; and the further effect
of this is, that the centre of gravity of the whole
machine resting on the basis b b, is thrown farther
back on the line d a. A horse's neck is not, however,

40 SEATS AND SADDLES.

an inflexible straight line like an ordinary lever.
Moreover, the head, which forms no inconsiderable
portion of the overhanging weight, can be bent at
various angles to the neck. We have it therefore in
our power not only to diminish the eternal prepon-
derance of these members by altering their relative
position as described above, but also actually to diminish
the distance at which the perpendicular falls outside
the basis — first, by bending the neck, by which the
length of the lever is curtailed ; and still further, by
making the head assume more and more acute — that
is, smaller — angles with the line of the neck, whether
this latter be straight or curved.

This is shown by fig. 4, where the natural — that is,

Pig. 4.

unimproved — position of the head and neck makes the
perpendicular fall at the distance D N outside the

THE FRAMEWORK OF THE HORSE. 41

basis of the animal ; and this corresponds nearly to a
line of gravity, x y, falling through one of the dorsal
vertebrae nearer to the neck than the fourteenth, to
which reference has been made. And by elevating the
neck somewhat, curving it at the same time, and making
the head assume an acuter angle with it, we bring back
the centre of gravity perhaps to E G, the perpendicular
falling through the fourteenth vertebra, or centre of
motion — and this is the safest and most generally
applicable position : for cavalry purposes it is abso-
lutely indispensable. Finally, if we bring the neck
still higher up, curving it still more, as shown in the
figure, we can bring the centre of gravity back to the
line G H, as the manege-rider does, who, however, at
the same time, gets the toes of the horse's hind feet up
to the line I K in a bent position, which naturally
brings the croup down* (see fig. 1, x* xz).

The same figure taken together with Plate II. brings
us to the final result at which we have aimed all
through this chapter — namely, the equilibrium of the
horse in motion as compared with the same in a state
of rest. Under the latter supposition (rest), we could
only show, from the formation of the spinal column
(back), that the fourteenth vertebra indicates, by its
peculiar shape and position, a different function from
that of the other vetebrse, all of which evidently admit
of movement towards it, within certain limits, whilst
this one, not being adapted for this purpose, may
so far be considered to be intended for the centre of
motion. But the construction of the horse's legs, and

* It is necessary to remark that in this case the basis of the figure
remains as before at C and M, the hind legs acting not merely as
mechanical props, but maintaining a portion of the weight by
muscular action, which, however, must not be too long continued.

42 SEATS AND SADDLES.

the relative position of the various bones composing
them, furnish us with very clear proof of this same
vertebra being the real centre of motion when the
horse is in action. For there is one bone in each of
the hind and fore legs through which the remainder of
the limb acts as a lever on the whole frame, either for
the purpose of propelling it (hind legs), or supporting
and lifting it (fore legs). There are the thigh-bone t,
and the arm-bone v (fig. 4), whose upper ends have
their fulcrums or points of support in the hip-bones 4
and shoulder-blades D (Plate I.) respectively, the power
being applied through the medium of the remaining
portions of the legs at their lower ends. Now the
greatest result of lever action is exercised at a right
angle to the lever, and drawing the lines P Q and R S
through the lower ends of these two bones at right
angles to them, we find that they intersect (or cross)
each other precisely at this same fourteenth vertebra.
The figure shows us, indeed, the horse in a state of
rest, and not in action ; but it is necessary to remember
that the propelling action of the hind leg commences, and
is precisely more powerful, when the thigh-bone is in this
position, diminishing in intensity as the leg is stretched
out towards R, and the angles become flatter ; whereas,
on the contrary, the supporting and lifting action of the
fore leg ends, the arm-bone being as shown in the
figure, and is also most intense, diminishing as the fore
leg is stretched out towards P, and the angles become
flatter. It is therefore evident that, both in a state of
rest and of action , the fourteenth vertebra is constantly
the centre of motion ; and it is precisely from our prac-
tical knowledge of this beautiful mechanism that judges
of horses attach so much importance to the length of

PLATE III.

THE MUSCLES OF THE MACHINE.

THE FRAMEWORK OF THE HORSE. 43

these two levers, and to their lying at right angles to
the hip-bone and shoulder-blade respectively — which is
recognised by the form of the haunch, and what we call
a good shoulder ; the. length of the stride and its power
depending, as is very evident, on those particulars to a
great extent.

A farther proof of the same fact may be gathered
from Plate II., * which shows the principal muscles, and
the way in which they are arranged. It is those in the
back, loins, hips and shoulders that concern us here
more especially ; arid we perceive that the principal ones
of these all coalesce, as it were, into the large flat tendon
covering the identical portion of the back pointed out as
the centre of motion. This tendon, like all others, is
devoid of contractile power ; and the corresponding sets
of muscles of the fore and back hand exert their con-
tractile powers upon it in opposite directions, whilst it
remains stationary, so to say — the whole process having
a certain analogy with the familiar instance of a pair of
curtains drawn forward by cords to the middle of a
window.

According to the laws of mechanics, when two forces
of equal intensity cross each other, as the lines P Q,
E S, do in fig. 4, the line in which the combined result
of both is further propagated will lie equally distant
from and between the two original forces — and this is,
in the instance before us, perpendicularly upwards, as
shown by the upper arrow ; and the antagonistic force
of gravitation — in plain language, the weight of the
rider — will be best met when it acts in precisely the
opposite direction, or perpendicularly downwards in the
direction of the lower arrow ; and therefore, if the
* Taken from Seidler's Leitfaden, &c.

44 SEATS AND SADDLES.

weight of the rider lie, from his mode of sitting, across
this perpendicular — for instance, towards the shoulders
— the force coming from this direction will be met more
directly and consumed in proportion, that coming from
the other being spared.

The two forces of the hind and fore legs may not be,
however, and in many horses, in consequence of want of
symmetry, are not, equal in intensity. In untrained
horses they seldom are. Judicious handling and riding
are nothing else in fact than finding a proper balance of
forces, as well for the untrained well-built horse as for
one that is defective in symmetry.

It would carry us too far to go into the detail of the
various modes in which the forces exerted by pairs of
the hind and fore legs respectively cross each other — as
also the centre of gravity itself in walk, trot, canter, &c.
The proper methods of shifting the rider's weight from
right to left, so as to favour the diagonal action of the
pairs of feet, may be easily deduced from the study of
these. But it is not our object to write a treatise on
equitation ; and for intelligent riders, what has been
already said will suffice to clear up the doubts that
may arise in practice. Indeed, the scope of the whole
of this chapter has been to set men thinking for them-
selves, instead of working by rule of thumb, and not to
dictate any particular method to them.

CHAPTER II.

THE SADDLE, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE SEAT.

IF it were merely a question of riding bare-backed, we
might at once go on to apply the principles of equili-
brium of the horse in motion, as developed in the fore-
going chapter, to the various kinds of seats. It would
be only reasonable, one should suppose, to accommodate
our saddles to our seats, just as we do every other
instrument to the purposes for which it is intended ;
but this is precisely what is very seldom done, and in
the great majority of instances the rider sits his horse
just in the fashion his saddle allows, or perhaps compels,
him to do. Three-fourths of the time and trouble that
are devoted in military riding-schools to endeavour-
ing to get the men to sit in a uniform manner might
be spared, and the desired result much more certainly
attained, by properly adjusting the saddle to the horse
and man, instead of forcing the latter into a contest
with a mechanical difficulty that requires a constant
exertion of muscular power ; and this latter, being
limited in extent and duration, is sure to succumb in
the contest, leaving the horse's back to bear the punish-
ment. It is therefore a matter of some importance to
understand clearly the mechanical principles applicable
to this piece of horse furniture, as it will enable every
rider to ascertain exactly what he wants, and how to

46 SEATS AND SADDLES.

attain his object, whatever that may be — as also to
save his horse's back, and his own purse, and perhaps
neck.

To begin with the under surface of the saddle — the
portion coming in contact with the horse's back — we
find two principal points for consideration : its shape or
form, and its size or extent. One general mechanical
principle applies to both — namely, that the larger the
surface over which a given amount of pressure is equably
spread or divided, the less will be the action on any
given point of the other surface in contact ; and this
translated into plain English means, as regards shape,
that the under surface of the saddle should bear as
nearly as possible the same relation to that part of the
horse's back it is intended to occupy as a mould does
to the cast that is taken from it, always saving and
excepting that strip lying over the horse's backbone,
which must remain altogether out of contact. The
notion of making one portion come into closer contact
than another, "giving a gripe," with the intention of
preventing the saddle slipping, is altogether erroneous,
because it is the sum total of the pressure which produces
the cohesion between two surfaces ; its being concen-
trated on one point or line does not increase this amount,
but is very likely to make a hole in the horse's back.
Which part of the horse's back it should be fitted to has
been " dimly shadowed forth'" in Chapter I., but shall
be more clearly and accurately determined in the course
of this present one.

As regards size or extent of surface the meaning is,
that the greater this is with a given weight, the less
will be the pressure on any given point, and consequently
the less risk of sore back, provided always that the

THE SADDLE. 47

pressure be equally distributed over the whole surface. To
make a saddle a yard long, and put the weight altogether
at one of its extremities, is not the way to attain this
very desirable object, as shall be more fully explained
presently.*

There must, however, be some limit to the size of a
saddle, for its own absolute weight is a matter of serious
consideration : it goes into the scale with the jock. Let
the size be proportioned to the weight to be carried, and if
you have a tender-backed horse, make it a little bigger
than would be otherwise necessary. Of course a jock
can ride his race on a thing that is more a contrivance
for hanging up a pair of stirrups than a saddle, whilst a
sixteen-stone rider must divide his weight over as large
a surface as convenient.

There are two ways in which the weight of the saddle
may be decreased without its useful under surface being
narrowed. The first is to avoid extending the frame
(tree), or indeed any other part of the saddle, beyond
the surfaces where it really has to support pressure ;
and this being exercised chiefly in a perpendicular
direction, it is not only useless but absurd to make
these extend too far down over the ribs laterally. The
second is to use, for the tree, materials combining great
strength and moderate elasticity with the least possible
weight. A civilian saddle, made altogether of wood, is
a very clumsy affair, and it is therefore the practice to
reduce the volume of the wood, and regain the strength

* As familiar illustrations of the principle may be mentioned
the difference of depth of track of broad and narrow tired wheels,
or of a roller as compared with both : or, a board of one foot square
will sink deeper into soft ground under a man's weight than one
of double that size ; and this latter will sink as deep as the former
if weighted only at one end.

48 SEATS AND SADDLES.

thus sacrificed by iron platings. This metal is, however,
very inelastic : if the plates be made thin and light,
they bend, and then retain the wood in a distorted
shape ; if thick, they are heavy, and very liable to break
with a severe shock, or, if not, to convey this rudely to
the horse's shoulder or back, instead of acting as the
buffer does between two railway trucks. The platings
should be made of steel, not too highly tempered, and
it ought to be possible to devise means of strengthening
the wood of that part of the tree we allude to without
increasing its bulk, and with a diminution of its weight.
As to military saddles, they are best made wholly of
wood and without any iron whatever. The necessity of
attaching a pack makes the question of neat appearance
altogether secondary, and the weight that must be
carried renders it imperative to economise every ounce
that is possible. Moreover, once introduce iron into
the composition of a saddle, and you must have a smith
and a forge to enable you to repair a broken one, which
is often out of the question in the field. The original
Hungarian saddle had not a particle of iron on it ; no
doubt it was subject to breakage, but it could be repaired
or a new one made at the side of a ditch, and in time
for the next day's march. We nineteenth-century men
have improved it everywhere, especially in England, up
to more than double its original weight, to a nearly total
incapacity for repair or alteration, and to being the most
efficient instrument conceivable for making holes in
horses' backs.

Supposing, now, the under surface of the saddle to
have the proper form and size, the next point to be
determined is, where to put the weight. As we cannot,
in consequence of this being a man, divide and spread it

THE SADDLE. 49

out equably over the whole upper part of the saddle as
we would inert matter of any kind, we must place the
rider's centre of gravity exactly over the centre of the
bearing surface of the saddle, for this is the only single
point which, being loaded, transmits the pressure
equably to the rest of the surface. Take a small
common table and place it exactly level on sand, grass
or soft ground, then put a weight precisely in the centre
of the table, and measure the depth to which the feet
have been forced into the soil — you will find it to be the
same for all four feet, if the surface on which the table
stands be equally soft throughout ; then shift the table
a few inches, having previously removed the weight, and
place this near one of the ends instead of in the middle
— measure again and you will find that the pair of legs
nearest to the weight have penetrated much deeper than
the others ; therefore, in order to equalise the pressure,
the rider's weight should be placed in the centre of the
saddle.

But this is not all. Place a piece of stout board about
two feet long on the ground, stand on one end of it, and
you will find that the other loses its contact with the
ground, and is more or less tilted up into the air — the
board has become a lever. Now make a motion as if
about to jump, but without quitting your position on the
board ; this latter will, being out of contact with the
ground at the further end, be shoved onwards in that
direction. This is precisely what happens when a rider
sits at one end of the saddle, generally the hinder one :
this one is pressed down into the horse's back, the
other, generally the front end, is tilted up, and at every
movement of the horse and rider the whole saddle is
shoved forward till stopped by the withers, which it will

E

50 SEATS AND SADDLES.

probably wound ; and then it is either the groom's, or
the saddler's, or the horse's fault, and the saddle is
thrown aside and some new patent contrivance adopted,
which of course does not remedy a defect that depends
on the rider himself.

We may now go a step further. Suppose the saddle
be placed with its centre exactly over the combined
centres of gravity and motion (line E F, fig. 4), and the
rider in the centre of the saddle, there will be, first, an
equable distribution of the combined weight of horse
and rider on all four legs, both in a state of rest and
action ; secondly, the movements of the horse, centring
in this point, have the least possible tendency to disturb
the seat of the rider or the position of the saddle ;
thirdly, the weight of the rider being equably distributed
over the whole surface of the saddle, in contact with
the horse's back, is therefore less likely to injure any
one portion of this; nor does it convert the saddle
into a lever and shove it forwards or backwards.
Again, let us suppose the saddle as before, but the
rider sitting altogether at its hinder end for instance,
and there will be, first, the horse's equilibrium de-
stroyed ; secondly, the rider himself, being nearer to
the hind legs, will first receive an impulse from the
direction R S, and be thrown forward till he meets
that coming from the direction P Q, and these two
forces, instead of resolving each other from one common
point into their sum total, neutralise each other
partially in successive shocks at the expense of the
horse's legs. It will be said that the use of the
stirrups is to prevent the rider being thus thrown
forward. No doubt they do, and this kind of rider
always sticks out his legs towards the horse's shoulder

THE SADDLE. 51

on the line Q P ; in other words, Tie transmits the shock
from the hind legs to the fore ones through the medium
of the stirrups (this, by the way, is the reason why
stirrup-leathers are broken), of course shoving the
saddle constantly forward, and these men's girths can
never be drawn tight enough to prevent the saddle
tilting up in front. Thirdly, of course his weight is
not distributed equably over the whole under surface
of the saddle. This is the man that manufactures sit-
fasts, or, at the very least, transforms his horse's back
from its natural colour into a strange pattern of white
and grey blotches.

Some men would find it inconvenient to sit otherwise
than well back in their saddles, and some kinds of
riding seem to be more easily done in this form than in
any other. Now it is evident enough from the foregoing,
that if the part of the saddle occupied by the rider be
placed over the line E F, fig. 4, the horse's balance is
not necessarily deranged or the centre of motion inter-
fered with so long as the rider keeps this position ; but
there always remains the difficulty about the unequal
distribution of the weight, and the saddle slipping.
Most English gentlemen ride more or less in this fashion,
and, from our way of rising in the stirrups whilst
trotting, are constantly transferring their weight from
one end of the saddle to the other. Of course the
horse's balance is thereby subjected to constant changes,
and not unfrequently a misunderstanding between horse
and rider ensues, terminating in a disaster ; but we must
not anticipate.

There is another consideration of great importance
with regard to the place of the saddle — namely, that it
should interfere the least possible with the action of

52 SEATS AND SADDLES.

the muscles of the horse's fore and back hand. Look-
ing at Plate II., we see the back covered with a broad
tendon, into which, as has been already pointed out,
the muscles of these two parts are inserted, and on
which their contractile action is exercised. The saddle
should not extend much, if at all, beyond the limits of
this flat tendon, because, by doing so, it will be sure to
impede more or less the free action of the muscles,
whereas the tendon is rather assisted than impeded in
its functions by a weight being placed on it ; and it is
also evident that a rider, sitting at one end of his saddle
instead of in the centre, will produce the same injurious
effect.

The next question to be determined is — To what part
of the saddle should the girths be attached? Now it
is very evident that, if the placing of the weight in the
centre of the saddle has the effect of transmitting an
equal amount of pressure to all that part of the horse's
back with which the latter is in contact, the attaching
the girths so as to act directly on the centre of the
saddle will have precisely the same effect ; and the
friction that results — that is, the adhesiveness produced
by pressure — will be equable throughout, and of course
least likely to injure any one particular point. It was
a very prevalent idea some years ago, that "the point -
strap " — that is to say, the girth that was placed well
forward in the saddle — was the thing to depend on to
prevent the saddle slipping, but experience has proved
this notion to be erroneous ; and Sir Francis Head, a
very good authority on these matters, has pointed out,
if we mistake not, that the proper place for attaching
the girths is in the middle of the saddle. It is, no
doubt, quite possible, by placing the girths forward,

THE SADDLE. 53

to accumulate the whole amount of friction on one or
two points ; but this is precisely what bruises horses'
withers without having power to prevent the saddle
slipping.

Direct proof of the correctness of what is advanced
here may be obtained in the following manner : Take a
longish saddle on which the girth-straps (or points) are
fixed forward ; girth the horse tolerably tightly ; now
put a rider in the saddle — the heavier he is the more
apparent will the result be — and get him to sit well
back. You will find, by putting your fingers flat be-
tween the girth and the horse's chest "before the man
mounts, that, on his taking his seat as above, the girth
will be drawn forcibly upwards ; a proof that the saddle
must have relinquished in a corresponding degree its
previous " gripe " of the horse's back, or rather shoulder.
Now let your man dismount, loosen the girths a little,
and put a surcingle right over the middle of the saddle ;
draw this equally tight as the girth had been previously,
and put your rider once more into the saddle, making
him, however, sit exactly in the middle over the sur-
cingle : your finger, if placed as before, will now tell
you, if it should not be apparent to the eye, that the
surcingle has become looser, the saddle has assumed a
more intimate contact with the horse's back throughout,
and is sure not to slip or wound.

The Hungarian Puszta rider, or cattle-herd, and most
Orientals, never use anything but a surcingle, the great
advantage of which is hat, having loosed it to let their
horses graze, they can tighten it with one pull, and are
in the saddle and well under way whilst one of us is
still fumbling at a multiplicity of straps ; and, moreover,
his saddle remains where he put it — ours seldom does so

54 SEATS AND SADDLES.

except by chance. Civilian riders would not approve
of the surcingle ; the same end may, however, be
attained by putting the girth- straps in the middle of the
saddle, and silting as nearly as possible over them. For
military purposes girths might be altogether dispensed
with, and only a surcingle used.

There is an idea prevalent that if the girths are
placed as far back as indicated here (over the false ribs),
they must interfere with the movement of the horse's
chest and lungs much more than if placed well forward
over the true ones. This is, however, precisely contrary
to fact : the true ribs are firmly supported at both
ends to make room for the lungs by being drawn for-
wards ; the largest volume of lung lies directly beneath
them ; the greatest expansion is required and takes
place here. Under the false ribs lie the thin lobes of
the lungs, which increase their volume in a much less
degree ; they are therefore supported only at one end,
and expand bu^ little, serving chiefly as supports for the
diaphragm or midriff. But anyone who has not yet
arrived at the dignity of a " corporation " may easily
convince himself of the truth of this by putting on a
tight-fitting waistcoat and playing cricket in it ; he will
soon find the top buttons gone, and much less frequently
the lower ones, whilst a waist-belt will prove a con-
venience. The point from which the stirrup is suspended
has nearly an equal influence on the stability of the
saddle, and a much greater one on the form of the seat
than the position of the girths. If the stirrups be
wrong, all the rest being right will be of little avail."

* Any defects that may exist in the English cavalry seat, and the
very glaring ones that are very obvious in the French seat, and
were the immediate causes of all the sore backs in the campaign

THE SADDLE. 55

What is the legitimate use of the stirrups besides
enabling us to mount our horses ? The first and most
obvious one is to give the rider lateral support, to
prevent his slipping off to the right or left by his seat
revolving round the horse's body as a wheel does round
an axle. In riding barebacked, or on a saddle without
stirrups, if the rider falls it is most generally to one side,
and not directly forwards or backwards ; and it is very
evident that the more directly under the rider's seat the
stirrups be suspended the more efficiently will they
perform this duty, the resistance offered by them being
perpendicularly upwards, or precisely in the opposite
direction to that in which the weight falls, which is
perpendicularly downwards ; whereas, if the stirrups be
suspended at a distance from the rider's seat, they act
at an angle to the line of fall. They may, and always do,
in such a position change the direction of the fall, but
they cannot meet and prevent it so efficiently as when
placed under the seat. The second use of these con-
trivances is to enable the rider, for various purposes, to
rise in his saddle by standing in his stirrups. And here
a distinction must be drawn as to whether it is the
rider's object to transmit his own weight indirectly
through the stirrups to the saddle at the same point at
which he previously applied it directly with his seat, or
at some other point. In the first case it is very obvious
that the stirrups are best placed exactly under the
rider's seat ; for, putting aside any changes of the
position of his own body from the hips upwards he may
please to make, everything remains as before, and the
equilibrium of the horse is not disturbed. In the second

of 1859, depend on the wrong position of the stirrup in the
respective military saddles.

56 SEATS AND SADDLES.

case, on the contrary, supposing the stirrups to be
placed far forwards and the rider far back in the saddle,
standing in the stirrups will at once throw the weight
from one end of the saddle to the other; make this
press partially on the horse's back instead of equably,
as in the first case, which see-sawing must tend to make
the saddle shift, and must also alter the equilibrium of
the horse, throwing its weight more forward, conse-
quently rendering the animal incapable of turning
sharply and handily, and, if done suddenly, frequently
even bringing it to a dead halt. In hunting, sharp
turns are seldom required, whilst speed is, and there-
fore there is a justification fon throwing the weight
forwards or backwards, especially in jumping ; but even
this has certain limits, of which more hereafter. Again,
in road-riding the English fashion of trotting requires a
man to rise in his stirrups ; but there is really no reason
why he should therefore sacrifice the lateral support
spoken of above to the extent one often sees, or throw
such a surplusage of weight on his horse's forehand.
There can be no doubt that he rides less safely by so
doing, for a sharp wheel-round of a shying horse is
more likely to bring him down ; but this question of
trotting must be also reserved for a future chapter.

For military purposes the stirrups must be placed in
the centre of the saddle directly under the rider's seat :
there is no alternative. The cavalry soldier is often
compelled in the use of his weapons to stand in his
stirrups. If by doing so the equilibrium of his horse be
altered, he disables the animal and himself at the most
critical moment. The power of turning rapidly to
administer or avoid a sword-cut or lance-thrust is
seriously impaired if the stirrups be placed forward,

THE SADDLE. 57

and the whole concern makes a heavy pitch into the
trough of the sea just at the moment it should " run up
into the wind's eye." The late Sir Charles Napier
relates in one of his books a lamentable story of a fine
gallant English sergeant who lost both his arms in this
way ; and officers who have served in India or Algiers
often complain that there is no preventing the native
horsemen getting behind their people's backs, where, of
course, they have it all their own way, like a bull in a
china shop. Sir Charles throws the blame altogether on
the enormous pack the regulars are compelled to put on
their horses' backs. This has, no doubt, its own special
influence ; but anyone who has seen cavalry skirmishing,
and understands the mechanism we are labouring to
explain, must have also seen that the position of the
stirrup acting on the rider's seat has a great deal to do
with it.*

We mentioned above that the man riding barebacked,
or on a saddle without stirrups, most frequently
tumbles off to the right or left ; well, it will be found
that with stirrups, especially when the latter are very
far forward and very short, the catastrophe generally
supervenes right ahead, the performer being projected,
in trajectories not yet described in ballistic works, away
over his steed's neck, to the great damage of collar-
bones. It is like having one's hand pierced by leaning
on a reed — the short stirrup that is relied on for safety
furnishing an admirable lever-point for the equine
catapult.

And this brings us to the length of the stirrup. The

* Almost all " rider nations " place their stirrups exactly under
their seat. This will be evident from an inspection of some of our
Plates, as also that the example has been followed in the best
Continental cavalries.

58 SEATS AND SADDLES.

length of the arm is generally prescribed as being the
proper length for the stirrup. This might answer well
enough if stirrups were always suspended at the same
perpendicular distance from the upper surface of the
saddle, and also right under the rider's seat, and if
men's arms and legs always bore a fixed proportion to
one another; all of which " ifs " turn out on nearer
inspection to be algebraical x's — that is, very variable
quantities. To adjust the stirrups precisely, the rider
had better first mount, and then, letting these instru-
ments loose together, shake himself down into the
lowest part of the saddle, wherever that may be situated;
his assistant may then adjust the stirrups to a con-
venient length. There is no use in attempting to ignore
this lowest point, because every motion of the horse
tends invariably to throw him into it ; and if he does
persist in ignoring it he will find himself a mere stirrup-
rider, which is, in its way, quite as bad as a rein-rider,
the combination of both being the very climax of bad
riding — in fact, that monkey-like fashion of clinging to
your steed vulgarly termed " sticking a horse." For
the absolute length of the stirrup no special rule can be
given applicable to all circumstances and to all kinds of
riding ; in speaking of the different kinds of seats in a
subsequent chapter we shall have to return to this
point. The only general rule that can be given is,
never make your stirrups so long as to render your
tread on them insecure, nor so short as to allow them
to cramp up your legs and deprive them of the requisite
power of motion, making you depend on the stirrups
and not on your seat for your position in the saddle.
The Orientals all ride in the short stirrups in which
they can stand resting on the entire sole of their feet on

THE SADDLE. 59

account of the shovel shape and the size of this con-
trivance ; but their stirrups are hung directly under
their seat, and in a very different position from that
which they occupy in our saddles (see Plate IV.) Short
stirrups on an English saddle give quite a different
form to the seat in consequence.

With respect to the upper surface, or seat, of the
saddle, we have to remark, that as the under one must
be large in proportion to the weight, so this should be
roomy in proportion to the bulk of the rider ; a heavy
man will always require a large under surface, but not
equally constantly a large upper one, for it is bone that
weighs ; and as, whatever the seat may be, it should
be permanent in some one part of the saddle, there is
not only no use, but a positive disadvantage, on account
of weight, in having it larger above than is absolutely
necessary. It is, however, the form of the upper sur-
face that decides most as to the permanence of the
seat. If what we may call the ridge of the saddle be
perfectly horizontal, the seat will be determined chiefly
by the length and position of the stirrup, because the
two surfaces, rider and saddle, are in imperfect contact ;
and it is therefore usual to dip this ridge at some point
and spread it out into a more or less concave surface.
Now the form of the seat will depend altogether on
the relative position of the lowest point of this dip ; if it be
placed far back the rider will remain there, and if it
be placed in the centre the seat will be also central,
and for military purposes enough has been said to show
that this is its proper position. Nothing can be more
certain than this, that it is the saddler, and not the
instructor of equitation, that can most effectually and
certainly produce the uniformity of seat which is so

60 SEATS AND SADDLES.

desirable ; but unfortunately few people ever think of
this. The sum of the whole matter is this — the larger

*s

the surfaces of the rider and saddle brought into per-
manent contact, the firmer will be the seat, and the less
will it depend on the stirrups or — the reins.

The saddle-flaps serve in some cases to increase, in
others they absolutely dimmish, the surface of contact
between the rider and horse : their chief use is to pro-
tect the man's legs from injury by the girth-buckles,
straps, &c. For military saddles nothing can be more
preposterous than a stiff flap interposed between the
rider's legs and horse's side, because the surcingle and
shabrack cover all these things effectually, and perfectly
attain this object of the flap of the English civilian
saddle. This stiff flap is therefore an unnecessary
additional weight, and it keeps, moreover, the leg out
of its proper position. To sum up the whole of the
foregoing, we may describe the general rule for seats to
be this — the saddle in the centre of the horse's back ; the
girths, stirrups, and rider in the centre of the saddle;
in short*—

" The maxim for the horsy tribe is
Horatian, ' Medio tutissimus ibis.1 "

There are certain appendages to the saddle that
require a short notice. And first of all, which is better,
the blanket or the feltplate under the light cavalry
saddle? The advantages of the former are, that by
folding it in different ways you may vary its thickness

* In the original manuscript stood the words, " in the centre of
the saddle," which was altered to " about," &c., in the press. The
truth is, we were afraid of shocking weak nerves, but so many
good riders have since then expressed their conviction that the
girths, stirrups, and rider should be in the centre of the saddle,
that we gladly return to the old reading.

THE SADDLE. 61

at different points, and by this means adjust the saddle
not only to all the different peculiarities presented by
the backs of various horses, but also equally to the
changes of form of one and the same back, induced by
changes of condition. You can do nothing of the sort
with the feltplate : this presupposes all horses' backs
alike, which is very wide of the mark ; and, moreover,
each individual back permanent in its form, whatever
change the condition may have undergone — which is
equally so. The blanket men say " Yes ; and, more-
over, you can defend your horse from the cold in winter
bivouacs, and keep him serviceable for a much longer
time." * " Ay," say the opponents, " but the man
covers himself up and leaves his horse to shiver." There
is probably some truth in this ; and, at all events, the
man is kept warm, whereas the felt can never be mis-
appropriated in this way. The advocates of the felt
say further, in cases of alarm the horses can be saddled
quicker, which is indisputable to a certain extent ; for
whether the blanket be used as a covering for the horse
or man, it takes some time and two men to fold it
properly if once unfolded. The result is this : if the felt
happens to fit, the horse will be quickly and well
saddled — if not, quickly and badly ; on the other hand,
two or three minutes more may insure all the horses
being well saddled, provided the men know how to fold
their blankets, and are made to do so. Two or three
minutes may be, however, of great importance : let us
endeavour to estimate their precise value. Cavalry on
outpost duty never unsaddle, therefore it can suffer no

* The greatest possible luxury in the matter of blankets is,
however, powerless to keep horses alive whose rations consist of
their neighbours' tails, as in the Crimea.

62 SEATS AND SADDLES.

loss of time on account of the blanket ; and cavalry in
camp or bivouac is — or at least should be — always
covered by outposts, and is therefore scarcely liable to
surprise, and two or three minutes can make no possible
difference where it is a question of preserving the effi-
ciency of the horses for weeks, months, and years. But
the superior officers are impatient, their personal credit
is involved in the turning out rapidly : ay, that's it.
Let the blankets be properly folded at daybreak regu-
larly, and let the horses be saddled too with loose
girths, whether you know if you are to turn out or not,
and there is an end of the blanket difficulty, and of
many others too.

With regard to the crupper. If your saddle fit
properly, and if you sit in the proper way, you don't
need a crupper. If neither of these "ifs" be a verity,
then the crupper may prevent the saddle running for-
ward, but will also wound the steed's tail, or set it
a-kicking, especially if a mare — perhaps, under favour-
able circumstances, both together ; in either case you
must take off the crupper, and what then ? It is better
to begin voluntarily, with a well-fitting saddle and a
good seat, than be kicked into it ; and therefore the
cavalry crupper is an absurdity which everyone else in
the world has thrown away ages ago ; and which the
Austrian, Bavarian, and, we believe, many other
German cavalries, discarded some fifteen or sixteen
years since.

In some of the mounted troops of the British Army
an attempt has been made, it would seem, to ascertain
whether the crupper can be dispensed with or not, and
it is stated that the men decided very generally in
favour of retaining it, because they found that without

THE SADDLE. 63

a crupper the saddle was liable to turn over in the
act of mounting or dismounting. This is very probable,
nay ! it is almost certain to take place when the whole
pack is built up into a mountain and the hinder knob
of the tree, which the rider uses to help him into and
out of the saddle, sticks up in such a manner as to
supply a most powerful lever for turning the saddle
round. The author has a strong suspicion that the felt-
plate favours this turning of the saddle much more than
a well-folded blanket would, especially when the former
has become less flexible and at the same time more
slippery by use. However that may be, it is certain
that if the saddles and packs of mounted troops are
found to be liable to turn round when the rider mounts
or dismounts, other evils of at least equal magnitude
will not be cured by the retention of the crupper as an
article of horse furniture.

Sometimes it happens that this saddle turning is
owing to a short man being put on a tall horse. No
doubt the average height of a squadron may be made to
look more uniform by this ingenious cookery, but the
real efficiency is scarcely improved. In countries where
general obligation to military service exists, there
should never be much difficulty in selecting cavalry
recruits of a size suitable to the average height of the
remounts obtainable.* In Great Britain this is not so
easy, the recruits that offer themselves must be taken
whether they are too tall or too short for the horses,
and even for the latter there is no well denned average.

* There are however even then some difficulties to overcome ;
for instance the Magyars want, all of them, to be Hussars and
dislike infantry service — whence it often happens that very tall
men are found mounted on small horses, and vice versa short ones
in the infantry.

64 SEATS AND SADDLES.

When the horses and men can be well matched and
the pack is properly arranged the crupper will be found
quite unnecessary.

The breastplate might perhaps, in most cases, be
dispensed with ; but .in others it is useful in keeping
the girths in their place ; besides that, it gives a point
•of attachment for some of the pack, and is indubitably
advantageous for lasso draught; it can do no harm,
moreover, unless it be too tight, which is generally the
result of cavalry commanding officers being as pedantic
about the rosette attached to it being at the same height
throughout their front, as infantry ones used to be about
the mess-tins being mathematically correct on the tops
of the knapsacks.

CHAPTEE III.

SEATS.

WHEN one observes the great variety of seats on horse-
back that present themselves to our notice every day,
and their totally contradictory character in the most
important respects, a certain amount of bewilderment
necessarily ensues, which resolves itself into a curious
dilemma. We can scarcely admit that they are all
wrong, and it seems equally impossible to assert that
they are all right ; which, then, is the right, and which
the wrong? or is a seat on horseback something out-
side of the laws that govern the rest of animate and
inanimate nature, subject to no rule, defiant of all
generalisation, and, in fact, a thing per se — a sort of
mysterious existence beyond our ken ? What, for
instance, can be more contradictory than to see one
man sitting at one end of the saddle, as in an easy-
chair, with his legs tucked up at the other, till his
knees are nearly on a level with the pommel ; whilst
a second, sitting in his fork, sticks out his legs as stiff
and as far away from the horse as he can, taking for
his model what is very aptly named in ' Harry Lorre-
quer' "the pair-of-tongs-across-a-stone-wall seat," for
an illustration of which see Plate V. ? And there are
no end of intermediate seats between these two, with
the most wonderful curvatures of the rider's back,

F

66 SEATS AND SADDLES.

knowing positions of his head, and artistic contortions
of his lower extremities, each and all of which have
their partisans and admirers.

We set out with the declaration that we have no
desire or intention to set up any one kind of seat as a
model ; but this is no reason why we should not try to
find out and lay before our readers what are the real
essentials, leaving them to adopt whatever suits their
purpose best. Now the seat on horseback is maintained
either by balancing or by friction — that is to say, the
greater or less amount of the rider's sitting parts brought
into contact with the saddle — or by the support given
by the stirrup ; and it is easy to perceive that such a
combination of all three means as leaves each individual
one its greatest amount of efficiency, will necessarily
secure a much greater amount of stability than can be
attained by depending on one to the neglect of the other
two, or even depending on two in such a manner as to
sacrifice the third. The best and safest seat will be
always that which depends exclusively on no one means
of support, but uses them all in the best manner.

In order to answer the question, Which of the three
is the most important ? it becomes necessary to review
the positive value of each in detail ; and first as to
balance.

It has been shown, in the preceding chapters, to
what an extent the action of the horse depends on the
balance or poise of rider and bearer taken together,
and how every modification of the latter affects the
former, and therefore, that not only some one particular
poise must be adopted, but also maintained, for each
kind of riding. Again, it has been shown that the
stability of the saddle and the safety of the horse's back

SEATS. 67

depend to a great extent on the stability of the rider's
weight — that is to say, on his poise or balance. In
addition to these two items comes a third one — namely,
the value of poise or balance to the rider himself. Why
does anything tumble down from the position it has
hitherto occupied ? because it loses its balance : and
the rider that does so is sure to meet the same fate,
unless the friction of his seat, the stirrups, or the
horse's mane are called to the rescue. Can there be
any doubt as to the great value of poise or balance ?
We think not.

As to friction, this depends, in the case of two inani-
mate bodies coining in contact, first, on the nature of
their respective surfaces, which we must leave alto-
gether out of question here ;* and, secondly, on the
absolute weight with which the upper one presses on
the lower one. The amount of surface of contact does
not increase friction, but, of course, if the whole weight
be brought to bear on one or two points of a rider's
seat, these will soon require soap-plaster. Here, how-
ever, we have to do with an inanimate body ; the saddle,
on the one hand, and a very lively one — the rider's seat
and legs, on the other, whose muscular action may
form a very important adjunct to the dead weight in
increasing friction ; and the amount of this action does
increase with the surfaces in contact, because a greater
number of muscles are brought into action ; therefore,
we can never bring too great an amount of the surfaces
of our seat and legs into contact with the saddle. The
friction arising from absolute weight no rider will be

* A very smooth surface to the saddle lessens the friction, for
which reason school saddles are usually covered with tan-
coloured buckskin, whilst many Orientals adopt sheepskins with
wool on, coarse rugs or mats, &c.

68 SEATS AND SADDLES.

inclined to increase by loading himself. Whether that
derived from muscular action shall become an important
addition to the former, or merely an independent alter-
native, is, after all, the great point at issue, and that
which constitutes the real difference between seats.
Muscular action will prove an addition to the friction
derived from weight if both be exercised simultaneously
nearly at the same point, and in the same direction ;
if not, the rider will have to depend alternately on one
or the other, instead of both taken together, which is,
of course, much less advantageous.

In some forms of seats the rider depends almost
entirely on the pressure of his knees against the fore-
part of the saddle, and relinquishes altogether the
advantages derived from steady contact of his seat with
the other end of it. For riding a race or a fox-hunt
this may answer ; but muscular power is subject to
waste, and this method will never do for continuous
exertion, being much too fatiguing to the rider, and
therefore uncertain.

Nor is this all. " Making," as Sir F. Head says,
in describing the hunting seat,* " the knee a pivot, or
rather hinge, and the legs beneath them the grasp," is
like holding a horse-pistol between the tips of the fore-
finger and thumb, instead of grasping it in the full
hand. If the weapon kicks on being discharged, it
will revolve on the hinge with a vengeance ; and if
the horse perform a similar feat, the upper two-thirds
of the rider's body do the same round the knee-pivot.
The leg, from the knee downward, is much less fitted
for holding or grasping than the thigh is ; moreover,
it has other functions to perform that interfere with
* " The Horse and his Rider." p. 31.

SEATS. 69

this. The best hunting, steeplechase, and military
riders we have ever seen, all agreed on this one point
at least — that of depending on the thigh, and not the
" under-leg," for their seat ; and hence is derived the
grand cardinal rule for a good seat : " From the hips
upwards movable, in order to enable the rider to vary
his balance, or use his weapons ; from the knee down-
ward movable, for the use of the spur, and the control
of the horse's hind legs ; and between these two points,
hip and knee, fixed, for the seat." According to this
rule, the middle of the rider adheres, both by weight
and muscular action, to the middle of the horse ; ac-
cording to the other system, the lower third of the
rider clings, by muscular action alone, to the horse's
shoulders, aided, perhaps, to a certain extent, by the
stirrup.

But this brings us to the stirrup. Biding was cer-
tainly invented and practised before saddles existed ;
and it is nearly equally certain that the first saddles,
pads, or whatever they were, had no stirrups, these
contrivances having been subsequently invented for
the purpose of giving the rider further aid in addition
to that derived from balance and friction. Even now-
adays many a man can ride bare-backed to hounds or
in the melee without stirrups ; and this very short state-
ment of facts ought, we think, to go far to prove that
stirrups are very subordinate in value to balance and
friction taken together, which is precisely why we have
used the term stirrup-riding in an opprobrious sense.
The " tongs-across-a-wall seat " depends on balance
and the stirrup, renouncing all contact of the legs with
the horse's body ; the wash-ball seat goes further, and
abjures balance. In Chapter II., when speaking of the

70 SEATS AND SADDLES.

position of the stirrup in the saddle, we could only give
some of the reasons why this should be central. We
have now arrived at a point that renders it possible to
give the remaining ones, which are of no less impor-
tance. They are these : The interior surfaces of a
tolerably well-built man's thighs and legs, from the
fork to the heels, are curved in concave or hollow
sweeps, that may be varied from the knee doivnwards by
turning the toes more or less outwards ;* and if we
look at a horse from the rear, it will be very evident
that his midship section — that it to say, .the lines we
should see if the animal were chopped fairly in two
right through his fourteenth vertebra — coincides very
accurately with the sweep of the rider's legs. At top,
no doubt, the figure is flatter than the man's fork, but
the ridge of the saddle fills up the empty space to a
certain extent ; besides which, no good rider sits in his
fork, but on his seat. Further, although the horse's
body is rounded away under the belly, the possibility
of varying the curve of the leg from the knee downwards
enables the rider to preserve contact very low down :
he can encircle his horse nearly two-thirds when sitting
on this line.

If, on the contrary, the stirrup be placed too far for-
ward the thigh runs diagonally forwards toward the
horse's shoulder. Now let us look at the horse from
the front, standing exactly opposite to his forehead.
We see at once that the animal's body, besides being
narrower at the shoulders than at the midship section,
presents, first of all, a concave curve from this to the

* It is therefore very absurd to insist on any specific measure
for this. Even a round-thighed man may get up a hollow curve
by turning out his toes a little in excess.

SEATS. 71

shoulder, and then a convex one over the shoulder.
The former of these has no adaptation whatever to the
curve of the rider's thighs, and this he cannot change '>
to remedy which, the fashion of padding the saddle-
flaps was introduced. Sir F. Head says it is going out
again. The effect of this padding or increased thick-
ness between the rider's leg and the horse's body is,
however, to bring the former, from the knee downwards,
right away from the latter, as anyone can see who
looks at this kind of rider from the front ; and it is
therefore evident that the greatest amount of adhesive
surface is obtained by placing the stirrup nearly under
the rider, and making the tread on it perpendicular,
instead of in an acute angle with the horizon.

There is another point to be considered. Is there
anything gained by the rider's leg from the knee
downwards being in close contact with the horse's
body at the midship section, or lost by its being just
behind the shoulder, whether in or out of contact ?
The gain is simply this, that in the first case we can
exercise immediately an absolute control over the
horse's hind legs, and make him place them as we
please — and these being the propellers, we have entire
mastery; whereas the loss occasioned by the stirrup
being far forward consists in our generally coming
much too late with our leg, when we have occasion
to use it in this way, the horse having swerved right
round before we can get at him and compel him to go
ahead ; in our having to pull right against the stirrup-
leather ; and, worst of all, in our being compelled to
loosen our whole seat, in consequence of our thigh-
bones refusing to bend. The effect of these two posi-
tions of the stirrups and forms of seat on the stability

72 SEATS AND SADDLES.

of the latter, when it becomes necessary to stand or
rise in the former, we must reserve for a little.

There is a notion prevalent that a military seat is a
fork-seat ; this is simply a popular error that requires
refutation. On the other hand, some people will persist
in sitting on that part of their back which is still,
perhaps, called back, instead of on that portion of it
which is honoured with a supplemental designation.
What is a man to sit on ? Well, he has two bones
in his seat, which we venture, in imitation of German
phraseology, to call his " sitting bones," and a third in
rear — that on which umquhile Lord Monboddo built
his celebrated theory, since improved on by Darwin,
of the human race having been originally developed
from monkeys ; this third bone completes, with the
other two, a triangular basis for the human seat on
horseback, and, be it said, a much more efficient one
than for the theory in question.* If the angle of the
hip-bone comes to be perpendicular over the sitting-
bone at the same side, the rider's weight will rest on
this triangular basis, which being the largest available
for the purpose, affords the greatest degree of stability
to the seat. If, however, the perpendicular from the
hip-bone falls to the rear of the sitting-bone, the leg
and thigh are immediately thrown forward to the
horse's shoulder, the rider's back is converted into the
segment of a circle, and his weight sways about un-
steadily on the Monboddo corner of the triangle.
Finally, if the aforesaid perpendicular fall in front of
the sitting-bone, the fork seat is achieved, the thighs

* It has escaped the observations of the Darwinians that mon-
keys on horseback never sit on their tails, which of course upsets
their whole theory.

SEATS. 73

come back towards the horse's tail, the rider's body is
carried forward by every movement of the animal,
because it rests only on two points instead of three,
— and this may be styled the " muff school of eques-
trianism."

Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to where
the rider should sit in his saddle, or however necessary
it may be to vary the exact position of the seat according
to the object in view, there can be no doubt whatever
that the only firm and steady seat is on the triangle :
the Monboddo bone must neither be overweighted nor
made too conspicuous.

The seat therefore, as such, depends on balance or
poise, on the amount of surface brought into contact
with the saddle, both of which in their turn depend on
whether the rider's weight rests on three, two, or only
one corner of a triangle, and all this is necessarily modi-
fied by the position of the stirrup. We have endeavoured
to show the relative value of each element in succession,
and now leave the reader to make such a combination
of them as best suits his purpose, reminding him merely
that, although he may safely modify first principles,
he never can totally despise them without committing
an absurdity.

A question presents itself here which, although apper-
taining more properly to the department of practical
instruction, is so intimately connected with the matters
we have just now been discussing, that it is impossible
to pass it over without a few words — it is this : Should
we give our first instruction in riding with or without
stirrups ? The advocates of beginning without stirrups
say, you must first give the pupil a seat, and then when
he has acquired balance and a hold of his horse, you

74 SEATS AND SADDLES.

can give him the additional assistance of the stirrups.
Now the most difficult thing to attain is balance, and
the stirrup was devised for the purpose of assisting in
acquiring and maintaining it ; and it is therefore just
as reasonable to act in this manner as it would be to
set a boy to learn swimming without corks or bladders,,
and when he learned to support himself in the water
give him these artificial aids — and this is seldom
thought rational. But there is another objection —
namely, that the pupil first acquires one seat, and
afterwards is expected to change it for another and
a better one. Why not begin at first with this ? Every
practical cavalry officer knows that it is much easier to
teach a man that has never been on horseback than
one who has acquired methods of his own, which give
the instructor the double work of unteaching and teach-
ing. Of course if the people ride at home nearly in
the same way and in the same kind of saddle that they
are required to do in the ranks — as, for instance, the
Hungarians, Cossacks, and others — this does not apply ;
but with all western nations of Europe it does. It is
highly probable that the English system of hanging
the stirrups far forward in the saddle has been adopted,
partially at least, for the purpose of adapting these in-
struments to a seat acquired without them — that is to
say, to a purpose they were not intended for. Long
experience in training recruits has resulted in the con-
viction that it is much better, and in the end more
expeditious, to give the young rider stirrups from the
beginning ; and when he has acquired a certain amount
of confidence and balance you may take away the
stirrups to perfect the latter, without running the least
risk of destroying the former.

SEATS. 75

To return from this digression, and at the same time
bring our investigation of the general conditions on
which a safe seat depends to a conclusion, let us recall
to mind the final result of Chapter II. as it affects
the seat. Whatever the form of this may be in a
state of rest, from the moment action ensues the lever
power transmitted through the hind and fore legs
respectively will constantly tend to disturb the rider's
seat more or less everywhere, but least of all when this
is exactly over the perpendicular line passing through
the centre of motion (the line E F, Fig. 4) ; whereas
it will be most felt by the rider the more his seat is
placed away from this line, especially in rear of it.

Here are two scraps of newspaper correspondence :
" He never seemed to move in his saddle from the
starting-post till he had won the race ; " and again —
" They still ride as if they formed part and parcel of
their horses ; it is the old Centaur-like form."

English gentlemen like to ride with ease, and will
have probably no objection to grace. The former pre-
cludes the idea of all visible muscular exertion, and
presupposes a feeling of security ; the latter is equally
incompatible with slovenliness, affectation, or stiffness ;
moreover, steadiness of the hand depends on solidity
of the seat, and this, as we have seen, depends to a
great extent on the not being exposed to conflicting
movements derived from the horse.

The Jockey's Saddle and Seat. — English jockey-
riding is universally acknowledged to be perfection ; it
is, in fact, a specialty in which the English character
is strongly reflected ; for although its mere mechanism
may be easily imitated, the cool judgment, energy,

76 SEATS AND SADDLES.

patience, and promptitude that really constitute a good
race-rider, are natural gifts. What interests us more
especially is, that this style of riding is in perfect
accordance with the principles we have been advocating :
the saddle is placed just over the fourteenth vertebra,
it is of such small dimensions that the rider can only
sit on one spot,* and under this, or very nearly so, the
girths are attached and the stirrups suspended; nay,
still further, a surcingle passing over the exact centre
of the saddle is generally employed. The length of the
stirrups should, according to the best authorities, be
such as just to enable the jock to clear his saddle
when he stands in them, but never so long as to make
him depend en the reins in the least for his upright
position ; therefore, when he does stand in the stirrups,
he transfers, through them, his weight to the centre of
the saddle, without, of course, disturbing the general
equilibrium of his horse. When he wishes to bring the
centre of gravity more forward — which favours, as we
have shown, the propelling action of the hind legs — he
does this by bending his own body forward from the
hips upivards, and throwing forward his head, his legs
remaining straight down close to his horse ; and this
bend is altogether different from that of the rider who
sits far back in his saddle, with his knees drawn up to
the horse's shoulder. When he comes to the finish, the
jock sits down to " ride " his horse, just as a cavalry
soldier should, the great difference being that the latter
has but one hand to ride with. Much of the success
of starting depends on the rider throwing his weight
forward at the proper moment, and not overdoing it, as

* Hibernice, the racing saddle may be described as having only
a middle, and d — 1 an end at all.

SEATS. 77

good riders well know. The bridle is a much greater
difficulty with the race-horse than the saddle, but this
we must reserve for the second part of our book.

The Hunting Seat. — This is a difficult subject, and one
that cannot be treated dogmatically. Hunting is well
done in a great variety of forms, and then money is, to
most hunting men, a matter of secondary importance.
The great majority only require their horses " to go ;"
when they are done up they can buy others, and so on.
Eace-riders mount for other people's pleasure, and large
sums of money are at stake : hence the severe discipline
and the carefully-considered system of riding. The
preservation of the horse, too, is a great consideration :
the hunting man rides for his own pleasure, and is only
answerable to himself for his expenditure of horse-flesh.

The author of the ' Handy Horse Book,' remarking
at p. 99 on the great difference in speed between English
and Irish fox-hunting, says " that the sound principles
of hunting are repeatedly sacrificed to the unnatural
speed to which hounds are now forced." There are, no
doubt, many good reasons to account for this. Most
men care more for " the spin " than for the hunting itself,
which affords merely a pretext. Perhaps, too, English
hunting is less a pursuit of the fox than a desperate
endeavour to distance Thackeray's all-pervading snob,
which seems, however, not always to succeed ; for, as
" Magenta " says, in the paragraph of this book quoted
above, "the hounds are so forced as to overrun the
scent ; then, when at fault, the entire ruck of the field
have an opportunity of coming up," &c., &c.

But what we have to do with is the seat, and not
the hunting itself, which has been alluded to merely

78 SEATS AND SADDLES.

because the pace has evidently a good deal to do with
the form of the seat. For, in fact, men of fifty years
old and thereabout can scarcely fail to remember that
the length of our saddles has been increasing constantly
with the rapidity of the pace ; and although an increase
of the bearing surface of the saddle, as has been already
shown, is an admirable thing in itself, no great advan-
tage is derived, so far as the horse's back is concerned,
unless the rider be placed in the centre of the saddle.
But our saddles have been lengthened chiefly for the
purpose of enabling us to get further away from the
stirrup, so as to use this as a point of support, not
against falling to the right or left, but to prevent one's
being pulled right over the horse's head in fast galloping
and jumping ; and thus many riders whose object really
is to throw their weight somewhat forward, because
this favours speed, actually come to sit almost on the
loins of their horses, where they seriously impede the
action of the propellers, and are then compelled to
throw their body forward in the most inconvenient and
unsightly manner/1' No doubt if this system were not
found to answer the purpose more or less it would
scarcely be persevered in. When, however, we find
some of the best authorities recommending, and many
of the best living riders practising, something very
different, one begins not only to doubt its being even
relatively good, but also to look with a more critical
eye to its positive disadvantages. They are these : It
involves unnecessary wear and tear of the horse's fore

* Sir F. Head says, in ' The Horse and his Eider,' p. 33, " The
generality of riders are but too apt to sit on their horses in the bent
attitude of the last paroxysm or exertion which helped them into
the saddle, called by Sir Bellingham Graham a wash-ball scat."

SEATS. 79

legs, because the rider's weight is with every bound
thrown forward into his stirrups in the direction Q P,
Fig. 4 — that is to say, exactly counter to the direction in
which the arm-bone ends its action ; whereas, by sitting
over the centre of motion, the shock is equally divided
over all four legs, and not on one pair alone. This is
what we meant by saying that a man may sit far back
and still ruin his horse's fore legs. Secondly, it is not
the safest method, because, if the horse fails with one or
both fore legs, the rider loses all his support at once,
the stirrup acting only as a pivot round which, by means
of his stiff leg, his whole body is made, by the impulse
received from the hind legs, to rotate and perform the
catapult experiment. And if a horse suddenly swerves,
turns on his haunches, or comes to a dead halt at a
jurnp,\he rider is most likely, through the same agency,
to continue the original line of movement, whilst the
horse adopts a new one, or ''reposes." Thirdly, this
method of riding tends very forcibly to making the horse
convert the rider's hand into a fifth leg for itself, the
pull of the head on the rein coming at an acute angle to
the push or tread of the leg in the stirrup; and this,
when carried to excess, degenerates into pure rein and
stirrup riding without any seat, especially with horses
that carry their heads low. It is, however, just precisely
with a hard-pulling horse that a curbed bit would be
so desirable, and with this seat it is a matter of im-
possibility to use one. The rule for the jockey we have
seen is, never, in standing in his stirrups, to depend for
seat to any extent on his reins. Why this should be
neglected in hunting is not easy to understand. The
Cossacks and Circassians, who all ride with a snaffle,
and do wonderful things with it, sit perfectlykindependent

80 SEATS AND SADDLES.

of the rein : any one can make his horse equally light in
the hand with a snaffle as theirs are, by making his seat
as independent of the reins and stirrups, or use a curbed
bit in hunting if he pleases. It is the close steady seat
that makes the hand light and the horse's mouth soft ;
and therefore it is much more valuable in teaching to
make the young riders dispense altogether with the reins
than with the stirrups, and may be done sooner.

Apropos of riding in the stirrups, — " either to avoid a
kick, or in jumping a large fence, the rider, by merely
rising in his stirrups, at once raises or abstracts from
the saddle the point his enemy intends to attack, and
accordingly the blow aimed at it fails to reach it."* On
the contrary, Mr. Apperley says, " When hounds find
and go away, place yourself well down in your saddle,
OQ your fork or twist, and don't be standing up in your
stirrups (as formerly was the fashion, and the cause of
many a dislocated neck), sticking out your rump as if
it did not belong to you." Who shall decide when such
high authorities differ? But perhaps the difference is
more specious than real. Mr. Apperley says, " well down
in your saddle," which, we take it, will bring a man
very near to the. middle of that piece of furniture, and
probably to the horse's centre of motion. Here the
necessity for avoiding the blow does not arise, it is
the point of least motion ; but if a man sits well back
in his saddle, a la wash-ball, he gets much nearer
to the action of the hind legs, and nothing else remains
for him than a speedy retreat when this becomes
dangerous. Something like this must be the key to
this difference of opinion ; for a rifle or other gun that
kicks will only hit your shoulder the harder the looser
* Sir F. Head, as above.

SEATS. 81

you hold it, and perhaps knock you down if you hold it
quite clear, or at least knock the wind out of you. If
a man sits in the right place he does not need to rise
in his stirrups for any such purpose ; and if he does not,
the rising in the stirrups, and thereby abandoning his
whole seat, may or may not help him.

Perhaps we should never have attempted writing a
single line about the hunting seat but for one considera-
tion— it is this : The majority of our cavalry, yeomanry,
and mounted volunteers are hunting men, and if there
really were such an enormous difference between a
good cavalry and a good hunting seat, as many people
seem to suppose, it would be simply a very hopeless case.
But is there this great difference ? Mr. Apperley says,
" Be assured that the military seat with very long
stirrups will not do here, however graceful it may appear
on a parade." Fortunately this great authority gives us
in his own book a drawing intended to represent this
graceful seat, which (see Plate V.), on closer inspection,
turns out to be Harry Lorrequer's " tongs across a wall."
Well, no doubt, this won't do for hunting, nor indeed,
as far as we can see, for any other good purpose beyond
exhibiting the high polish of a man's boots, spurs, and
stirrup irons — the rider being in uniform scarcely
making his seat a good military one ; but of this more
anon. Mr. Apperley has, however, given us two other
figures representing his notions of good and bad hunting
seats, which are here presented to the reader.

On the other hand, there can be no doubt of the
total inapplicability of the wash-ball seat to military
purposes ; and, after all, one comes to the conclusion
that the essential difference between any two good forms
of seat is not so enormous as is commonly represented.

82 SEATS AND SADDLES.

If a man " sits on horse ape-like," as the Hungarian
phrase is, he will scarcely succeed in any kind of riding ;
and we believe that the great secret of good horseman-
ship in general consists in avoiding exaggerations of all
kinds. The saddle, the position of the stirrup, and the
peculiar object in view, may and must induce modifi-
cations of the seat ; but riding is still riding, and the
mechanism of the horse's construction cannot be altered
by mere fashion.

Road-Riding. — The road-rider, although not required
to take fences, or permitted to ride at full gallop like
the fox-hunter, has his own difficulties to contend with •.
he has to do his work on a hard inelastic surface, and
not on grass fields or ploughed land ; he must be pre-
pared to make sharp turns, and to meet all sorts of
provocations to shying and restiveness, of which the
hunting man knows little or nothing ; in fact, handiness,
safety for himself, and a due regard for his horse's legs,
are much more important considerations for him than
great speed. It is all very well to say that a roadster
or hack should possess the qualities requisite to insure
the above, but all does not depend upon the horse ; if
the seat of the rider be faulty, a breakdown will ensue
sooner or later.

Let us take the hard road, in the first instance, into
consideration. When one body strikes, falls, or im-
pinges on another, to use a scientific phrase, it receives
the blow back sooner or later. This is, as we all know,
what is called recoil or rebound; the elastic surface
gives back the blow later and more gradually ; the
inelastic one sooner and more suddenly. The horse's
leg being elastic, it receives but a small shock from
the elastic turf, this being divided between both nearly

SEATS. 83

equally ; on the hard road nearly the whole recoil is
transmitted back to the horse's body through its limbs,
and this is nearly equal to the weight of both rider and
bearer. There are various means by which this recoil
may be diminished in intensity, to the great ease of the
horse. One of the most obvious is to distribute the
weight as nearly as possible over the middle of the
horse's back ; which is constructed, as we have shown,
in such a manner as to admit of a certain amount of
elastic action in a vertical direction — in plain words, up
and down. Two men can carry a greater weight with
an elastic pole on their shoulders than with a stiff one ;
and if the burden be not exactly in the centre of it, the
man to whom it is nearest will get more of the recoil
from the ground than the other one. Now, taking into
account that the road-rider does not want great speed,
and has at the same time an inelastic surface to deal
with, there can, we think, be little doubt that, by
placing his saddle and himself over the middle of the
horse's back, he will save his bearer and himself a large
amount of recoil. If, however, in this position he
thrusts his whole foot into the stirrup, he thereby
throws away a further chance ; for, by merely resting
with the ball of his foot on the bar of the stirrup his
knee being slightly bent, he superadds the elastic
action of his own legs at knee and ankle to that of the
horse's, and this is the legitimate and useful form of
" bobbing up and clown."

A wholly useless and absurd method of performing
this feat is when the stirrup is ever so far away from
the part of the saddle on which the rider sits, for then
there is an end of the elastic action of the rider's leg ;
and unfortunately there are some cavalry services in

84 SEATS AND SADDLES.

which this is practised, to the great increase of rup-
tures amongst the men, and broken knees amongst the
horses.

The plan adopted in England is to avoid the recoil
by rising in the stirrups, which of course is the most
sensible way for a man who has to ride long distances
and is not encumbered with weapons. It has, how-
ever, its inconveniences, especially if the stirrup is
placed very far forward ; for then, in the first place,
the foot being thrust home in the stirrup, the elasticity
of the rider's leg is not utilised ; and even when this
is not the case, the " tread " being oblique cannot have
the effect intended ; secondly, the whole seat is aban-
doned for a certain time, nothing remaining in contact
with the horse except the leg from the knee down-
wards, which is of little use ; thirdly, the horse learns
to lean on the hand, for the rider must depend on his
reins, for a moment of time at least, which of course
renders correct bitting impossible ;* finally, the rider's
weight is being constantly transferred from the hind to
the fore quarters of the horse. There may be average
equilibrium, but it is never permanently in the right
place, and hence the danger ; for a sudden start or
stumble at the moment the rider is in the air, is the
most common cause of the accidents that occur so
frequently.

Now, in truth, there is no reason why this English
system of rising in the stirrups (in trotting) should not
be practised equally well, not to say better, with the
stirrup near the middle of the saddle instead of at one

* Ladies have in general a much lighter hand than men, their
seat is firmer and closer, and their horses are usually properly
bitted.

SEATS. 85

end. The difference is this, that a much less amount
of rise will suffice, and the seat is therefore not only
less completely abandoned, but also for a shorter time
the horse's balance is not destroyed ; and fine bitting
may be resorted to.* There is, however, a further
peculiarity belonging to this English method that is
worth understanding, because the successful trotting of
many horses depends on its being so. The "bobber
up and down " rises and falls with each tread of the
horse ; the English rider only with the intermediate ones :
he always comes down on his saddle simultaneously
with one and the same hind leg ; and the consequence
is, that in trotting after this fashion one diagonal pair
of legs is constantly saved from the recoil, and the
other as constantly exposed to it in an aggravated
form.f

Every practical rider must have observed that with
certain horses there is a difficulty, in starting to trot,

* The author has done many a mile of hard work in this way in
a military saddle with stirrups exactly central; and ridden to
English foxhounds also tolerably well in full military fig in a stiff
country.

f A friendly criticism in the ' Scotsman ' objects that we treat
the animal too much like a machine, and thinks " that it must be
an immense relief to a horse that his rider should occasionally
change his position, even to a weaker point," because, by keeping
the weight constantly in one place, " the strongest muscles will
get tired." Now, in the first place, there is very little muscular
action expended or required for the mere purpose of supporting the
rider's weight — this is done chiefly by the bones and tendons ; the
great expenditure of muscular action, and consequently the great
fatigue, is occasioned in propelling the horse's and rider's weights ;
and secondly, what we object to so much in the exaggeration of
the English system of rising in the stirrups when trotting, and
transferring the weight alternately from rear to front, and vice
versa, is precisely that one set of muscles is constantly over-
burdened, whilst another set is unduly spared ; whereas, by placing
the rider permanently in the centre, his weight is alternately
propelled by the diagonal action of each pair of legs.

86 SEATS AND SADDLES.

in the accommodation of the rider's rise in the stirrups
to the first movements : he will have to feel his way, as
it were, to the proper leg, and perhaps be obliged to sit
out two or three shakes before he can get at it ; for
many horses trot unequally — that is, take a longer stride
with one pair of legs than with the other. The rider
should observe this in difficult cases, and try to find
out, which he soon can, with which hind leg he should
rise or fall ; men who have this instinct are able to trot
horses that perfectly good riders fail with.

Lieutenant-Colonel von Oeynhausen tells us * that
the veterinary surgeon Trager, of the famous stud at
Trakehnen, has observed that the near hind and off
fore legs of most horses are stronger than the other
two ; and he attributes some well-known but hitherto
seemingly inexplicable facts in connection with horses
to this circumstance — as, for instance, that they natu-
rally prefer, in cantering and galloping, to lead with
the near leg, the weight being then supported by the
two strongest limbs (near hind, off fore) ; that spavin
occurs more frequently on the off than the near side ;
and that horses in wheeling about through restiveness
always do so to the left, on the near hind leg, &c.
Mr. Trager advances in support of his views 'the well-
known fact that men's right arms and left legs are
naturally most relied on, being also stronger ; and he
believes this to be the case with very many other
animals — dogs, for instance, whose method of going
diagonally seems to prove it. Now it is quite possible
that this is also the cause of what has been alluded

* B. von Oeynhausen, K.K. Oberst-lieutenant, etc. ; ' Der
Pferdeliebhaber ' (Vienna, 1865), at p. 162 — a book that cannot be
too highlj7 recommended.

PLATE V.

THE ARAB TYPE.

SEATS. 87

to above — namely, that in trotting after the English
fashion the horse endeavours to accommodate the
strong and weak pairs of legs to the rise and fall of the
rider in the saddle ; and if so, it is worth the attention
of practical men.

It is, however, quite clear that if we desire to train
horses to perfectly equal action on both sides — as is
necessary for military purposes, where all must be
brought as nearly as possible to one standard of action,
or for draught, where the team should trot alike — it
will be better to employ the * ' bobbing up and down
system " than English riding. The Americans under-
stand and apply this in the training of their great
trotters : few English horses can compete with them,
because their trot is uneven. But of course there is
no use in attempting a combination of "wash-ball," or
"tongs across a wall," with" bobbing;" it will never
succeed in anything except shaking the rider's lungs
out : the nearly perpendicular tread on the stirrup, with
an elastic ankle to break the jolt, is imperative. The
Orientals, who use shovel- stirrups, and stand straight
on the entire sole of the foot, never attempt trotting —
their paces are walk or gallop. Arab horses have,
however, a tremendous trot if you can bring them to
it ; but you must sit like wax, and have the delicate
hand of a first-rate pianist to do the trick ; for nothing
stronger than a single hair from a fair lady's head is
fit for a rein.

There exists in many minds a strong prejudice on
the subject of its easing the horse to tuck up the rider's
legs, and that nothing tires it so much as a long dangling
weight under its belly. In the first place, it comes
to this, that a giant should not mount a pony ; then,

SEATS AND SADDLES.

again, why dangle the legs ? They have a better chance
of lying close to the horse's body if the stirrup be
placed nearly under the seat, which does not involve
their being too long; and further, how if the rider's
body be made to dangle in the air over the horse's back,
in consequence of the attempt to tuck up the legs ?
This is still more dangerous : one sees every day horses
reeling in trot under riders that adopt the very " lofty "
English style ; the centre of gravity gets a couple of
feet farther away from the basis, which is just equivalent
to the latter being decreased proportionately. Every
one knows that a man with a long back and short legs
rides heavier than a long-legged one.

It is scarcely necessary, after what has been already
said, to demonstrate over again how conducive to handi-
ness, perfect mastery over the horse, independence of
the rein, and therefore good bitting, a central position
of the saddle, stirrups, and seat must be ; and these are,
we take it, the conditions under which road-riding
may be done safely and agreeably. High speed not
being the object, nothing can be gained by throwing
the rider's weight forward ; on the contrary, it has this
further positive disadvantage in addition to those already
pointed out. Corns with our horses are as equally
prevalent as broken knees, and the latter are very fre-
quently a consequence of the former. Now we have
shown (see Fig. 2, C) that the consequence of throwing
the weight forward is to make the horse overstep with
his hind foot the track of the corresponding fore foot ;
and this being very much our habit, our horses do very
frequently overstep, and by so doing the risk is run of
tearing off the fore shoes. We have got into the habit
of using very short shoes, the web of which does not

SEATS. 89

overlap sufficiently, at the heel, the angle formed by
the frog with the wall of the hoof, but falling short,
throws the whole pressure inside this angle. This is
what produces corns. For racing, certainly, and perhaps
for hunting, the short shoe may be inevitable, but there
is no reason whatever why the roadster should be shod
in this fashion, nor even a cavalry horse, except that
people will persist in either sitting directly on the horse's
withers, or when they sit on the loins, transferring their
weight to the shoulder, through the medium of stirrups
hung far forward, every time they rise in the saddle
when trotting. Corns and broken knees are totally un-
known in the Austrian cavalry, where the shoe is given
a solid bearing on the angle of the wall of the hoof at
the heel.

CHAP TEE IV.

THE MILITARY SEAT.

Is there such a thing as a standard military seat or
not ? and is there any real necessity for it, and what ?
There can be no doubt that a cavalry in some respects
technically inferior may achieve, and often has gained,
victories over another, not having any fault of the
kind. So very much depends on the way in which
this arm is handled, and on its moral qualities, that it is-
quite impossible to say, " This cavalry, because it rides
very well, must, or even will most probably, beat that
other one, because it does not ride quite so well." Are
we then to conclude that the seat and everything con-
nected with it is a matter of minor importance ? The
old Austrian cavalry regulations contained a paragraph
to this effect : " Cavalry that cannot ride (that is to
say, well) is a burden to the State ; " but we have been
often tempted to paraphrase this and say, " Cavalry
that can only ride is not less so." Both expressions
taken together will then mean, that it is not enough for
a cavalry man to be a bold rider ; his riding must be
done so as to make him an efficient combatant as well :
for whatever doubt may exist on account of the almost
impossibility of estimating precisely "the other things
equal " of the question to be solved, as to whether a

THE MILITAKY SEAT. 91

cavalry that rides positively well may or may not prove
superior in combat to one that rides only comparatively
so, this much is quite certain, that the former will bring
into and retain in the field a much greater proportion of
serviceable horses than the latter, which is in itself an
element of success that may be indeed squandered away
like all others, but must, if properly taken advantage of,
confer great superiority. In fact, what we would say
to every cavalry officer of whatever nation is this : Your
cavalry is very fine : it has done wonders, and beat all
other cavalries in the world ; but it would do still
greater miracles, and beat all the rest if you only im-
proved your seat, &c., a little more ; besides which it
would cost less — a matter of some importance — and
perhaps look quite as well as at present.

No one, we suppose, will contend that the jockey-
style of riding can serve as a model for the cavalry
soldier : the kind of work to be done, and its duration
are totally different. Perhaps the hunting seat deserves
more consideration. This much is certain ; it is of great
advantage to cavalry to be able to get across a difficult
country, and much of its utility will depend on its being
able to do this cleverly, and in an orderly manner.
This has been recognised and acted on of late years to
a much greater extent than formerly, and, as we think,
very wisely too. Up to a certain time the haute ecole
dominated cavalry riding exclusively, and, no doubt,
very reasonably, in the then-existing semi-cultivated
state of Europe, and under the conditions of combat
then prevalent. But both of these have undergone great
modifications : and first of all, what the Germans call
the " campaign school," was introduced for cavalry
purposes ; and more recently still, that very indefinite

92 SEATS AND SADDLES.

form called the hunting seat, or rather what is supposed
to represent it, has been making considerable inroads
into the domains of the riding master/1' All we propose
saying for the present is, that the wash-ball seat is
evidently not the proper thing for military purposes ;
whilst, perhaps, " tongs across a wall," may be, in
reality, nothing more or less than the progeny of a liaison
with that respectable old lady the haute ecole — in fact, a
mule seat.

Let us pass in review the points of resemblance and
of difference between the two kinds of riding. The
former are but few in number, the latter very numerous.
The hunting man rides his own horse for his own
pleasure, and does not mind spoiling a steed or two for
the sake of maintaining his character as a forward rider.
Cavalry soldiers must ride together almost always : what
regulates their speed is the average of a whole regiment,
and not the swiftness of a single animal. The Oriental
national cavalries won't understand this, and get beaten
by riders who, taken singly, are very inferior. Again,
the hunting man's proper work is all done at full gallop ;
cavalry does at least five-eighths of its work at a walk
(route marching), perhaps two-eighths in trot (ma-
noeuvring), and certainly not more than one-eighth at full
gallop (in charging). The conclusions to be drawn are,
that even supposing the so-called "hunting seat " to be the
best for high speed, no government can afford the waste of
horse-flesh it involves, nor would there be the slightest
use in doing so. On the contrary, this style of riding can

* The father of a young cornet recently gazetted told the author
that his son had been advised by a brother officer to conceal the
fact of his being a " 'cross-country " rider on joining his regiment,
as otherwise the riding-master would keep him twice as long under
his hands.

PLATE VI.

" TONGS-ACBOSS-A-WALL.'

THE MODERN MILITARY SKAT.

THE MILITAKY SEAT. 93

only lead to loose and broken charges, or to a voluntary
abandonment of full gallop in charging. Further, the fox-
hunter does not require sharp turning, and he has both his
hands at his disposal ; whilst the cavalry soldier's life
depends to a great extent on his horse being able to turn
suddenly and rapidly with the aid of one hand. The poise
or equilibrium of horse and rider taken together can never
be too perfect or too permanent in his case. One of the
great mistakes committed is the supposing that what is
called a balance-seat is the one thing necessary. The whole
machine must be in balance, and not the rider alone.

But the greatest difference is in the absolute weight
or load to be carried. A hunting man buys a horse up
to his weight ; cavalry can do nothing of the sort, for
their horses are compelled to carry any load we please to
inflict on them. People rig out a soldier with everything
that combined bad taste and absurdity can suggest — put
him on a horse that must not cost over a certain
price, and call him a hussar, dragoon, or lancer, accord-
ing to the cut of his coat ; and so it comes that what
is called heavy cavalry sometimes rides lighter, and is
altogether lighter, than what people are pleased to
consider light cavalry.

There must be some average weight determinable
for the average horses and average work of cavalry, but
it is very hard to get at anything like a satisfactory
solution of this problem, in consequence of the great
number of unknown quantities involved in it. Never-
theless, there can be no harm done in attempting, at
least, a statement of the question.

French authorities" tell us that a good sumpter-horse,

* Migout et Bergery, ' Theorie des Aflftts et des Voitures
d'Artillerie.'

94 SEATS AND SADDLES.

working on a good road, can carry 100 to 150 kilogrammes
(equal to 15 stone \ lb., or 23 stone 8f lb.), at a walk, to
a distance of 40 kilometres (equal about 24T8o English
miles) in ten hours. But if the same horse be required
to do its work in trot, the burden must be reduced to
80 kilog. (equal 17 6| English pounds), in order to enable
it to do 22-J- to 24^j English miles in a day (of ten
hours). If the burden consists of a rider with his
saddle, &c., instead of inert matter alone, the horse can
do the 24T8n miles at a walk, on a good road, under the
greater load of 90 kilog. (198-| English pounds), and he
will only require seven to eight hours. It is therefore
evident that it is the dead weight of the pack which
distresses the horse most ; and our own experience of
jockeys carrying extra weight confirms this.

Further,' a man carrying a weight without the aid
of machinery, can transport 44 kilog. (97 lb. 10 oz.
English weight) to a distance of 12T% English miles for
a day's work ; and on comparing this with the day's
work of the sumpter-horse, we find that the former is
to the latter in the proportion of 1 to 5.

Now it is well understood that a foot-soldier who has
to use his weapons cannot carry anything like this
97 lb. 10 oz. English weight, without converting him into
a mere " colporteur," the utmost admissible load
being 22 kilog. (48 lb. 13 oz.), or one-third the man's
own average weight;* and as the saddle horse can
carry 90 kilog. 24T8Q miles only at a walk and on a
good road, if we take into consideration that some of

* The Continental cavalries take 145$ lb., or 10 st. 5|lb. as the
average weight. The British soldiers must be much heavier
than this, probably 11J to 12 st. The British infantry soldier's
kit at present weighs exactly 11.67 kilog., leaving 10.33 kilog., or
about 23 lb., for arms and ammunition.

PLATE VII.

THE EXTREME CHAIR SEAT.

THE EXTREME FORK SEAT.

THE MILITARY SEAT. 95

the cavalry horse's work must be done in trot and
gallop, and much of it on more or ess difficult ground,
it is probable that 90kilog. (198J English pounds)
would be quite sufficient load, although the average
marches should not exceed 15 English miles per diem,
because the irregular food and the exposure to the
weather in bivouacs more than compensate for the
difference of distance.

It seems, however, to be the practice of most cavalry
services to put on their horses at least a third — in many
cases even more than that proportion — of the animal's
own weight. Strange to say, we must go to the manuals
of the artillery and pioneers for the weight of the
cavalry soldier. An Austrian authority, Baron Smola,
calls the average weight of the horse 743 to 864 English
pounds ; and it has always been laid down as a rule
by the best cavalry officers of that service that 200
Austrian or 246 English pounds, =17 stone 81b., is the
maximum load admissible. This would be exactly
one- third of the weight of the lighter horse, and about
two-sevenths that of the heavier one ; so that, in fact,
if this rule were adhered to, it would make light
cavalry heavier (for the horse) than heavy cavalry.
But we suspect that both one and the other have
transgressed this limit at various times. Very recently,
indeed, the Austrian light cavalry has thrown away
sabretaches, echabraques, cruppers, pistol-holsters, and
no end of other useless lumber, to the great ease of
the horse's backs ; and the cuirassiers have been all
converted into dragoons. Taking 246 Ib. as the total
weight, and deducting 66 kilog. or 145^ Ib. for the
average man, there would remain for arms, saddle,
kit, &c., 100 Ib., which ought to suffice.

96 SEATS AND SADDLES.

The French * Aide Memoire ' gives us 99^ English
pounds for the weight of the horse, and 1,296^ for the
trooper complete ; consequently the burden is 304ilb.,
or less than one-third ; and deducting from this, as
before, 145| Ib. for the man, there remains 158f Ib.
of dead weight. It is no doubt this, and something
connected with the seat, which is very far back, the
stirrups being very far forward, that we must look to
for an explanation of the sore-back disasters of 1859.
It may appear absurd to accuse the French cavalry of
riding with a " hunting seat," but in truth theirs is an
exaggeration of a bad one.

A Prussian book* gives 1,152 English pounds for
the weight of the heavy horse, f and 1,546 English
pounds for the cuirassier completely armed; consequently
the burden is 394 Ib., or more than one-third of the
animal's weight : and having deducted the 145|- Ib,
for the average man, there remains 248-| Ib. dead
weight, or exactly 50 Ib. more than Migout and
Bergery's estimate of what the total burden should be.
The light Prussian horse is set down at 921 English
pounds, and the dragoon or hussar complete at 1,252
English pounds. Proceeding as before, we find, there-
fore, that these horses carry 331 Ib. = 23 stone 9 Ib.,
also more than one- third their own weight, of which
185| Ib. ig dead weight, or within 13 Ib. of what the
French authority lays down as the total admissible
burden. Now it is remarkable that, notwithstanding
this unfavourable state of things, we have hitherto
heard nothing about Prussian sore-back disasters in the

* Ludwig Schone, ' Feldbriickenbau.'

t The average weight of the English artillery horse is stated in
Griffith's 'Artillerist's Manual,' at 10 cwt. 2 qrs. = 1,176 Ib.

VIII.

THE OPEN SEAT AND HIGH PACK.

THE CLOSE SEAT AND PLAT PACK.

THE MILITARY SEAT. 97

campaign of 1866, although the cavalry did an immense
deal of work; and this can only be attributed to a
better seat and method of riding than the French, for
the dead weight is absolutely greater. *

If anything is to be made of cavalry in future wars,
the burden of the horses must be diminished. The most
obvious way is by lessening the dead weight ; but why
should not smaller men be selected ? After all, what is
really necessary is, that the soldier should be tall enough
to mount with ease and to clean his horse. Anything
beyond that is superfluous.

Let us compare with the above, in order to show how
far a "hunting-seat" method is applicable to cavalry
purposes, some English standards of weight for flat-
racing and steeplechasing, taken at random from the
newspapers. For five-year-olds we find 10 st. 12 lb., or
152 lb., for half a mile flat, and 12 st., or 168 lb., for
aged horses. For five-year olds, lOst. 12 lb. = 152., and
for six-year-olds, 11 st. 4 lb. = 158 lb. for two miles'
steeplechase. For five-year-olds, list. 71b. = 161 lb.,
and for an aged mare, 12 st. = 168 lb., for a three-mile
hunters' stakes steeplechase. These are, we believe,
fair samples ; but the horses that carry these weights
do it once for all : they are the best of their kind perhaps
in the world, and are trained and fed in a way quite
beyond the reach of cavalry. The immediate object,
too, is to take the most out of the individual horse for
the moment ; in fact, all the conditions are different.

And as to the seat, the hunting rider can adjust his
weight as he pleases ; he may vary his position in the
saddle, which constitutes the whole of the dead weight,

* There were only too many sore backs, both in 1866 and 1870,
in the Prussian cavalry.

98 SEATS AND SADDLES.

and need not exceed 14 Ib. ; his doing so must not
necessarily give his horse a sore back or bruised withers.
On the other hand, the dead weight carried by the
troop-horse is most usually equal to, in many cases
greater than, that of the rider ; a shifting of the seat
will therefore necessarily destroy not only the poise of
the horse, but, what is still worse, that of the saddle —
and this is what kills the horses, or at least sends them
into hospital. The cavalry soldier's seat must be there-
fore fixed, and not subject to variation ; in charging he
must bend his body forwards, from the hips upwards, in
order to use his weapons, and stand in his stirrups, and
this will suffice to accelerate the speed of his horse.
The grand rule is to arrange the saddle itself and the
stirrups so that the rider can only sit in the proper
position, that he falls naturally into it, and that it re-
quires no muscular effort to maintain it. If this be not
the case, the moment the man becomes tired, or his
horse makes a rapid movement, the whole seat is lost,
and the muscular effort that should remain altogether
available for the sabre or lance, is expended in en-
deavouring to maintain or regain an injudicious seat.
The true seat is therefore in the middle of the saddle,
whose upper surface should be so formed as not to
admit of any other one ; then the stirrup must be under
the seat, and not 8 to 12 inches in front of it. The
English hussar, Plate VII., is evidently expending mus-
cular action to keep his stirrup in a certain position
at an angle to its natural fall, instead of the stirrup
supporting his leg as the latter falls. Such a position is
not maintainable for any length of time, or in sharp
movement. In trot, for instance, the soldier, not being
permitted to rise in his saddle, must seek a support

THE MILITARY SEAT. 99

which the stirrups cannot afford otherwise than by
assuming an angle at the other side of the perpendicular
— that is to say, the tread in the stirrup comes to be in
the direction of the point of the horse's shoulder, "tongs
across a wall," and the counter-action is then upwards
in the line of the man's thigh, against which the intes-
tines descend, and produce, if there is the slightest
natural weakness in the individual, rupture. The stir-
rups being far forward in the hunting or civilian saddle
are not so injurious in this way, because the rider evades
the shock by rising in the saddle — and this is just what
led to the English way of riding ; but the cavalry soldier
cannot do so.

It is all very well to say the man must retain the
position prescribed for him ; if he is constantly on the
strain to do so, he simply cannot; besides which, the
stirrup is actually of very little, if any, use to him.
Two-thirds of the time and the whole of the talk ex-
pended in endeavouring to make a man retain an in-
convenient seat can be saved, and devoted to the much
more necessary objects of teaching him how to manage
his horse and use his weapons, if you make the pre-
scribed seat inevitable, and every deviation from it
uncomfortable ; and this can be easily done.

With the light cavalry (or Hungarian) saddle, it will
not do to put a man into it as it comes out of the saddler's
hands, and order him to sit in a particular manner ; it
is just as necessary, or more so, to make the saddle fit
the man's seat, as to make his coat or boots fit his body
or feet ; and this is done, after careful observation of
the seat, by shortening or lengthening the bearing-strap
of the seat, or by altering the lacings, till the seat
comes right of itself, when you don't need to correct it

100

SEATS AND SADDLES.

in the riding-school. Fig. 5 shows the outlines of those
Hungarian saddles. At a the bearing-strap of the seat
is laced down so as to have its lowest point towards the
rear of the saddle, the consequence of which is to throw
the rider's seat back on the Monboddo bone, bringing
the thigh forwards and the knee towards the horse's
shoulder, wash-ball fashion. At b, the reverse is the

case ; the bearing-strap being laced down in front, its
hinder part throws the rider altogether into his fork,
and the thigh and leg come too far back, muff-fashion ;
a bends his neck and shoulders somewhat forward in order
to get his balance, whilst b strains them backwards. At
c the lowest part of the bearing-strap is in the middle of
the saddle, all of which variation depends on the lacing,
supposing the length of the strap itself to be the same : c

THE MILITARY SEAT. 101

therefore sits on his triangle with his body upright and his
legs coming down in their natural fall, his whole weight
being spread over the entire under- surf ace of the saddle-
blades ; whilst it is evident that the weight of a, being
far to the rear, will press down the hinder ends of the
saddle-blades into the horse's back, tilting up the front
ends ; b, on the contrary, drives the saddle-blade ends
into the horse's withers : o-'s saddle will probably run
forward, 6's horse run through the girths.

The place of the stirrup and its influence on the
seat is here altogether left out of consideration. It
should bs made to accord with the seat, and not the
seat with it, otherwise the rider is always " con-
tending against" his stirrups, instead of "depending on
them."

How the bearing- strap of the saddle should be ex-
actly laced will depend altogether on the "plenitude"
or " poverty " of the seat of honour of each individual
rider. A very full-sized sitting-part requires the lacing
to approach that shown at a in order to make the rider
sit like c ; a very spare man, on the contrary, will re-
quire something like b for the same purpose : for most
young men it will do best as at c.*

* The bearing-strap of the seat is best made of a piece of good
girthing-web, doubled together so as to form, with its central
portion, a collar to embrace neatly the hinder knob of the saddle,
the two branches being sewed by their edges together down the
middle of the seat, and ending, the one with a strap, the other
with a buckle, which, when united, form a corresponding collar for
the front knob. Brass eylet-holes stamped into the outer edges at
certain intervals would be an improvement. Of course a movable
pad covers this bearing-strap, the lacings and the side-plate of the
saddle, as far down as the tops of the girth at each side, but it is
on the length of the bearing- strap, and the way in which it is
laced, that the form of the seat will depend. All the edges of
these wooden saddles must be nicely bevelled off.

102 SEATS AND SADDLES.

The same principle applies exactly to civilian sad-
dles. If you know yourself how you want to sit, you
must tell this to the saddler before he has constructed
the seat, as that depends on him and not on the saddle-
tree maker. It is also evident that, if the stirrups of a
given tree happen to be hung too far forward, the defect
can only be remedied by bringing the lowest point of
the seat of the saddle nearer to them, for the tree
itself must remain as the rule of thumb turned it out
of the workshop. Civilians fancy that a cavalry seat
must be stiff and constrained ; to be good it must be
perfectly easy and unconstrained, and then it will not
only answer its purpose, but be really graceful.

One of the great difficulties is about the pack. There
is no use in putting the saddle in the middle of the
horse's back, and the stirrups and rider in the middle
of the saddle, unless you at the same time distribute
the weight of the pack equably before and behind the
latter; the component parts of the dead weight must
be accurately balanced against each other. As regards
the form, it should be made as flat as possible, instead
of being built up into two great mountains in front
and rear of the rider's seat, and this for the following
reasons : First, the nearer the pack is to the perpen-
dicular lines falling through the centres of motion and
gravity the less will it incommode the horse by its
vibrations, tend to displace the saddle, or be liable to
break the straps and shake loose itself ; and the centre
of gravity is most undoubtedly under the rider's seat ;
therefore, on this account alone, the lower and flatter
the pack the better. Secondly, if the pack be high
in rear of the rider, as shown by the English hussar,
Plate VII., the difficulty of getting into and out of the

THE MILITAEY SEAT. 103

saddle is greatly, enhanced, and with it the chances of
deranging the latter and causing it to turn round,
which leads to overtight girthing. The Austrian
"hulan," shown on the same Plate, is taken from a
coloured penny picture, the only thing we can for the
moment procure, and is, consequently, not so correct as
the hussar, who was photographed from life ; still it
serves to show what can be done in making the pack
flat, and adapting it closely to the horse's body. The
white cloak, it will be observed, is folded flat and
placed above the sheepskin, where it can be got at
without opening the whole pack, and the valise is also
flat. Why these articles were ever rolled up into long
cylinders, the most intractable and inconvenient form
that can be devised, is utterly unaccountable, except on
the supposition of cavalry officers having been peculiarly
subject to softening of the brain, in consequence, no
doubt, of the solidity of the shakos and helmets worn in
those days. Thirdly, a mountain of pack in front of the
rider renders it utterly impossible to adopt a proper
system of bitting, or to make the pull on the reins act
in the proper direction ; even with the greatest care and
management, the bridle-hand of the cavalry soldier must
be necessarily placed at a greater distance from the
horse's withers than that of the civilian : we shall,
however, have more to say on this point in the second
part of this little work.

The old heavy cavalry leather saddle is gradually
disappearing in almost all services, because it can
neither be adapted to each individual horse nor rider.
There is only one seat possible with it, the chair-seat,
which throws the weight all to one end, and produces
sore backs much more frequently than a well-arranged

104 SEATS AND SADDLES.

wooden or Hungarian saddle with a proper seat. Several
modifications of the Hungarian saddle have been adopted,
amongst others, a Danish model ; but it is quite absurd
to attempt to retain, as has been done in many instances,
the chair-seat of the heavy cavalry saddle in a wooden one
— better far stick to the old form : however, the difficulty
will probably be ended by heavy cavalry being gradually
abandoned, for which there are many other reasons
than merely the technical ones we have had to deal with.
We cannot wind up this portion of our work better
than with a few remarks on the following passage from
the ' Handy Horse Book,' pp. 48, 49 : " Altogether it
might be desirable that commanding officers of some
cavalry regiments would study the pose on horseback of
Marochetti's sculptured dragoons, or those of other
eminent artists. The result would probably be a marked
improvement in the position of the saddle, and, con-
sequently, in the general coup d'&il of our cavalry," &c.
Now, if it were merely for appearance' sake, we should
say that no real advantage of other methods should be
sacrificed to this; but, after all, what is Marochetti's
pose, and why have he and other eminent artists
succeeded in producing works that please the eye of
such judges of horsemanship as " Magenta" and other
sporting men? and why are our public places dis-
figured by absurd equestrian statues? Simply because
Marochetti perfectly understood the equilibrium of the
horse and rider, and was bound to do so, as otherwise
he could never have got the weight of material to
balance on a pair of legs, but must have had recourse,
like others, to a post growing out of the ground and
into the horse's belly to sustain it, or wholly abstained
from the attempt to reproduce his figures in motion.

THE MILITABY SEAT. 105

And the ease and dignity of his statuettes depend on
the impression they make on the spectator of their
perfect security, and because they exhibit the rider as
having a perfect control over the movements of his
horse ; and this is what a cavalry soldier should have.
What can be more undignified or repugnant to good
taste than to put a great military leader on a horse in
the position in which grooms used to ride to water?
It disgusts, from being altogether out of character.

But, as we have shown, the safety of the horse's back
and the life of the rider — that is to say, the efficiency
of the cavalry — depend altogether on perfect equilibrium ;
and this, we take it, is a much higher consideration
than appearance. Fortunately, however, what is really
good and to the purpose does please the eye in this
as in many other matters. Lastly, far from thinking
that a good method of riding to hounds is incompatible
with, or antagonistic to, a good system of military
riding, we believe that the former has been of great
use to the latter in emancipating it to a certain extent
from the pedantry of the old haute ecole, and laying
the foundation for the modern system of "campaign
riding," which is better adapted to our present cavalry
tactics. And, after all, there is not so much difference
between a good hunting and a good military seat as
many people suppose ; nor should they, on the other
hand, be considered identical, as many others believe,
the objects to be attained and the means being different.
And this is quite certain, that the " wash-ball seat " is
just as useless for the one as " tongs across a wall " is
for the other. Exaggeration spoils good riding, as it
will the best argument, and is ridiculous into the
bargain.

PAET TWO.

BITS AND BITTING

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES.

THERE is scarcely anything of more frequent occurrence
than the transition from an incorrect mode of expres-
sion to a popular error ; we see instances of this daily
occurring. No doubt the incorrect mode of expression
usually arises, in the first instance, either from con-
fusion of ideas or false appreciation of facts, or both
taken together ; but when once brought into currency,
it is frequently accepted not only as a fitting designa-
tion, but actually as a true explanation of the nature or
mode of operation of the thing designated, and thus
grows into what is called a popular error.

It is more especially in matters connected with
mechanical contrivances that we observe this to take
place and the reason is very obvious. Such modes of
expression originate with what are called practical men,
who, seldom having leisure or scientific education suffi-
cient to enable them to construct at once correct defi-
nitions, commonly judge by the eye or the touch, and
translate the evidence of one of these senses into a
name. It is in this way that the peculiar languages of
handicrafts usually grow up, and the apprenticeship to
these consists to a great extent in the acquisition of the
proper application of such technical terms; so that,

110 BITS AND BITTING.

in fact, this sort of language becomes the means of
keeping secret certain processes for the benefit of the
initiated, and to the exclusion of the general public.

There can be, perhaps, no very serious objection to
this in general, the great desideratum being that the
workman should know how to do his work properly, not
suffering himself to be misled by the kind of mystical
jargon applied to it ; but there are cases in which it
does an infinity of mischief, and tends to the propaga-
tion of serious errors. To give a practical illustration :
of the thousands that ride and drive horses in this
country, but very few have acquired the art otherwise
than by self-teaching — what is called practice ; and of
the nearly equally great number who are intrusted with
the care and management of these animals, precisely
the same may be said. What shall we say of the
somewhat numerous class of individuals that undertake
to " break in" horses, as it is called, except that they
distinguish themselves generally by an abundance of
courage and determination — very necessary qualifica-
tions they are, too — and an equally great lack of any-
thing like rational principle to guide them in the exercise
of what they have converted into a handicraft. There
is a fourth class, not numerous indeed, but very im-
portant in their way : those artisans who spend all their
lives in the forge or workshop have seldom, if ever, any,
even the slightest, knowledge of horses, and still are
intrusted with the fabrication of those instruments, too
frequently of torture, which we apply to almost the
most sensitive part of the animal's body, his mouth.

Now there is scarcely any one expression so common
amongst riders, drivers, grooms, and horse-breakers, as
that a horse's mouth is hard or soft ; and when one

GENEKAL PEINCIPLES. Ill

comes to inquire into the best mode of attaining the
last-named quality, which is, of course, that most de-
sired, we find that the exceedingly sensitive gums of the
horse are supposed to become soft in consequence of
being subjected to a greater or less amount of pressure
from a piece of hard iron; an idea in itself perfectly
monstrous and contrary to fact, inasmuch as long-
continued pressure, if not too violent in degree, has
the tendency to produce a gradual thickening of the
membranes — in fact, renders the mouth callous, or the
contrary of soft ; and if so violent in degree as to
destroy the textures, and actually involve mechanical
softness, the reverse of what is understood by a soft
mouth is nearly always produced.

Here, then, most people who have to do with horses
start in life with an incorrect mode of expression, which
leads directly to a misconception of an important ques-
tion, and this in its turn to absurd and mischievous
methods of practice, and all this from a want of know-
ledge or a proper application of the simplest mechanical
principles. It requires, indeed, only the most superficial
inspection of a horse or other animal, either standing
or in motion, to perceive that we have to do with a
series of much more beautiful and perfect mechanical
contrivances than human ingenuity is capable of de-
vising— for the elasticity and power of animal muscle
and tendon is altogether beyond our imitation; and
this, applied to a most wonderful combination of levers,
constitutes the mechanism of animal power. A little
further consideration cannot fail to show us that the
means we employ to direct the power of a horse, and
make it subservient to our wants and wishes, are alto-
gether mechanical in their nature ; and on entering into

112 BITS AND BITTING.

an analysis .of their mode of action, we find them to
consist in the application of the principles of the lever
and of equilibrium, matters belonging respectively to
the domains of statics and dynamics.

The great difficulty in the rational application of
these principles arises partly from the complexity of all
problems connected with " equilibrium in motion," and
partly on account of the very great diversity in the
details of the construction and the relative proportions
of these animated machines. If we take the horse's
neck, for instance, it may be compared to the tiller of
a boat ; it is the lever by which the whole animal is
steered, or, in a state of nature, steers itself — the reins
being the tiller-ropes. The lever formed by the neck
acts on that part of the dorsal vertebrae we have shown
to be the centre of motion ; and when the horse is in
motion, the lever action of the limbs, derived from the
muscles, is propagated to this same point, the neck and
the tail being the regulators of the movement ; for by
means of the neck, the animal, as has been shown
in Part I., adjusts its equilibrium according to the
degree of velocity it requires, and according to whether
it wishes to move on straight or on curved lines ; and
a little attention to the movements of young horses,
when perfectly uncontrolled, will suffice to show that
the position of the neck is constantly varied to suit the
exigencies of the moment, the tail following its move-
ments in the most graceful manner as a counterpoise. *

It is precisely for this reason that a proper command
over the horse's neck is of such value to the rider,

* It would be easy to show that breeds of horses employed con-
stantly for one particular movement have their tails differently
seated and developed from those that are employed for a variety
of purposes. Our English race-horse is an instance.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 113

enabling him to vary the condition of equilibrium as
suits his views for the moment, and to weight one or
both of the hind legs, alternately or simultaneously,
as may best serve his purpose. It is on a perfect
knowledge of this principle that the success of handling
young horses, or the overcoming the vices of those that
have been injudiciously handled, depends ; and there is
no more frequent cause of restiveness or indocility than
an abuse of the lever action of the neck with young
animals.

Some years ago a great sensation was produced by a
system of riding, or rather handling, horses, introduced
by M. Baucher, a French riding-master. According to
this gentleman, the power of resisting the will of the
rider, and therefore the seat of all restiveness, is located
in that part of the neck which forms the articulation
with the head; and he found that, by getting the horse's
head into a particular position, and fixing it there, he
could more or less perfectly master the volition of the
animal. But it soon appeared that M. Baucher's
system had the radical defect of destroying all the
horse's paces ; and the Due de Nemour's condemnation
of it, or rather the sentence he passed on it, " Je ne
veux pas d'un systeme qui prend sur I' impulsion des
chevaux," was most perfectly justified. *

Now the error into which M. Baucher fell was this :
The horse's neck is, no doubt, a very powerful agent in
our hands ; it is, as we have already shown, the lever,
and the only one too, by which we obtain a command
over the entire motive mechanism of the horse, especially
the hind legs ; but it is only by varying its position that

* This, too, was the error of the Duke of Newcastle's system
which drove us into the opposite extreme,

114 BITS AND BITTING.

this can be usefully effected — by suiting this to the pace,
and the direction of the animal's movements; whilst
M. Baucher insisted on one invariable position of the
head and neck. Moreover, the pull on the reins was not
in the direction of the centre of motion, and could not
act with precision on the hind legs ; finally, the position
of the horse's head and neck were such as rather to
increase than diminish the overhanging weight of these
members. Compare Fig. 3, Part I., with the French
hussar a la Baucher in Plate VI., which also shows
the immense height and bulk of the pack, and the
seat of the rider altogether on the hinder part of the
saddle, although no doubt in exaggeration. Baucher's
"handling" was almost all done when the horse was
standing still, and its effect either became null when
the animal was put in motion, or, if preserved, the
power of locomotion was seriously impeded. No horse
ever voluntarily assumed such a position of his head
and neck as that prescribed by M. Baucher — in fact, it
was wholly unsuited to any form of movement ; it was
like attempting to steer a ship that had no way on her.
He overlooked altogether the problem of equilibrium in
motion, and mistook diminution or restriction of motive
power for a perfect command over it, under all circum-
stances and at every degree of speed. It is unnecessary
to add that the demon of restiveness, whose habitation
he fancied he had discovered in the neck-joint, and
whom he constantly attempted to exorcise, was simply
the creature of his own phantasy.

The various purposes to which horses are applied
demand, of course, different details of handling ; but
one broad principle applies to them all — namely, to get
the whole lever power of the animal to act in conjunction

GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 115

with its weight in the required direction, and this
with such a degree of leaning on the bit that the power
of controlling all its motions with certainty and ease
is secured, without the necessity of interfering in so
abrupt a manner with the animal's efforts as to impede
them unnecessarily ; and to do this in such a manner
that the peculiarities of the individual horse and of
his work are brought gradually into harmony, is the
only effectual means we possess for avoiding all occasion
for restiveness, and constitutes rational handling, as
distinguished from purely empirical horsebreaking as
it is usually practised. For this is the true secret, and
not such violent methods as those employed by Mr.
Earey and others. Do not, if possible, give your
horse an opportunity of resisting your will successfully,
which is usually a consequence of your demanding
from him something either beyond his comprehension
or capacity ; and should restiveness once occur, go
back immediately to something the horse will do, and,
if necessary, commence the whole process de novo.

It will be well to explain here why the perfectly
fresh and sensitive mouth of the young horse conveys
the sensation of hardness to the hand of the rider,
and why the same mouth, after it has really been
rendered more or less callous by the application of
cold iron to its delicate organisation, comes to be
called soft.

When a horse is mounted for the first time, the
equilibrium of the whole machine is disturbed, which
becomes especially remarkable in the neck. The young
horse bores on his bridle, and tries to acquire a new
point to lean on — a fifth leg, in fact : he is hard-mouthed.
But when the animal has learned how to carry itself and

116 BITS AND BITTING.

the rider, or acquired an artificial equilibrium suited
to the altered circumstances, then it no longer seeks
his support, and the mouth is called soft. That such
is really the case can be very satisfactorily proved. A
horse can be brought into perfect equilibrium under
the rider without any bridle whatever merely by using
a cavesson instead ; and if a snaffle be then put into
its mouth, this will be found to be exceedingly sensitive,
and it will require some days' riding before it will
" take the bit," as the phrase is.

From what has been just stated, it will be easy to
understand how the seat of the rider comes to exercise
so great an influence on the horse's mouth that the
same horse will go light with one and heavy with
another rider. First of all, it is a question of equilibrium.
One rider assumes a seat that favours, another one
that more or less seriously impedes, the efforts of the
horse to get into balance— for horses always try to
do this. But, secondly, supposing the seat, so far as
the distribution of weight is concerned, to be identical,
the unsteady rider will seek a support for himself in
the reins, and the horse immediately bores against
this, and becomes a hard puller ; whilst the steady seat
makes a light hand and a soft mouth.

It is, in like manner, easy to understand why not
only individuals, but whole breeds of horses, should be
found naturally light or heavy in the hand, which is
owing mainly to the general framework being more or
less favourable to equilibrium in motion — mainly, but
not wholly, because the interior conformation of the
mouth has always a certain influence, and this is
scarcely identical in any two horses, even as merely
regards those points that have a direct bearing on the

GENEEAL PRINCIPLES. 117

working of the bit ; and moreover, because temper and
even sex have also to do with it.*

It is abundantly evident, from the foregoing remarks,
that the question of bits and bitting cannot be solved
without reference to the whole theory of riding and
draught ; in fact it forms a very important part of both,
which must serve as an apology for the contents of this
introductory chapter. Indeed we must go a step further
in this direction, and call the reader's attention to
another item. What has been said on the subject of
the lever action of the neck will suffice to indicate that
the direction in which the pull of the reins is made to
act on the centre of motion, through the medium of the
head, must necessarily determine both the direction and
intensity of the lever-action transmitted in succession to
the other parts of the animal's frame. It is in con-
sequence of this that by merely elevating or depressing
the hands, employing a certain amount of pressure with
the rider's legs, and throwing his weight backwards or
forwards, that it becomes possible to make the horse
alter the conditions of his own equilibrium, by bringing
his hind legs more under* him, or the contrary. In like
manner it is possible, supposing the pull to be horizontal
• — which is, by the way, the normal direction for a well-
set-up horse for cavalry purposes, as we shall presently
see — to concentrate the lever action on one of the hind
legs in preference to the other, by simply throwing our
weight slightly to the same side, which enables us to fix,

* It will be necessary to go into further detail on this point in a
subsequent chapter. In the meanwhile, we cannot refrain from ob-
serving how absurd it is to attempt rigid uniformity in the patterns
of bits used by cavalry, or, as is not unfrequently done, continuing
h rough a long series of years the use of a bit originally destined
for a very different kind of horse from that found in the ranks at
the present day.

118 BITS AND BITTING.

as it were, certain legs to the ground, or detain them
longer in contact with it, setting the others free, and
determining with accuracy the mode and the moment of
their employment. Many horse-breakers do all this by
a sort of instinct. In fact, if they could not do it they
would scarcely ever succeed in handling a horse ; but
there are very few uneducated riders who comprehend
precisely the rationale of these processes, and are capable
of effecting them in all cases with certainty, which is,
however, indispensable to success in the handling of
young horses, or retrieving the mistakes that have been
committed by others with older ones.

We may say, then, that the art of bitting and bridling
is a very useful and essential one, because it enables us
to avoid the infliction of pain, whilst it secures to us a
perfect control over the horse's movements. It consists
in enabling us to exercise the mechanical action of the
reins in the proper degree and the right direction, for
every horse and for every movement.

The influence of good and judicious bitting and bridling
on the breaking-in and training of horses is incalculable,
whilst ignorance on these points, and abuse of these
instruments, are a very frequent cause of restiveness,
and of the ruin of young animals, especially of highly-
bred ones with their delicate organizations. A bolting
race-horse may be set down pretty nearly with certainty
as one that has been mismanaged and abused in
this respect. It is scarcely credible the amount of
terror with which some horses regard the bit, and the
blind fury with which they take it between their teeth,
throw up their heads, and bolt in consequence.
1 Considering the great number of " unthinking " riders-
and drivers that exist in all parts of the world, it seems

GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 119

perfectly miraculous, when one looks at the frightful
instruments of torture placed in the absurdest manner
in their horses' mouths, and used in the most wonderful
ways, that so few accidents occur. It is only a proof of
the admirable tempers of our horses. The Irish ones
are frequently deficient in this respect, being still more
grossly abused. Indeed, one sees every day, in broken-
kneed horses, lamentable evidence of the perversity and
ignorance with which horses are treated in this great
horse country. There is no use in mincing the matter ;
this is, to a great extent, a consequence of ignorance of
the true principles of bitting, saddling, and — riding ; for a
broken-kneed horse is an opprobrium to its rider.

As regards cavalry, few things are so important as
good and careful bitting. The steadiness of a troop or
squadron in its evolutions, and especially in skirmishing,
charging, and rallying, depends mainly on it. The writer
of this has on more than one occasion converted, in the
course of a few days and at a very moderate expense,
a body of this kind that had become almost unservice-
able from bad bitting into a model of steadiness, the
bolters and restive horses all disappearing as if by magic.
No doubt, in order to effect this, every single horse's
mouth must be measured, and fitted in the manner to be
explained hereafter. Three or four sizes or patterns
will not suffice for even 160 or 180 horses, much less for
a whole regiment, although our Cavalry Regulations lay
it down as a rule that each regiment should have " a, few
bits with different and easy mouthpieces and curbs, &c."

Draught horses are, on the whole, less absurdly bitted
than those used for the saddle in this country ; and the
huge bits one sees sometimes in the mouths of those
devoted to purposes of show and pleasure, although

120 BITS AND BITTING.

ridiculous enough from being so wholly out of proportion,
have their reins usually buckled into the cheeks, so as
to render the lever-action of these wonderful specimens
of ironmongery perfectly nugatory, which is so far
fortunate. It is, moreover, strange that it should be the
fashion to "bear up "carriage horses to a state of
balance which more nearly approaches the equilibrium
of the manege than anything else, whereas draught
requires the centre of gravity to be carried forward, and
the weight thrown somewhat more on the fore legs.
And having touched on this point we may as well say a
word or two on the subject of the blinds attached to
the bridles of harness horses. All of a sudden a move-
ment seems to have sprung up in favour of abolishing
this appendage, which is asserted to be both cruel and
useless. Now, in fact, it is neither the one nor the
other; but, quite on the contrary, it has a very
decided use, and from rendering the management
of horses easier, it tends to save them from the
infliction of punishment. The horse's hind quarters
are the portion of his frame most open to attack,
and the animal's instinct renders it consequently
extremely jealous of every approach in this direction,
which it is prone to resent rashly by lashing out with
its heels, with or without real provocation. It would
be, no doubt, a great cruelty to deprive a horse,
by means of blinds, of the faculty of providing for
his own safety when this care was naturally thrown
upon him. But this is not the case with a draught
horse in harness ; the driver is there to assume this
charge : and the certain consequences of taking blinds
off will be to make a great number of horses kickers,
and to cause numerous accidents to occur from horses

GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 121

running away to avoid some white apron or handker-
chief or the like that appears in their rear. Teams of
artillery horses without blinds become in consequence
unapproachable in column by officers who have to
gallop up and down with orders ; many a leg has been
broken in this way, and many artilleries have intro-
duced blinds in consequence, and with immediate effect.
Horses without blinds are always for starting off before
the driver has a hold of the reins, and soon learn to kick
at the least motion of the whip.

But enough has now been said to prove the great
importance of well understanding the principles on
which bits and bridles should be applied and con-
structed, both as a means of insuring to the rider and
driver perfect command over their horses, and also of
saving these most useful and docile animals from ill
treatment and unnecessary pain.

From the tenor of the preceding remarks, and indeed
of the whole of Part II., it must be evident that the
author's conviction — whether right or wrong matters
little — is, that every individual horse requires a bit
specially adapted to the dimensions of its mouth and its
general construction, and that, although freely admitting
that one bit may be found to suit several individuals,
there can be no such thing as a universally applicable bit
or bridle, any more than that certain quack medicines
can be, as asserted, equally suited to all men and
women indifferently, and to cure all diseases, whatever
their nature. Had such been his idea, it would have
been very silly of him to take the pains and trouble of
writing and publishing this Part II., and he would
probably have contented himself with advertising some
patent contrivance bearing his own name, according

122 BITS AND BITTING.

to the usual practice of quacks and nostrum-mongers.
This, however, was very carefully avoided; the object
of the book being in great measure to induce horse
owners to think for themselves on this subject. But
the business brigandage which is so rampant amongst
us nowadays got hold of the matter, and the author
found to his great disgust and annoyance that a London
saddler had advertised, and was selling in great numbers,
under the name of "Major Dwyer's Bridles," simply the
commonest clumsy pony-bits that can be imagined, all
of one pattern, and nearly, if not altogether, the same
size, consequently anything but universally applicable.
The name of a nobleman having been used for the
purpose of getting up this smart stroke of business, the
public was, as usual, gulled, with which the author has
nothing to do ; but he has a right to protest against
such a use being made of his name, because he certainly
never represented that any one shape or dimension of
bit is universally applicable, but on the contrary always
insisted, and still insists, that each individual animal
ought to be provided with a bit that suits the dimensions
of its mouth, &c.

CHAPTER II.

THE NECK — THE HEAD — THE MOUTH — THE TONGUE —
CARRIAGE — FEELING.

WE have spoken of the horse's neck as being a lever,
which of course, strictly speaking, supposes it to form
nearly a straight line, and to possess only a very limited
amount of flexibility, neither of which properties, in
fact, perfectly belong to it.* But a well-shaped neck,
well clothed with firm muscles, possesses both straight-
ness and inflexibility sufficient to render it possible to
apply to it the theory of lever-action with perfect
propriety. Such a neck will only deviate from the
straight line to any considerable amount near its point
of junction with the head, this latter also acting as a
lever, and imparting to the whole that graceful curvature
so pleasing to the eye even of the uninitiated — which is,
however, not merely a matter of taste, being in fact an
evidence of perfection of equilibrium and power.

It is scarcely necessary to say that there are almost
infinite varieties of necks to be found amongst horses as
regards these two very important items of straightness

* The horse's neck really forms a double curve, one being turned
upward, the other downward ; the mechanical action results in a
straight line forming the axis of the whole.

124 BITS AND BITTING.

and inflexibility ; it will, however, suffice for our present
purpose to point out two extreme cases, the one of
form — the ewe-neck ; the other of want of stability — the
long, straight, thin neck, scantily clothed with flabby
muscles. The annexed figure shows how the direction
of the pull of the reins is modified in each instance, and
how this in its turn changes the direction in which the

Fig. 6.

neck acts on the back. We see that with the exaggerated
ewe-neck the lever-action goes downwards under the
withers immediately on to the fore legs ; with the
long thin neck that bends throughout like a fishing-rod
(as also with all horses broken and bitted on Baucher's
principle), it goes upwards through the withers into the
air, in both of these cases missing altogether the centre
of motion ; whilst the intermediate position, combined

THE NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 125

with the requisite degree of stability, affords a pull in
the desired direction, and coupled with the weight of
the rider, meets directly the action of the hind legs, the
source of all propelling power.

Nor is this mere theory, for every one that has
mounted a. great variety of horses, and paid even a
moderate degree of attention to their different styles of
action, will at once recognise here the true reason of the
star-gazer appearing to have his fore legs nailed to the
ground by the lightest pull on the rein, whilst the croup
and the hind legs are flung wildly about, no pressure
of the rider's leg being capable of steadying them and
keeping the brute straight, either at rest or in motion.
Again, who that ever rode one of those long thin-
necked, unstable, rainbow quadrupeds that are so apt
to dazzle the eye of the uninitiated, can ever forget the
slipperiness of all its movements, and the painful sen-
sation of being mounted on a machine composed of
gutta-percha and glass? all of which, making due
allowance for the irritable tempers of such horses, is a
necessary consequence of the pull of the reins being in
a wrong direction.

Let us look at cavalry horses. The soldier has one
hand for the reins and the other for his weapon : his
efficiency depends altogether on his being able to use
the latter with precision and rapidity ; and this is an
impossibility, unless, to use Sir Charles Napier's words,
" the steed watches, the edge of the weapon " — that is
to say, follows the lightest movement of hand and heel
instantaneously, as it were intuitively. The Minister of
War of a certain German State once represented to his
sovereign that it would be necessary to give the whole
of the cavalry sabres of a new pattern, the existing ones

126 BITS AND BITTING.

being two inches shorter than any others in use in
foreign services, "Which would put our troops to great
disadvantage," quoth his Excellency; "Then let my
cavalry soldiers get two inches nearer to their opponents
than has been hitherto the practice," replied Serenissi-
mus. It is just this, it is an affair of inches ; and these
inches are widened into yards when the horse does
not or cannot follow the reins instantaneously and
accurately.

We have already pointed out several disadvantages
of the mountain of pack that is built up on the shoulders
of some cavalry horses ; an additional one is, that it
changes the line of direction in which the pull of the
rein acts, so as to make it go right up into the sky, and
altogether miss both hind and fore legs, thus placing
all horses, whatever the excellencies or defects of their
organisation may be, on the same dead level of un-
certainty and inaccuracy. It is not the weight alone
of " the epitome of a Jew's old-clothes shop " that is so
destructive, although this in itself is bad and absurd
enough ; what is still worse is the way in which that
weight is distributed, so as not only to render all
attempts at equilibrium impossible, but also to throw
the bridle-hand of the rider so high that he cannot use
any description of bit advantageously. A Cossack will
load his horse to almost the same pernicious extent that
most regular light cavalry men are compelled to do,
and still neither the speed, the agility, nor the power of
endurance of the little animal are impaired in any-
thing like the same degree as happens with the troop-
horse : the weight is better distributed for all purposes.
—(Plate VI.)

No doubt it is scarcely possible to avoid some degree

THE NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 127

of pack on the front part of the military saddle, but it is
precisely for this reason that it is so highly important
to give the head of the troop horse a proper position,
which can only be maintained by very careful and
accurate bitting, after that of the neck has been attained
by a judicious system of riding and breaking-in ; and
still one is astonished to see the pack of the officer built
up into the same absurd form as that of the private,
although there is no necessity whatever for this being
done.

The reader perceives, by these frequent and unavoid-
able digressions, how intimately the question of bits and
bitting is interwoven with the whole system of breaking-
in and riding horses, especially for military purposes;
and he will see farther on the great importance of this
point, particularly when we come to discuss the im-
mediate action of the bit on the interior of the horse's
mouth.

We have next to consider the animal's head in
connection with this question. Hitherto we have, for
the sake of greater convenience, always mentioned the
neck as the lever by which the rider controls the motion
of the whole animal ; but a simple inspection shows that
the head is the lever by means of which we gain a
command over the neck; and its size, weight, the manner
in which it is set on to the latter, and other particulars,
have each of them its own share of importance. It is
scarcely necessary to say that a very large heavy head
renders it a matter of extreme difficulty to get the horse
into anything like equilibrium, and big-headed horses
will be therefore generally, although not always, heavy
in the head. But it by no means follows from this that
small heads confer of themselves the opposite quality ;

128 BITS AND BITTING.

in truth, more depends on the way in which the head
is set on to the neck, the make and proportions of the
latter, and the facility thereby afforded for assuming a
great variety of positions, than on the absolute size of
the head itself.

Generally speaking, all our British breeds have well-
formed and well-proportioned limbs. Irish horses, how-
ever, have frequently large ones, and what is of still
greater importance, peculiarities of conformation which,
in consequence of ignorance and injudicious management,
sometimes tend directly to produce restiveness, or other
equally unpleasant results.

It will be well at this point to call attention to a very
simple mechanical principle connected with lever-action
— namely, that the effect produced depends not only on
the absolute power applied, but also on the direction in
which this is done. For instance, considering the horse's
head as a lever which is to act on the neck and bring it
towards the rider's hand, it is very evident that if the
former be so stretched out as to form, as it were, a
continuation of the latter, as we see race horses coming
into the post, there is, in fact, no lever- action whatever.
In the same manner, if we can imagine the horse's chin
to be brought under, so as to touch his neck, there would
be very little, if any, lever-action. This is greatest when
the head is at a right-angle with the neck ; and the more
it departs from this line — either forwards, when the
animal pokes out its nose — or to the rear, when, in
consequence of severe bitting, or other causes to which
we shall presently advert, it touches its breast with its
chin — the less will be the useful lever-action on the
neck.

In fact, we always see runaway horses assume either

THE NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 129

the one or the other of these two relative positions of
the head and neck, the lever-action of the head on the
neck, and of the latter on the centre of motion, being
in both cases reduced to a nullity, which deprives the
rider of all command over his horse ; for it cannot be
too often repeated that we can only master the horse
and obtain a perfect command over his movements by
getting the point on which his hind legs — the organs by
which he propels himself — act completely under our

Fig. 7.

control, which shows the absurdity of universal bits,
and all such contrivances.

With the great majority of horses, the physical con-
formation of the jaws opposes no obstacle to the head
assuming the most desirable position ; but there are
some, and sometimes very good ones in other respects,
where this does occur. Let us take, in the first place,
the depth of the jaw-bone, measured perpendicularly to
the forehead on a line passing through the eye : this
dimension is sometimes so great in proportion, that if
coupled with a coarse, fleshy, short neck, the angle of

K

130 BITS AND BITTING.

the jaw coming in contact with the latter, a jam ensues
before the head can be brought round to the proper
angle. But this is perhaps a less frequent, and certainly
a less serious, occurrence than another to which we
must now advert.

A horse may have a moderate-sized or even a small
head, and the depth of jaw alluded to above may be
so trifling as not to offer the slightest impediment to
the former assuming any position that may be desired,
but the jaws may both converge inwards, instead of
diverging slightly, as they should; Consequently the
space contained between the two jaws is narrowed in,
which prevents the neck fitting into this cavity to the
same extent as it will in a perfectly well-shaped head.
The angle of flection in such narrow- jawed horses is
very limited indeed, and becomes a serious impediment
to the breaking-in and bitting of the animal.

There is another case still worse than this, and not
unfrequently combined with it — in fact, the narrow-
ness of the jaws very frequently becomes its exciting
cause. Most persons conversant with horses must be
aware that certain glands lie just under the angles of
the two jaws, and run up in the direction of the ear.
They are the seat of the affection peculiar to young
animals known under the name of " strangles." Now
it is by no means unfrequent, especially amongst the
commoner kind of horses, to find these glands large and
flabby in their textures. With well-bred and well-
formed animals it is often very difficult to find them
at all under the skin. Sometimes the abnormal size
of these glands is evidently constitutional, sometimes
it is a consequence of disease — strangles, for instance
— and sometimes it arises wholly from the pressure of

THE NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 131

the angles of the jaws, especially when these lie too
close together, and the rider or driver has attempted to
force a certain position, either by the use of severe bits,
or, what is still worse, a combination of these with the
bearing-rein in harness.

If such a state of things be overlooked or neglected,
very serious consequences may arise. The forced
pressure of the jaw-bone on these glands is sometimes
perfectly excruciating to the animal, and it has recourse,
to the great astonishment of its ignorant rider or driver,
to all sorts of expedients to get rid of the intolerable
pain. It will refuse its work, or run away, or throw
itself down, or rear up, or do anything or everything in
its desperation, and the brute on its back or on the
coach-box knows no other remedy for it than " to flog
the sulk out of him," whereas the whole thing is
probably the result of bad bitting and bridling.*

Many young horses, too, have been prematurely
blinded by undue pressure on the glands in question,
between which and the eye there is an intimate con-
nection, both by the absorbent vessels and the nerves.
We sometimes find the glands affected on both sides,
and just as frequently only on one. The horse will in
this case exhibit what may be termed one-sided restive -
ness, bending and cantering perfectly willingly on the
one hand, and refusing more or less obstinately on the
other. We can perfectly recollect the case of a remount
where both horse and rider, excellent tempered, willing
creatures, had been tortured for months, until casually

* Why should not corporal punishment be inflicted on those
who disgrace themselves and our common humanity by ill-
treating animals ? It would be the nearest possible approach to
retributive justice, and much more effectual than fine or im-
prisonment.

132 BITS AND BITTING.

passing by we saw from a distance of fifty yards, by the
shape of the horse's head, which was very prominent,
what the matter really was ; on inspection there was
found a regular necklace of swollen and highly- sensitive
glands, especially on the one side.

All these peculiarities of formation must be therefore
taken into account when we set about bitting or
breaking-in horses, and many of those who take this
little book into their hands will be able to call to mind
instances that came within their own observation tend-
ing to confirm most entirely what is here stated, and
some will no doubt have cause to regret that they did
not study this subject more accurately before they set
about horse-breaking.

We now pass on to the other parts of the exterior of
the horse's head that have to do with the matter in
hand. On referring to Plate I., exhibiting the internal
framework and the external contours of the horse, the
reader will perceive, on looking to the head, that the
osseous or bony parts of this organ are covered very
unequally by the soft parts — the muscles, skin, mem-
branes, bulbous roots of the hair and beard, fat, &c. —
in fact, what are usually called the integuments ; the
bone has, moreover, sharp edges on the under surface
of the lower jaw, and a certain portion of the nose
consists of cartilage, as may be seen from the plate
already referred to. The practical importance of all
this depends on the different degrees of sensibility to
pressure that result from these varieties of confor-
mation ; for instance, the lower lip is covered with a
very thick skin, underneath which lie the roots of the
beard, fat, and membrane, and this structure is con-
tinued up into a certain depression under the chin,

THE NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 133

known as the chin-groove, and called by the Germans
the curb-groove (kinnkettengrube) . Now the portion of
bone immediately beneath the thick and not very
sensitive skin of the chin-groove is flat and rounded off
in all directions, being, in fact, that point where the
two branches of the jaw begin to unite together ; and
if a flat curb-chain, for instance, which has a proper
width, act in this groove, a considerable amount of
pressure may be applied without causing any very
unpleasant sensation to the horse.

But if we pass our finger up out of this groove to-
wards the angle of the jaw, we immediately find that
both the character of the bone and that of the skin
covering it have become very much changed ; the former
has got sharp hard edges, and the latter, being no
longer furnished with beard, will be found to be thin,
and very sensitive ; so that a very slight pressure of
this thin skin on the sharp edges of bone causes very
considerable pain. We shall presently see that no horse
can be properly bitted unless these peculiarities be borne
in mind and due allowance made for them.

As to the cartilage of the nose, it is of importance to
recollect what we are pulling at when we put a caves-
son on a young horse ; the point at which the bone
ceases and the cartilage commences is especially sensi-
tive and liable to injury. A cavesson is a most ad-
mirable instrument for those who know how to use it ;
but most frequently it is like putting a sharp razor in
the hands of a madman to let an ignorant or half-taught
rider catch hold of the lounge. Many a young horse has
been spavined by an angry drag at his nose with this very
powerful instrument — a good illustration, by the way, of
the lever-action of the horse's neck on his hind legs.

134 BITS AND BITTING.

The interior of the horse's mouth is the object that
next demands our attention, but there is only a certain
portion of it with which we have here to do. It is easy
to perceive, on looking at a horse's mouth in and out-
side, that the lower jaw consists of two flat irregularly-
triangular cheek-bones, whose anterior branches form a
groove or channel in which the animal's tongue lies,
enclosed towards its root between the two rows of molar
or grinder-teeth, further forward by those portions of
the jaw that lie between the point where the molar
teeth cease and the incisors or cutting-teeth commence,
known generally as the bars, and on the lower portion
of which the tusks are to be found in male animals ; the
channel being closed in front by the incisors, and the
tongue thus fenced from injury on all sides.

The bit, of whatever kind it may be, coming to be
laid someivhere on the bars, and across the tongue, these
are the most important parts of the mouth to be ac-
quainted with. With the snaffle the portion of the bar
exposed to pressure varies according to the pull on the
reins ; with a regular bit furnished with a curb, this
should not be the case ; in fact, rational bitting demands
that the action of the bit should be confined exclusively
to a certain point on each side, and it will be shown
further on that the bit cannot act properly on any other
point than this one.

We have a rule of thumb in this country for de-
termining the place of the bit — namely, at a certain
height above the tusk; but as mares and even many
geldings have no tusks, this is a very clumsy method,
which is supplemented in practice by hanging the bit
in the horse's mouth nearly as high as the angles of
the lips will allow it to go. This is about equally wise-

THE NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 135

as it would be to put the lock of a gun somewhere near
the vent — an inch or two higher or lower does not
matter. As far as the bit itself is concerned, half-
an-inch, or even a full inch, higher or lower, would
not make much difference in its action ; but, as
we shall presently see, the curb has one fixed
position in the chin-groove, and this governs the whole
arrangement.

There are three dimensions of the interior of the
horse's mouth which must be accurately ascertained
before attempting to fit him with a proper bit, in
addition to certain details connected with the tongue.
The first, and a very important one, is the transversal
width of the mouth from side to side, measured at the
same height as the chin-groove, and including the
thickness of the lips — that is to say, from the point
d, Fig. 12, to the corresponding point at the off-side."
This gives the width of the mouth-piece, which must be
made to fit exactly, as, if too narrow, the lips are subject
to injury and their being displaced so as to cover the
bars, thereby neutralising the action of the whole
instrument ; whereas, if too wide, it slips from side to
side, and displaces what is termed the port — the curved
portion of the mouthpiece intended to moderate the
pressure on the tongue — from its proper position : it
also determines the length of the curb. The second
dimension is the width of the channel in which the
tongue lies, or the distance between the two bars
internally, which determines how much of the mouth-
piece may be allowed for the port ; the remainder must
be reserved for the action on the bars.

* The proper mode of ascertaining all these dimensions
accurately will be stated further on.

136 BITS AND BITTING.

The third dimension is what we term the height of the
bars — that is to say, the distance between a straight edge
supposed to rest on the upper surface of the bars at d,
Fig. 12, and another straight edge placed exactly parallel
to it, and touching the undermost point of the chin-
groove — mathematically speaking, the tangent to the
curve formed by the groove. This latter dimension
—the height of the bars — is perhaps the most important
of all, because all the remaining dimensions of the bit
must be deduced from it.

The width of the mouth is, as may be supposed, a
very variable quantity, depending on the breed and
size of the horse. Nevertheless Lieutenant-Colonel
von Oeynhausen,* who has had occasion to measure
the mouths of a very great number and variety of
horses, says,t that with the great majority of horses of
the smaller medium size, 15.1 to 15.3 hands high, their
dimension amounts to 4 inches. With very small
and very light horses one finds occasionally 3f inches ;
the great majority of good- sized saddle horses, 15.3 to
16.2 hands, have 4J inches, and some very large ones go
to 4-| inches ; while 5 inches is only to be found amongst
very heavy draught animals : and on reducing these to
English measure we have 4.148, 3.889, 4.407, 4.797,
and 5.185 English inches.

Our own experience, which has been considerable,
though not to be mentioned in comparison with Von
Oeynhausen's, confirms this very accurately ; and on
referring to old pocket-books devoted to notices of this

* Of the Austrian army — perhaps the most learned man living
in the matter of horse-flesh, and the author of several admirable
works.

t ' Zaumungs Lehre,' p. 19.

THE NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 137

kind, we find that, out of some 400 horses belonging
to certain squadrons of light cavalry, measured some
eight or nine years ago, the width of the mouth was
for the smaller ones exactly 4 English inches, and
for nearly the whole of the remainder 4.2 inches, one
or two only reaching 4.3 inches. A great number of
bits were put down for alteration as being a-half to
one inch too wide, and some thirty or forty went
to the heap of old iron, as being utterly useless
from their immense size. Some officers will perhaps
smile at this as a piece of pedantry; but if they had
witnessed the results obtained, they would probably
adopt the same plan. As it is, let any cavalry
captain in the British service take the trouble of ascer-
taining, which he may easily do, how many bits in
his troop are half-an-inch, a full inch, or perhaps
still more, too wide ; he will probably then find a
clue to many little annoyances he meets with during
drill.

The width of the channel in which the tongue lies
always bears a certain proportion to the height of the
bar, measured as above described ; we must therefore
take this latter in the first instance.

Lieutenant-Colonel von Oeynhausen says that the
height of the bars is If inch- with the very great
majority of horses, and that it is very unusual to find
it either more or less. The author has certainly never
found bars that exceeded 1.8 English inch in height,
but he has seen some that were less — perhaps about
two to three per cent, of the horses he has had to do
with. Now this is a very important discussion, because
the upper part of the cheek of the bit should never exceed
* Equal exactly to 1.81 English inch.

138 BITS AND BITTING.

the height of the bar of the horse's mouth — why, shall
be made clear in another chapter ; notwithstanding
which, it is only necessary to go into any saddler's or
bit-maker's shop to satisfy one's self that a very large
proportion of bits, even of those intended for saddle-
horses, are constructed in total defiance of this rule,
and calculated for animals that have much higher barsr
wherever they are to be found.

But if there is very great uniformity in the absolute
height of the bars, there is, on the other hand, a very
great diversity in their shape and texture, some being
flat-topped and broad — others, again, presenting a ridge-
like surface ; some also spongy, soft, and comparatively
devoid of feeling, whilst others appear firmer, finer, and
more sensitive ; all this exercising an immense influence
on the bitting.

The width of the channel for the tongue, or lingual
canal, as the anatomists would say, is pretty nearly
always three-fourths of the height of the bars; and
this being very constantly 1.8 inch, the other will be
found to be about 1J inch of our English measurement,
which gives us the dimension of the maximum width
of the port of a bit, where there is one; because
supposing the mouth-piece to have exactly the proper
width, if the port be made wider than the lingual
canal, its corners will come on to the bars of the
horse's mouth and produce intolerable pain, which,
once for all, is wholly inconsistent with good bitting:
and this is precisely the reason why it is of so
great importance that the width of the bit should
coincide so accurately with that of the horse's mouth ;
as, if it be too wide, and a port exists, every pull
of the rein will be sure to bring its angles into

THE .NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 139

painful contact with the bars on the one side or
the other. *

The tongue itself is what we have next to direct our
attention to. This organ will be found to vary very
much both in thickness and texture. In some horses it
just fills its own canal neatly, rising towards its axis in
a gentle curve, whose summit is two-tenths or three-
tenths of an inch above the level of the bars ; in others
it seems much too thick and fleshy for the interior of
the mouth, and projects in all directions. Now the
volume of the tongue is a matter of very great import-
ance, because the action of the mouth-piece is divided
between this organ and the bars of the mouth ; and the
great nicety in bitting is practically to determine for
each individual horse how much of the lever-action is
to fall on the tongue, and how much on the bars.

We started with the proposition that lightness or
heaviness in the rider's hand depends mainly on the
degree of equilibrium that the horse may have attained ;
but the reader will perceive that what is called softness
or hardness of mouth must depend, to a certain extent,
on the dimensions of the bit corresponding accurately
with the interior conformation of this organ. The most
perfectly adapted bit will not convert a raw remount at
once into a trained horse, or to give him a proper
carriage and feeling — all this is done gradually with the
snaffle ; but when the horse has once acquired the
carriage and the degree of feeling that may be required,
then no pains should be spared in bitting him correctly,
otherwise all the previous labour is lost.

* The Segunda mouth-piece, which we knew only under another
name till our attention was called to it by a correspondent, obviated
this inconvenience partly, but has been abandoned wherever men
take the trouble of fitting their horses' bits accurately.

140 BITS AND BITTING.

And this brings us to a very difficult and very im-
portant point. Each style of riding, to use a common
expression — or every particular kind of service that may
be demanded of a horse, to use a more correct one —
demands a corresponding variety of carriage and degree
of feeling, and consequently of bitting. On the three
older continents we find the following styles predomi-
nant : School-riding, as a preparation for the circus or
for military purposes, and what may be called natural
riding. What we understand by this latter is not how
the farmer jogs to market with a sack of wheat behind
his saddle, but the methods of riding adopted and
transferred from generation to generation amongst
those nations or large communities who are compelled
to live on horseback, either in self-defence, or to gain
their existence, or for both reasons. This is, in fact,
uncultivated military equitation ; and the purely em-
pirical principles on which it is founded are such that
they readily accommodate themselves to the scientific
principles of school-riding, with which it, however, only
comes in contact in the east of Europe, if we except,
perhaps, our own Indian possessions and Algeria.

Cossacks, Circassians, Hungarians, Poles — these are
the European and western Asian representatives of the
style of riding alluded to here. They furnish its best
and most easily formed light cavalries, heavy cavalry
having been originally the parent, and subsequently the
pupil, of the school or manege. But in the west of
Europe this nursery for light cavalry has long ceased
to exist. Perhaps the latest remnants of it were the
Border-riders on the Scotch and English Marches.
Indeed, the few civilian riders that were to be found in
France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland, &c,, till

THE NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 141

within comparatively few years, were riding-masters'
pupils of one kind or another ; and it was only in the
British Island s that a numerous class of natural riders
was to be found. The Continental riders have had,
therefore, all more or less of a military or school type.
There existed until recently only one general style of
riding, saddling, bitting, carriage, and feeling amongst
them, varying, however, very much as to correctness in
different countries. Of late years, no doubt, a great
change has taken place in this respect, and what is
called English riding has been more or less success-
fully imitated or caricatured in various parts of the
Continent.

Now the English type of riding has been formed by
the national sports of racing and hunting, both of which
require vehement straightforward riding in the first in-
stance, and only a certain amount of handiness or dex-
terity in turning ; and it is therefore neither desirable,
nor indeed practicable, to give either the neck or head
of the horse anything like the same position that other
styles of riding admit of or require. Therefore the system
of bitting must be different to a certain extent.

In fact, whenever it is possible, the jockey prefers
riding his horse with a snaffle, and the best hunting-
riders seem to be of the same opinion ; and when they
do use a curbed bit, it is most generally either as a sort
of reserve for particular emergencies, or in combination
with a bridoon (using all four reins), by means of
which the action of the bit is very much weakened.
There are, however, a great number of racers and
hunters whose tempers, or desire " to go," require the
permanent use of a curbed bit, and hitting-off the proper
form and size of this is sometimes a matter of great

142 BITS AND BITTING.

nicety ; for the bit that will prevent bolting, and enable
the jock to ride a waiting race, may interfere with the
horse's starting freely, or " laying himself out when
called upon." No doubt the jockey that has a very
close and steady seat, and places himself on the right
part of his horse's back, will be able to ride almost
every horse with a snaffle, because, being independent of
the reins for his seat, his hand is light — and this is the
secret of snaffle-riding. Still it is often a matter of
convenience or necessity to use a curbed bit, and it is
therefore important even for the race-rider to know
exactly on what principle its action depends.

Again, with the hunting man, the bit that enables
him to hold a runaway may interfere with the horse in
jumping. If he be not a mere rein- and- stirrup rider,
he can no doubt get on best with a snaffle ; but many
a man does not like the labour of holding a pulling
horse, and therefore prefers a bit. The difficulty a good
rider that prefers the bit will have to contend with is
to avoid the getting too powerful a bit, or the putting
a suitable one into a part of the horse's mouth where
it must act contrary to his intention. Well, what we
profess to show is, that light bits accurately fitted are
more to be relied upon than the most atrocious instru-
ments of torture ever invented, and of which but too
many are in daily use.

But we must in justice to ourselves say here, once
for all, that we know of nothing that can be done in
the way of bitting for the man that depends for his
seat on his reins — or on his stirrups, which comes to
the same thing. The rider with a really good steady
seat can jump his horse with precisely the same bitting
that suits the school-rider or cavalry soldier, if he

THE NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 143

simply take a very long hold of the curb -rein with his
bridle (left) hand, and use the right-hand in front of
it so long as his horse requires being "kept straight,"
.and then the moment the horse rises to the leap, takes
the latter away, leaving the horse to jump altogether
without any feeling on the reins, which will insure his
landing on all four feet instead of two only ; but this
requires a seat.* And it is precisely for this reason
that it is absurd to talk of cavalry and hunting riding
being antagonistic. The latter, if well done, confers
boldness and vehemence in charging, and a disregard
for common obstacles ; but it should not be overdone or
caricatured, for that would lead to bad skirmishing and
slow rallying after the charge, by means of which great
efforts of gallantry are frequently neutralised and con-
verted into disasters, of which it would be easy enough
to cite instances.

For the road- rider good and careful bitting must
always have an especial value, restiveness being but
too often the consequence of the contrary ; handiness
and perfect control being an essential to safety, and
great speed not being required, therefore the roadster
not only may but must be better " set up " and more
finely mouthed than the hunter. Here, too, the grand
thing is a seat independent of reins and stirrups,
without which the best bitting will be of little value.

What should the carriage of the cavalry horse be?
for this is what determines the bitting. It must favour
the short sharp turnings and voltes of the school,

* This system has been practised in Hanover for the cavalry
with great success, according to General Von Dachenhausen, but
we ourselves used it many years since, and without being aware
of this fact.

144 BITS AND BITTING.

without impeding the straightforward rush of the hunter ;
therefore the adjustment of the weight and the bitting
must be such as to enable the horse to pass from
the one style to the other, when required, with ease
to itself and the rider. The rule of the manege is,
that the frontal line of the head (forehead and nose)
should be perpendicular to the horizon, the neck
being brought up so that the mouth, and consequently
the pull on the reins, should be on a line with the
horse's back, so as to allow of the latter acting directly
on the centre of motion. There are, however, but
few horses so perfectly formed in every respect as
to be able to assume this carriage and maintain it in
all their paces. We have already pointed out the
obstacles likely to arise from the conformation of the
neck, head and throat, and we may say that not
one troop-horse in a thousand is capable of being
brought to this standard of carriage, if it were necessary,
which is by no means the case. We must therefore
take a lower one, or rather one more universally
applicable, and perfectly sufficient for the object in view.
No better rule can perhaps be laid down than that of
Lieutenant-Colonel von Oeynhausen, who says :* " I
consider, as a general rule, that position of the head
to be best with which the horse's paces are clean and
free" (to be clean they must be equable and their
rhythm perfect ; to be free they must be made without
apparent effort or marks of distress) ; " which allows him
to turn willingly and without an effort or disturbance of
his pace ; to diminish or increase this without hesitation ;
to rein back, preserving a proper degree of feeling, and
immediately to advance again freely if called upon."
* ' Zaumungs Lehre,' p. 10.

THE NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 145

Now, although a star-gazer with an ewe-neck, or a
borer that can only go with his nose close to the ground,
are totally unfit for military purposes, we must take
average horses, and allow one to poke out his nose
a little more than another ; nor can we always help its
coiling up its head and neck like a snail, so long as they
go clean and free — which is precisely what Baucher's
encapuchonne carriage of the head and neck does not
favour ; but the higher we get both head and neck
without sacrificing cleanness and freedom of pace the
better, if for no other reason than that there always
must be something in front of the military saddle which
keeps the bridle-hand at a certain distance above the
horse's withers, close down to which the civilian rider
can easily place it. Carriage is, however, not the result
of bitting alone ; it depends, as we have already shown
in Part I., on a judicious system of saddling, packing,
and riding, the bitting forming " le. couronnement de
I'edifice" without which the remainder is of comparatively
little use to the soldier, because he must ride altogether
with one hand, and he requires his whole body, from the
hips upwards, with the exception of this one hand,
for the use of his weapons.

Good bitting, saddling, packing, and riding, are what
render cavalry available and durable ; they secure
efficiency, and therefore economy ; of course they cannot
insure judicious handling of the arm, nor affect the
morale of the soldier beyond giving him a sense of
security and power, which is, however, very valuable.

The reader will perceive, from the digression into
which we have been led here, that the question of bitting
cannot be considered separately from those of distribution
of weight, carriage, and action ; and it was in order to

L

146 BITS AND BITTING.

avoid erroneous impressions on this very point that we
have thought it best to defer up to this moment all
mention of those peculiarities of the interior construction
of the horse's mouth which, taken together, constitute,
so far as this organ itself is concerned, what is called a
hard or a soft mouth.

There are two ways of expressing what a soft mouth
is ; we may either say this horse goes well 011 a light
bit — which may be mainly a consequence of good car-
riage, temper, &c. — or we may say, a light bit will pro-
bably suit this horse best, because it has a thin tongue,
high and sharp bars, a wide tongue-channel, and fine
lips. But in truth, the relative thickness or thinness
of the tongue is the main point to .be considered, be-
cause, as has been already pointed out, the height of
the bars is very nearly the same in all horses, and the
width of the tongue-channel always bears a certain
proportion to it. No doubt the bars have in some in-
stances a flat and in others a sharp or convex upper
surface, which, together with the greater or. less fleshi-
ness of the lips, makes a great difference ; but in the
end it comes to this : Does the tongue fill up its channel
merely to the brim, projecting only a few lines over the
surface of the bars, and therefore permitting the mouth-
piece to exert a certain degree of pressure on the latter ?
And this we would call a naturally soft niouth, so far as
interior conformation goes.

A hard mouth, on the contrary, will be one in which
we find a thick fleshy tongue, not only totally filling
up its channel, but protruding over it, and rising high
above the level of the bars, which makes the former
appear narrow and the latter low, whatever their real
dimensions may be ; and if to this be superadded a

THE NECK, THE HEAD, ETC. 147

flat surface to the bars and thick fleshy lips, we may
forthwith set this down as a case in which an ordinary
mouth-piece will exert its pressure mainly on the tongue
and lips, conveying to the rider's hand the dull feeling
of pulling against lead.

As a general rule, well-bred horses have the first-
named conformation of mouth, and common brutes
the contrary one ; but it by no means follows from
this that the former are all light and the latter all
heavy in the hand : for the most aristocratic animal
of all, the English race-horse, has generally a good
tough mouth of its own, because it is taught from
earliest infancy to lean on the bridle, and seek a fifth
foot in the rider's hand ; whereas, on the contrary, we
often find a perfectly plebeian brute, with a tongue that
overfills its mouth, and everything else in proportion,
not only extremely sensitive to the action of the bit,
but in fact totally averse to its contact — that is to say,
" behind the hand," because it has miserably flabby
muscles, unstrung tendons, and weak hind quarters. *

All this tends to show that it requires a considerable
deal of judgment, practical knowledge of horses, and
perfect understanding of what is required in each
especial case, to enable one to undertake the task of
selecting and fitting bits with any chance of success ;
wrhereas it is a matter that is most usually intrusted
to certain classes of individuals who possess no other
qualification than the habit of wearing green baize
aprons or nether garments of a very peculiar description
— viz., saddlers and grooms.

* A dishonest horse-dealer that really possesses talent will always
avoid showing you a horse with an incipient spavin or other defect
of the hind legs otherwise than on the lightest possible bridle :
three-fourths of these arising from " savage bitting."

CHAPTEE III.

THE CAVESSON SNAFFLE NOSE-BAND TRAINING-HALTED

— EUNNING-EEINS.

THE cavesson, not being a bit, is mentioned here only
because some riders are in the habit of commencing the
handling of young horses with this instrument, which,
although most useful and admirable in the hands of a
really skilful person, is equally dangerous and destruc-
tive in those of ignorant and brutal horse-breakers. If
a young horse be lounged, it may be well to continue
the use of the cavesson for a day or two after the opera-
tion has ceased, putting in hand-reins for that purpose,
so that the animal may be gradually accustomed to the
snaffle ; but it is a great mistake to continue its use for
any length of time in this way, because the horse learns
thereby to lean on the rider's hand, which is what
should be avoided from the very commencement. When
used for the above purpose, the cavesson should have
its nose-piece buckled low enough to rest on that point
of the nose just above where the cartilage joins the
bone, but particular care must be taken to prevent the
cheek-straps injuring the eyes, which they are very
liable to do.

Of all instruments employed in the handling, riding,
or driving of horses, the common smooth snaffle is by

THE CAVESSON, SNAFFLE, ETC. 149

far the best and most generally useful; it is that by
means of which the highest results can be obtained,
whilst, on the other hand, less mischief can be done
with it than with any other. There are some few riders
whose seat is so firm, and hand so delicate, that they
can venture on putting a curb-bit at once into a horse's
mouth, but these are rare exceptions ; and although, in
former times, it was the custom to bit and curb the
cavalry remount at once and send it to its work, espe-
cially in war time, this system, which produced almost
as many restive horses as all other causes put together,
has been finally abandoned everywhere, except amongst
the Orientals, and the greater part of the handling is
now done on the snaffle.

The great value of the snaffle is, that by its use the
horse acquires confidence and insight into the means
"by which the rider proposes to direct its motions, and
that it willingly assumes a steady and regular feeling,
the action of the mouth-piece being gentle and capable
of gradation ; and in consequence of its acting on nearly
the same part of the mouth as the curb-bit, it be-
comes a much better preparative for the latter than the
cavesson can ever be, whilst it can never act in so
violent a manner as either the one or the other.

It is precisely for this reason that the simplest form
of snaffle — neither too long, too thin, nor too much
curved, and with only one joint in the middle — is the
best ; but as there is no end of fancy and prejudice
about various kinds of snaffles, it will be perhaps well
to see into the real effect of some of those varieties of
form and dimension that are so much relied on by the
knowing ones. If the snaffle mouth-piece were simply
two straight pieces of iron of equal thickness through-

150 BITS AND BITTING.

out, jointed together in the middle, its whole pressure
would, with most horses, come to act on the tongue
exclusively, and, the base .of the mouth remaining
untouched, there would be therefore scarcely any action.
To avoid this inconvenience, it is usual to make each
half of the mouth-piece thicker towards the cheeks,
and tapering off finer to the joint connecting them, by
which means a portion of the pressure is transferred
from the tongue to the bars ; and, in addition to this,
they may be slightly curved, which has the same effect.
Let us suppose the length of such a snaffle to be just
sufficient to allow the cheek-rings to come clear of the
lips on either side, and we shall have nearly the whole
action of the instrument exerted in the same direction as
the pull on the reins — a matter of no small importance,
because it is the only true basis for an understanding
between the horse's mouth and the rider's hand.

We may make our snaffle very thin in the centre,
and very thick on each side, but we scarcely gain
anything in power by so doing,, because, although a
greater amount of action is transferred from the tongue
to the bars, the thick portion of the iron acting on
the latter produces very little impression ; this variety
of form might, however, prove useful with a slight-built
horse having a very thick tongue.

Another plan is, to leave the thickness of the iron
unaltered, but increase the curvature ; or to increase
the length of the whole snaffle, so that it projects an
inch or more at each side. Now either of these plans
will, no doubt, increase the painful action on the bars ;
the latter especially, much practised by Irish horse-
breakers, if exaggerated, will convert the snaffle into an
instrument of torture ; but the result of this increased

THE CAVESSON, SNAFFLE, ETC. 151

action is in a wrong direction — it ceases to be a fore-
and-aft-pull, and is converted into a pincer-like twitch
on the lower jaw, which becomes so painful that the
horse tries to get the mouth-piece on his teeth, which
is usually resented by sawing, restiveness being the
most common result.

Some riders having recourse to a double-jointed
snaffle, others again to a double mouth-piece, the joints
being placed right and left of the centre ; but these
two forms produce the pincer-like twitch, and are
therefore to be avoided if possible.

There is one abomination that cannot be sufficiently
reprobated — namely, a snaffle twisted on one side and
plain on the other, the pretence for using it being, that
the horse is hard-mouthed on one side. Now it has
been already pointed out that this disinclination to
turn to one side is sometimes produced by a swollen
gland under the jaw, or by a narrowness of the jaws
themselves ; and when anything of this kind is the
cause, it is evidently pure brutality to apply sheer force.
But many horses dislike turning — to the right, for
instance — where no local impediment of this kind exists ;
and here it will be found, that circling in trot o'n the
right-hand, first of all very wide, and gradually narrowing
in, the rider's right hand directing the pull of its rein
towards the horse's left hind leg, whilst his left hand
keeps the horse's head and neck up to the proper
position, is a much more certain and also humane mode
of attaining the end for which ignorant riders employ
the one-sided twisted snaffle.

A snaffle twisted on both sides is a much less objec-
tionable instrument, and may be safely used by a well-
and judicious rider who 'has a firm seat :. it

152 BITS AND BITTING.

should, however, be scarcely ever necessary to resort to
this or any of the above-mentioned methods of increas-
ing the painful action of what should be as nearly as
possible a painless instrument,* because there are other
and better means of attaining the same object.

Better means, because they are more durable in their
effects, although they may require more time in
the first instance ; for, apart from all other considera-
tions, there is this great objection to all the con-
trivances referred to here, that when you take them
out of the horse's mouth you find yourself at best
just where you were before, and still more likely not
nearly so well off, because the animal's temper will
have suffered.

In the great majority of cases, when a man finds that
his horse lies heavy in his hand with a plain smooth
snaffle — in fact, when he cannot hold him — he looks out
immediately for something sharper — a twisted mouth-
piece, or some contrivance of the kind — and seldom
takes the trouble to examine how it is that the animal
contrives to set the cold iron at defiance. If he did so,
he would generally find that this is accomplished by
getting it out of its proper place on the bars, and shift-
ing it up to the thick part of the tongue, which the
horse can only do when there is nothing to prevent
his opening his mouth as wide as he pleases ; for, if
he can do this, he can always set the rider at defiance.
In former times a .nose-band used to be employed, even
with snaffles, for the purpose of preventing this ; but
the nose-band has been very generally abandoned,

* It cannot be too often repeated, that the first object to be
attained in handling horses is to gain their confidence, and to lead
them by degrees to an understanding of the rider's wishes, which
they will always readily fulfil, if they are able.

THE CAVESSON, SNAFFLE, ETC. 153

except on military bridles or harness, at least in this
country.

The chief reason given for abolishing the nose-band
was, that it was supposed to interfere with the horse's
breathing, especially during the long-continued gallops
of the hunting-field, &c.; and it was on the same account
considered to be, a fortiori, wholly unfit for racing
purposes. This was, perhaps, not a good reason for
rejecting it altogether during the first handling of young
horses, as it would have been easy to lay it aside
afterwards when they came to their field-work ; but the
truth is, that the nose-band was placed so high up above
the angles of the horse's mouth that it could not prevent
the animal opening its mouth and doing what it pleased
W7ith the bit, unless it was buckled so tight as really to
interfere seriously with the respiration, even at the
more moderate pace of a trot or walk — besides other
imperfections, to which allusion shall be made lower
down. This was long a stumbling-block in the way of
the rational treatment of colts and fillies, and was
probably what led indirectly to the invention of various
instruments of torture known by the name of "capital
mouth-pieces ;" but this difficulty has been at length got
over, and we are in possession of a contrivance which
enables us to effect what the old-fashioned nose-band
never could.

This is the training-halter (Eeithalfter), invented, we
believe, by Lieutenant-Colonel von Oeynhausen, of the
Austrian cavalry, or at least introduced by him into
the Central School of Equitation at Vienna several
years since. To understand perfectly the great value
of this halter, it is necessary to allude to one more dis-
advantage of the old-fashioned nose-band, in addition

154 BITS AND BITTING.

to those already enumerated, which was, that when the
reins of the snaffle came to be shortened, the cheek-
pieces of the headstall bulged out to the right and left
up to the point at which they were held fast by the
nose-band, and being stopped there, a certain proportion
of the pull on the reins was transferred from the
mouth-piece to the nose-band, where it, of course, was
wholly inoperative ; so that this latter, instead of
promoting the action of the former, actually interfered
with it, making the horse lean still more on the hand
than hitherto.

It is as well to mention here that the method now
introduced of passing snaffles, used for draught-horsesr
through rings at the lower end of the cheek-pieces,,
instead of buckling them on directly as heretofore, is
grounded on the same principle — that of making the
action of the mouth-piece altogether independent of the
nose-band.

But these ring-snaffles do not, of course, prevent the
horse opening its mouth too wide, nor can the old-
fashioned nose-band do this effectually either ; the
training -halter does so most efficiently, and in the-
simplest manner. It consists of two cheek-straps whose
upper ends are made fast in the buckles of the snaffle-
headstall.* These cheek-straps support, by means of
two rings, a nose-band composed of three pieces : 1. The
nose-band proper ; 2. A strap about 7 inches long,
sewed into the ring on the off side ; and, 3. A shorter
strap, 2 to 3 inches long, and terminated by a buckle,
which is sewed into the ring on the near side. The
cheek-straps are buckled into the headstall outside, so

* It is, of course, necessary for this purpose that there should
be a buckle on each side.

THE CAVESSON, SNAFFLE, ETC. 155

that the nose-band comes to hang below the rings of
the snaffle, and the two back straps are then buckled
together, so that the longer one comes to lie in the
chin-groove, as a curb would with a bit, leaving, of
course, a sufficient play to the horse's under-jaw, without
allowing the animal to open it beyond a certain distance,
and thus securing perfect independence to the mouth-
piece, and permitting of its acting in the proper place
and direction.

It must, however, be well understood that this halter
is not intended to be permanently employed ; its great
value is, that it enables us, by preventing the young
horse from escaping the action of a light snaffle mouth-
piece, to avoid the necessity for employing sharp ones ;
in fact, all violent measures are thereby rendered
unnecessary during the period of training or handling ;
and when this is once over, we may lay aside our
halter, and either use the plain snaffle, or put a curbed
bit into the animal's mouth, which has been by this
very means perfectly prepared for either ; and that this
is a real advantage we must admit. *

It is scarcely necessary to remark that the snaffle
should neither be pulled up too high in the horse's
mouth, nor suffered to hang down so low as to interfere
with the tusks or front teeth ; its proper place will be
about one-fourth of an inch below the angle of the
mouth ; and in this position a plain smooth mouth-
piece, if aided in its action by the training-halter, will
be found to answer every purpose, and afford the best
possible means of mouthing young animals. Training

* It is but justice to confess that the writer of these lines having
become acquainted with the training-halter when he was an old
rider, was at first incredulous as to its value, but he soon became
a convert.

156 BITS AND BITTING.

race-horses is so distinct and peculiar a branch of riding,
that it seems almost presumptuous to offer even a
suggestion on the subject ; but we are quite certain
that the halter here described would be of great value
to trainers, saving them much trouble, and eventually
diminishing the number of bolters and difficult starters
very considerably, and thus giving many a horse a
fairer chance than he would otherwise have. Of course
it is not meant that the halter should be used otherwise
than during the first period of handling ; in actual
running it would interfere too much with the animal's
respiration.

The great value of being able to keep the horse's
head in a proper position has been frequently dwelt
upon in these pages. It is a matter with which almost
every rider is acquainted, and the number of martin-
gales, running-reins, and other contrivances invented
especially to attain this object furnish an evidence of its
great desirableness. Some of these are intended to act
on the horse's nose, and are therefore nearly worthless ;
others, again, are fixed, and consequently more or less
dangerous, besides requiring frequent alterations of
buckles, &c., to make them suit ; a third class act on
the reins, and, interfering with the direction in which
the pull on the latter is exercised, are wholly in-
admissible ; some few act directly 011 the bit or snaffle.
To be really efficient, safe, and applicable under all cir-
cumstances, the running-rein or martingale should act
directly on the snaffle or bridoon itself,* be wholly inde-
pendent of the reins, and afford a facility for adjusting
its action, or altogether putting an end to it, without

* It is both useless and dangerous to interfere with, the action of
the bit by means of such contrivances.

THE CAVESSON, SNAFFLE, ETC. 157

altering either buckle or strap, or even halting the horse
if in motion.

As a general rule, when a horse has been once pro-
perly broken in and bitted, it should not require any
contrivances of the sort : its use being continued after a
certain period is an evidence of something being wrong.
Sometimes this is incapable of remedy, being a con-
sequence of some peculiarity in the animal's build, and
then there is no help for it ; but a good running-rein ,
possessing the qualities mentioned above, affords very
frequently most valuable aid in the first handling, and
will, if judiciously used, save the rider a great deal of
trouble, the horse an equal quantity of ill-usage, and.
finally, simplify all questions of bits and bitting in a
wonderful manner.

The best of all these contrivances hitherto invented
is perhaps that known under the name of Seeger's
running-reins (Schleif-Ziigel), being perfectly simple,
safe, and applicable to all styles of riding. M. Seeger,
the justly celebrated riding-master at Berlin, and un-
doubtedly at the head of his profession in Europe, first
brought it forward. It consists of three distinct pieces,
the chin-strap, the running-rein, and the martingale.
The chin-strap consists of a leather curb furnished at
each end with a small buckle and strap, by means of
which it is attached to the cheek-rings of the snaffle
or bridoon, the entire length, including the buckles, to
be 6 inches ; these latter, when covered with leather,
just wide enough to admit a strap 4^ inches wide,
and 2^ long, projecting over the buckle, behind which
it is sewed on to the body of the curb. This curb
carries a rounded strap in rear, supporting an ivory ring
which may have an internal diameter of somewhat

158

BITS AND BITTING.

more than 1 inch (say 1-J-), the external one being If,
leaving, therefore, the thickness of the ivory about
half an inch.

The running-rein is in one straight piece, S| feet long
from the buckle to the1 point, towards which latter it

Fig. 8.

tapers off somewhat, its width being otherwise that of a
common bit-rein, T6n of an inch. An 18-inch strap of
the same width is sewed on behind the buckle and
pierced with five or six holes. The martingale has the
same contrivance, as usual, of a buckle for forming a
loop through which to draw the girths ; but the other

THE CAYESSON, SNAFFLE, ETC. 159

end of the strap (inch wide), instead of being split into
two narrow ones, each carrying its own ring, is left
of its full width, and carries one ivory ring of If inch
internal diameter and 2J external, leaving, therefore,
f of an inch for the thickness of the ivory. The
usual length of the martingale from the ring to the
buckle is 3f to 4 feet, the latter affording scope for
adjustment ; and there is, of course, a neck-strap for
carrying the martingale, which is too well known to
need description.

Let us now suppose the horse to be saddled and
bridled with a plain snaffle, the first step will be to
buckle the chin-strap into the rings of the mouth-piece,
the martingale having been previously put on in the
usual manner, and its length so adjusted that the large
ring it carries may just reach the level of the joints of
the shoulders. The next step will be to buckle one
end of the running-rein into a D-ring attached for that
purpose to the pommel of the saddle on the near side ;
the other end of this rein is then carried forward
through the ring of the martingale (from rear to front),
from thence through the ring of the chin-strap from
left to right, and back again through the marfcingale-
ring (from front to rear), from whence it goes to the
rider's right hand.

It is evident that a pull on this running-rein will
act directly on the mouth-piece, drawing it back
and somewhat downwards towards the horse's breast-
bone ; the great value of the whole arrangement
being, that by taking the running-rein and right
snaffle-rein into the right hand, and the other siiaffle-
rein into the left ditto, we can place the horse's
head in any position we desire, and get a pull on the

160 BITS AND BITTING.

horse's mouth either horizontally, upwards or down-
wards, as may seem expedient. *

• The training-halter offers no obstacle to the employ-
ment of this running-rein ; indeed they may be advan-
tageously used in combination, and afford a most perfect
command over the horse's head without the slightest
approach to violence, and by slackening the end of the
running-rein held in the right hand, its action may
at once be put an end to, unlike all other contrivances
of this nature, which are too apt to get hitched. f

The use of Seeger's running-rein for race-horses is
perfectly unobjectionable. It gives the rider an im-
mense power over his horse, which may be used
momentarily, to check an attempt to bolt, for instance,
and immediately relaxed, or it may be kept constantly
in moderate action — for instance, with a horse inclined
to throw up his head too high — and all this without
interfering with his running ; on the contrary, by using
this rein one may dispense with sharp snaffles or curbed
bits which so frequently have that effect. Seeger
himself, however, thinks it unsuited to racing or hunting
purposes.

But it is chiefly in the handling of young animals,
whether for the saddle or draught, that these contriv-
ances are valuable, because they enable us to attain
our object gradually and noiselessly, as it were, al-
though with perfect certainty ; above all, they afford us
the means of avoiding all unnecessary violence, or any
approach to ill-treatment.

* The advantage as compared with other running-reins is, that
the position of the horse's head depends on the length of rein
grasped, and not on the force applied.

t Messrs. White and Coleman, 4, Bishopsgate Street Without,
London, have patterns of the training-halter and the running-reins.

CHAPTEE IV.

THE LEVEE — THE BIT AND CURB BITTING THE BRIDLE.

WITH a plain smooth snaffle there is no question of
lever-action ; the amount of power applied to the reins
is conveyed unaltered in quantity to the animal's mouth :
to use a scientific expression, there is none of that
mechanical advantage obtained which a mechanical
power alone is capable of conferring. But if we combine
Seeger's running-rein, which acts on the principle of a
movable pulley, a certain amount of power applied to
that rein will produce double the effect on the mouth
that it would if applied to the snaffle-rein alone.

A still greater amount, however, of mechanical
advantage may be obtained by means of a lever — and a
bit furnished with a curb of a proper length acts as such.
There are, we know, several kinds of levers, and it will
depend altogether on the manner in which the bit and
curb are arranged, whether we obtain a lever-action
that is favourable to us or quite the contrary ; it is
therefore necessary to say a word or two on the
principles of lever-action.

In the first order of levers the power is applied at
one end, the weight being placed at the other, and the
fulcrum or prop between the two, dividing thus the
lever into two arms, a longer and a shorter one. The

M

162 BITS AND BITTING.

mechanical advantage obtained is proportionate to the
relative length of these two arms. Thus, if P F, Fig. 9
(a), be equal twice W F, a power equal 1 applied at P
will counterbalance a weight equal 2 applied at W;
but, as regards our purpose, it is more especially necessary
to observe that the power and the weight move in

Js.f order P 2 F. J\v

2* order

Fig. 9.

opposite directions, or rotate round the fulcrum or prop,
as is shown by the direction of the arrows. Applying
this to a bit, the cheeks of which represent the lever,
there can be no question as to where the power is applied,
being the lower ring to which the rein is attached,
nor as to the direction in which it is intended to act,
being towards the rider's hand ; and if a bit act as a
lever of the 'first order, the fulcrum or prop must be
represented by the bars of the horse's mouth on which
the mouth-piece acts, and the pressure of the curb'1' on
the chin would necessarily represent the weight to be
raised. But it has been shown that, in levers of the
first order, the power and weight move in opposite
directions in their rotation about the prop ; in this case,
therefore, the horse's chin, in consequence of the pressure
exercised by the curb, should move forward — that is
to say, away from the rider's hand ; and the greater
the lever-power of the bit, and the stronger the pull on

* We use the word curb for curb-chain, and bit or curbed-bit
for what is sometimes called curb.

THE LEVER, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC. 163

the rein, so much the more would the horse be induced
to stick out his nose — an occurrence that is by no
means infrequent, and at which some riders and drivers
are very much astonished.

Now, in fact, there is no iveight to be raised in the
purely mechanical sense of the expression — it is a
question of the infliction of a certain amount of pain
from which the horse shrinks ; and if the curb act more
pain/idly than the mouth-piece, in consequence of its
construction or position, we obtain the action of a
lever of the first order, which we should never desire.
Some people are indeed regardless of the amount of
pain they inflict on a horse, and go on increasing this
painful action in both directions, without, of course,
obtaining any real advantage, which is precisely what
we would desire to see put a stop to ; and in order to
this let us examine into the action of another kind
of lever.

In a lever of the second order the power and prop act,
or are placed, at the opposite extremities of the lever,
the weight being between the two : the mechanical
advantage is proportioned to the relative distances of
the power and weight from the prop. For instance, if
P F, Fig. 9 (b), be equal three, and W F equal one, these
numbers will express the relative amount of power
gained ; and it is to be observed that the power and the
weight move in the same direction in rotating round the
fulcrum. This is what we want for bitting : the weight
in this case is represented by the pressure on the bars
of the mouth ; the curb acting thus merely as a fulcrum,
the horse's head follows immediately the pressure on
the bar in the direction of the rider's hand.

It is very evident that the direction in which the bit

164

BITS AND BITTING.

acts depending altogether on the relative amount of
painful pressure exercised by the bit and the curb, the
horse's head will follow the rider's hand, even though
the curb lacerate his chin, if only a greater amount of
torture be applied to the bars of his mouth, the poor
animal being left to deduce from the balance of pain
what the rider's will may be. This is the system of
bitting employed by the Arabs and other Orientals at
the present day ; our Crusader forefathers borrowed it
from theirs, and, strange to say, it is still more or less
practised amongst us.

It is, however, quite possible to economise for our-
selves all this surplus ingenuity in devising instruments
of torture, and to spare our horses the infliction of it,
merely by adjusting our bits altogether on the principle
of a lever of the second order — that is to say, by
converting the curb into a simple prop or fulcrum for
the lever-action on the bars of the mouth, which may be
effected by rendering it perfectly painless, so that then
the small amount of pressure exercised on the bars acting

Fig. 10.

in the proper direction, and not being counteracted
elsewhere, is the sum total of pain it becomes necessary
to inflict, and even this may be reduced to a minimum.
The above (Fig. 10 shows that, supposing a power

THE LEVER, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC. 165

equal to 5 to be applied to the reins, it may, in con-
sequence of various arrangements of the mouth-piece
and curb, be made to exercise an amount of painful
pressure as at A, where 3 parts act on the curb and
only 2 on the mouth, which will make the horse bore
into the hand ; or as at B, where 3 parts act on the
mouth and only 2 on the curb, so that 1 really remains
available. Whereas, by reducing the painful action of
the curb to 0, as at C, we find that the whole amount
of action may be applied to the mouth, and therefore
itself reduced to 2.

Here we have a key to the whole theory and practice
of bitting, and there is no difficulty in understanding
that its immediate consequence will be to render bits
of small dimensions equally efficient and much more
certain and reliable in their action than the monstrous
pieces of ironmongery usually manufactured and sold
ever can be : and we now proceed to enter into further
details.

The first question that naturally presents itself is
the absolute length of the lever — that is to say, of the
upper and lower cheeks of the bit taken together ; the
next, that of their relative proportions to each other.
Before going into the consideration of these it will be
well to clear up one or two preliminary matters, merely
premising what is self-evident on inspection — namely,
that a bit may be regarded as a pair of levers connected
together by the mouth-piece. At first sight this might
lead to the conclusion that the centre of the rivet on
each side is always the point from which the length of
the upper and lower bars is to be measured. This is,
however, only true for those forms of mouth -piece which
consist of a port and two lateral straight portions ; but

166

BITS AND BITTING.

if the whole mouth-piece forms one curve, the line of
bearing — that is to say, the line connecting the two
points of the mouth-piece which rest on the bars of the
horse's mouth — does not coincide with the axis of the
bit passing through the centre of the two rivets, which
must be taken into account in estimating the relative
lengths of the upper and lower cheeks of the bit.
(See Fig. 11.)

The measure for the length of the upper cheek of the
bit, taken from the " line of bearing " to the point

Bearing

Fig. 11.

at which the curb-hook acts, is the height of the bars
of the horse's mouth, which, as has been shown in a
previous chapter, is pretty nearly a constant quantity
— namely, lT8n English inch, decreasing with very
small horses and ponies to lj^ ; therefore, rejecting too
great nicety, we may say that If inch is the proper
length for the upper cheek — very seldom less, and
hardly ever more.

It would be very easy to demonstrate mathematically
why these two dimensions should always correspond,
but we prefer the simpler and more obvious way of
showing what the consequences of a departure from
the rule must necessarily be.

THE LEVEE, THE BIT AND CUBE, ETC. 167

If one puts a bit into a horse's mouth without attach-
ing a curb to it, when the reins are drawn the bit turns
right round, and its cheeks or branches come to lie in
the same line as the reins. There is no lever-action
whatever, because there is no prop, and a snaffle or
bridoon would, on account of their centre-joint, be much
more efficient. The same thing, too, will happen if the
curb be very loose : the bit is then said to " fall through "
— in fact, it is nearly useless. The opposite fault to
"falling through" is when the bit " stands stiff" with-
out any play, the slightest pull on the reins causing the
horse great pain, and, most probably, just in the wrong
place — that is to say, externally ; for this stiffness or
rigidity of the bit is very often produced by a tight curb,
and therefore the horse, instead of following the rider's
hand pokes against it. Good bitting will be equally
removed from stiffness and falling- through : it lies
between these two extremes.

The length of the upper cheek of the bit will, however,
of itself cause this instrument either to stand stiff or to
fall through, if it exceed or come short of the height of
the bars of the mouth, as is shown in Fig. 12, where d e
represents this latter dimension, d b an upper cheek
precisely equal, dc one of only half the same length, and
d a one double the same. When a pull of the rein acts at/
on the lower bar, the curb will be drawn closer to the
chin, and the mouth-piece to the interior of that organ ;
and supposing the amount of this " closing up " to be
equal in all three instances, the bit with a long upper
cheek, d a, will assume the position a' dfl. It will be
stiff, and the curb acting upwards in the direction e a',
will press on the sensitive part of the jaw. Moreover,
there will be no lever-action, the two arms of the lever

168

BITS AND BITTING.

being equal ; the horse will therefore bore in the rider's
hand. On the other hand, the bit with the short upper
cheek d c, equal half d e, will assume the position c ' d,fs
— that is, it will fall through. The curb will no
doubt remain in the chin-groove, and act forwards in
the direction e c ', but forming a very acute angle with
the branches of the bit itself, will have scarcely any
value as a prop. The lever-action, however, will be very
great, the lower branch / d being to the upper one d c

Fig. 12.

in the proportion of 4 to 1. In fact, it will be too great,
and therefore reduces the prop to a nullity.

The intermediate upper cheek d b, equal d e, will
assume the position b' d /2 ; it will neither be stiff nor
fall through : the curb will remain in the chin-groove,
acting obliquely forwards in the line e b', and will afford
a sufficient prop or support ; and the lower branch of
the lever, / d, being in the proportion of 2 to 1 to the
upper one, d b, there will be sufficient lever-action.

It will be now easy to understand how it comes that

THE LEVEB, THE BIT AND CUEB, ETC. 169

people, in order to prevent a bit with a very short
upper cheek falling through, are driven to using a very
tight curb, the result of which is, that the whole action
is transplanted from the interior of the mouth to the
chin ; as also that, in order to prevent one with a very
long upper cheek standing stiff, they use a very loose
curb, which has the effect of making the bit fall
through ; and this — what is very common, nay, almost
invariable in this country — immensely long bit is pulled
up as high as it will go into the horse's mouth, and then
a loose curb attached, which great piece of ironmongery
of course not only falls through, but acts nearly altogether
on the exterior of the horse's jaw ; whereas a much
smaller and lighter bit, if adapted to the mouth, would
be much more efficient .

Some portion of the objection to the long upper cheek
referred to above — namely, its affording no lever-action
• — may be remedied by making the lower cheek propor-
tionably longer ; and this is precisely what the iron-
mongers do, and, moreover, are encouraged to do by
ignorant buyers. As has been already shown above,
with reference to Fig. 10, we are thereby driven to use
much severer — that is, more painful — bits than are really
necessary ; besides which, there is another reason why
we cannot go beyond a certain length with the lower
cheek. This is on account of the angle at which the
rein acts on the latter.

We have already pointed out how much depends on the
angle at which the power is applied to a lever, and that a
right-angle is the most favourable one for this purpose,
which may be shown in a manner perfectly independent
of theory. If the bit, Fig 13 (see page 170), were pulled
in the direction of c, it would evidently have no other

170

BITS AND BITTING.

effect than to pull it downwards, and out of the horse's
mouth, if the head-piece of the bridle did not prevent
this taking place ; and if the pull were made in the
direction b, it would only lift the bit up till the angles
of the mouth stopped it. In neither case would there
be the slightest lever-action ; and the nearer any-
other direction, g or h, approached these perfectly in-
operative ones, b or c, the less
would be its value ; and it is
therefore evident that the direc-
tion a, which is equally remote
from both, must be the most
efficient — which is, howeverr
precisely the right angle.

Now a very long lower cheek,
or a very low carriage of the
horse's head a la Baucher, or a
very high pack in the front of
the saddle/'1' will always have
the effect of bringing the rein
to act on the bit at an unfavour-
able angle ; and when we come
to look at the bits that served
as models for old equestrian

statues, we find that the im-
Fig. 13. — Angle formed by , , , t ? ±-i

rein with bit. mense long lower cheeks of these

were bent backwards so as to

form an angle with the upper cheeks for the purpose
of securing the action of the rein at a right-angle,
or nearly so — which, however, did not and could not
answer the purpose intended. If the inventors of these
frightful bits had had any real knowledge of the laws
* See Plates VI. and VII., top figures.

THE LEVER, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC. 171

of mechanics, and the application of lever-power, they
would have found that the same amount of useful
action would have been much more certainly obtained
by a much shorter lower cheek, without incurring the
very serious disadvantage of lifting the bit, as it
were, in the mouth, which always must have the
effect of causing the curb to mount up out of the chin-
groove, and therefore produce conflicting impressions,
tending to neutralise one another and puzzle the horse.
Moreover, the longer the lower cheek the greater will be
the space through which the rider's hand has to move
in order to produce a given amount of action. It will
be therefore slower, although more powerful, and con-
sequently more unequal, rendering it very difficult for
the majority of riders to hit off exactly the precise
amount of pull required.

Having thus arrived at the conclusion that the abso-
lute length of the lower cheek should be diminished as
much as possible, and also laid it down as a rule that a
length of If inch is in all cases sufficient for that of the
upper one, it is not difficult to ascertain what the rela-
tive proportions of the two should be, which would, of
course, give us the absolute length of the former. And
here we encounter the only useful general rule that
bit-makers in general seem to be acquainted with ;
namely, that the lower cheek should be twice as long as
the upper one, which, increasing the lever-action in the
proportion of three to one, should be under all circum-
stances ample. But the bit-makers, although adhering
to this proportion, but too frequently make the lower
cheek inordinately long, because they have no standard
of length for the upper one ; whereas, if we adhere to
the rule laid down above of If inch for the latter

172 BITS AND BITTING.

dimension, we have 3^ inches for the former one, both
measured from the line of bearing (see Fig. 11), and
5£ inches for the entire length of the bit measured from
the point at which the curb-hook acts above to that
where the lower ring acts below (see Fig. 13). This will
be the maximum required, and will be found to suffice
in all cases ; with very small horses or large ponies the
upper cheek will have to be reduced to 1| inch, the
lower one to 3 inches, leaving the total equal 4|- inches,
which will be about the minimum.

Some authorities, amongst these Von Weyrother,
recommended the measured width of the mouth to be
taken as a rule for the length of the lower cheek : this
varies, as we have already shown, from 3T8Q, 4|- to 5^
inches, and would be, therefore, somewhat more than
the rule given above ; but Von Oeynhausen adheres to
this latter, and we are convinced that he is perfectly
justified in so doing, because we have it in our power, by
means of the mouth-piece, to effect the nicest adjust-
ment that can be desired, and there is a much better
chance of having the proper proportions adhered to by
the bit-makers if we give them one or two fixed quantities,
instead of a number of variable ones.

Next to the dimensions of the cheeks of the bit, the
most important point to be considered is the curb ; or
rather, the position of the bit in the horse's mouth,
taken in conjunction with the line of the curb, is what
determines in the first instance the height of the upper
cheek, and consequently that of the lower one. The
curb must lie in the curb-groove, without any tendency
to mount up out of it on to the sharp bones of the
lower jaw, otherwise, as we have seen, it ceases to be
a painless fulcrum, and renders the best-constructed

THE LEVER, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC. 173

bit uncertain, or even still worse, in its actions. (See
Fig. 11.)

The only certain way of attaining this perfect pain-
lessness of the curb, on which so much depends, is —
supposing, of course, this latter to be properly constructed
and of the requisite dimensions — by placing the mouth-
piece on that part of the bars exactly opposite to the
chin-groove; it is only in this position that we have
the right-angled triangle, e d b, shown in Fig. 12. But
there is another reason for this : we find here the portion
of the bar of the horse's mouth best suited for the
action of the mouth-piece — that space that intervenes
between the grinders and the tusks, where these exist.
With respect to the latter, it is necessary to mention
that there is great irregularity as to their position in
the mouth, some horses having them relatively higher,
others lower ; nor do the tusks of the upper jaw always
correspond with those of the lower one, and mares
have very frequently no tusks whatever ; it is therefore
quite impossible to determine the proper place for the
mouth-piece with reference to these teeth, although even
the cavalry regulations continue to do so : the chin-groove,
in consequence of its relation to the action of the
curb, is the essential point to be considered.

Almost all the defects and absurdities of bits and
bitting may be traced to ignorance of, or inattention to,
this very simple rule. A man puts a bit into his horse's
mouth — let us suppose that it is a well-proportioned one
in every respect ; he fixes it at the prescribed " inch
above the lower tusk " if he be a soldier, or draws it
up into the angle of the lips if he be a civilian : he may
just happen to hit off the right place, and if so, even
an ill-shaped bit will work tolerably ; he is content

174 BITS AND BITTING.

with his work, and thinks he has mastered the difficulty.
But in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the mouth-
piece lies higher than it should ; and if, in addition to this,
the upper cheek of the bit be, as it so frequently is, a
quarter of an inch too long, then the curb mounts up out
of the chin-groove and causes so much pain that the
horse, to escape it, bores into the rider's hand. He will
then, perhaps, try a longer curb or a shorter one ; the
bit will either fall through or be stiff, and he concludes
that he must have a sharper one, and has recourse to
some instrument of torture ; and so it goes on from bad
to worse, till he gets rid of the poor ill-used animal.'"
The best fitting bit, even when placed in the proper
place, will not work well unless the curb be properly
constructed and exactly of the length required. Taken,
all-in-all, a double chain worked quite flat, without
prominent edges, arid which ivhen twisted up to its
full extent, does not overtwist, is the best kind of curb.
Leather would be in some respects better than a chain ;
it is, however, not only perishable, but also subject to
stretch or contract when exposed to moisture ; and after
having been once or twice thoroughly soaked, becoming
hard and inflexible, it is more likely to injure the horse's
chin than a well-made chain.

* This is no imaginary case : the author once saw a nice little
thorough -bred horse at Ostend, and a few months later at Dublin,
as second charger of a light cavalry officer of the garrison. It was
set down as an incurable bolter, and passing through the hands of
the riding-master, adjutant, and several officers, was finally sold,
as dangerous to ride, for £15, at a fifth-rate auction mart. The
purchaser, a ladies' doctor, brought it to the author, who, after
curing its dreadfully-lacerated mouth and jaws, bitted it properly
with a very light bit, which enabled the doctor to ride it within
a week at a review of the regiment in question, and for several
years afterwards, without ever bolting or being troublesome ; never
was there a better-tempered creature.

THE LEVEE, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC. 175

It is very clear that the narrower the chain is made
the more likely it is to cause pain, which is just what
we want to avoid, and we should therefore endeavour
to] make it as broad as possible. The vulgar notion of
a sharp curb is, as the reader perceives, a monstrous
absurdity. But there is a limit to this : if it be so broad
as to fill up the chin-groove completely, there will be
always a danger of its upper edge corning in contact
with the sharp cheek-bones at every, even the slightest,
pull on the reins, and getting up a sore which imme-
diately interferes with the action of the bit ; we must
therefore select a curb that does not altogether fill up
the groove. It is not easy to give any special dimension
for the width of the curb-chain : eight-tenths of an inch
will be found to answer the purpose very generally,
but if we can use a broader curb without injuring the
chin-groove so much the better ; it is more likely to be
flat and painless. Curbs are frequently made to taper
off a little towards the ends : there is no objection to
this, except that, being more difficult to manufacture
with precision, they are seldom so well made as the
curb that is equally broad throughout. Single-chain
curbs made of flat links may be good, if not too broad
or sharp-edged ; the plain double chain will be probably
better made, and therefore preferable : the great thing is
to avoid the infliction of pain ; and if we are sometimes
compelled to use a very narrow curb, on account of the
chin-groove being sharp and narrow, it will be well to
have a cloth case to run over it, which may be taken
off after use each time.

It is not possible to give an exact dimension in inches
for the length of the curb ; a little reflection will show
that it must always bear some special proportion to

176 BITS AND BITTING.

the width of the horse's mouth and the height of the
bars, the latter of these quantities being nearly constant,
whilst the former one is variable, as has been shown
above. We must here anticipate, to a certain extent,
the contents of the next paragraph. In order to render
the action of the curb as painless as possible, it is
absolutely necessary that it should press upon the
greatest extent of surface' that can be made available
for the purpose, for which reason, of course, we require
this instrument itself to be flat, and as broad as the
chin-groove will allow. If the mouth-piece have exactly
the same width as the mouth, the curb will wrap close
round the chin, pressing equally over a large surface ;
but if, on the contrary, it be too wide, the curb will
trend away right and left ; and if the excess of width
amount to half an inch or an inch, it will bear altogether
on one spot and get up a sore,* although it is really
longer than it should be.

It will be found that the proper length for the curb
is about one-fourth more than the width of the mouth,
the curb-hooks not being included in this ; or, if we
take these into account, the total of the curb and the
two hooks will be once and a-half the same dimension.

The curb -hooks form an important item in the
arrangement. It was formerly the custom to have one
hook attached permanently at the near side of the bit,
and another of a somewhat different form to the off
side of the curb, but it has now become usual to attach
a pair of hooks of exactly the same shape and dimen-
sions, which is a great improvement : the proper length

* The author once found some thirty or forty horses in one
squadron each with a little round ulcer on the chin in consequence
of the bits being too wide.

THE I/EVER, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC. 177

for these is three-fourths the height of the upper cheek,
or about 1^ inch.

The above length of curb applies to what is really
employed between the two hooks, but it is usual to
have one reserve link at the off side, and two of these
at the near one, which latter are convenient, or rather
indispensable, for catching a proper hold of the curb
when being hooked on.

We now have gone step by step through the several
details connected with the bit considered as a lever —
namely, its cheeks, and the curb with its hooks, which
represent the fulcrum or prop. There remains the
mouth-piece, which is of equal, if not greater, im-
portance, as the part of the instrument through which
the immediate impression is made on the mouth, and
therefore generally placed in the foreground by writers
on this subject. It appeared, however, to us to be a
matter of great importance to make it perfectly clear,
in the first place, that the entire action of the bit
should be concentrated on the mouth-piece, that the
operation of the curb should be confined wholly to
the function of a painless fulcrum, and that there are
certain narrow limits to the size of the upper and lower
bars which form the cheeks of the instrument. The
form and proportions of the mouth-piece must be de-
duced wholly from the interior conformation of that
part of the mouth on which it is intended to act, and
these are, the tongue in the centre and the bars of the
mouth on each side. It has been already pointed out
that the relative hardness or softness of the mouth, so
far as this depends on the conformation of this organ
itself is a consequence of the greater or less thickness
of the tongue, and the greater or less sharpness and

N

178 BITS AND BITTING.

sensitiveness of the bars. The soft, fleshy tongue is, of
course, much less sensitive to pressure than the bony
bars, covered only with a very thin membrane; and
consequently, if we used a perfectly straight unjointed
mouth-piece of a moderate thickness, this resting wholly
on the animal's tongue would, notwithstanding a certain
amount of lever-action, be the very lightest form of
bit that could be well devised ; in fact, a good snaffle
would, on account of the joint, be more powerful. On
the other hand, if by means of what is called a " port "
we remove all pressure from the tongue and transfer it
to the peculiarly sensitive bars, we obtain, with pre-
cisely the same amount of lever-action as before, a
much greater amount of power — in fact, the sharpest
form of bit that it is generally advisable to use. Now
between these two extremes there is a wide range, and
the whole art of bitting consists, so far as the mouth-
piece goes, in determining how much of the pressure
shall fall on the tongue and how much on the bars, and
we are thus enabled, by means of an almost infinite
system of gradations, to obtain exactly the degree of
action required in each particular instance by the nature
of the service we demand, whatever the relative thick-
ness of the tongue and sensitiveness of the bars may
chance to be.

But there is one essential to be attended to — namely,
that the portion of the mouth-piece destined to rest on
the tongue and the bars respectively should keep their
proper places, and this can be secured only by making
-the mouth-piece of precisely the same width as the horse's
mouth. For it is very evident that if a mouth-piece
furnished with a port be too icide, a very slight pull on
one rein will suffice to displace it, so that the bar at that

THE LEVEE,, THE BIT AND CUBE, ETC. 179

side gets either altogether under the port, in which case
the whole pressure is thrown on the tongue ; or partially
so, when the corner of the port will, by being pressed
into it, cause great pain — in fact, the action of the
mouth-piece, whether with or without a port, becomes
altogether irregular and cannot be depended on. On the
other hand, if the mouth-piece be too narrow, the lips
are jammed in over the bars, the mouth-piece rests more
or less on them, and the whole action is disturbed,
besides which the horse is sure, sooner or later, to get
ulcerated lips.

The first grand rule must be, therefore, in all cases to
make the mouth-piece precisely so wide that, when placed
in the mouth, it fits close to the outer surface of the lips
without either pressing on these or being subject to be dis-
placed laterally.-''

But it is also evident that the different parts of the
mouth-piece must be exactly fitted to the interior of the
mouth ; that is to say, that those portions destined to
act on the bars of the lower jaw should come into
contact with them, and with them alone, and in the
degree required ; and that, on the other hand, that
portion destined to act on the tongue should be of
exactly the proper dimensions and form. Of course
there is a great difference in this respect between
smooth mouth-pieces and such as have a port ; in fact,
it is only as regards the latter that the dimensions are
important. Where, then, a port exists, its width should
be exactly that of the tongue-channel, as otherwise it
would either intrench, on the space allotted to that
portion of the mouth-piece required for the bars, and
produce the inconveniences alluded to above ; or, if
* See note at foot of p. 137.

180 BITS AND BITTING.

narrowed, it would fail to answer the purpose for which
it is intended : namely, to admit the tongue.* The
width of the port must be, therefore, exactly that of the
tongue- channel — and this is the second grand rule as
regards the mouth-piece. Now it has been already
shown that the width of the tongue -channel is very
constantly three-fourths of the height of the bars, which,
being equally constantly 1.8 inch, we have 1^ inch
for the maximum width of the port, even in cases
where the total width of the mouth, and consequently
of the mouth-piece, amounts to 4f and 5-J-Q English
inches ; for pony and hack bits, about 1 inch will
suffice ; whereas the common practice of the bit-makers
seems to be to make it one-third of the total width in all
cases.

For the height of the port, of course, no rule can be
given, this being precisely the most variable dimension
of all, and depending altogether, so far as the interior
conformation of the mouth is concerned, on the relative
thickness of the tongue and sensitiveness of the bars ;
and further, as we have already shown, on the tem-
perament and general conformation of the animal ; finally,
too, on the description of service to which it is to be
applied ; to which must, in some cases, be added the
peculiar style of riding or driving of the individual that
uses it ; for nothing can be more certain than that the
best bitting in the world is wholly useless, nay, some-
times dangerous, in bad, that is to say, heavy or rude
hands.

Fig. 14 shows a succession of mouth-pieces of the forms

* The Germans call the port of a bit the " tongue freedom "
— Zungenfreiheit — which expresses exactly the purpose for which
it is intended.

THE LEVEE, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC.

181

now generally adopted, beginning with the lightest —
that is to say, the one whose pressure is almost entirely
exercised on the tongue — and proceeding onwards with
an increase of port or " tongue-freedom " to the
very sharpest it is advisable or can ever be necessary
to use — namely, to one in which the height of the
port is equal to its width, say 1|- inch ; and beyond
this it is impossible to go, because the slightest pull
on the rein would, by altering the position of the
lever, bring the top of the port to press against the

Fig. 14. — Various mouth-pieces.

palate, causing more or less pain, and therefore in-
ducing the horse to bore with its head in the contrary
direction to the pressure — that is, away from the rider's
hand.

A mere inspection of these figures shows that the
thickness of the iron or steel is an important item ; the
diameter of the straight portion of the mouth-piece may
vary from a-half to three-quarters of an inch ; and it is
scarcely necessary to point out that the greater the
diameter the less painful will be its action on the bars of
the mouth. When under half an inch it pinches to a
certain extent, and should therefore be only employed

182 BITS AND BITTING.

when one is quite certain that this is desirable. In
Fig. 14 we have made the width of the port exactly
1^ inch, that of the whole mouth-piece being only 4,
which would be rather under the mark. The thickness
of the mouth-pieces Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 is three-quarters of
an inch, and these range from what is considered to
be the very lightest form, No. 1, up to No. 4, which
represents a medium bit. We, however, should always
prefer No. 2 or No. 3 to No. 1, for the arched form of
the latter throws nearly the whole pressure on the
tongue, and the very small amount that falls on the bars
of the mouth does so laterally, and not from front to
rear. This form of mouth-piece, too, is always unsteady,
and we have seen many horses whose tongues have been
nearly cut through by its use with a tight curb. The
mouth-pieces Nos. 5, 6, 7 are only half an inch thick,
which renders their action on the bars of the mouth
more telling; they represent sharp bits. It will not
escape observation that a greater thickness of the mouth-
piece adds, in fact, to the height of the port ; it is like
placing an arch on higher buttresses, but it renders the
action on the bars less painful, and enables us to meet
the exigencies of special cases — as, for instance, where
a horse has a thick fleshy tongue and very sensitive
bars, and would not bear anything like sharp bitting.

There is another adjustment that may be occasionally
employed with advantage, and which naturally finds
its place here. The plane of the port is usually made
to coincide with that of the whole bit ; in other words,
if we look at the instrument from either side, the port
will be covered by the upper bars ; but it is easy to
perceive that, by inclining it a little forward, we may
increase the tongue-freedom without making the port

THE LEVER, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC. 183

itself higher ; this, however, can only be resorted to
with a port of very moderate height ; otherwise the
roof of the palate would be endangered by every pull
on the rein.

Again, we have the well-known contrivance of rings,
which prevent horses from seizing the bit between their
grinders, and thereby neutralising the lever-action, as
some will do occasionally ; they are also very useful
with what are called " dead mouths," and favour the
very desirable process of " champing the bit." These
rings may also be advantageously applied to the top of
the arch of the port, where this, either on account of its
absolute height, or its being inclined forwards, is likely
to touch the palate. Where rings are employed, they
must be very movable, and, to insure this, few in
number.

We have hitherto considered the mouth-piece as
consisting of one piece, but fashion has introduced a
great variety of jointed mouth-pieces, and these are
much used in England. We may classify these mouth-
pieces generally into such as, having a common snaffle-
joint, are capable of being deflected in every direction ;
and, on the other hand, such as, having a hinge-joint,
can only be deflected backwards and forwards relatively
to the plane of the bit. In both cases the deflection
affords in its own way a certain amount of tongue-
freedom, like the port of an un jointed bit ; but here all
resemblance between the action of the two ceases ; for
whilst the pressure, and consequently the action, of the
latter is exerted in a direction parallel to the horse's
backbone, that of the former, taking a diagonal direc-
tion towards the centre, degenerates into a pincer-like
gripe, which is wholly unreliable with the snaffle-joint,

184 BITS AND BITTING.

and more or less so with, the hinge one. From the
riding-school point of view, jointed bits are altogether
objectionable ; from the military one they are scarcely
admissible, although the Prussian light cavalry adheres
to their use. For road-riding and hunting purposes the
well-known Pelham is in great favour ; and as there
must be some ground for this, it is worth while in-
quiring into.

The great argument in favour of the Pelham is, that
the upper pair of reins give you the action of a snaffle
— which is, however, not quite correct, but let it pass —
whilst the lower pair afford that of a curb-bit, as the
expression is. To this latter we must oppose a decided
negative, for two reasons : first, because the action that
results is that of a pincer, as shown above ; and,
secondly, because if the dimensions of the upper and
lower cheeks of our unjointed bits are very irregular and
generally much exaggerated, they are, in the case of the
Pelham, simply monstrous, so that the curb is invari-
ably dragged right up out of the chin-groove, and on to
the most sensitive part of the under-jaw, the effects of
which we have so frequently pointed out. No doubt
the Pelham will produce "painful action" enough, and
so far those whose ideas go no further as regards the
unjointed bit are justified in making a comparison ; but
a painful action exerted in a wrong or even uncertain
direction is certainly a mistake.

If we had to address ourselves exclusively to really
good and intelligent riders we would say what they
are themselves perfectly aware of, With your steady
seat, and light hand resulting therefrom, you have more
perfect command over your horses with a well-constructed
snaffle than with any Pelham. Your very conviction

THE LEVEB, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC. 185

of this sets you at ease, and that is a great point.
If you want a little help with a young horse, here
and there, or with one whose neck is turned upside
down or the like, you have only to apply the running-
rein or a martingale ; or, if you prefer it, the same
qualities of seat, hand, and heart will enable you to put
a well-proportioned light unjointed bit into your horse's
mouth. But the great majority of riders do not belong
to the class we have described above, and having neither
the steady seat nor the confidence that arises from it,
therefore seek after something more powerful than the
common snaffle. Indeed, as a general rule, one finds
the bitting severe and the tackle complicated in the
inverse proportion of the qualities of the rider ; and as
to a light hand it is altogether out of the question
with people who " stick " on their horses after the
fashion of a monkey mounted on a poodle, and derive
their chief support from the reins. To such persons we
would say, Improve your seat in the first place : until
you learn to keep it with ease, altogether independent
of the reins, you will be always looking out for something
Pelhamy that will afford you a gripe to hold on by ; just
the very reason you can't master your horses with a
snaffle, and, at a pinch, something with the action of
a curb-bit, which you are afraid of, because it affords
little or nothing to hold on by. If your judgment were
only equal to your pluck, you would soon become
independent of these hybrid instruments that pretend
to combine the action of snaffle and bit, and, like most
other makeshifts, answer neither purpose perfectly and
reliably.

We do not, however, mean to say that a Pelham
should never be used; as a matter of fancy, fashion,

186 BITS AND BITTING.

or old habit, many a good rider will cling to it; but
then its dimensions should be as carefully adjusted to
those of the horse's mouth, and, moreover, to the
other peculiarities of the individual animal's build and
temper, as we have shown to be necessary with the
un jointed bit : and this brings us to another form of
jointed bit — that used, as already mentioned, in the
Prussian light cavalry (No. 8, Fig. 14).

These are very similar to a straight-barred bit with
moderate tongue-freedom, but with a snaffle- joint at
the top of the port ; and their dimensions being in
accordance with the size and character of the horses,
there is nothing irregular in their action, especially as
care is taken to put them into the proper part of the
horse's mouth. We consider the unjointed bit to be a
better and more perfect instrument, especially in the
hands of a good rider; but we must not overlook the
fact, that the time of service in the Prussian cavalry
being restricted to three years, and, in consequence of
the system of recruiting, a considerable number of men
being brought into the ranks who have no previous
habits of horsemanship, there may be reasons for
adopting this jointed bit quite independent of its
relative merit.

We would recommend those who, for hunting or
racing purposes, wish to have a sufficient command over
their horses, combined with a more decided leaning on
the bit than is necessary for road-riding or possible for
the cavalry soldier, to use what we should be inclined to
call a dumpy bit, Fig. 15 — that is to say, one whose
upper cheek is exactly of the dimension prescribed
above, but whose lower cheek, instead of being double
the same, is only about 2f to 3 instead of 3| inches

THE LEVEK, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC.

187

long, selecting some one of the mouth-pieces, Nos. 2, 3,
4, or 5, Fig. 14, that may otherwise suit, and placing it
accurately opposite to the chin-groove.* Such a bit
would be found much more reliable than one of double
the dimensions that is badly placed ; and although some
authorities recommend for such purposes an ordinary
bit placed a little higher in the mouth than its true
place, we have found it better to reduce the dimensions
of the lower cheek, as you have always a difficulty with
the curb, if you once depart from the rule.

Fig. 15.

We have hitherto treated the lower cheek of the bit
as a straight line, and this is the form usually adopted
in common life ; whilst for military purposes various
curves are adopted, the best and nicest-looking being
nearly in the shape of a capital S. This variety of form,
it should be understood, has nothing to do with the
action of the bit as a lever : the point of attachment of
the lower ring, the centre of the rivet of the mouth-piece,
and that of the upper ring or eye, should be in one
straight line, and at the same proportional distances
from each other, in both cases alike. The real object of
the double curve of the lower cheek of the military bit

* A bridoon should be used with this as with every other
regular bit.

188 BITS AND BITTING.

is to prevent the horse from catching hold of it with his
lips, and then getting it between his teeth, a trick many
horses acquire. With the straight cheek recourse is had
to a curb-strap in such cases, as every one knows ; but
it is much simpler and easier for military purposes to
adopt the curved cheek, and there is no other reason
beyond whim and fashion why civilians should not do
the same.

As to the upper ring or eye into which the headstall
of the bridle is. fastened, this is now pretty nearly always
really ring-shaped. In former times it was usually
flattened down in various degrees from an oval to a
mere horizontal slit ; bat since the real principles of
bitting have become better understood, the simple ring
is preferred, and will be generally found to answer all
purposes perfectly, although, no doubt, there are some
cases where it might be convenient to use the oval-
shaped eye ; these are, however, very few indeed. We
have also hitherto considered the right and left side-
pieces (upper and lower cheeks taken together) of the
bit as being in all cases parallel to each other, and
consequently at right-angles to the mouth-piece. There
are, however, many horses, especially underbred ones,
whose heads will be found to project laterally, imme-
diately above the angles of the mouth, in a sudden
instead of the usual gradual manner ; and the width of
the mouth-piece is therefore insufficient to give the upper
cheeks, especially the rings, the requisite degree of play ;
or rather, the latter will most probably gall the horse's
cheeks more or less. There are two ways in which
this may be readily avoided ; first, by inclining the
upper cheeks somewhat outwards (Fig. 15, a), or by
making the upper ring movable (Fig. 15, b), instead of

THE LEVER, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC. 189

its forming a continuation of the upper cheek. Either
of these methods will be found to answer the desired
end, without interfering with the proper action of the
bit, and are not only unobjectionable, but should be
always resorted to when necessary, because nothing is
more common than to see unthinking riders reject a
bit whose mouth-piece has the proper dimensions, and
adopt one that is a quarter or half an inch too wide,
simply because they find that the upper bars do not
fit the outside of the horse's head ; in fact, this is what
frequently leads to a wrong selection of bits. People
think of the outside and visible part, and neglect
altogether the much more important interior of the
mouth and' the mouth-piece.

It may be useful to summarise here the whole of
what has been -explained in detail in the preceding
pages. We may say, then, that the average height of
the bar of the horse's mouth being If inch, the upper
cheek of the bit need never be longer, except, perhaps,
in very rare instances of horses 18 hands high and
upwards ; and this gives us 3^ inches for the lower
one, and for both a total of 5^ inches, measured from
where the curb-hook rests in the upper ring to where
the lower ring plays in its socket. For ponies or small
hacks these dimensions must be reduced to 1£ inch
upper cheek, 3 inches lower one, and total length of
bit 4|- inches. These are the only fixed dimensions that
can be safely given ; the remaining equally important
ones are variable, and must be ascertained by measure-
ment in the way to be presently pointed out.

Let us now suppose that we have ascertained the
exact width of the horse's mouth, and also the proper
form of the mouth-piece ; we then have the length of

190 BITS AND BITTING.

the curb without hooks equal once and a- quarter the
width of the horse's mouth, and the curb-hooks equal
in length three-fourths upper cheek of bit, which will
bring the total length of curb and hooks up to once and
a-half the same dimension ; and it only remains to put
the bit and bridle in their proper places.

We have already shown how much depends on the bit
being placed accurately. A quarter or even an eighth
of an inch higher or lower makes all the difference in
the world. The headstall or cheek-pieces of the bridle
must therefore afford all the necessary facilities in the
way of buckles and straps for this purpose. Military
bridles and harness have nearly always two pairs of
these — that is, one pair by means of which the bit is
attached to the cheek-piece of the bridle by its upper
rings, and a second in the cheek-pieces themselves,
for the purpose of regulating their length; and both
pairs may be employed to determine the height at
which the bit is suspended in the horse's mouth.
There is a great inconvenience and disadvantage in
having a multiplicity of buckles, and many civilian
bridles — if we may use the word — omit altogether the
first-named pair, the cheek-pieces being then sewed
directly into the upper rings of the bit.* This we hold
to be a great mistake, because, first of all, the bit,
supposing it to be of the proper size and shape, cannot
be so easily fixed in its proper place ; and, secondly,
it is impossible • to change it for one that does fit
accurately, in the contrary case. In fact, this practice
is evidently a consequence of want of clear views on

* We are told "that the gentlemen adopt the latter method
and the farmers the former ; not having so many bridles, and
changing their mouth-pieces more frequently."

THE LEVEE, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC. 191

the subject of bitting, and, on the other hand, a great
obstacle to the attainment of the necessary accuracy.
We hold the lower pair of buckles and straps to be
indispensable. The upper pair of buckles might be
more easily dispensed with if one single buckle were
placed on the top of the horse's head between its
ears ; for by means of this the total length of the
cheek-pieces may be regulated generally, and the final
adjustment of the position of the bit accomplished
by means of the buckles and straps, which latter
should be pierced with holes at intervals of half an
inch.* Some people will, however, prefer the buckles
in the cheek-pieces ; and if so, it will be necessary to
see that they do not lie higher than the angle of the
horse's eye, as they are otherwise likely to interfere
with the position of the forehead-band, which should,
like every other part of the bridle, including the throat-
band, fit loosely, and cause the least possible amount
of discomfort to the horse consistent with the object to
be attained.

The nose-band has pretty nearly altogether disappeared
from our English bridles, which is also a mistake.
When horses have been once perfectly trained to the
bit, and taken to it kindly, this strap may be dispensed
with safely, if people do not like the look of it; but,
until this is the case, the nose-band is most valuable
as a means of preventing the animal from opening
its mouth too wide and bolting the bit, or catching
hold of it between its teeth — in fact, evading its action
in one way or the other. It is very evident that we

* It may sometimes be necessary to let the bit down or take
it up by a smaller quantity than the half-inch affords ; in such
cases intermediate holes may be made ; but the fewer of these
the better, as they weaken the strap.

192 BITS AND BITTING.

have by degrees got rid of the nose-band because
we did not understand its proper use ; and, when
coupled with the monstrous bits we are in the habit
of using, it may have been found sometimes a positive
inconvenience ; but any one who pays even a slight
attention to this matter will find the nose-band in-
valuable in the early stages of bitting. It must,
however, be put in the proper place — that is to
say, just across the nose at the point where the bone
ceases and the cartilage commences; and it should
always be buckled so lightly as to admit of a proper
amount of free motion.

We may now wind up this chapter with the rules
for placing the bit in the horse's mouth. When the
headstall has been adapted generally to the animal's
head by means of the upper buckle or buckles, the
next step will be to adjust the bit by means of the
lower ones, so that the mouth-piece shall come to rest
on the bars of the mouth exactly opposite the chin-
groove, unless, indeed, some irregular disposition of
the tusks should render this impossible, in which case
it must be moved only just so much higher as is abso-
lutely necessary to clear the obstacle. The curb may
be then hooked in, first, of course, at the off side,
leaving one reserve link, then at the near side, leaving
two such, and taking care that it lies quite flat in the
chin-groove, without any (even the slightest) tendency
to mount upwards when the reins are drawn. The curb
should never be quite tight ; there should always be
room for the first and second fingers of the right hand
to pass flat between it and the chin ; and by gently
pulling the reins with the left hand whilst the two
fingers of the right are. in this position, it will be easy

THE LEVEE, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC. 193

to ascertain whether any pinching action occurs, in
which case there is sure to be something wrong.

As to the measure of the proper length of the curb,
we have already stated it generally ; but each individual
case will require a separate adjustment, and if the links
be either very large or very small, it will sometimes
occur that the difference of one of these will make the
curb either too tight or too loose ; we must then, of
course, try another curb. If the bit is rigid or stands
stiff on the reins being drawn gently, the curb will be
too short ; and on the pressure being increased, the
horse will almost certainly either turn his mouth askew
to avoid the griping action of the mouth-piece, or bear
back suddenly to escape it altogether : we therefore
give him another link, and drawing the reins gently as
before, we observe whether, after the lower bar has
moved through an angle of about eight degrees — bring-
ing the mouth-piece just to meet, as it were, the in-
terior of the mouth — the horse gives his head gently
and gradually in the direction of your hand as it in-
creases the pressure, without either poking his nose or
shrinking back. If this be the case, you are all right ;
but if the lower bar moves through a much greater
angle than the above — say fifteen to twenty degrees —
before the horse yields perceptibly, then your curb will
probably be too long.

We say probably, because you may, after shortening
and lengthening the curb once or twice, find that the
horse will avoid the bit in the first case or remain in-
sensible to it in the second — in fact, you discover that
the mouth-piece is unsuited ; therefore, in adjusting the
length of the curb, you must take care to avoid drawing
your conclusions too hastily. When you come to a

o

194 BITS AND BITTING.

hitch of this kind, lift up the horse's upper lip gently
with your left thumb so as to get a view of the interior
of his mouth, whilst you draw the reins with the right
hand so as to see how the mouth-piece lies, whether
too much or too little of its pressure falls on the tongue
— in fact, whether the mouth-piece is not in fault ; but
this requires some experience, and perhaps the help of
an instrument, of which we shall have to speak in the
next chapter.

And now a word as to the bridoon. This is, in the
first place, an aid in the early stages of training to
facilitate the transition from the snaffle to the curbed
bit ; and in proportion as the young horse becomes
familiar with .the latter it is gradually laid aside, and
then becomes a " second string to the bow " in case of
any accident happening to the bit or its reins. Nothing
is, however, commoner than to see amongst ourselves
these, its well-understood uses, completely reversed, and
people riding about our streets and parks holding on
like grim death by the bridoon-reins, whilst those
belonging to the bit dangle about the horse's neck, to
be caught up all of a sudden if the horse makes a bolt.
Now this simply proves that the bit is either so mon-
strous in itself, or so absurdly placed in the horse's
mouth, that the rider is afraid to use it ; in many cases,
too, his own seat is so unsteady, and he depends so
much on the reins for support, that the best-fitting bit
in the world would be useless or dangerous in his
hands. If those who really can ride would only bit
their horses properly, they might take the bit-rein in
their hands without any difficulty — nay, with great
advantage to themselves — and we should see fewer
broken knees than at present ; for it is frequently owing

THE LEVER, THE BIT AND CURB, ETC. 195

to the slovenly way of shuffling along close to the
ground, which horses ridden altogether on the bridoon
acquire, that these are owing. As to the other class of
would-be riders, it will perhaps be better for them to
take to the snaffle exclusively, if they do not prefer
a Pelham, which we, however, do not recommend.

The bridoon being, as we have said, an aid, or " a
second string to the bow," should never interfere with
the bit ; therefore it should be neither thick nor so
absurdly long as it sometimes is ; and instead of hanging
down in the horse's mouth so as to impede the action of
the bit, it should be drawn up so as to fit lightly into
the angles of the lips without disturbing the natural
position of the latter : here it will be out of the way, and
still perfectly available when needed.

To conclude, lightness, accuracy, easy motion, a total
absence of stiffness, constraint, or painful action, are
the characteristics of good bitting ; and if these be attained,
ready obedience to the rider's hand and heel will be the
result.

BITS FOR HARNESS.

The same rules are applicable to bits to be used with
harness as to those used for saddle-horses. There can-
not possibly exist any reason for adopting a different
principle than that of making the bit, of whatever kind
or pattern it may be, to fit exactly the horse's mouth ;
and moreover, it should be carefully adjusted to that
part of the mouth already pointed out. No doubt
somewhat larger-sized bits will be sometimes required,
because carriage-horses are frequently larger, and per-
haps, too, coarser, in some respects than saddle-horses ;

196 BITS AND BITTING.

but this can never justify the use of the enormous bits
that are commonly used. We should doubt very much
whether 5 per cent, of the horses used in harness in
these islands really require bits with cheeks of greater
dimensions than those shown in Fig. 13, p. 170 ; that is
to say, If inch for the upper, and 3f inches for the
lower part of the cheek, or in all 5J inches.; and we
have very little doubt but that at least 90 per cent, of
such horses have bits in their mouths that exceed con-
siderably these dimensions — some more, some less ; not
to speak of the 25 per cent, that are tortured with
mouth-pieces too wide for, or otherwise unsuited to their
mouths, and curb-chains that act altogether on the
sensitive part of the jaw-bone.

Fortunately the use of ring-snaffles is becoming-
more general, and this will in the end lead to lighter
bitting. In light draught, and especially where the
horses are to be used occasionally under the saddle,
a very light Pelham with cheeks not exceeding 5 inches
will be found useful. The cheek may be shaped into
any fashion that pleases the eye ; the main point
being, that it should not exceed the proper length.
Another form of bit would be with the mouth-piece,
No. 8, Fig, 14, p. 181. Those who wish to use un-
jointed bits may adopt any pattern they please for
the cheeks, but the dimensions should be carefully
adjusted. Therefore it is an absolute absurdity to make
the cheeks so long, that one is obliged to buckle the
reins not into the lowest eye or ring, but into one
placed higher up. The lower portion of the cheek
should never exceed in length exactly the double of
the upper portion, otherwise the action of the lever
becomes too rapid and severe ; and even when the

THE LEVEE, THE BIT AND CUBE, ETC. 197

billet of the reins is habitually fastened into a ring
that is not too far distant from the rivet of the mouth-
piece (line of bearing), still the weight of the projecting
portion must always affect the leverage of the whole
instrument, and nothing is gained by it except being
in the fashion.

It would be quite another thing with a bit whose
lower cheek was of the proper dimensions, and in
proper proportion to the upper cheek, to put a second
ring or eye for the rein somewhat higher, upon the
principle of what we have called the dumpy bit, Fig. 15 ;
and we should then have the upper portion of the
cheek If inch, and the lower portion to the point
where the rein is attached 3^ inches long, with an
intermediate ring f ths of an inch higher up ; that is
to say, at 2f inches from the line of bearing. This
lighter leverage would be then available for young
horses when firsb being trained in harness, or for trained
horses when it is desirable to make them throw their
weight more into the collar for a long and rapid
journey.

A word with regard to the reins for double harness,
which may be useful. If the driver sits so that his left
hand holding the reins comes to be exactly over the pole
of the carriage — that is to say, in its longitudinal axis —
then, the outer reins of both horses being of precisely
the same length from the point of attachment of the
rein to the driver's hand, the two inner or coupling-
reins should also be made equal in length ; but if the
driver sits to the right of that central point, as is
usually the case, then the outer rein of the near horse
will be longer than that of the off horse, and the
inner or cross-reins must be adjusted so as to give

198 BITS AND BITTING.

an equal pull on the horses' mouths. The coachman
sitting on the hammercloth of a state carriage, and
the driver of a London " bus," adopt the former arrange-
ment, most other drivers the last-named one ; and
it is quite plain that a material change of seat will-
also necessitate an alteration in the adjustment of the
reins. For further remarks on the bridling of horses ,
see Part IV. of this book.

CHAPTEE V.

TAKING MEASURE FOB THE BIT THE MOUTH -GAUGE —

THE TEIAL-BIT.

ALTHOUGH we have given above a certain number of
permanent dimensions, or such as are nearly so, for the
bit, there still remains a certain number of variable
ones which must be ascertained in each individual
case — that is to say, the width of the mouth, on which
so much depends ; that of the tongue-channel, nearly
equally important ; and finally, the relative thickness
of the tongue — which latter, however, just because it
is relative, is not susceptible of direct measurement.

For those who have had much experience in this
detail, the width of the mouth, and consequently that
of the mouth-piece, may be ascertained with sufficient
accuracy by putting any bit that is not too small into
the horse's mouth, and, whilst holding it gently up to
one side of the mouth, measuring off with a small rule
divided into inches and eighths or tenths how much of
the mouth -piece, if any, protrudes beyond the side of the
lips on the other side ; if we then deduct this amount
from the actual dimensions of the mouth-piece we at
once ascertain what those of the bit we seek should
be ; but it requires some practice to enable one to do
this accurately.

200

BITS AND BITTING.

Von Weyrother, formerly chief of the School of
Equitation at Vienna, invented a special instrument
for ascertaining all the necessary dimensions, and this
should be in the hands of all those who have any
number of horses to deal with ; we have named it, for
want of some better word, the "mouth-gauge " (Fig. 16,
A) This instrument is usually made of steel, and

Fig. 1C.

consists of a bar a b — about six inches long will suffice —
fitted on one side at right-angles with a fixed cheek-
piece c d, of the form shown by the figure, and having
on the other side a sliding cheek-piece e f, of the same
shape and dimensions (six inches long), fitted with a
screw for fixing it where required. This bar a b is
made oval in the transverse section, with the greater
axis about one inch, in order to displace the lips nearly

TAKING MEASURE FOR THE BIT, ETC. 201

as the mouth-piece does, and is usually graduated
throughout, but it will evidently suffice to do this with
the fourth and fifth inches.

It is scarcely necessary to point out that if this gauge
be placed in the horse's mouth like a bit, with the bar
a b at exactly the proper point (opposite the chin-
groove), the fixed cheek-piece c d being then held gently
up to the off side of the mouth (the operator facing the
horse's forehead), the sliding one ef may be shoved up
just close enough to the cheek, at the near side, not to
displace the lips ; and then fixing it with the screw,
and removing the gauge, we can read off the dimension
of the width of our mouth-piece from the scale engraved
on a b.

The figure shows further a rod g h fitted to slide up
and down the movable cheek-piece e f, which is gradu-
ated into inches and eighths or tenths on its lower limb.
This contrivance enables us to measure the height of
the bar of the mouth, which is done in the following
manner : The instrument, adjusted to the proper width
of the horse's mouth, is placed as before, with the bar
a b exactly opposite the chin-groove, but underneath the
tongue, and is then wheeled round on its own axis till
the upper limbs of the cheek-pieces stand nearly per-
pendicular to the general line af the horse's nose. This,
of course, brings its lower limbs in the opposite direc-
tion towards the neck, and the rod g h is then gently
shoved up till it presses lightly into the chin-groove,
taking care that the gauge stands square, and that the
mouth-piece lies equably on both bars of the mouth.
The rod g h is then screwed fast, whilst the bars of the
cheek-piece e f is loosened altogether, so that the latter
may be removed without disturbing the rod g h ; we

202 BITS AND BITTING.

then read off the height of the bar on the lower limb of
ef, and have all the necessary dimensions.

It would be quite possible to take another measure-
ment— namely, that of the thickness of the tongue — by
placing the bar a b over that organ ; but it has been
already shown that it is its relative and not absolute
thickness we want to know7 ; and that, moreover, we
must take into account the temperament and " build ""
of the whole animal when we set about determining
what degree of relative pressure should be borne by the
bars of the mouth and the tongue respectively ; so that
this proceeding would lead to no useful result.

Even those who have had most experience will
sometimes find themselves at fault if they rely merely
on measurement ; and Lieutenant Klatte, a Prussian
instructor in equitation at Berlin, many years ago
invented for this very reason what is known as the
"trial-bit" (Fig. 16, B). This affords us at once the
means of ascertaining the proper bit for every horse
practically. There are a certain number of spare
mouth-pieces which may be fixed in succession into the
side-pieces of the bit, their width being easily adjusted
by means of a number of small plates, p p, of one-tenth
of an inch thickness, removable at pleasure from the
inside to the outside of the side-piece ; and having once
ascertained the width of the mouth, we may then,,
having also ascertained the height of the bars of the
mouth with the gauge described in a preceding para-
graph, proceed to shift the sliding ring-pieces r r till
the upper cheek has attained the prescribed length,
after which the curb with its hooks are fitted, and
then there only remains to slide the rein-rings s s up or
down till the proper proportional length of the lower

TAKING MEASURE FOE THE BIT, ETC. 203

cheek has been attained. Of course, as we go on from
step to step with the adjustment, the straps of the
headstall, and subsequently those of the reins, must be
buckled into the respective rings ; and when, as a final
step, the bridoon has been fitted and the curb hooked,
the horse may be mounted and tried/1'

In making this trial, those who have hitherto not
paid much attention to the subject will do well to take
account of the whole circumstances of the case — the
temperament, build, &c., of the horse, the uses to which
it is to be devoted, and whether it has ever been bitted
before or not. If the trial-bit be really well adjusted,
and the rider have a good hand, the horse will at once
take to the bit, or at least give a promise of doing so,,
and nothing more will be required than to read off all
the dimensions from the trial-bit, in order to have a
proper one constructed ; if, on the other hand, its
action be found unsatisfactory, the lower rings, the
mouth-piece, or the upper bar must be shifted till it
does suit.

It should be borne in mind that the greatest defect
a bit can have is to fall through or capsize — that is to
say, describe a large circle before the horse shows itself
sensible to the lever-action. When this takes place to
the extent of the lower cheek forming nearly or alto-
gether a straight line with the rein, there is no lever-
action whatever, and a good snaffle would be more
powerful. This falling through may depend on the curb
being too long, or on the upper cheek being absolutely
too short, or on the lower one being proportionately too
long, especially in cases where the conformation and

* Messrs. White and Coleman, saddlers, 4, Bishopsgate Street
Without, London, have patterns of the trial-bit and mouth-gauge.

204 BITS AND BITTING.

dimensions of the mouth absolutely require a very short
upper bar, when it may be necessary to make the lower
one somewhat less than twice the length of the former,
according to the rule we have given ; but such cases are
few in number, and must be regarded as exceptions — it
seemed, however, advisable to mention them.

The next greatest fault is when the bit stands stiff
in the horse's mouth ; and this will be generally found
to proceed from the curb being too tight, or the upper
bar being too long, which latter always produces the
third fault — the mounting up of the curb out of the
chin -groove.

In conclusion, a word as to horses acquiring the trick
of getting their tongues over the mouth-piece. This is
a great inconvenience, as it renders the action of the
whole machine uncertain. There is really no other
method of cure except careful bitting and good riding,
which may and often does by degrees lessen the evil,
if not wholly remedy it ; and these means will more
frequently succeed with young than with old horses, for
it is almost always a consequence of bad bitting in the
first instance. Our advice would be to ride the horse
for a certain time on a snaffle, and then a very carefully-
fitted bit may be put into its mouth with a fair chance
of success ; but there are some horses that never forget
this trick when once acquired.

There is another trick which is not so inconvenient,
although it is very unsightly — namely, when the horse
lolls out its tongue either directly in front, or, as more
usually happens, to one side. This, too, is usually a
consequence of bad — that is, too severe — bitting, and,
with carriage-horses, of the bearing-rein being too short.
.In many cases a suitable bit will suffice, combined

TAKING MEASURE FOK THE BIT, ETC. 205

with a loose bearing-rein, where that has been the
cause, and the horse will be immediately lighter in the
hand. Sometimes, however, this fails, and the only
remedy that remains is to attach a " fringe " to the
mouth-piece, which, hanging down on the tongue,
produces a tickling sensation that makes the animal
draw back its tongue. However, we should be deceiving
our readers in leading them to suppose that all cases
are curable ; for some horses will persist in this ugly
trick despite of everything one can do. Any attempt to
tie the tongue in this or the former cases will be found
useless and probably dangerous.

Nothing is more certain than that every horse will
go much better with a well-fitting bit properly placed
than with the contrary; further, that many otherwise
dangerous horses become perfectly tractable if properly
bitted ; and, finally, that inattention to this subject
is one of the most frequent causes of restiveness. It
however by no means follows that every rider should
necessarily use a curb-bit. For hunting and racing
purposes the snafiie will be generally preferable. More-
over, bad or indifferent riders had better not use the
bit at all; but when, from whatever cause, it appears
desirable to use one, let it be by all means a well-fitting
bit, carefully adapted to the animal.

PAET THKEE.

ON DKAUGHT AND HAENESS.

CHAPTEE I.

INTRODUCTOEY.

IT is very remarkable that in this country so large a
proportion of very badly arranged teams and horses in
single draught should be found working on the same
roads with others — and we think the majority — whose
whole trim is unexceptionable, and, in very many cases,
perfectly artistic. If the horses and vehicles of the rich
all belonged to the latter class and those of the poor to
the former, we should feel disposed to lay down the pen
at once in despair ; but this is by no means the case,
the proofs being patent enough that sore shoulders and
galled withers are occasioned much more frequently by
want of detail-knowledge, and attention to simple
mechanical principles, than to a deficiency of means.
On the continent of Europe, generally speaking, there
is much less difference observable in this matter. One
seldom sees a very good arrangement of draught and
harness, and equally seldom a totally absurd one ;
perhaps the question of expense has a greater influence
in most countries than in our own, and people are
therefore driven to make the most of the simple means
at their disposal, and let ingenuity supply the lack of
hard cash.

The state of the roads, too, varies very considerably

210 DEAUGHT AND HARNESS.

in different countries, and this requires corresponding
modifications in the details of harness, draught, and
the general construction of vehicles. The short traces
and pole-chains or straps that suit perfectly a London
omnibus or a Viennese fiacre — which, by the way, is
an artistic specialty — would be quite unfit and very
harassing to horses that have to do their work on roads
full of ruts and holes, or at a gallop over hill and dale,
like artillery - trains. Again, although two -wheeled
vehicles do very well and are very handy in a level
country like England or parts of Italy, they are quite
unfit for hilly districts, and punish the horses very
severely and unnecessarily in going down-hill.

These things are mentioned here for the purpose of
showing that our dear old friend and constant guide in
practical matters, the highly-respected " rule of thumb,"
cannot be always depended on implicitly, and is, in
fact, by 110 means an infallible guide ; and therefore,
as a discerning British public has so favourably received
our method of inviting people to find out how things
should be done, by pointing out how they should not
be done, we shall endeavour to apply the same principle
to draught and harness, and proceed to show the why
and the wherefore of these matters also.

This subject of draught and harness is one that
might be equally well begun upon at either end — that
is to say, by taking in the first place either the
horses or the carriage ; and this is, in the scientific
books, the course usually pursued. But in order to
show that we are not addicted to pedantry, we have
determined to begin in the middle, and with what forms
the most important link between the two — namely, the
trace. And for this reason, more especially with the

INTRODUCTORY. 211

trace, because the differences in the size of draught-
horses and the diameter or heights of wheels require
that the traces should be adjusted to certain lengths,
and at a certain angle with the horizon. This same
angle of traction, as it is called, has been made the
subject of many learned controversies, which seem not
to have led to any definite result as yet, probably
because the men who were directly concerned in the
question of draught, and knew something about horses,
being on the other hand for the most part totally
ignorant of mathematics, and prone to restiveness and
to wheeling suddenly round and bolting at the very first
sight of the pons asinorum and other ox-fences that
abound in Euclidshire — because these men, we say,
went to learned professors who knew a great deal about
mathematics, but nothing at all about horses, and very
little practically about roads or carriages. If the poor
horses themselves could have been consulted, we should
probably have arrived long ago at something more
definite ; and even a moderately intelligent veterinary
might have put us on the right track, if he had ever paid
attention to the subject otherwise than by attempting
to heal raw necks and ulcerated shoulders by methods
not uniformly successful. And as we have arrived at
this point, and probably wounded the just susceptibilities
of no end of people, why should we not go a step farther
and suggest to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals that it would attain some of its objects much
more certainly by instructing people how they should
not harness their horses, than by causing poor ignorant
wretches to pay sums of money in fines which might be
more profitably expended in forage — and this could be
easily done. But let us now consider :

CHAPTER II.

THE ANGLE OF TRACTION THE COLLAR — THE HAMES — THE

TRACE THE POLE AND POLE-CHAINS THE HEIGHT

OF THE WHEEL.

The Angle of Traction* — The mathematical or me-
chanical law which informs us that a given force, when
applied precisely in the direction in which motion is
desired to be effected, confers greater power than when
applied under an angle, is so perfectly consonant with
our everyday experience that it requires no further
demonstration. We may, however, just as well say
that as a given force applied directly upwards to a
wheel would only tend to lift it up, or directly down-

* The idea of any importance being fairly attributable to an
adjustment of the angle of traction has been recently sneered at
by some of our " rule of thumb " philosophers, on the ground that
the celebrated old coachmen on the Bath, Brighton, and other
roads, knew nothing of it. It may be taken for granted that they
probably never heard of the existence of such a thing ; but that
does not prove that they were indifferent to the position of their
traces, or unaware of the fact that their teams or single horses
required certain adjustments to be made of the harness, the traces
and other parts of the harness, and these they did make, not
indeed on theoretical grounds, but from personal observation and
experience. The sneerers should prove, if they can, that the
results of these observations and experiences were at variance
with the theory set forth above, which is grounded, as all theories
should be, on still more extended experiences ; by doing so they
would extend our knowledge.

THE ANGLE OF TRACTION, ETC. 213

wards to press it against or into the ground, so in pro-
portion as it comes to be applied further and further
away from either of these two directions — that is to
say, the perpendicular line up and down — the more
power of rolling the wheel forwards would be acquired.
In other words, the trace should act horizontally, sup-
posing the wheel to move on a perfectly level and even
surface ; because the horizontal line lies more remote
from the perpendicular than any other, being at right-
angles with it.

And many good practical authorities who have had
much experience tell us the same thing ; amongst
others, the author of the ' Handy Horse-Book,' who
thinks that to make " the draught as easy as possible,
the axles [of a carriage] ought to be on a level with the
trace -hooks, or point of traction, or as nearly horizontal
as possible with the traces and their place in the leg
of the hames." *

On the other hand, we have practical authorities
-who say, " The best disposition of the traces in draught
is when they are perpendicular to the collar ; when the
horse stands at ease the traces are then inclined to the
horizon, at an angle of about 15°; but when he leans
forward to draw, the traces should then become nearly
parallel to the road." f

Before going further, let us observe here on the modi-
fication that the mathematical rule is made to undergo,
from the moment you leave the level (horizontal) plane,
and get on to inclined planes ; for we see that the trace
which was at first-starting parallel to the horizon be-
comes parallel to the road, and therefore forms less than

* ' The Handy Horse-Book,' p. 73.

f ' The Artillerist's Manual,' by Major Griffiths. Sixth edition
p. 150.

214: DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

a right-angle with the perpendicular, and this cannot
be prevented by any permanent arrangement of the axlesr
trace-hooks, &c. Then, again, this law never contem-
plates the fact of the horse's shoulders becoming lower
— that is, coming nearer to the ground — from the
moment the animal stretches itself out and lays itself
into the collar ; and the amount of this lowering will of
course vary with the pace, being greatest at full gallop,
and also with the amount of effort required.

The French artillery gives the trace an inclination of
only 11° with the horizon, and the rule seems to have
been deduced from a series of experiments made at
Metz by General Berge in 1816, at the time the new
system of artillery carriages, copied from the Englishr
was about being introduced.* This officer found that
the greatest effort was exercised by all horses — strong,
weak, and medium — when the trace was inclined between
10° and 12° with the horizon, or on an average 11°, and
this greatest effort exceeded by more 'than ith that ob-
tained with the perfectly horizontal trace. Applying a
trigonometrical calculation to this fact, it will be found
that this angle of 11° corresponds with the supposition
of the horse's shoulders being pressed on to the ground
by a force equal to Jth the horizontal effort exerted.
Following out this indication, General Berge next tried
the effect of weighting the shoulders artificially in different
proportions, and found that by putting 100 kilogrammes
on the horse's shoulders he obtained the same effort
under an angle of between 6° and 7° that the unweighted
horses gave at 11°; and that weighting with 50 to 60
kilogrammes under the latter angle gave an inferior

* Migout et Bergery, ' Theorie des Affuts et des Voitures d'Ar-
tillerie.'

THE ANGLE OF TRACTION, ETC. 215

result to that given by the greater weight (100 kilo-
grammes) under the lesser angle (6° to 7°).

But all these experiments having been made on a fixed
machine, and not on a movable carriage, were very
restricted in their application, which led the General to
make another set on the limber of an ammunition
waggon, both with and without the instrument previously
used.':' The results became, however, so contradictory
that he was obliged to give up the matter in despair ;
for not only was the relative power of some of the
horses, as previously shown on the fixed machine, com-
pletely reversed, but the indications of the instrument
did not correspond in any way with the different loads
placed on the limber, the only fixed result arrived at
being that the effort obtained by a sudden violent plunge
into the collar (coup de collier) was double that given by
the gradually-increasing pressure of a steady pull.

Here are discrepancies and contradictions enough
both between the practical and scientific men, and also
in each group separately. There is, however, in the
quotation we have made from the ' Artillerist's Manual,'
one sentence that affords a clue to the really important
part of the question : we mean the words, " The best
disposition of the traces in draught is when they are per-
pendicular to the collar.'' For it is quite evident that a
horse will apply a greater amount of force to the trace
when the collar neither causes him pain nor interferes
with his muscular action, than in the contrary case,
when every effort becomes painful, and must be exerted
in a direction that does not accord with the general
mechanism of his frame ; therefore a greater useful
effect may be attained with traces that are so disposed
* A Dynamometer.

216 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

as to enable the horse to exert his entire strength
under a theoretically less favourable angle of traction
than when the ease of the animal is sacrificed to
a correct, but in such a case inapplicable, mathematical
principle. In a word, our contention is, that the angle
of traction must be regulated with reference to the
horse, and not to the carriage exclusively.

And by adopting this view, several things that
otherwise seemed contradictory and anomalous become
at once clear and intelligible ; as, for instance, the
English artillery adopt an angle of 15°, while the
French find 11° to answer better ; and why ? because
on an average the English horses are less straight-
shouldered than the French, or indeed than any other
draught-horses that we have seen ; then again, the
results of General Berge's experiments at Metz could
not have been otherwise than anomalous, because one
horse will draw better under one angle, and another
under a different one ; and in fact, by overlooking the
conformation of the horse's shoulders, while varying the
angle of traction, one and the same animal will appear
in one experiment relatively stronger, and in a second
and third weaker, than another.

The rule of the ' Artillerist's Manual ' is therefore so
far correct, but it is neither altogether so, nor does it
go far enough. For the essential thing is evidently
that the trace should be perpendicular to the horse's
shoulder-blade, through which the effort is exerted,
and whose form cannot be altered, and not to the
collar, which may be made of variable thickness ; and
then again, nothing whatever is said as to the particular
part of the collar, and consequently of the underlying
shoulder-blade, to which the trace should be attached,

THE ANGLE OF TRACTION, ETC. 217

is a matter of the very greatest importance, as
~we shall now proceed to point out.

Having, we hope, convinced the reader that the
horse's convenience being suited is the first thing to
look after, let us examine for a moment which of his
members he brings into action in draught, how he
uses them, and in what direction the effort is made.
Plate I., opposite to the title-page, shows us the
shoulder-blade, but it cannot, of course, exhibit the
manner in which this bone is attached to the remainder
of the framework of the machine, the muscles by which
this is effected being mostly hid beneath the bone itself ;
some, however, are visible in Plate II. (opposite p. 43),
as also some others whose function it evidently is to
cause, on the one hand, the lower end of the shoulder-
blade, which is articulated (jointed) with the arm-bone,
to move forward at each step taken by the horse ;
whilst, on the other hand, the muscles that descend
from the back and withers at the same time cause the
upper end of this bone to move backward, so that the
shoulder-blade in fact rotates on its centre, which is fixed,
whilst the upper and lower ends are movable. Every
judge of horses knows perfectly well the great value that
attaches to a long shoulder-blade, because the longer the
arms of the lever above and below the central fixed point
or fulcrum, the more powerful will be the action.

Now it seems scarcely necessary to point out that
the use of "breast-harness," as it is called, which one
sees everywhere in the east of Europe except in Eussia,
or the attachment of the trace so low down on the
hames, when a collar is used, as to bring the pull
opposite, or nearly so, to the articulation of the shoulder-
blade with the arm-bone, is perfectly analogous to a

218 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

man running a race in a sack, or perhaps, better still,,
attempting to box with his arms pinioned ; but this
is precisely what one sees every day, and all day long,
in hundreds of instances on our roads and streets —
horses painfully shoving along, at every step they take,
the movable articulation of the point of the shoulder
against a trace which should be attached opposite to
the immovable point of the shoulder-blade, where it
would not cause the slightest inconvenience, and all
this perhaps whilst the driver is congratulating himself
on his traces being in the correct angle of traction. Is it
not passing strange, too, that the ' Artillerist's Manual,'
which gives the admirable rule we have twice quoted at
p. 151, should present us, at p. 130, with a drawing of
an off-leader, showing the trace attached to the hames
exactly opposite to the shoulder-joint ? And where is
it that horses get most frequently sore necks from the
collar ? Why, just within a few inches of this very
same unlucky spot, either higher up or lower down ; or,,
on the other hand, opposite the other movable end —
that is, at the top of the shoulder-blade. We would
request our readers to satisfy themselves by inspection
as to the rotatory motion of the shoulder-blade alluded,
to here. It is best seen in foals and young horses,
especially mares, and very clearly indeed in donkeys..
In old horses, especially those that have been crippled
by injudicious harnessing, the whole shoulder stiffens
and loses its natural play, so that it is less easy to
detect, although it always exists in some degree.

WThen the trace is attached to the collar very low
down, the upper end of the latter will very frequently
lose all contact with the upper part of the shoulder,,
and gape forwards. This, of course, has not escaped

THE ANGLE OF TEACTION, ETC. 219

observation, and two remedies have been devised, which
apparently remedy the fault, but in fact only disguise
it; indeed one of them, at least, aggravates instead
of curing the real evil. The one remedy consists in
curving backwards the upper part of the collar, which
hides the defect partly, and if not carried to the excess
of impeding the play of the top of the shoulder-blade,
is harmless. The other offers a curious instance of
misplaced ingenuity, and is of rather recent date — we
mean, the strap led back from near the top of the collar
to the trace-buckle, and which converts the front end
of the trace practically into a fork, whose points are
attached to the hames opposite to the two movable
ends of the shoulder-blade, so that in fact the play of
this bone is effectually checked at both ends alternately,

The fair and inevitable conclusion to be drawn from
all this is, of course, that the trace should be attached
as nearly as possible opposite to the immovable part of
the shoulder-blade — that is to say, to its centre. A very
intelligent London harness manufacturer showed the
author very recently a number of collars and hames
constructed precisely on this principle, and assured him
that all the better houses in the trade had adopted it
for some time, so that all we can claim here is the
credit of showing the why and the wherefore of what
ought to be, but unfortunately is not, generally adopted.

The shoulder-blade we may now neglect for a moment T
and go on to consider what other members are brought
into action, and in what direction the effort is made
by a horse leaning up against the collar in draught.
Now it is quite evident that in this case the fore legs
are much more completely simple bearers, and the
hind ones pure propellers, than under the saddle ;

220 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

and turning to Fig. 4, p. 40, which was constructed
altogether without reference to the question before
us, we find that the line E S is that in which the
propulsion is affected by the hind leg ; and now turn-
ing again to Fig. 1, and imagining a straight line
drawn from the middle point of the anterior edge of
the shoulder-blade, where the collar rests, and at right-
angles to it, we see that this line would, if prolonged,
go away to the rear just at the horse's hocks to the
point E, where it forms only a very small angle with
the line R S (Fig. 4) ; and it is quite evident that when
the horse, in leaning forward to draw, lowers his
forehand, the two lines will coincide very nearly ; or in
other words, the direction in which the propelling
force of the hind legs is effected will be exactly contrary
to that in which the resistance to the traction occurs »
whereas with the horizontal trace it will form a
considerable angle with it at the point of attachment
to the collar.

We have therefore the weight of evidence, both
practical and theoretical, in favour of the trace being
attached to the middle of the collar, and at right-angles
with it : and if this were not so, a horse with a bad,
that is to say a short straight shoulder, ought to be
better for draught than one with a long slanting one ;
for the horizontal trace is much more easily attained
with the former than with the latter.

In forming a final opinion on this matter of the
angle of traction, the fact should never be lost sight of
that a high wheel, which always reduces this angle,
may, on account of the great mechanical advantages
inherent in itself, make a perfectly horizontal trace, or
even one inclined the wrong way to the horizon,

THE ANGLE OF TRACTION, ETC. 221

appear to be more advantageous than one that works at
right-angles to the horse's shoulder." This, however,
is a one-sided view of the case, as the question isr
according to our apprehension, not with what kind of
machine can we do the work, taking much or little out
of the horse ? but, on the contrary, how can we do the
work required, taking the least out of the animal ? We
have now perhaps said quite enough about the angle of
traction, taken by itself, and proceed to consider —

The Collar. — Let us first suppose the collar to fit
perfectly, and to lie in such a position with regard to-
the shoulder-blade that when we talk of a line being
parallel to, or at a given angle with, the one, the same
also applies to* the other. Moreover, we may confine
our remarks at present to one side of the collar, the
other side being acted on by precisely similar forces
and in the same directions, by which means a balance
is established. We may now go back to p. 48 of Part I.,
beginning to read at the words, " Supposing, now, the
under surface of the saddle," continuing through the
whole of p. 49, and ending in page 50 with the words,
" a defect that depends on the rider himself." All
that is said here of the saddle and the rider's weight
applies perfectly to the collar and the pull on the
trace, excepting, of course, that in the former case
the question is of the effect of gravity, which always
acts in one direction, whereas in the latter we have
muscular action producing a pull in a direction that
may be varied ; otherwise, however, the analogy is
complete. For, as in the saddle, injury to the horse's

* As for instance, when a small horse is put into a gig intended
for a big one. Vide Mr. Pickwick's discourse with the cabman,
that ended so disastrously for that gentleman.

222

DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

back is best avoided by placing the rider's weight
in the centre, so with the collar, injury to the neck
and shoulder is best avoided by getting the pull from
the middle, and for the same reason in both cases,
because the pressure is then distributed over the whole
surface instead of being concentrated on a point. In
like manner, as the pressure of the rider's weight on

Fig. 17.

one end of a saddle tilts up the other end and causes
it to run forward, so will the pull on one end of the
collar cause it to gape away from the horse's neck at
the other end, and grind up or downwards as the case
may be. But the collar is in this respect worse than
the saddle, because the rider's weight falls directly
downwards for the most part, whereas the pull on the

THE ANGLE OF TRACTION, ETC. 223

trace may and very often does act altogether obliquely
•on the collar, and then produces that grinding motion
which is sure to get up a raw. To have recourse once
more to our old familiar illustration : if the pull on the
-collar occurs in the direction T, Fig. 17, the lower part
of the collar is pulled up against the horse's windpipe,
and chokes him more or less ; and if in the direction
W, in which the pole-chains act, then it wounds the
withers, and in both cases has a grinding action ;
therefore the line that lies farthest away from these
two objectionable directions is the least likely to cause
injury, and this is the perpendicular to the collar
recommended in the 'Artillerist's Manual,' and is also,
as we have seen, the one most nearly parallel to the
line of propulsion through the horse's hind legs.

Very injudicious arrangements of the collar and
traces occur most frequently perhaps with carts and
other two-wheeled vehicles. Having the misfortune
to live in a street leading to the coal-wharf of a railway,
we have specimens of this sort of thing daily and
hourly before our eyes, but the bakers and doctors and
fat farmers, reinforced now and then by a few millers
and brewers, are also well represented. Like so many
other absurdities, this too originates in the exaggerated,
and therefore wrong, application of a really correct and
useful principle. There can be no doubt that in two-
wheeled carriages or carts the load ought to be balanced
on the axle-tree, so as that a minimum of pressure
should fall on the horse's back, because by this arrange-
ment the entire power of the animal is reserved for
traction ; and as the most useful way of employing a
horse's power is in draught, and the worst is in carrying
a load, the method now universally adopted of taking

224 DEAUGHT AND HARNESS.

nearly the whole pressure off the back is quite correct.
This is, however, comparatively speaking, a modern
idea, for we can well remember the time when such
vehicles were loaded very differently, the weight being
thrown to a great extent on the horse's back, under the
then -prevalent notion that there is a great advantage
gained by bringing a horse as near to his work as
possible. But a great oversight has been committed, or
rather, a great many of us have forgotten to think at all
about the matter, and have gone on using hames and
collars that were constructed to be used with shafts
that hung in a horizontal position at best, whereas they
are now triced up sometimes 1 foot higher at the point,,
with the same height of wheel, forming an angle of from
10° to 15° with the horizon. This has, in innumerable
instances, inverted the angle of traction, so to say ; and
the line of the trace, which was intended to be hori-
zontal in accordance with the mathematical theory,.
now descends from its point of attachment on the shaft
to the joint of the collar, so that instead of forming a
right -angle with the collar and shoulder-blade, it forms
a very acute one with both. No doubt we have thus
taken the load off the horse's back, but what we have
done with the poor animal's neck and shoulders i&
shown by Fig. 17, which is, we are sorry to say, any-
thing but an exaggeration, or an exception to what
daily comes under our observation. This figure scarcely
requires an explanation : s s represents the shaft tilted
up, a shows the angle of traction with a short trace,,
such as is used in carts, and b b that of the long one
used in gigs ; and it is quite evident that, with both
one and the other, every effort made by the horse tends-
to make the collar slip upwards in the direction of the

THE ANGLE OF TRACTION, ETC. 225

arrow T with the short trace a much more decidedly
than with the longer one b b ; and this not only involves
a proportionate loss of power, to counteract which the
horse is compelled to bore down still more heavily on
his fore legs than would be otherwise necessary, but it
also tends directly, from the obliquity of the pressure of
the collar on the shoulder, to wrinkle up the skin and
produce injuries. The ill effect of these acute angles
becomes still more strikingly apparent when we contrast
with them the dotted line x y, which represents the
position of a trace attached to the centre of the collar
and at right-angles with it, and therefore lying nearly
in the direction in which the effort made by the hind
legs is brought to bear on the collar.

This is perhaps the best opportunity for saying a
word about the dimensions of the collar, because it is
quite clear that if the angle of traction be in a wrong
direction either way, and tend to pull the collar up-
wards or downwards, one might go on indefinitely
lengthening it without being ever able to counteract the
evil effects on the horse's neck or shoulder. And it is
so much the more important to keep this steadily in
view, because it is a well-known practical rule that a
somewhat too small — especially too tight — collar is much
less likely to do serious mischief than one that is too
large, especially too long, for it will then slip about
from place to place, and wound in all directions.

We now come to the shape of the collar. The great
mistake commonly made by harness-makers is, that
they think more of producing a symmetrical oval figure
that pleases the eye, than of keeping the lines of a
horse's neck and shoulders in view ; and the con-
sequence is very frequently that the collar is much too

Q

226

DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

narrow at its under part in proportion to what it is
somewhat higher up, whereas it should be from 1 to 1|
inch wider at its base than anywhere else. Fig. 18
shows a front view of a horse's shoulders, and as the
collar never need come much lower down than the
dotted line t t, it is very evident what its shape should

be, both internally and exter-
nally. The rim, when in pro-
cess of construction, naturally
takes a different and more
regularly oval shape, which
is probably the reason why
failures a.re so frequent ; much
can, however, be modified in
the stuffing. « ' Magenta ' ' gives
at p. 60 of the ' Handy Horse-
Book,' a very good model,
and places a good reinforce-
ment of stuffing just opposite
to the place where, according
to our ideas, the trace should
be attached. We wind up
this part of our subject with
the advice, when fitting a
collar, not to content one's
self with adjusting it to the
horse's neck and shoulders when standing. The horse
should be put into action ; if actually in draught, so
much the better, because the shape and dimensions of
the neck and shoulders are wonderfully altered in some
horses when they come to trot or even walk, especially
high-crested animals. A collar that appeared quite long
enough for a horse when standing at ease, will frequently

Fig. 18.

THE ANGLE OF TRACTION, ETC.

227

prove two or three inches too short when he is put
into a trot.

The Hames. — What we have to say with regard to
this important portion of the harness applied chiefly to
the mode in which the trace is attached to it. In
common cart and waggon harness, the connection is
immediate, the trace, whether a chain, or cord, or made
of leather, working directly into the draught -eye of the
hames, Fig. 19 k, and this is practically superior to any
other method. But it is open to one objection —

H

Fig. 19.

namely, that the friction of the trace, as it changes its
position up and down, chafes the outer side of the collar
and wears it out. In order to obviate this, a great
many contrivances have been adopted, as, for instance,
an oval plate, Fig. 19 I ; or a bar projecting at right-
angles to the leg of the hames, and of such a length as
to bring the draught-eye clear of the collar, Fig. 19 m ;
or, finally, what is called a scroll trace-eye, one variety
of which is shown by Fig. 19 n. Now I is unfitted for
carriage harness, for which either m or some modification
of n is almost always adopted. Mathematically, or

228 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

what is the same thing, mechanically considered, m
and n are identical in their action, for although the
scroll may appear to work from two separate points ,
this is merely apparent, and its action is in reality
precisely similar or equivalent to that of the bar m.

Our plan being to point out defects, in the first instancer
instead of laying down dogmatically how things should
be, we would beg of the reader to consider for a moment
whether it is not really very remarkable that, whilst
the mathematicians and the practical men all insist
on the trace being adjusted so as to work horizontally,
the constructors of hames should always place the bar
m or the scroll n as if the pull were to be exerted at
right-angles to the leg of the hames, through this to the
collar, and finally to the horse's shoulder-blade ; and as
this latter is never, or at least only in very miserably
built horses, quite perpendicular, it follows that the
horizontal trace must always act at an angle on the bar
m or scroll n, instead of on the prolongation of their
axis, thus converting these contrivances into levers for
grinding the collar obliquely into the horse's neck or
shoulder, instead of pressing it quite flatly and .equably
against it. In fact, the names-makers are evidently of
our opinion, that the trace should always work at right-
angles to the shoulder-blade. Where they do too often
differ from us is, in placing the bar m, or scroll n, at the
lower third instead of in the middle of the leg of the
hames. Let a b, Fig. 19, represent a hames, and p f, p d
the draught-bar, placed, in the former case, near its
lower extremity ; in the latter, in the centre of the line
a b. The horizontal long trace / c H forms, with the
draught -bar at /, an angle, and it would also form one
if attached at d p f and p d being parallel. The short

THE ANGLE OP TRACTION, ETC. 229

trace / e (compare Fig. 17 a) forms a still greater angle,
and the tendency of both must always be to lift the
collar upwards, the evil effects of which we have shown.
But with the draught-bar in the centre of the leg of the
hames, we have both the long and the short traces, d c
and d e, in the line of the bar, and both, therefore,
causing a perpendicular pressure of the whole under-
surface of the collar on the horse's shoulder.

The Trace. — There remains nothing to be said of the
trace, excepting what regards its length. In England
horses are harnessed much shorter and nearer to their
work than in any other country. Some of the reasons
for this are sound and practical, others simply mistakes
or misapplied forms of correct general principles. It is
in the first place possible to use very short traces in this
country, because our roads are very generally superior
to any others; then it is always desirable when the
work is to be done on crowded roads or streets with
frequent stoppages and sharp turnings. Even for
military purposes, where much of the work must be
done on difficult ground, there is an advantage in
making the teams as short as is otherwise consistent
with the ease of the horses, because the length of
the columns is thereby kept within limits. But it is
altogether a mistake to suppose that a short trace of
itself confers a greater mechanical advantage on the
motor (horse) than a longer one ; in fact, it is very evident
that the contrary may be the case, for Figs. 19 and 20
show very plainly that the angle of traction may be
made more favourable with a long than with a short
trace ; and what is true with regard to the inclination
to the horizon is equally so with regard to a line
representing the axis of a carriage. In fact the well-

230 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

known advantage of applying force as near as possible
to the centre of gravity of the object to be moved
depends to so great an extent on the possibility thereby
acquired of avoiding waste of power by the force being
exerted at a wrong angle or in a wrong direction, that
this consideration (the angle or the direction) becomes
the principal one.

It is indeed well known to artillery officers that a
considerably greater weight per horse may be calculated
on for teams of four than for those composed of six,
eight, or twelve horses ; but this does not depend on
the greater distance of the leaders from the carriage,
but on the difficulty of getting the increased number of
horses to act simultaneously and in the proper direction
— in proof of which may be mentioned the fact that
it is well understood that no real advantage can be
attained by harnessing more than ten horses to one
carriage, however these may be disposed, and at what
distances. It is, then, the angle under which the effort
is exercised, much more than the distance of the motor
from the load, that requires study and consideration.
For instance, no one ever thinks of using in the traction
of canal-boats a towing-rope only just long enough to
reach the bank. On the contrary, it may be advan-
tageously lengthened till it forms a very small angle with
the keel-line of the boat, otherwise there will be great
waste of power through the action of the rudder. No-
doubt the weight of the longer rope must be also taken
into consideration ; but what an enormous difference
there is between the length of a towing-rope and that
of an ordinary carriage -trace, and still people will haggle
about inches in the latter. In like manner, in carriage
draught the inclination of the traces to the longitudinal

THE ANGLE OF TRACTION, ETC. 231

axis of the vehicle, which depends to a certain extent
on their length, cannot be safely neglected, as a pair
of over-fatigued or over-weighted draught-horses point
out to us clearly enough by putting their heads together
and pulling towards the central line. Let us consider
again the case of railways, where we see engines drawing
trains of forty waggons, of course not so easily as shorter
ones of ten or twenty, on account of the difference of
weight, but still without difficulty, because the rails
keep the engine and the train mostly on a straight
line, whilst in curves the traction becomes always more
difficult. If one or two feet more in a carriage-trace
could possibly make such a difference against the horse
as is pretended, what must the last waggon of a train
that is 100 or 250 yards long do to an engine ? Finally,
we have lasso harness, in which the single trace is
much longer than any used with the collar — 8 and 12
feet — and horses that have never been in draught take
to this kindly at the very first trial."

Now we, of course, do not mean to say that short
traces are in themselves an impediment to draught ; on
the contrary, we say that it would be in many respects
preferable to use them, if, On the one hand, the con-
struction of the horse, and, on the other, that of our
carriages and the mode in which the horse is necessarily
attached to them, did not create obstacles that must
necessarily be surmounted at the expense of the horse's
legs, &c. For, to return to the canal-boat illustration,
if the towing-rope be made very short, we have first
of all a great loss of power by being compelled to
put the rudder hard-down to one side in order to
counteract the action of the horse on the boat's head,
* See Sir Francis B. Head's ' Horse and its Rider.'

232

DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

and this of course creates backwater ; and then again,
we have the horse compelled to exert his strength at a
considerable angle to ,the towing-path on which he
works, and instead of progressing straight forwards
with his hind feet in the tracks of the fore ones, he is
compelled to traverse more or less. By lengthening
the towing-rope, both these evils may be diminished,
but they can never be altogether got rid of, for which
reason there is no kind of work so destructive of
horse-flesh as towing boats on large rivers where the
current is strong.

Fig. 20.

Let us now return to the horse drawing a wheeled
carriage, and take a two-wheeled one in the first instance.
If the two wheels were placed one behind the other,
as in a bicycle, one or more horses placed in front
in the line of traction might be harnessed each with
as short traces as possible. But the wheels being
placed alongside of each other, the case is very different.
Let x x, Fig. 20, I, represent the axle of a gig at right-
angles to the line of traction p a b c, and supposing
the effort of traction to be exerted successively at a b c,

THE ANGLE OF TRACTION, ETC. 233

it is evident that the longer the trace the more nearly
will the lines x a, x b, x c correspond with the line of
traction pa, be, y, and therefore the more usefully
will the power be employed. Nothing wears or fatigues
a horse more than sudden lateral shocks to the collar,
the whole weight of which falls on the fore legs ; and it
is further evident that any obstacle, such as a stone or
a rut, impeding one of the wheels, x, will give a greater
shock to the horse's collar when at a than when at b
or c.

The same reasoning applies to a carriage with four
wheels, and with two or four horses, as is evident from
Pig. 20, II, which shows that although the lines n o,
in which the effort of each horse taken singly is exerted,
always remain parallel to the line of traction, p y,
of the carriage, whatever the length of the trace may
be, still the longer trace corresponds more nearly with
the line of effort n o than does the shorter one.

The result of the whole argument is therefore this :
on good, well-kept roads that present no lateral obstacles
to the wheels, such as stones or ruts, we inflict much
less injury on our horses by short harnessing than
would otherwise occur; and be it remembered that
it is only on such roads, and in flat countries, that
two-wheeled draught is at all admissible and generally
employed ; but we always take more out of the horse
than is absolutely required for the traction by so doing,
and it therefore is a matter for calculation in each
•case whether considerations of handiness in sharp
turning, compactness, and shortening of -the whole
vehicle, and the necessity for making frequent stoppages,
or, on the other hand, the wear and tear of the horses,
are to be decisive.

234 DEAUGHT AND HARNESS.

The Length of the Pole and Pole-chains. — In four-
wheeled vehicles these are important considerations,
and so very nearly connected with the length of the
traces that they find their place here naturally. As
a matter of course, a longer trace involves a longer pole,
as the end of the latter should always project to a
certain extent beyond the h9rses' chests. What is this
certain length ?

In gentlemen's carriages a long piece of pole sticking
out in front is considered to be inelegant ; then, again,
it is supposed to be correct, so to say inevitable, that a
carriage should be halted as suddenly as a drill-sergeant
halts his awkward squad ; and, finally, it is held to be
an outrage on all decency and assthetical propriety if
the horses, in endeavouring to " bring up the craft all
standing," as the sailors say, and with a mere stump
of a pole, should turn out their croups towards the
bystanders. Now, much as we regret placing ourselves
in antagonism to fashion, even in the slightest degree,
we are compelled to say that the whole proceeding
is sadly deficient in that sweetness and light which
Mr. Arnold has remarked to be characteristic of the
Barbarians ; that to us, on the contrary, it is markedly
redolent of Philistinism, inasmuch as it seems to say,
" Let us show the Plebians that money is no object, and
that one or two pairs of horses, more or less, make no
difference."

Fig. 21 shows that when the end of the pole projects
but very little beyond the line of the horses' chests —
as, for instance, only to the line x x — the animals must,
when suddenly called upon to stop the carriage from
a sharp trot, inevitably throw out their croups in the
direction b" b", which when carried to excess is no

THE ANGLE OF TRACTION, ETC.

235

doubt very unsightly ; whereas by prolonging the pole
to the line y y they bring them only to b ' b ', and if the
pole be extended to z, then only to b b. It is, however,
also evident from the figure that by putting a crosstree
on the head of a considerably shorter pole — as, for
instance, at x x — the same useful effect maybe produced
as with the pole reaching to y y. In the end it comes
to this — the long pole and pole-chain, like the long
trace, would not suit town- work, and therefore a cross-
tree is, as the ' Handy Horse-Book ' says, a very useful

Fig. 21.

contrivance ; but by using a somewhat longer pole,
moderately long traces, and pole-chains to match, you
will for country work save your horses' fore legs,
shoulders, and hocks immensely — for the freer and
less hampered a horse goes in draught the less will
he suffer, and the longer will he be able to do his
work ; although it is, on the other hand, equally true
that the shorter and tighter you have him trussed
up between the traces and the pole-chains the more
you have him in command, but you take a deal more

236 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

out of him, and wear out his legs sooner. It is, there-
fore, quite impossible to lay down any general rule in
these matters — the manner in which the work must or
may be done is the safest guide.

There is, however, one point more to which our
attention has been called by a paragraph in a letter
received from a gentleman whose opinion is of great
value, and to whom our best thanks are due ; it is
this : Very many people find it their convenience to
use a horse alternately in light draught and under
the saddle, but the animal is never so pleasant nor
so safe for the latter purpose after having been used
for the former. Is this inevitable ? and if not, where
does the fault lie ? — in our method of harnessing or
in our mode of training and riding ? Let us clear
away the ground a little. In the first place, before we
endeavour to give an answer to these questions, it must
be understood that the horse in question is really fit for
the saddle ; and, secondly, that it is neither put to very
heavy draught nor overworked. Then, again, it will
make a great difference whether the work is to be
changed daily or at least frequently, or, on the other
hand, only at longer intervals. We may say, then, that
it is by no means inevitable that a horse should be
spoiled for the saddle by having been put into draught,
either occasionally or for stated periods ; and with re-
gard to the second part of the question, there can be
no doubt that the fault lies partly in our method of
harnessing, and partly in our mode of training and
riding. Let us take the latter first. It has been
shown in Part I. of this book that overweighting a
horse's forehand, although it may, under certain cir-
cumstance, favour speed, can never conduce to either

THE ANGLE OF TEACTION, ETC. 237

safety, handiness, or lightness of movement, which are
precisely the qualities most desirable in a horse that is
to be used under the saddle in the way indicated. On
the other hand, the tendency of draught, however
light, will be always to make the horse himself throw
his weight on his forehand, more or less, and therefore
aggravate the effects of our method of training saddle-
horses to such an extent that a certain quantity of
draught renders it totally unsafe, unhandy, and heavy
in its movements under the saddle. The remedy for
these evils is neither very obscure nor very difficult of
application. On the one hand, it is only necessary to
train and ride our horses somewhat more in balance
than we are in the habit of doing, which need not in-
terfere much with our national amusements of racing
and hunting, because horses are seldom taken out of
a gig or waggonette to start them for the Leger or ride
to the Quorn hounds ; and if we adopt the style of
riding recommended here, we shall have in it an anti-
dote, as it were, to that tendency of horses in draught
to throw themselves on their forehand more or less.
"We have italicised the two comparative degrees of
the adjectives of quantity twice, in order to lead on
the reader to discover for himself that some consider-
able aid may be obtained by giving up a system of
harnessing and bitting that tends to make the horses
throw themselves more on their forehands, and adopt-
ing one that will enable them to do their work with
greater ease, and at the same time tend to throw them
less on their forelegs ; and we feel confident that we
have been fully anticipated in what we are now about
to say — namely, that, first of all, placing the draught-
eye of the hames opposite the horse's shoulder- joint is

238 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

not the way to give the animal free action under the
saddle ; secondly, a trace that forms an inverted angle
downwards, like a or 6, Fig. 17, must make the horse
throw himself more and more on his forehand ; thirdly,
trussing up a horse as tightly as possible between short
traces and short pole-chains — making it, in fact, a piece
of the machine — is not the way to make it handy and
light in its action under the saddle ; fourthly and lastly,
putting an uncouth piece of ironmongery, nearly as big
.as the front of a kitchen-stove, into the wrong part of a
horse's mouth, and with a torturing curb-chain attached
to it, will scarcely conduce to lightness in the hand
under either a gentleman's or a lady's saddle.

Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, all who wish to keep
horses " a double usage," the thing is quite practicable
and pleasant, and only requires that the gentleman
should sit on the proper part of the horse's back — the
ladies do so mostly ; that the horses should be properly
harnessed and left some room in their traces, instead
of being trussed up ; and, finally, that the same, or
nearly the same, mouth-piece, whether snaffle or curbed
bit, should be used in both cases, always taking care
that it fits accurately, and that the curb-chain does
not wound the poor chin.*

The Height of the Wheel. — We began this chapter with
an extract from the ' Handy Horse-Book ' to the effect
that draught would be easiest if the axles of a carriage
were placed on a level with the trace-hooks or point
of traction, the trace itself being also horizontal. This
principle, although mathematically correct, requires
certain limitations in practice, some of which have
been already alluded to. Let us now take a horse of
* See ' Bits for Harness,' p. 198.

THE ANGLE OF TKACTION, ETC. 239

sixteen hands high ; the point of attachment of the
trace to the hames could with this sized animal be
scarcely brought nearer to the ground than 44 inches,
and with a horizontal trace this would involve a
fore-wheel of 7 feet 4 inches in diameter, something
quite out of the question for carriages, the highest
wheel used for field-guns being 5 feet in diameter. It
is, therefore, quite impossible to carry out this principle
to its fullest extent even with the horizontal trace, which
we will admit to be the most favourable for traction
on a perfect level and smooth surface, and putting this
slanting direction of the horse's shoulder for the present
out of the question.

But we have already pointed out that when the
carriage leaves the level and gets on to an inclined
plane, the horizontal trace becomes parallel to the road,
and is no longer at right- angles with the perpendicular
passing through the nave of the wheel, and we shall
now proceed to show what happens when the wheel
meets an obstacle such as a stone, or gets into a rut, the
road being otherwise level. Fig. 22 shows two circles, a
smaller and a greater one, representing two wheels of
unequal size touching the ground at the point A, and
each just in contact with two obstacles N N ' of precisely
equal height. In order to enable each wheel to surmount
the obstacle before it, a certain amount of power must
be applied to the- axles O and O', and this will act
respectively on the bent levers 0 M A ', and O ' M ' A ',
and in both cases will be most advantageously applied
in the direction Q and Q ', at right-angles to O M and
O ' M '. Therefore the horizontal pull on the trace is
not in this case — a very common one — the most ad-
vantageous, but the contrary. It is, however, evident

240

DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

that with the larger wheel the most advantageous line
of traction 0 Q lies nearer to the horizontal line O H
than does the line of traction O' Q' of the smaller
wheel, and it is agreed on all hands that the line of
traction of a horse attached to a wheeled vehicle must
be somewhere near the horizontal line O H, so that
this shows that hindrances of a given height are more
easily overcome by a larger wheel than by a smaller

Fig. 22.

one, and that in exact proportion to their relative
heights. Nevertheless there must be always an advantage
to the motive power when it is exercised somewhere between
O H and 0 Q ; and as 0 H can, supposing an obstacle
to exist, never be at right-angles to O M, the advantage
with a wheel of a given height will always be greater
when the line of traction lies nearer 0 Q than to 0 H —
that is to say, when the traction takes place under an
angle with the horizon.

THE ANGLE OF TEACTION, ETC. 241

On the other hand, we have seen that with a sixteen-
hand horse, a horizontal trace is equivalent to a wheel
of 7 feet 4 inches in diameter, a dimension quite un-
suited to ordinary purposes ; and although such a
wheel would surmount an obstacle of a given height
more easily than a 5-foot wheel, there would be a loss
of power, or rather an unnecessary expenditure of it
demanded from the horse, because the effort could not
be made in the direction 0 Q, and therefore the sixteen-
hand horse would experience less fatigue when working
5-foot wheels than with the otherwise more powerful
7-foot 4-inch ones, and least of all, of course, when his
traces were attached to the middle of the hames, not only
because this would.bring the line of traction nearer to O Q,
but also and mainly because it would suit his own con-
formation and the mechanism of his movements better.

In order to wind this matter up, let us remind our
readers of one more very simple and familiar fact —
namely, that plough-horses do all their work under a
very considerable angle of traction, and in this case
there was no wheel to mislead people with Will-o'-the-
Wisp theories, or at least not until lately.

There is one other point in connection with wheels
to which we desire to call attention, because this too is
frequently misunderstood. It is said that, with a four-
wheeled vehicle, the load should be put as far forward
as possible, and that a man placed at the hinder end of
a carriage gives the horse as much work to do as two
men placed in front.

Now we have just seen that the lever-power of any
two wheels in overcoming obstacles — and, except on a
railway, there are always obstacles to overcome — is
proportionate to their height or diameter ; but in most

242 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

carriages the fore wheels are made of considerably less
height than the hind ones, for the convenience of
turning, the room required being thereby considerably
lessened, therefore it is proposed to load the weaker
pair of wheels more heavily than the stronger ones. In
point of fact, however, the matter would be still worse
than this, for the fore wheels, whatever their relative
height may be, have always heavier work to do than
the hinder ones, for whom they crush obstacles and
Open smooth tracks — planing the way, as it were, for
them. It is, however, altogether unnecessary to go into
theory here, as we have abundance of practical expe-
rience that this notion is altogether incorrect. In the
older systems of Artillery — Gribeauval's, for instance,
which had 46-inch fore and 62-inch hind wheels — it was
considered impracticable to put more than one-half the
load on the front axle that the hinder one carried. When,
however, the English Artillery, at the beginning of this
century, determined on carrying a much greater quantity
of ammunition on the limber than had been hitherto done,
the fore wheels were made of the same height as the hind
ones ; but even then, with the old smooth-bore guns, the
front wheels were not loaded equally with the hind ones.:::
It is therefore a mistake to suppose that four-wheeled
vehicles should be loaded in the manner indicated ; and
if the 12-stone cad of a 'bus took as much out of the horses
as the 24 -stone driver, why then the breaksman of a
railway train of some forty waggons might be considered
equivalent to a battalion of the Grenadier Guards in the
front carriages, and a break would be almost unnecessary.

* One of the defects of the modern systems is, that they dis-
arrange the entire balance of the guns and limbers, the gun itself
being lighter and the ammunition heavier. In this respect the
reverse of progress has been made.

CHAPTEB III.

TRAINING FOE DRAUGHT.

THERE are in most countries a great number of men to
be found perfectly competent to train any, even the
most difficult, horses for draught, but their services are
seldom available for those who live far away from the
great centres of population, and who are constantly
obliged to undertake the task themselves, or entrust
it to persons who are more or less incompetent. It is
to this class, and not to professional coachmen, that we
address the following remarks, which do not pretend to
being more than hints for avoiding some of the mistakes
that so constantly lead to more or less serious accidents,
and by which horses are spoiled, not to speak of the
danger to human life.

The greatest and most frequent mistake is the under-
taking too much at a time with young horses. All of
a sudden we not only put a lot of harness on our horse,
then a bridle and bit of a kind to which he is not
accustomed on his head and into his mouth, but also
expect him to draw quietly in a vehicle that he has
perhaps never seen before. This is all too much at
once, and although many horses submit patiently, many
others resist, become frightened or infuriated and smash
everything, the end being that the animal may be
spoiled for draught for ever.

244 DEAUGHT AND HARNESS.

It is much better, and in the end shorter, to begin
by putting some portions of the harness on the horse
in the stable, and then by degrees the whole. If the
animal is once brought to eat his corn with his harness
on (excepting of course the bridle), standing quietly in
his stall, a great step will have been made. The next
thing will be to take him out and walk him quietly
about, taking care that the traces do not dangle. Then
these may be taken down, lengthened a yard or two
with a piece of rope, and held by an assistant in rear,
whilst the trainer takes the reins, and in this way a
good notion may be conveyed to the horse of what he
will have to do later. It is evident that a perfectly raw
remount or young horse should first of all be lounged
and trained to a certain extent under the saddle ; and
the more carefully and completely this has been done,
the less trouble will there be afterwards, and the less
risk of accident.

It will be found very useful to familiarise a young
horse with the vehicle he will have to draw for some
days before putting him to it ; and, when it is prac-
ticable, letting him, without being in draught, run
alongside of another horse actually in harness, is a good
way of effecting this object. In Hungary and Poland
the peasants often feed their young horses out of their
carts for some time before putting them in draught.

So much for the general preliminary treatment ; and
now for the details with regard to harness, &c. One
grand rule is, to put as little harness as possible 011
your young horse, and let this little be all perfectly
strong and serviceable. A trace or strap breaking may
spoil everything ; and of course the vehicle itself should
be in good order, and as noiseless as possible. English

TRAINING FOR DRAUGHT. 245

horses will bear almost anything in the way of sounds
and smells, but in the east of Europe the horses have
an intense dread of raw hides or anything that smells
of blood, especially the blood of their own kind,* and
it is therefore wise to avoid anything of this sort.

We have already shown how the collar should fit,
and where the traces are best attached to the hames ;
and of course still greater care should be taken to adjust
all this properly with a young untrained animal than
with an older one that has been already in harness, the
great object being always to make the efforts you
demand from your horse as painless as possible. Now
the young horse comes in contact with two things that
distress or annoy him ; first of all the collar, and then
the bridle, or more properly the bit that is put into his
mouth. At first starting, young ones usually make
a violent effort, plunging, as it were, into the collar, and
then recoiling again to make a new plunge and a new
recoil, which sometimes ends in their throwing them-
selves down, or perhaps running away. Well, what is
it they recoil from — the bit or the collar ? It certainly
is not always, nor even in most cases, the latter ; for
when the vehicle is pushed from behind by a couple of
men, or when another horse is yoked alongside in double
harness, so that the collar actually offers no resistance,
the same thing will frequently occur.

In the second edition of this book a foot-note was
introduced here, recommending the adoption of a draw-
bar working against a spring for training brakes, and
also for gun limbers, with the view of diminishing

* It is very ludicrous to witness the terror and loathing some
Hungarian horses experience at the sight of a donkey, especially
when he begins to bray.

246 DEAUGHT AND HAENESS.

those sudden checks on the collar which horses dislike
so much, and which are so injurious to them. A Meck-
lenburg engineer named Fehrmann has recently invented
a clever contrivance by which this very desirable object
of diminishing the injurious effects of the sudden pull
on the collar, or what the French call " coups de collier,"
is to a great extent attained in a very simple and
inexpensive manner. In order to understand fully the
necessity that exists for some such contrivance, and
also to what extent this "horse-saver" of Herr Fehrmann
is adapted for the purpose, it will be well to call attention
to certain facts connected with draught in general which,
although of every -day occurrence, are not always duly
recognised and estimated. In the first place, then, we
have the fact that it requires a much greater effort on
the part of a horse, or team of horses, to put a loaded
vehicle in motion from a state of rest, than to maintain it
in motion, and this is always greater in proportion to the
suddenness with which it is attempted to move it in the
first instance. Experiments made with the dynamometer
prove that it requires twice, or even thrice, the effort
which suffices to keep a loaded vehicle in motion, to
start it ; omnibus drivers know this well, and endeavour
as much as possible to avoid coming to a regular
halt, because the fresh start takes so much out of their
horses. The stage-coach horse suffers much less in
proportion than the 'bus horse, the stoppages being
less frequent. This proportion of two or three to one
applies to loaded vehicles moving on ordinary roads,
but therfe is another kind of draught now coming more
and more into use, in which the proportion is very much
greater, and probably as much as five or six to one,
namely, tramway draught. In this the rail reduces the

TRAINING FOR DRAUGHT. 247

effort required to keep the car rolling to a minimum,
whilst that required to set it in motion is nearly as great
as on an ordinary road, perhaps quite as great, from the
tram-car wheel being so low. In heavy and slow draught
horses acquire, after some time, the habit of throwing
their weight gradually into the collar, and thus bringing
the vehicle by slow degrees into motion and this too is
the way in which oxen and buffaloes work, and one
of the reasons why these animals can move so much
heavier loads than horses can easily deal with. But
when horses are required to start a waggon, omnibus,
tram-car, or other tolerably heavy vehicle quickly they
almost always effect this by making a sort of plunge
into the collar, and a large proportion of the effort thus
made is expended on straining the harness and carriage
and inflicting unnecessary pain on themselves. This
desire to endeavour to overcome resistance by a sudden
effort is natural to all horses, but is most evident in
those that are put into harness for the first time. The
young horse, if not properly managed, makes a great
plunge into the collar, does not succeed in moving the
vehicle, recoils from the pain inflicted on its sensitive
neck and shoulders, perhaps too from a sharp bit in
its mouth, repeats the process three or four times,
becomes disheartened, and is then perhaps cruelly
flogged for being sulky. This is the sort of thing too
often witnessed.

Fehrmann's " horse - saver " (Pferde Schoner) is
intended to remedy this and some other inconveniences
that occur in draught. It consists simply of a hollow
cylinder of iron about 12 inches long closed at one end
by a permanently-fixed bottom, through the middle of
which a hole is bored sufficiently large to admit the

248 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

free passage of a f-inch to ^-inch-thick iron rod; the
other end of cylinder has a movable bottom and is
fitted with a loop or ring. The interior of the cylinder
contains rings of India-rubber, such as are used for
gas and steam checks, and thin metal discs perforated
in the centre with a f-inch to ^-inch opening placed
alternately, a ring coming next to the fixed bottom of
the cylinder and a disc at the other end of the column,
as it may be termed.

The iron rod already mentioned has one of its ends
fitted with or shaped like a draught-hook. The rod
passes through the hole in the fixed bottom of the
cylinder, leaving the hook projecting, and up through
the centres of the rings and metal discs, resting on the
topmost of these latter by means of a key ; the whole
is completed when the movable bottom is fixed into the
cylinder. There is no difficulty in understanding how
this contrivance acts. If, for instance, a pair of them
be attached by their rings to the draught -hooks of a
vehicle, and by their hooks to the trace of a harnessed
horse, the animal will exert its strength against the
elastic column of rings and discs inside the cylinder,
instead of immediately against the rigid frame of the
vehicle. Overcoming the resistance easily at first it does
not have recourse to a violent plunge into the collar,
and by the time the rod has begun to compress the
india-rubber rings into a state of rigidity, the vehicle,
if not loaded out of proportion to the number of horses
attached, will have began to move — in fact, the action
will have been brought to resemble the steady push of
a draught ox, and will hare lost its jerky character, to
the great comfort of the horse's shoulders, neck and
legs, and to the saving of the harness and carriages.

TRAINING FOR DRAUGHT. 249

But it is not alone in saving of power and the
diminishing of wear and tear, in starting vehicles from
a state of rest that this instrument can be' utilised.
There are few roads, however good, on which obstacles
to the smooth-running of the wheels of vehicles are not
encountered in the shape of ruts and stones, either
loose or embedded in, but projecting more or less from,
the surface. Whenever a wheel comes in contact with
one of these its progress is checked, more or less,
according to the depth or height of the rut or stone,
and this check is forthwith propagated to the collar,
causing a proportionate amount of pain and fatigue by
the sudden wrench it gives to the horse's neck and legs,
and this may be to a great extent avoided by the use
of the horse-saver.

That these savings of power and fatigue may be really
•effected is matter not of mere theory, but of actual
practical illustration. Careful experiments have been
instituted and carried out by several public bodies
interested in these matters in Germany and elsewhere.
The Imperial General Direction of Posts at Berlin,
made one series of experiments, the result of which
was a strong recommendation to its subordinate Posting
•establishments to introduce this instrument. It has
been tried successfully by the Swiss Artillery, and the
Eoyal Veterinary Schools at Berlin and Munich have
reported that a very considerable amount of saving of
fatigue to the horses is attained by its use, and that it
prevents the development of certain morbid formations
on the horse's limbs, etc., to such an extent that a
three years' longer period of service may be expected
from them. And, what is of great value in training
horses to draught, it has been found that the animal

250 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

seems to be encouraged to exert its strength from
finding that an immediate result follows its first effort.

A well-arranged series of experiments instituted with
the horse-saver, by the section of the Agricultural
Institute of Halle, devoted to the trial of machinery,
shows that Fehrmann's traction- springs or horse-savers,,
afford an increase of tractional power of the horse,,
amounting to from 18 to 20 per cent. ; a diminution
of the shock transmitted to the legs and breast of 22
to 33 per cent., and of wear and tear of vehicle and
harness of the same amount. These experiments were
made on pavement, on steep hills, over ploughed land,,
and both in trot and at a walk, so that they seem very
reliable. The author has not himself had any personal
experience on the subject, but the authority on which
the above statements are made being official and
perfectly independent, deserves credence.

The horse-saver is manufactured in several forms-
adapted to various purposes, as for instance a single one
may be made to suffice for the swinging bars used for a.
pair of horses, or two may be employed for the same,
one being attached behind each of the smaller bars,,
or as has been already pointed out, one may be attached
to each trace. There is also a modification applicable to-
the fixed splinter-bar of private carriages. The strength
of these instruments varies, some being applicable for
loads under 30 cwt., and others for loads from 50 cwt..
up to five tons.*

It is well known that the use of springs diminishes-

* The inventor and patentee, Mr. C. L. Fehrmann, manufactures
the various kinds of Horse-Saver at Berlin (No. 27, Oranienburger
Street) . They may also be had from A. Lace, Agricultural Implement,
Maker and Commission Agent, Chisbury, Gt. Bedwyn, Hungerford,,
Berks.

TRAINING FOR DRAUGHT. 251

very considerably the amount of traction required r
although of course the weight of the vehicle is increased,
the reason being that the checks to the collar arising
from the inequalities of the ground, are greatly diminished.
This horse-saver has precisely the same effect, and there
seems to be no doubt, that by the use of both combined
the work of the horse can be done with a minimum of
inconvenience, and that where springs can not be used,
as in very heavy waggons, the horse-saver will go far to
supply the want of them.

There is some difficulty about the bitting, as it i&
scarcely safe to trust to a very light bit with a young
horse the first time in harness, and anything that acts
very sharply or even decidedly is very likely to make
the animal appear to refuse the collar, when in reality
it is the bit he is afraid of. This proves how very
important it is, not only to pay great attention to-
the bitting of draught-horses — making it under the
saddle as painless as possible — but also to accustom
them to the action of the bit they are to be driven
in before putting them into harness ; and we fear
that all this is very much neglected, or very clumsily
attempted.

Shortly after the appearance of the first edition of
this book the author received a very polite letter,
inquiring whether Seeger's running-reins could not be
used with harness, and especially for training young
horses. This is a very valuable suggestion, and appears
to afford a remedy for the difficulty we have just been
debating. In fact, by using a training-halter and the
running-reins combined, we can put a common snaffle
into a young horse's mouth without incurring the least
risk of his running away, as the halter prevents the

252 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS

animal opening his jaws and getting the snaffle on to
his tongue, whilst the running - reins afford a perfect
command over the head. When, therefore, the young
horse makes his first plunge into the collar, the driver
may give him his head safely ; and the probability is
that there will be no recoil, or at least that it will be
then quite clear where the difficulty lies, and therefore
the remedy easier to find. In a subsequent letter the
writer of that letter mentions having tried the running-
rein successfully, but he does not say anything of the
training-halter, which we consider to be of equal im-
portance. An Irish friend of ours has also tried it
successfully in single draught. Not having had an
opportunity of trying this arrangement ourselves — for it
is altogether our correspondent's idea — we cannot say
positively that it must succeed ; but we have not the
slightest doubt of its being a very valuable aid in
training young horses to draught.

The running-rein can be very easily lengthened by
buckling on a piece of rein to it, and when there is a
hame-martingale strap, an ivory ring attached to this
above the ring for the pole-straps (or chains) and the
leather curb carrying the smaller ring under the horse's
chin will be all that is required. For double harness,
and when used for both horses, the ends of the running-
rein might be led through the inner terrets of each, and
come into the driver's hand like the leaders' reins in
four-hand draught, for it is only for riding that it is
more convenient to bring the end of the rein to the right
or off side. In case of necessity, the driver could then
with his whip-hand bring his team up most effectually.
For ladies or invalids driving spirited horses or ponies,
the two running-reins might be buckled into one

TRAINING FOR DRAUGHT. 253

leading-rein and fixed to the dashboard or elsewhere, so
as to be easily within reach.

In any case it is advisable to bit horses so that they
may take a firm leaning on the hand in the first in-
stance, and then by degrees the bitting can be altered
to suit all the circumstances both of the animal and the
driver. Thus one might begin with a snaffle in the
manner indicated above, then go on to a light jointed
bit of some kind with a curb, and end perhaps with an
un jointed one.

Another mistake frequently committed is the putting
an untrained horse to a vehicle in some narrow court
or yard, which necessitates perhaps a sharp turning
immediately after starting. This should be avoided,
and the start made, if possible, on a straight line and
on a quiet road, for which reason early morning is the
best time for this sort of work.

Then again, it is a mistake to take a young horse out
too far for the first time ; and it is advisable, when
practicable, to make a round home, and not return by
the same road you went out. It is wonderful how soon
and easily horses contract habits which become very
troublesome afterwards ; therefore, in training a young
horse, one must avoid anything like a routine that is
easily mistaken by the animal for a part of its regular
duty. One or two quiet steady assistants are indis-
pensable, and they should be instructed what to do
beforehand ; the less talk and noise made the better ;
and the groom, or whoever feeds and tends the animal,
should always be near its head at first ; his voice always
should inspire confidence, and always does so, unless he
is in the habit of ill-using his charge, which is not a
frequent occurrence. At first starting, or whenever a

254 DRAUGHT AND HAENESS.

hitch occurs, this man should be immediately at the
horse's head, ready to pat its neck, and give it a good
word. Sometimes, when one is obliged to train raw
young horses quickly, a cavesson with a man holding
the lounge-line* on each side should be resorted to, for
which reason it is, as has been already observed, very
important to make horses handy on the lounge, previ-
ously to putting them in harness at all.

At first the trainer will do well to avoid all attempts
at turning with the reins alone, and will prefer working
as much as possible on straight lines and on the level.
If a turning be unavoidable, the assistant goes to the
animal's head, and if necessary, " leads " in the required
direction ; and if an ascent must be mounted, assistance
should be given from behind by shoving the vehicle.
By carefully avoiding all occasions for misunderstanding
during the first two or three days, very rapid progress
may be generally made ; whereas by being in too great
a hurry, or exhibiting too much energy at the wrong
time and place, much mischief may be done and a deal
of time lost.

When your horse or horses draw willingly on the
straight road you may begin to make them handy in
turning, in halting, standing patiently for a time and
then starting quietly again. A large square or court-
yard is the best place to practise this part of the work,
driving along the sides and rounding-off the corners
well to commence with, then changing hands on the
diagonal and ending with a figure of 8. It is nice,
pleasant, and not altogether unintellectual work, to

* This word "lounge" is evidently a corruption of the French
longe, from allonger, as " cavesson " is of the German kapp zaum,
derived from Spanish cabeza, the head.

TRAINING FOR DRAUGHT. 255

bring a pair of young horses to trotting equally and to
keeping regular time in all these turnings, sometimes
increasing, sometimes slackening the pace, then halting
to breathe themselves, and then starting again for a
new spell. The horses seem to like it themselves, and
to understand perfectly its object.

There are two parts of the harness which may, if
carelessly or awkwardly used, prove serious obstacles
to the training of a' young horse — one of these is the
crupper, the other the bearing-rein. This latter should
be laid aside altogether with young horses at the first
trial ; if judiciously used, subsequently, it may be of
good service in getting the horse's head into the proper
position, and making it light in the hand by dividing
the pressure over two mouth-pieces instead of one ; and
this is its legitimate use, and not, as too often happens,
the tying-up the head and neck till the horse's action
is more up-and-down than forwards. Short-necked
horses with ill-set-on heads are those that require most
caution in the use of the bearing-rein, and these are
precisely the -sort of animals that one is naturally
tempted to try it on.

Since the above appeared in the 2nd edition of this
book, we have had a great " bearing-rein total-abolition
movement," which at one time threatened to assume
the most formidable dimensions, and, at all events,
attained the dignity of being submitted, at least once,
to the presiding magistrate of a London police court for
his supreme decision. This seems to be a case of what
the Germans call ' ' emptying out the child with the
water of the bath." It would be quite as reasonable to
ordain that, because tall hats are^ugly and uncomfort-
able we should all of us go about like the boys of Christ's

256 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

Hospital ; or that, because extravagantly high-heeled
boots produce corns and render graceful movements an
almost impossibility, ladies should be compelled to walk
barefooted, as to maintain that — because some people
are silly or prejudiced enough to admire a ridiculous
and extravagant position of their carriage-horses' heads,
or an overdone so-called lofty action — bearing-reins
should therefore be altogether abolished. The abuse of
the bearing-rein, as seen mostly in town equipages, is
simply the product of that very questionable kind of
taste that goes in for what is lofty and imposing at the
expense or in defiance of every other consideration.
That it is by no means a necessity for town traffic will
become quite evident to those who take the trouble to
observe the dexterity — one might almost say grace and
elegance — with which most of our well-horsed Hansoms
are steered through the most crowded thoroughfares,
the bearing-rein lying quite loose on the horses' necks,
and this, too, with nothing more powerful than a ring-
snafHe in the animals' mouths. It all depends on the
hand of the driver, and there lies the difficulty.

All this may be at once conceded to the abolitionists,
but the bearing-rein has, nevertheless, very distinct and
important uses, and it would be sheer folly to deprive
ourselves of so valuable an adjunct to harness because
it is in some instances abused. We have now-a-days a
goodly number of lady drivers, and to them especially
the bearing-rein is, if properly applied, of very great
importance. Ladies have frequently quite as much
courage and judgment in the management of horses as
men, sometimes even more of the latter, and they have
almost invariably a lighter hand and consequently a
more delicate touch. Whenever these two qualities are

TRAINING FOB DRAUGHT. 257

in default, their Joss may be generally traced to want
of power, the team pulls too hard or bores too heavily
for the ladies' muscular powers to withstand, and
rigidity ensues. Kecourse is then had to sharper bit-
ting, which although sometimes successful is much
more frequently the reverse, and very often leads to fresh
complications ; whereas a judicious use of the bearing-
rein would solve the difficulty at once.

Why the bearing-rein should have such an effect
will be easily recognised by anyone who will take the
trouble and has the opportunity of observing how horses
when left to themselves modify their carriage, especially
that of the head and neck, to suit the speed and
changes of direction of their movements. If a tolerably
fresh horse be turned loose in a field, especially one in
which other strange horses are present, it will be seen,
in most instances, after a few cautious movements, with
the neck erect and its weight thrown well back on
its haunches, in the attitude of preparation for any
emergency, suddenly to bolt off with the head and
neck brought " down more and more as it extends
itself and increases its pace, whilst reconnoitring the
ground and its new companions in a wide circle round
them. And this is precisely what a frightened horse
will do in harness unless checked by the bearing-rein,
which, if of a proper length, will prevent the animal
from laying itself out with extended head and neck
and throwing all its weight on the fore legs, which
of course leaves the hind pair their maximum power
of propulsion.

Of course, if teams have to travel at the top of their
speed, as in the old coaching-days for instance, the
bearing-reins must be slackened or cast loose altogether,

258 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

as we have often seen done by the nimble guard in
days long past.

In like manner as the spontaneous movements and
changes of attitude of the healthy horse point out to
us what may be attained by a judicious use of the
bearing-rein, so also we may learn something from the
observation of the self-adjustments which an animal
with weak or diseased limbs puts in practice to ease
itself. A horse that suffers in the fore legs will, so far
as he can, throw his weight back towards the hinder
ones. If only one fore leg is affected the hinder one of
the opposite side will be made to help out its fellow
more than that on the same side, and this often helps
one to find out where the mischief really lies. On the
other hand, if the hind legs are the sufferers, or one of
them, the animal throws its weight on the fore legs,
hanging down its head and neck, more or less in the
proportion to the degree of suffering it endures. Here
then we have indications sufficient for our guidance in
the use of the bearing-rein. An animal may be weak in
the hind quarters, or perhaps merely in the legs ; this
will induce it habitually to throw its might forwards,
and it will bore in the hand of the driver, who in such a
case must be very careful not to bear up the head too
much or too persistently. Or a horse may be tender on
the fore legs, whether from work, bad shoeing, or some
other cause ; when a judicious use of the rein will second
its spontaneous efforts to assume and maintain such a
carriage as best suits its build or perhaps infirmities.

Of course it is not meant that horses, really unfit for
work, should be compelled to do it, after the fashion of
Mr. Pickwick's cabman, who preferred to think that if
they were " well bore up and had a pair of good high

TRAINING FOE DBAUGHT. 259

wheels behind them, they must go " — or something to
that effect, for the quotation is from memory. What
is meant to be said, is, that the bearing-rein is a very
useful part of the harness for many ladies, and also
gentlemen who are not professed coachmen, and even
for the latter with certain horses, and that it should not
be sacrificed either to outbreaks of spurious sentiment
or a desire for notoriety.

The crupper is still more dangerous, being by far the
most usual primary incitement to kicking in harness.
Under the saddle this bad habit is unpleasant enough,
but in harness it is quite intolerable and most dangerous.
The writer has quite recently had some painful ex-
perience of the danger of trusting to the crupper in
harness, or even using it at all with mares, especially
such as have once had foals ; his own and the carriage
of a lady friend were kicked to pieces by two such mares,
although there was a breeching in each case. Without
the crupper, even after the accidents had occurred, both
mares went perfectly quietly. It may be said, that it is not
necessary to abandon the crupper totally, on account of
some exceptional cases like those just mentioned. The
reply is : Why retain it if it can be safely dispensed
with ? One of the most obvious uses of this part of the
harness is that it affords a sort of counter-check for the
bearing-rein. Now one of the uses of the latter to which
allusion has not been made, is in the case of kickers to
get their heads and necks well up, for by this means
they are prevented from throwing their weight on their
fore-hand, which a horse must do in order to get his
hind legs perfectly free for kicking. Unfortunately, the
kicker is pretty sure to resent the crupper, and the
cure of the bearing-rein becomes a provocative to further

260 DRAUGHT AND HAENESS.

bad behaviour, the horse bolting, or throwing itself
down, etc. There is really no good reason why the
harness saddle or terret-pad should not be so constructed
as to keep its place sufficiently well as to afford a counter-
check for the bearing-rein when used moderately, if only
the girth be sufficiently tightened, to which there can be
no more objection than with a riding saddle. Therefore
so far as the bearing-rein is concerned the crupper may
be well dispensed with.

Let us now enquire what can be done, to render all
reliance on the crupper, as a means of arresting the
progress of a vehicle, superfluous. Four-wheeled car-
riages with poles come first for consideration. Here the
vehicle is prevented from running forward too rapidly,
or brought to a standstill altogether by the action of the
pole-chains through the collars on the horses' necks,
unless a skid or brake be employed in addition, of which
more hereafter. One seldom, if ever, sees ' Buss ' horses
afflicted with cruppers. Four-wheeled carriages with
shafts demand special notice, including as they do the
many varieties of pony carriages, so extensively used in
this country, and very frequently driven by ladies. There
can be no doubt that the harness used for such vehicles
should always be furnished with a breeching which,
when combined with a kicking-strap, may be made very
neat to look at, and renders the crupper quite unnecessary.
The great question to be determined is whether it should
be what is called a short or a long breeching, that is
to say, whether it is to act directly on the shafts, or
to be carried forward so as to act on the tugs, when it
is called a long breeching. In most vehicles of this
description the front carriage is made very low for con-
venience of turning, and the shafts are consequently

TRAINING FOR DRAUGHT. 261

more or less inclined to the horizon, according to the
height of the animal used. The consequence is, that, if
the front wheels be very low and the horse or pony a little
tall in proportion, the short breeching acts downwards,
not horizontally as it should; the pressure on the
animal's hind quarters becomes then very annoying to
it, ending not unfrequently in a kicking match, besides
which the carriage is not effectually held back.

Reviewing the whole matter one can scarcely avoid
arriving at the conclusion, that although a great number
of horses willingly endure the crupper, a great many
others, especially mares and young animals, will not do
so, and with them it becomes an incitement to vice of

one kind or the other, either W °> stable or in draught,

many accidents occurring in consequence, and finally
that it may be very well dispensed with in all cases.

Connected with this subject is another matter which
may as well be treated of here; namely, the use of
other contrivances, besides the breeching and the pole-
chains, for moderating the movement of a carriage. In
former times we had in the British Islands nothing but
a skid or shoe, which was placed under one wheel, and
to attach or detach this the vehicle had to be halted in
every case. On the Continent various contrivances were
in use analogous to the brakes now used for railway
waggons and trucks, which admit of the moderating
power being applied or removed whilst the vehicle is
in motion; and one now frequently sees, especially in
hilly districts, and in general for country work, various
forms of brake applied to pony-carriages, four-wheeled
dog-carts, and other vehicles. There are one or two little
difficulties about these brakes which may be easily
remedied or avoided. First of all, the pieces of wood,

262

DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

which are brought into contact with the tire of the
wheel are usually made fast to the arm of the brake
by means of bolts whose heads are counter-sunk, as
the technical term says, into the piece of wood. But
after a very short time the wood is worn away, and
the head of the bolt coming into immediate contact
with the tire of the wheel is not only in its turn rapidly
worn away and requires to be replaced, but also makes

Fig. 23.

a very unpleasant grating noise which, when the brake is
applied, is apt to startle the horse and make it increase
its pace just at the moment one wants the vehicle to go
slowly down-hill. To remedy this, to a great extent
at least, it is only necessary to give the pieces of iron
that carry the little blocks, which rub against the
tire, what are called flanges, making these pieces also
somewhat wider at one end than at the other. The
blocks will then, on being fitted in, have a wedge-shape,
and will be kept in their proper place by the friction

TRAINING FOR Dll AUGHT. 263

against the tire ; but it will be better to fasten them in
at the back by means of a wood-screw, for if the brake
be applied behind the wheels, the small end of the wedge
coming at top, it would be liable to fall out. See Fig. 23.

The other difficulty arises from the power by which
the brake is applied being frequently made to act not in
the centre of the brake -bar, but at or near one end of it.
The consequence is, that the other end not being equally
braced up, jerks and makes a clapping noise, which
frightens the horse. The power should therefore be
applied as nearly in the centre of the bar as possible,
and this should act on the tire of the wheel on a level
with the axletree, as most coachmakers know. The
brake is a great help when one has to deal with a horse
or pony given to bolting or running away, but it should
for this very reason be made to act as noiselessly as
possible. Perfectly noiseless it can scarcely be made,
and we should therefore accustom the horse to its use
on level ground in the first instance. Whenever one
can it is, of course, best to begin the training of young
horses in four-wheeled carriages ; if fitted with a brake
so much the better, and best of all when this can be
done alongside a steady trained horse.

Eestiveness and insubordination in draught are not
easily dealt with, and are, perhaps, still more dangerous
than under the saddle. The general principles on which
these are best combated will be found in Part IV.,
which treats especially this part of our subject. It
will be seldom safe for a gentleman driver to undertake
the correction of restive horses himself — he will do
much better to leave this in the hands of professional
people ; but anyone can avoid making things worse
than they are, by simply laying it down as a rule to

264 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS.

investigate quietly the causes that have led directly to
the first overt act of rebellion or violence before going
further, especially before attempting severe treatment.
In very many cases it will be found that there is
something wrong with the harness, or the bitting, or
the carriage. Want of consideration in demanding
either too much, or something the horse does not
understand, are frequently causes of apparent restiveness.
But having now pointed out the most usual mistakes
made, and also shown how they may be best avoided,
we take leave of this subject.

PAET FOUK.

KESTIVENESS : ITS PKEVENTION
AND CUBE.

CHAPTEE I.

HOW TO RENDER HOESES OBEDIENT.

THERE exist, no doubt, many horses that deserve the
epithet vicious, in the proper signification of the term 'y
they are, however, by no means so numerous in pro-
portion as many people suppose, and it is of great
practical importance that simple restiveness or dis-
obedience should not be confounded with the peculiar
temperament or disposition which constitutes a truly
vicious horse. Such an animal's temper can scarcely
be changed, although it may be dominated by force —
as, for instance, by Mr. Earey's method, which, by the
way, was known to and practised by Major Malassa, of
the Austrian cavalry, forty years ago ; but the over-
awed and subdued brute is not thereby rendered a
useful and docile servant, nor is any clue afforded us for
overcoming special forms of restiveness or insubordination
we may have to deal with ; and so the horse-tamer,,
after attracting an undue share of public attention for
a moment, finds himself in the end neglected and
forgotten.

There is, too, a danger in all these methods — namely r
the natural tendency they have to induce riders to rely
on forcible measures in all cases, the result of which is
but too frequently to convert a simply restive horse

268 KESTIVENESS I ITS PREVENTION AND CUBE.

into a decidedly vicious one, by awakening the devil that
slumbers within. For it must never be forgotten that
in the end the horse is stronger than the man ; that there
is very great danger of this becoming quite clear to the
former, when mere force comes to be opposed to force ; and
that this very consciousness is what constitutes restiveness,
and if exasperated by cruel treatment, vice, pure and
.simple.

It is therefore necessary, in the first place, to know
clearly what one has to contend with — whether with
real vice, or merely with simple insubordination : the
former, if curable at all, can only be dealt with suc-
cessfully by professional riders, who possess the proper
means and appliances ; the latter ought to be within
the scope of a great number of horsemen, if they would
only abstain from violence and adopt rational methods.
The French say, when speaking of a horse that shows
restiveness, " il se defend " — he defends himself. There
is much truth in this expression, and it is one that riders
should constantly bear in mind, for insubordination is
most commonly the result of something having been
demanded from the horse that it either did not know
how to do or was unable to perform ; and the very first
step to be taken in all cases is, to endeavour to ascertain
exactly under what circumstances the disobedience was
first manifested and is usually shown.

Before we affix the stigma of vice to a horse, let us
therefore consider for a moment what the poor thing
might with fairness retort, and the words ignorancej
timidity, or brutality will immediately suggest them-
selves ; for, in truth, want of judgment as to what a
horse can fairly do, want of decision and promptitude
in demanding this, or unnecessary violence in enforcing

HOW TO BENDER HOESES OBEDIENT. 269

a demand, especially an unreasonable one, are almost
always the first causes of restiveness. Mankind in its
arrogance has thought fit to make the ass an emblem of
stupidity, and why ? Is it not because it seldom if ever
opposes anything more than passive resistance to the
tyranny of its oppressors ? it wants the strength and the
active courage that would enable it to act aggressively
and deserve the title of vicious enjoyed by its near
relative the zebra, whose indocility is not considered to
be stupidity. We doubt much whether the horse is really
more intelligent than the ass; it has greater strength
and agility, and a more active courage, which, if it knew
how to use, would enable it to set mankind at defiance
equally as well as the zebra ; and it argues a certain
amount of stupidity when so powerful an animal suffers
itself to be converted, as it often is, into the abject slave
of a miserable taskmaster. The intelligence of the
horse is, however, sufficient to enable it to find out very
soon whether its rider be or be not deficient in that
self-same quality, or in courage ; and in the former case,
the consciousness of superior strength encourages it to
use this "il se defend " — that is to say, it sets the rider
at defiance and turns restive.

There is another thing to be considered with regard
to the horse's character — it lov. * to exercise its powers,
and it possesses a great spirit of emulation ; it likes-
variety of scene and amusement ; and under a rider
that understands how to indulge it in all this without
overtaxing its powers, will work willingly to the last
gasp, which is what entitles it to the name of a noble
and generous animal. Now, whilst over-exertion, when
unfit, will very frequently make horses refuse work ; on
the other hand, deficiency of exercise, and constantly

270 RESTIVENESS : ITS PEEVENTION AND CUBE.

riding the same dull round, either alone or in company
with other horses, will give rise to a whole string of
evils ; as, for instance, refusing to go any but a certain
way, or to leave their stable, or clinging to other horses
they meet with, &c. ; and this is just the reason why
so many cases of restiveness may be traced to the
stupidity or pig-headedness of a groom. Horses don't
like to be ennuye, and will rather stick at home than
go out to be bored ; they like amusement, variety and
society : give them their share of these, but never in a
pedantic way, and avoid getting into a groove of any
kind, either as to time or place, especially with young
animals. It is evident that all these things must be
taken into account and receive due attention, whether
it be our object to prevent or to get rid of some bad
habit a horse may have acquired ; and a little reflec-
tion will generally suffice to point out the means of
remedying something that, if left to itself, would grow
into a confirmed habit, or if attacked with the energy
of folly and violence, would suddenly culminate in the
grand catastrophe of restiveness.

The method according to which a restive horse has
been originally handled must be also taken into con-
sideration before one can form a sound judgment as
to the best method of cure, as it makes an immense
difference in this respect whether the animal has been
treated on the English plan of merely gradually
*' habituating " it to go in the manner desired, and
leaving it very much to its own will and pleasure to
do so, or whether the Continental mode has been
adopted of endeavouring to obtain, by more stringent and
systematic means, a perfect mastery over its movements
in the first place. Each of these methods has its own

HOW TO BENDEE HOUSES OBEDIENT. 271

peculiar advantages, and, as regards the prevention and
cure of restiveness, disadvantages also. The English
plan is, no doubt, much less likely than the other
to lead directly to conflicts, simply because it avoids
them, but it does not afford that degree of control over
the horse's movements that is indispensable for com-
bating insubordination successfully; and if the horse
does slip into bad habits, the temptation to use violent
measures, which sometimes succeed, but as frequently
drive things to extremities, is very pressing. In such
cases there is no other remedy than to commence the
handling de novo, which is a very troublesome and not
always successful operation, especially in the case of
aged horses, for such resist and very frequently resent
every attempt to gain that perfect command over their
movements without which a cure is hopeless, unless
the greatest judgment and patience be brought to bear
on them. It was to English horses of this class, when
taken to the Continent, that reference was made in the
introduction to this little book.

On the other hand, the Continental or riding-school
system, aiming, as it does, at complete mastery over
the propelling power — that is, the horse's hind legs —
will, if hurried, or injudiciously employed, very possibly
tend directly to call forth the spirit of resistance and
insubordination ; for it is precisely this control over
their hind legs that horses dislike and seek to escape
from with the greatest pertinacity and cunning, and
it is only by almost imperceptible degrees that it can
be attained, lohen desirable. For the correction of
insubordination, it is, however, not only desirable, but
indispensable ; and it is, therefore, generally speaking,
a comparatively much easier task to bring back truants

272 KESTIVENESS I ITS PREVENTION AND CURE.

originally handled in this manner to habits of obedience,
than those that have been accustomed in their youth
to the English laissez faire method.

It would be very easy — perhaps more to the taste of
a certain class of readers — to lay down certain rules for
this or that form of restiveness, and say, "Do this if a
horse rears, and that, if he rubs your knees against
a wall, or insists on going home when you want to
have a ride," but we have no faith in ready cut-and-dried
receipts, and abhor all empiricism most thoroughly ;
moreover, there is plenty of it to be found, by those
who prefer it, in most books on this subject. The real
truth of the matter is this : whatever particular form
of restiveness a horse may have recourse to "to defend
itself," the one great patent fact in all cases is dis-
obedience ; and therefore the one great object to be
attained is complete mastery over the animal's move-
ments, and not merely over its body by means of straps
and ropes.

We have stated that the English system of handling
young horses is less likely of itself to produce insubordi-
nation directly, whilst the school system may, if abused,
tend to this result. On the other hand, we must rely
on the latter for the correction of restiveness ; and the
object of this chapter being to endeavour to show how
vice may be prevented and cured, it seems advisable to
lay before the reader a brief general sketch of both
systems, pointing out, as we proceed, what is useful for
our purpose in each, as also the means by which the
one may be made to work into the other.

In the English method the first step is usually to
put a very thick, and consequently very gently-acting,
snaffle into the young horse's mouth, over which a

HOW TO BENDER HORSES OBEDIENT. 273

cavesson is placed ; a surcingle is then buckled round
the animal's body, to the rings of which, right and left,
the snaffle-reins are attached loosely, but still short
enough to keep the neck and head nearly straight, and
encourage the animal to lean on the mouth-piece. A
judicious horse-breaker will then lead the young horse
about, at first in a quiet place, and gradually on to
roads, &c., where various objects present themselves, as
horses, vehicles, houses, &c.,to which his pupil becomes
accustomed — a matter of great importance, as many
accidents occur where a young one that has scarcely
learned to tolerate a burden on its back is brought, under
a rider, all of a sudden in contact with strange objects
and unaccustomed noises. Moreover, the horse becomes
habituated to follow the trainer, and obey the lounge
and reins in a gradual and gentle manner, and a good
understanding is soon established between them.

And this, be it remarked, is a method seldom prac-
tised by school-riders, or in military establishments ;
the consequence of which is, that the young horse, when
trained ever so completely in the riding-school, has to
undergo a new course of instruction when it becomes
necessary to take it out on the roads and streets, and
frequently gets into messes that undo almost all that
has been previously done.

Here, too, we find a practical hint for the treatment
of full-grown horses that shy at particular objects and
sounds, or object to passing certain spots. Treat them
as the English trainer does his young ones, lead them
about as described above, and reward them for their
docility with a bit of bread, sugar, or something of the
sort ; you will thus avoid all conflicts, the danger and
evil consequences of which are enhanced a thousand-

T

274 RESTIVENESS J ITS PREVENTION AND CUEE.

fold if you attempt to mount your horse under such
circumstances. Of course, when shyness arises from
defective vision, which is often the case, this method
will be of no avail.

But to continue : After a day or two the trainer puts
a saddle on the horse, and the surcingle over it, and
will then soon proceed to lounge it, which he generally
does single-handed — a point to be borne in mind. For
general purposes he will endeavour, by gentle means,
to get the young horse to settle down into a trot as
soon as possible/- and in proportion as the animal takes
kindly to trotting, his trainer will shorten the snaffle-
reins somewhat, so as to encourage the animal to lean
more and more on the bit, taking care, however, not to
make them so short as to prevent the horse stretching
itself well out, and bringing the propelling action of
the pasterns of its hind legs into play, f This first
lounging is always done on a large circle : first, be-
cause, if the horse does canter or gallop wildly, there
is less danger ; and, secondly, because the trot will be
longer and more energetic, and the leaning on the
mouth-piece more complete. The object of this pro-
cedure is to encourage the horse to throw its weight
well forward, go ahead resolutely, and use its hind legs
altogether as propellers. It may be well to give a
caution here : grass-land or clay, when trodden hard, if
moist, is to be avoided — the danger of slipping is too
great ; sand or tanner's bark if available — if not, a piece
of dry fresh-harrowed field — is preferable.

There are certain forms of restiveness, or rather kinds

* The trainer of race-horses does not wish this, of course.

f We shall see further on that the school system demands this
from the hocks.

HOW TO SENDEE HORSES OBEDIENT. 275

of tricks, that insubordinate horses try on and succeed
with, because they have never been brought to have a
proper leaning on the mouth-piece, of whatever kind that
may be. For instance, they will get " inside " the action
of the bridle altogether, so that the rider cannot keep
them straight, and they will then turn sharp round and
bolt off in another direction. When, therefore, one
finds a horse succeed in keeping permanently "behind
the hand," as it is called, the safest and surest way of
bringing it up well to the mouth-piece again is by a
few lessons on the lounge after this fashion, aided by
judicious demonstrations with the whip, and remember-
ing to use large circles.

It will be unnecessary to go into the detail of the
first backing of the young horse, and of the precautions
that should be taken to avoid exciting its fear or anger ;
and we therefore go on to the method of handling under
the rider. The great object all English horse-breakers
have in view is, to bring their horses to go straight
ahead and cover as much ground as possible ; they
never think for a moment of making them handy, in the
military sense of the term — that is to say, capable of
circling to the right or left in all their paces, changing
these and their feet without an apparent effort, &c. — for
nothing of this is required of them. The methods they
employ are, it must be said, perfectly suited to the object
they propose to attain, the rider's weight being thrown
either directly or indirectly on the horse's forehand,
which, as has been shown in the first part of this work,
favours progression on straight lines. The saddle is
generally for this reason put well forward, the girths
coming round the anterior part of the chest. Now,
although the saddle is placed forwards, the stirrups being

276 BESTIVENESS ; ITS PREVENTION AND CUKE.

usually very short, the body of the rider, from the hips
upwards, is in most cases further back than the perpen-
dicular line through the fourteenth vertebra, Fig. 4 ; but
from the hips downwards the legs are brought forward
towards the horse's shoulders, and the main reliance for
the seat is with that portion of the leg from the knee
down to the ankle, in the hollow close behind the horse's
shoulder : therefore, although the rider's body is actually
farther back than what we have described to be the
normal position, the direction in which his weight is
thrown by each impulse received from the horse's hind
legs, is diagonally forwards on to the fore legs, and not
in the vertical line shown by the arrows in Fig. 4.
Moreover, the rider's legs exercise in this their usual
position all the influence derivable from mere pressure,
or from the spur, wholly on the horse's fore legs, leaving
the hind legs free from all control, for they almost
always come too late when the rider endeavours to meet
the horse's croup or fix its hind quarters.

The system of bridling and bitting is also perfectly
suited to the object kept steadily in view, the horse's
head being kept low, if necessary, with the martingale,
which, of course, as has been shown, throws an ad-
ditional portion of the weight on the fore legs. When,
at a later period too, a curbed bit is used, this is put
so high up in the horse's mouth that the action of the
curb becomes more painful than that of the mouth-
piece (see Part II. of this book), and consequently in-
duces the horse rather to lean on the bit than yield
in the direction of the rider's hand. Finally, this
latter is, both with the snaffle and the curb-bit, held
as low as the horse's withers will permit, and quite
steady — that is to say, without much varying the pull

HOW TO BENDER HORSES OBEDIENT. 27?

on the reins. Of course a judicious breaker or trainer
will endeavour to prevent his horse acquiring a dead,
hard leaning on the bit, and seek to restrain this within
the bounds of a firm, decided one. Under the circum-
stances, however, this is not an easy matter, and is
precisely the rock on which so many riders split, who
then have recourse to sawing, which frequently becomes
the primary invitation to restiveness.

We may sum up the whole by saying that the English
method of training young horses consists in doing the
whole work on the forehand, leaving the backhand
almost totally uncontrolled to perform the simple function
of propulsion — for all the trotting and galloping work
is done on straight lines ; and there can be no doubt
that, where merely go-ahead straightforward work is
demanded, this system is perfectly judicious, It is,
however, another question, and one already sufficiently
entered into in previous chapters, whether its application
be not too one-sided, for all saddle-horses are not
required to do this sort of work; and it is positively
objectionable in this respect, that it uses up the horse's
fore legs with frightful rapidity, and to an extent that
none but English purses can endure.

It is, however, with its bearings on the subject of the
prevention and cure of vice that we have here to do.
Now there are certain forms of insubordination, or
restiveness, in which horses depend on their forehand —
others again, and by far the greater number, in which
they depend on their hind legs — for the purpose of
defying the rider ; amongst the latter we may specify,
for instance, rearing. Considering the whole rationale
of the English system attentively, one is therefore not
surprised to find that the forms of restiveness in which

278 EESTIVENESS : ITS PREVENTION AND CUBE.

horses use chiefly their hind legs grow very natu-
rally out of this system, which is unfit for either their
prevention or cure without some further aid. We would
not be supposed to condemn this system altogether,
or unconditionally ; on the contrary, we have already
pointed out some of its advantages, and shall now pro-
ceed to show that it may be made great use of, both as
a preventive and remedy. As regards the former, for
instance, it affords the only safe means of utilising
horses that have weak hind quarters, or defects of the
hind legs. Many such animals would, if treated according
to the school system, be soon rendered either total
cripples or incurably vicious ; wheras, by a judicious
application of the English method, many a young horse
gains time for the hind quarters and legs to develop
themselves, and become in the end capable of doing
even military work.

As to the cure of restiveness, the English method has
this value : The first step to be taken with a restive
horse, before any attempt can be made at mastering its
hind legs, is to get it to move somehow, for it is only
when in motion that the rider can get at it. Now,
although it would be worse than useless to attempt to
make a horse go under precisely the same circumstances
of time and place, &c., under which it has refused
obedience, still, by altering these circumstances, and
placing it under quite different ones, we can usually
succeed in this. For instance, as has been already
mentioned, we can take a horse that proves restive 011
the road into a ploughed field, and, lounging it on a
wide circle, compel it to go without risking a conflict of
authority in which we might probably have the worst
of it. Or we may take the same animal into some

HOW TO BENDER HORSES OBEDIENT. 279

enclosed space — a riding-school, for instance — where it
sees that escape is impossible, and there, after having
perhaps first lounged it, get on its back and ride it
quietly. Under such circumstances, to attempt to
screw it into a particular form, or endeavour to apply
school methods directly, would most probably end in a
fresh display of insubordination, and we should find
ourselves pretty nearly at the end of our tether, and
without any further resource. The great thing is to get
the horse to go somehow — if only in a walk or a jog-trot,
no matter ; if we can only get thus far, half the battle
is won, and by degrees we get into a good smart regular
trot, if we take care to keep out of the corners, and
avoid sharp turning. Now the English method, as
described above, is precisely that best adapted for
getting a horse to cover ground, and therefore, for the
purpose indicated here, it is like getting way on a vessel
by means of the head-sail, without which the rudder
is perfectly useless ; after a while we can haul aft our
sheets till we get a weather-helm and steer any course
we please. The English plan is therefore invaluable
for getting way on, but to get a weather-helm we must
have recourse to —

The Continental or School System. — As the objects
this proposes to attain are essentially different from
what the majority of English riders aim at, so are also
the means employed for the purpose. Whilst the latter
demand from each individual horse the greatest possible
amount of speed on straight lines it is capable of afford-
ing— treating the question of wear and tear of the
animal's fore legs as a matter of secondary importance
— the proper objects of the school are : first, to fix on
standards of speed and work attainable by the averages

280 EESTIVENESS I ITS PEEVENTION AND CUKE.

of various classes of horses ; secondly, to enable them
to move with ease to themselves, and with the aid of
the rider's one hand alone, on curved lines in various
paces — that is to say, to make them handy; and,
thirdly, to do all this in perfect obedience, and in such
a mariner that the inevitable wear and tear should be
equally divided over all four legs, by which means the
total period of service may be considerably prolonged.
In a word, the English system is based on the com-
petition of individual horses on the race-course and in
the hunting-field, and therefore employs the fore legs
exclusively as bearers, and the hind ones equally so as
propellers, speed alone being the object ; whereas, the
school system — contemplating the simultaneous action
of bodies of horses in varied forms, excluding altogether
the idea of competition, and not aiming at the highest
degree of speed — transfers a portion of the weight to be
carried from the fore to the hind legs, establishing
thereby a more equable balance of labour. It is scarcely
necessary to add, that the school is the nursery for
military riding, which the hunting-field does not, and
cannot profess to be.

The majority of English riders hold the school in the
greatest contempt, simply because they are altogether
preoccupied with their own ideas of the turf and the
field, to which this is quite inapplicable ; and merely
mechanical school-riders return the compliment with
equal unfairness when they point to our broken knees,
stiff fore legs, frequently exceptionally restive horses, &c.
It would be much more rational for both parties to en-
deavour to learn something useful from each other, for
both systems contain much that is good and useful for all.

It is seldom possible for the school-rider to adopt the

HOW TO BENDER HORSES OBEDIENT. 281

preliminary education of walking the young horse out
on the roads, &c., as is the excellent practice of the
English trainer, and therefore the remount is taken at
once into the riding-school to be lounged. The lounging
itself, too, is carried out in a different manner, for it
requires one or two assistants at first. One of these
•carries the whip ; the other, usually the groom, is
necessary in the first stages for the purpose of leading
the young horse round the circle until it knows what
is required of it. The assistant with the whip must
understand his business perfectly — his services are most
important and indispensable throughout. As a matter
of course, during the first lessons, a very wide circle is
used, and the snaffle-reins are attached loosely to the
rings of the surcingle, the inner one being slightly shorter
than the other, as it would otherwise hang slack when
the horse bends in the neck and body in circling. The
English trainer usually adopts the contrary practice of
shortening the outer rein, in order to prevent the horse
running in towards the centre ; but this object is much
better attained through the agency of the assistant with
the whip, because the great object especially in the
subsequent lessons, is to meet and regulate the length
of the stride of the inner hind leg by the inner rein,
which however, always must have a sufficient counter-
pull in the outer rein — the isolated action of any one
rein resulting merely in a change of position of the
head, instead of acting on the whole side of the horse.
When the horse has become accustomed to circling
on the lounge in this manner with sufficient freedom,
the trainer proceeds gradually towards his ulterior object
of bringing out a perfectly clean — that is, equable and
regularly-cadenced — trot, by accustoming the animal to

282 BESTIVENESS : ITS PEEVENTION AND CUBE.

transfer a portion of its own weight from its fore to its
hind legs, without thereby checking its forward impulse
more than is exactly necessary. This is easily done
by gradually shortening the snaffle-reins; and if the
horse carries his head too low, by adding bearing-reins,
for which purpose the dumb-jockey is useful. And now
the assistant with the whip has the greater part of the
work to do, it being his business, by demonstrations with
that instrument towards the horse's chest underneath
(not towards the hind legs), to keep the animal well up
to its work, whilst the trainer himself moderates the
pace by gently shaking the cord or line, never suffering
the horse to lean heavily on his hand, and never
himself taking a dead pull.

These two functionaries must act perfectly in unison,
and both of them understand perfectly their work,
which requires judgment, patience, and dexterity.
Wonderful results may be obtained by a well-judged
use of the lounge, but we are bound to say that, in
unskilful hands, an enormous amount of mischief maybe
also perpetrated in the way of producing or confirming
restiveness, or even with the more tangible evidences of
curbs, spavins, and other lamenesses. It is impossible
to give any precise rule as to the amount by which
the reins may be shortened or the horse's head brought
up. All that can be said is this — if the horse hurries
its trot, constantly increasing the pace, and finally
breaking into a canter, you may be sure that the
head is too low, and the weight still too much forward,
consequently you must bear it up gradually till this
ceases. On the other hand, if you find the horse
trotting unequally and irregularly, in something like a
mixture of trot and canter in an amble, or if it seems

HOW TO RENDER HORSES OBEDIENT. 283

only capable of getting on in a short, cramped canter,
then you may be equally sure that your reins are too
short, and you must immediately ease them all to the
state in which they were at the very first lesson, and
then try back till you bring out a perfectly clean,
rhythmic trot ; whatever position the horse's head and
neck may then have, is the true one, all the pedants in
the world notwithstanding. Indeed, it is a good plan
to finish each lesson and commence the next one with
somewhat slack reins. The being too lazy to take the
trouble of altering the gear often causes double work,
and a horse will bear more pressure, with good temper,
if you reward it by occasional spells of relaxation.

It will not be out of place here to remark, that if your
horse be weak in the hind quarters or legs — that you
cannot go so far with the bearing-up, in fact — you must
incline more to the English system ; whereas if it has
suffered only in its fore legs, you may carry the process to
the utmost extent that is compatible with clean trotting ;
and this is precisely the reason why many an English
horse, with ruined fore legs, may be rendered capable
of doing good and safe service as an officer's charger for
many a year, if handled judiciously after this fashion.

We now come to the period when the young horse
has been saddled and backed. The animal will, during
the process of lounging, have become accustomed to the
saddle being placed on the centre of its back and the
girths round its proper waist, instead of round its chest.
During the first lesson under the rider, the horse will
continue on the lounge, the great object being to make
the transition as gradual as possible, for which reason
the assistant with the whip will continue his services,
whilst the trainer also continues to direct the animal's

284 KESTIVENESS ; ITS PREVENTION AND CUBE.

movement with the line. The rider, therefore, will at
first remain nearly passive, avoiding, on the one hand,
interfering too much with the reins, and on the other,
pressing too closely his legs against the horse's body ;
in fact, his seat will be very much like that of the
English trainer in the first instance, but by degrees he
will take the direction of the horse's movement over
from the trainer into his own hands, and with his legs
do the duty hitherto performed by the assistant with
the whip. For this reason he will then change his seat,
bringing his legs well back so as to get a perpendicular
tread on the stirrup, and holding them close to the
horse's ribs without screwing. A slight increase of
pressure of both legs here in this position always has the
effect of making the horse bring its hind legs forward
under its body, just as the whip does ; and if, at the same
time, the horse's head and neck are brought up and back,
the relative proportions of weight to be carried by the
hind and fore legs can be easily determined by the rider.
Let us now suppose the remount so far advanced as
to enable us to dispense altogether with the lounge
and the whip, and hand it over to the rider alone ; in
fact, to be in the stage of its education corresponding to
that in which the English trainer takes it out for long
rides on straight lines. The school rough-rider, on the
contrary, does his work in an enclosed rectangular
space," which makes all the difference in the world,
because during each circuit of the menage four corners
have to be got through — that is to say, as many changes
of direction made. Let us take the rider, in the first
instance, as being on one of the long sides of the rect-

IGU.LJ.WW) CAJO ^WJ.-1-i.CL V/J-L VSXJLW WJ. UJ..LW J-V^i-ii-j 0KVKW0 WA UJ--LW J. \J\J V

The circus, properly so called, is only used for purposes of
.bition.

exhibition

HOW TO EENDEB HORSES OBEDIENT. 285

angle, on which hand is immaterial : his English confrere
holds his hands close together steadily down on the
horse's withers, just letting the animal come up to meet
the mouth-piece ; the school-rider, on the contrary,
raises his hands more or less according to the natural
position of the horse's head and neck, his object being,
as we have seen, to bring their weight back towards the
hind legs, which latter the pressure of his own legs
tends to bring forward. Moreover, instead of holding
his hands merely passive, he takes a rein in each hand,
and with a gradual but decisive turn of the wrist meets
each stride of the hind leg with a gentle pull on the
rein at the corresponding side, working upwards and
backwards. Thus, whilst the pressure of the man's leg
brings the hind leg of the remount forwards, the pressure
of his wrist, exercised through the rein, determines
exactly to what extent this shall take place, and, in fact,
prescribes the point at which the foot shall be placed on
the ground. This is what is called floating or oscillating
between the rider's hand and leg ; it is what gives
perfect control over the horse's movements, and explains
why the terms "mere rein," or "mere stirrup" riding,
are used in a satirical sense. A little attention will
soon teach even a beginner which hind foot is being
brought forward, and consequently with which rein he
will have to regulate its action ; for it will never answer
the purpose to pull across, as that would only derange
the position of the neck and head ; and this " feeling in
the seat," as it is called, is a sense that riders must
cultivate, as it will enable them to find out immediately
what their horse is about, and whether he be meditating
mischief, which, if his leg be in the right place, he can
nip in the bud ; whereas, if it be somewhere away

286 RESTIVENESS : ITS PREVENTION AND CUBE.

towards the horse's shoulder, he is sure to come too
late.*

The corners and changes of direction must not be
overlooked. At first these must be got through in a
wide sweep, for which the lounging was sufficient pre-
paration. By degrees, however, this sweep is narrowed,
and the change of direction made more abrupt ; we
must therefore see how this is to be effected, and what
results it produces.

When a horse moves on a segment of a circle, we
must consider the two inner legs as moving on an
interior somewhat narrower and the two outer ones
on an exterior, somewhat wider, curve. The difference
between the two, although not very great, is neverthe-
less sufficiently so to compel the animal to shorten the
strides of the inner legs perceptibly, and the shorter
the radius of the circle, the more perceptible is this
difference. When the rider is therefore about passing
through a corner, he will come to the young horse's aid
by urging forward the inner leg somewhat less than
the outer one ; at the same time he must bend the
horse's neck and head in the proposed direction, and
therefore he holds his inner hand somewhat lower than
the outer one, makes his own leg at the same side more
perpendicular, the outer one being brought well back to
sustain the action on that side. Now the result of all
this is, that the inner hind leg is made to bear a some-
what increased proportion of the whole weight during
the passage of the corners as compared with the straight
line ; and thus, by changing from one hand to the other,
the young horse learns to bend his hocks in succession,

* For the same reason it will not do to rise in the stirrups,
English fashion, for we should miss each alternate tread,

HOW TO BENDER HORSES OBEDIENT. 287

and in an easy and gradual manner. After passing
through the corner, and getting on again to a straight
line, the action of the rider's legs is again equalised,
but his hands always remain in the position described,
as the horse's head must be kept slightly away from the
wall or barrier.

This process is graduated thus : first, round off
the angles in a wide sweep, then gradually narrower ;
secondly, halve and then quarter the menage, by which
means the angles will come more frequently into play ;
finally, convert your smallest rectangle into a circle,
and wind up by diminishing its diameter, changing, of
course, from one hand to the other, in order to work
both hind legs equally.

There are two distinct means employed here : first,
the getting the horse's head and neck up and back — to
use a nautical expression again, more inboard ; secondly,
to accustom the horse to bend its hocks and branches
so as to take over a portion of the weight. Unless
greatly pressed for time, it is better not to commence
both processes at once, and much preferable to devote
attention, in the first instance, to the position of the
horse's head and neck; and when some progress has
been made with these, then go on to the hind legs.
Therefore the seat and the position of the rider's legs
will be at first more analogous to the English fashion,
reverting, when the time comes, to the school position
as a matter of necessity. A certain portion of the work
of getting the horse's head and neck into position may
be very advantageously done whilst the animal stands
still, but no real progress can be made in getting it to
carry its burden in the desired manner unless these
bending lessons, as they are called, be immediately

288 EESTIVENESS : ITS PREVENTION AND CURE.

followed up by brisk trotting ones ; and, for the same
reason, it is of great importance, when practicable, to
take the horse out of the school occasionally, and let it
have a good straight-ahead go after the English fashion..
The dumb-jockey being much used in this country,
it becomes necessary to say a word on the subject.
This instrument represents a pair of hands without legs,
and therefore can at best only perform just one-half of
the work we have now under consideration, and even
this imperfectly. We must therefore call the whip to
our aid in order to supply the want of the legs, which
the whip will do, but then we can never attain the
alternately-graduated pull on each rein successively, nor
vary the pressure so readily. Moreover, the problem
to be solved being the distribution of weight, with the
dumb-jockey we can only adjust that of the animal
itself, the whole of whose equilibrium being overthrown
when the rider once gets on its back, we are then
compelled to begin the entire process de novo. The
judgment, tact, and power of appreciation of a really
good rider will produce far better results, and, on
the whole, in a shorter time than the dumb-jockey
ever can do, except perhaps as a triumph of art in the-
circus, or for the purpose of combating some special
form of vice ; nevertheless, it is evident, from what has
been just said, that this instrument may be used with
advantage by those who wish to train on the English
system. Y/hat we have here given is merely a sketch
of so much of the school system as suffices to bring
horses into obedience — in fact, the A B C of the method
— as it would lead us altogether beyond the limits we
have proposed to ourselves to go further than this into
the detail of menage-riding, even if we felt ourselves

HOW TO RENDER HORSES OBEDIENT. 289

competent to do so, which is far from being the case.
Our object was to show by what means, within almost
every rider's reach, perfect control may be obtained
over the horse's head, neck, and hind legs, and this
because it is by the aid of these members of its body,
especially the last-named ones, that the vicious or in-
subordinate horse is enabled to defy its rider.

Up to the point at which we have now arrived it will
have been most advisable to use a snaffle, either alone
or in combination with Seeger's running-rein, which
enables us, whilst we lift the horse's neck and head by
the upward and backward pull on the snaffle-reins,
to limit exactly the degree to which this elevation
takes place. When the neck, and with it the head,
have been got into the desired position — which is, we
repeat, always that in which the horse trots perfectly
"clean" and in "obedience" — the next step is to get
the head into its proper position with regard to the
neck, and this is done by means of the curbed bit.

What sort of bit should be selected, and how it ought
to be put into the horse's mouth, has been already fully
explained, and all that will be further necessary is to
accustom the horse gradually to this in precisely the
way pointed out already for getting it to accept other
limitations of its freedom. If all this be done carefully —
skilfully, above all — patiently but resolutely, the result
will be a horse moving in complete obedience to the will
of the rider, at all degrees of speed, with perfect ease to
itself, and without apparent effort on the rider's part ;
for the animal will have learned to modify the propelling
and bearing action of its hind legs in accordance with
the pressure exercised by the rider's legs, whilst the
lever-action of the head on the neck produced by a

u

290 KESTIVENESS : ITS PREVENTION AND CUBE.

properly-fitting and carefully-adjusted bit being trans-
mitted directly to the anterior extremity of the spinal
column, and indirectly through the medium of the reins
towards the centre of motion, will regulate the amount
of action most effectually. The two figures of Plate V.
illustrate in different senses what we have here en-
deavoured to convey by words. The upper one shows a
horse whose hind legs are subject to no efficient or
direct control, the action both of the bit and of the
rider's legs being concentrated altogether on the fore-
hand through the diagonal tread on the stirrup and the
pull on the reins directed upwards towards the rider's
neck. The lower figure, on the contrary, shows a horse
whose body moves under the perfect control of the rider :
the tread on the stirrup is vertical, the pull on the reins
not far from horizontal, and directed towards the rider's
seat and the common centres of gravity and motion.
Both figures sit nearly exactly on the same part of their
respective horses. The great difference between the
seats lies in the position of the leg from the hip, and
especially from the knee, downwards ; whilst the great
difference in the carriage of the two horses lies in the
respective positions of their necks. Some of the other
plates illustrate the same thing in different ways.

CHAPTEK II.

GENERAL RULES FOR THE TREATMENT OF RESTIVENESS.

THE first and most important rule to be observed is, to
ascertain the cause of the restiveness, and the circum-
stances under which it ivas first displayed and is usually
repeated. This alone will frequently suffice to suggest
the proper remedy, as it will also show us how vicious
habits may be best prevented, especially with young
animals.

It is worse than useless to take your horse to the
street-corner, the cross-roads, the bridge, the railway-
crossing, or the house, &c., where it is in the habit of
offering opposition to your will, as this only leads even-
tually to a trial of strength, in which the horse is always
superior. You must choose a more favourable ground —
namely, intelligence — in which man ought to be superior
to the brute creation, which, however, by no means
precludes the necessity of administering judicious punish-
ment when necessary, and altogether excludes the idea
of tamely truckling to the animal's insubordination.

The principal causes of restiveness are to be sought,
either in some physical defect of conformation, in the
condition of the animal, in its disposition, or in its temper,
and sometimes in a combination of two or more of these.

With young animals especially, defects of conformation

292 RESTIVENESS I ITS PREVENTION AND CUBE.

— as weak backs, hind quarters, or something abnormal
about the head and neck — lead them into insubordi-
nation in self-defence. Want of ability to do the work
demanded of them, in consequence of defective condition,
will produce the same effect both in young and old
horses ; starvation is, therefore, in most instances, a
positively injurious instead of a curative process. No
doubt a horse's temper may be subdued to a certain
extent by this means, but then it becomes unfit to do
work, so that nothing is gained in the end. As regards
disposition, some horses refuse their work from sheer
sluggishness ; others, again, from timidity or irritability.
This latter is very frequently the case with mares,
especially at certain seasons of the year, and may be
very often remedied by putting them to stud for one or
two years. It is obvious that one method of treatment
is not applicable to these very different cases. Finally,
a merely passionate temper requires different manage-
ment from a dogged one ; whilst sheer vice is the most
difficult of all to deal with, and usually a consequence
of injudicious treatment. When all this has been well
considered, and the cause or causes of restiveness ascer-
tained, one can begin to work with some chance of
success — otherwise not.

The second general rule is very easily deducible from
the first — it is this : avoid giving the horse an oppor-
tunity of resisting your will successfully, so long as it
possesses the means of doing so — that is to say, until
you have acquired, by the means already described, com-
plete control over its movements. Therefore have your
horse led into a riding-school or some enclosed space
where it has never shown restiveness, and do your work
there, and after each lesson dismount again, loosening

GENEEAL RULES. 293

girths, &c., also caressing the animal, if obedient, and
avoiding to push it prematurely to the verge of re-
sistance, trusting rather to gradual progress than to
violent measures. All horses are very susceptible to, and
grateful for, kindness.

As an enclosed space is not always available, it will
be well to point out what can be done without it, in
case of necessity. Some horses refuse to leave their
stable, either from natural sluggishness or indisposition
to leave their companions. A man on foot armed with
a whip will often succeed in driving them away, but in
this case it is his will and not yours that has prevailed,
and therefore little real progress is made. It is much
more advisable in such cases to lead the animal away
to some distance, taking with you a nosebag with some
oats, of which you give a handful now and then. You
may after a time mount your horse, and when on its
back give it a handful of oats from the saddle before
attempting to go farther, getting its head, of course, in
the proper direction. If you find this not to succeed
at first, dismount again rather than risk a conflict, lead
the animal out a couple of miles, and give it the whole
contents of the nosebag at some convenient place, taking
each day a different road, and never feeding twice in the
same place. You may ahvays ride home, and this will
be your opportunity for acquiring control over its neck,
head, and hind legs : the more it hurries back to its
stable, the better will you be enabled to do this work.*

Or if it be a case of attachment to the stable com-
panions, then put a rider on one of these, whose busi-

* It will be well to dismount at some little distance from the
stable and lead the horse home, never repeating this operation in
exactly the same place.

294 EESTIVENESS I ITS PBEVENTION AND CUBE.

ness it will be to keep sometimes alongside of your own;
horse, at others ahead, or again in the rear, making
circuits, riding away and returning — the nosebag with
oats may be superadded to this method of treatment -r
and thus the animal may be got and kept under way
constantly, which gives the rider the desired opportunity
of working it — for this is the main object to keep in
view. Two or three servants riding together, and think-
ing only of their own amusement, will teach horses to
cling to one another ; or one riding the same dull
constant round will stupefy a horse into restiveness, of
which it may be cured by the above method.

But if you have an enclosed space of some kind to
work in, 25 to 30 yards long, and 15 to 20 wide, it
will be much better to use it in the first instance ; and
then, when you feel it to be safe, ride out occasionally
till the cure is complete. Of course your main object
will be to get the horse to go somehow in the first
instance, and then by degrees in obedience, the means
of effecting which have already been pointed out.

Should the restiveness be traceable to physical defects.
— to weakness of the back, loins, hind legs, or to some
peculiarity of conformation of the head and neck, as is
especially the case with horses that seek to defend
themselves by rearing or " bucking " — you must adjust
your seat very carefully, and sometimes even change
your saddle with that view. It is a great mistake in
such cases, under the pretext of getting what is called a
good firm seat, to rest your whole weight on the horse's
loins, by placing yourself at one end of a long saddle, and
tucking up your legs with short stirrups at the other
end. On the contrary, one must get well down into
the centre of the saddle, with somewhat of a fork seat ;

GENEBAL EULES. 295

i<

and the bringing your weight forward must be accom-
plished, not by bending in that direction from your hips,
which will lose you all control over the horse's neck and
head, but by bringing the seat itself into the proper
place.

With irritable impatient tempers it is important to
sit as steadily as possible — a close seat is what suits
them best ; they also require very careful and accurate
bitting ; anything painful exasperates such horses.

So, too, with horses that want to go ; indulge them
and moderate their fire gradually ; whilst with sluggish
ones encouragement will suit best ; and as regards food,
let it always be in proportion to the work, and this
latter to the condition.

Of course it is impossible to lay down a ready cut-and-
dried rule applicable to the treatment of each individual
horse ; but it will be almost always advisable to have
recourse to the lounge in the first instance, if for no
other reason, because it affords the best opportunity of
seeing and studying the horse's action, and ascertaining
exactly the means by which it resists ; for instance, as
is frequently the case, by slinking back from the bridle,
and gathering up its legs under its body, and putting up
its back at the same time. In such cases it will be best
to continue the lounging at first on the English principle,
and subsequently after the school method described
above. If it seems advisable to get the horse's head
and neck up, the dumb-jockey will be very useful ; if, on
the contrary, these require to be brought down, it will
be useless ; and with horses inclined to rearing it should
never be used on account of the danger of their throwing
themselves down.

When one finds the horse inclined to trot out well

296 KESTIVENESS I ITS PREVENTION AND CUBE.

and freely on the lounge, it will be time to get a rider
on its back, and then to alternate the lounging and
riding lessons as may seem advisable until the former
become unnecessary. With restive horses it is, however,
better not to attempt using the lounge after the rider is
on the animal's back, but merely to detach the cord,
leaving the cavesson on their heads, and giving the
rider a pair of short reins, attached to this, into his
hands, in addition to the snaffle-reins. Except in very
skilful and practised hands, and when both trainer and
rider are accustomed to act in unison, there is always
great danger in using the lounge in this way.

The general plan is, therefore, simply this : first,
lounging with loose reins ; secondly, lounging with reins
gradually shortened until the hind legs are brought
under subjection, the horse still going free ; thirdly,
riding with loose reins ; fourthly, riding with shortened
ones, varied with bending lessons — at first whilst standing
still, then in motion ; finally, occasional rides out, and
giving up the school by degrees till it may be finally
dispensed with altogether. Patience, determined cool
courage, intelligence, kind treatment, and perseverance,
are the main requisites ; there is no royal road — the
thing can only be done by fair work.

There are some horses that cannot be got to go
anyhwv, but will either take to backing, turning sharp
round, generally on the near hind leg, rearing up,
screwing themselves up against a wall, climbing up
houses, or throwing themselves violently on the ground.
Such animals have been usually brutally, or at least
injudiciously, treated, and in most cases it will be ad-
visable to hand them over to professionals, who should
in common fairness be told the ivhole truth. A riding-

GENERAL RULES. 297

school is, however, not always within reach, and we
must therefore see what can be done with horses that
have acquired vice to this extent.

The first step to be taken in such cases is to restore
•confidence, and make the horse feel that it will now be
subjected to kind and judicious treatment. This must
commence in the stable, and the foundation is best laid
by the man who feeds and cleans the animal ; and here
let it be remarked, that an example of violence or
severity given by the owner or trainer but too frequently
induces the groom to follow it up, and should therefore
be very carefully avoided. If, on the contrary, the
groom succeeds in getting the horse to move about in its
stall arid turn round, a good foundation is thereby laid
for the further treatment, and the trainer will do well
to follow it up himself precisely in the same manner,
giving the animal a handful of oats, a piece of bread, or
a lump of sugar, which most horses are very fond of,
whilst others prefer common salt. When you have got
thus far, let the groom lead the horse out in a con-
venient enclosed space : at first it will be best to put
nothing further on it than a snaffle, a surcingle, and a
cavesson. When on the ground, the trainer may ap-
proach it quietly, and, giving it some tit-bit, make much
of it, and then, with the assistance of the groom, fix the
reins of the snaffle loosely to the rings of the surcingle,
and firmly attach the line to the centre ring of the
cavesson, carefully avoiding all compulsion. When this
has been accomplished, gather up the lounge-line in
a neat and regular coil in your left hand, so that
if the horse makes a bolt it may run out without
entanglement ; and seizing the line about three or four
feet from the cavesson-ring with your right hand, place

298 RESTIVENESS I ITS PKEVENTION AND CUBE.

yourself in front of the horse, the groom standing
behind you.

Before proceeding further let us consider for a moment
what position restive horses generally assume at the
moment they defend themselves. In almost all cases it
will be found that they gather their legs under the body,
sinking their croup, which may be seen from the position
of the tail, getting their head and neck well down, and
putting their back up like an angry cat. If the reader
will now refer to Plate I., and compare this with Fig. 4,
he will at once see what the object of this position is.
The horse's body is bent round the centre of motion
(fourteenth vertebra) like a bow pulled to the archer's
ear, ready to exert the whole of its elastic power. If the
arrow be once discharged, your control over it is gone
— so, too, if the horse makes the plunge it contemplates ;
therefore, your first task will be to unstring the bow.

The first step to this is to get the horse to stretch
itself. Try to get the head up a little ; if you meet
with opposition, give way, as if you did not perceive
it, and try again. In proportion as you get the head
and neck up gently the back will flatten down, and
the horse will move one or both hind legs backwards,
or one or both fore legs forwards. The horse does so
merely to save itself from falling ; you will do wisely
by giving it credit for a first act of obedience, therefore
pat its neck, rub its head, speak kindly, and give it
something. If it has only moved one hind or one fore
leg, by bending the head and neck gradually towards
the other one, this too may be got backwards or for-
wards ; by degrees the horse will be got to stretch
itself : the bow is unbent. It will altogether depend
on the time and trouble required to get thus far,

GENERAL RULES. 299

whether the first lesson should be further extended or
not. After a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes it
will be time to reward the horse by loosing all the
straps, leaving it to the groom to lead it about for exer-
cise, and then home. Better take the trouble of giving
two short lessons each day, after which all parties
remain on more friendly terms, than one long one end-
ing in a fight.

Having explained at length the method of proceeding,
it will now suffice to indicate briefly the successive steps
to be taken. When the horse has learned to stretch
itself willingly, the next object will be to get it to move
in obedience. If it refuses to go forwards, by edging
over its head and neck in the proper position, it will
step side wise to save itself from falling ; reward it again.
In a day or two it will follow your hand forwards for
the sake of the oats you show it ; then by degrees it
will learn to circle with the croup round the forehand ;
you will " unfix " the feet and flatten the back by de-
grees, taking care always to stop each movement and
limit its extent with the cavesson ; real obedience is
thereby established, and the horse will soon follow you
in a wide circle, when, the assistant taking your place
at its head, you at length arrive at lounging, and proceed
as already described.

A horse that backs — and .some will actually trot back-
wards— must be somewhat differently handled, but still
on the same principle : there is even less difficulty than
in the cases just now alluded to, because the animal
does move somehow. The position assumed by a back-
ing horse is that described above ; the remedy is there-
fore to alter the carriage of the head and neck, getting
these up as high as possible without violence, and the

300 EESTIVENESS I ITS PEEVENTION AND CURE.

weight being more thrown inward, the back is flattened
and the hocks bent, instead of being stiffened as before.
This soon brings the animal to stand still, which, how-
ever, should not be permitted ; on the contrary, it must
be made to go backwards in obedience to the cavesson
one or two steps, the head well up ; which done, reward
it by suffering it to go ahead — and repeat this backing
process until it goes willingly forward, when it may be
handled as already directed.

In applying this method when on the horse's back,
care must be taken to use each hand and heel (spur)
in unison, "stopping" with the latter the backward
tread of each hind leg alternately on the off and near
sides, and not suffering the horse to put one hind foot
to the ground too far away from the other, for one hock
is then sure to be stiff. The pull on the rein must be,
of course, upwards and backwards, at the side corre-
sponding to the hind leg you want to act on, and only
upwards at the other side. If the rider hurries the
horse back, fails to sit perfectly upright in the saddle,
and makes a muddle of the action of his hands and
heels, there will always be danger of the horse rearing
up and falling back ; in fact, this special form of
restiveness is very often called forth by injudicious
management of a ^backing horse ; whilst, on the other
hand, making a rearer rein-back in obedience is one of
the best remedies we have for rearing.

To prevent misapprehension, it is necessary to explain
how it is that the spur will stop tfte hind leg and
limit its action, which is simply because the effect
of the spur or heel being always to make the horse
advance the hind leg at the same side when the animal
is backing, this becomes, in fact, equivalent to stopping

GENEBAL RULES. 301

it ; whereas when it is going forward, the contrary effect
is produced, and the stopping work done by the rein,
as already explained in the preceding chapter.

It has been shown above that, with the cavesson, it
is possible to lay the foundation for forward action by
making the horse, in the first instance, circle with his
hind quarters round the forehand. When mounted,
precisely the same method may be employed with great
success. The rider commences by lifting the horse's
neck and head with both reins until the animal's mouth
is somewhat higher than his own knee, keeping the
calves of his own legs well closed on its ribs ; then, by
a gradual shortening of one rein — say the right one — he
gets the head round till the forehead comes to be
parallel to the horse's backbone, and places his right
hand firmly on the saddle behind his own right knee,
and so gets a downward pull on this rein, whilst with
the left one he keeps the horse's head and neck in the
proper position. Frequently a mere increase of pressure
of the right calf will now suffice to unfix the horse's legs,
and make it circle with the croup round the fore legs,
which remain on the spot, and finally induce it to go
ahead. Of course the outer, here the left, leg, of the
rider must be kept well closed up, so as to determine
the velocity at which this circling is done, and the
extent to which it should be carried, as also to be in
perfect readiness to act in unison with the other leg,
and with both reins, to determine the horse to move
straight ahead when it evinces the disposition to do so.
But still more frequently, perhaps, the pressure of the
calf will not suffice, and then one must use the spur
freely, and this will generally succeed. Dead pulling
on the reins will not do ; the rider must increase and

302 KESTIVENESS : ITS PREVENTION AND CURE.

diminish the pressure alternately, and always in unison
with the action of his own heels or spurs ; and this
latter should be screw-like — not stabbing or digging at
the horse's side, which involves a loosening of the hold,
and accustoms a horse to wince away or flee the spur,
instead of yielding obedience to the pressure of the calf.
This is what the Germans call "wickeln" — that is to
say, winding or rolling-up a horse — and, if properly
done, is very efficacious for overcoming restiveness
generally ; if employed in the nick of time, it will even
prevent rearing.

On the whole, it is evident that a key to the best
methods of mastering the horse's powers, and utilising
them fairly, whether merely for handling young ones,
or for the prevention and cure of restiveness, is to be
found only in a thorough knowledge of the mechanism
of that animal's movements. This we have endeavoured
to explain in Chapter I., Part I., of this book ; and those
who will take the pains to compare what is said there
with what they see restive horses do, will be thereby
enabled to discover for themselves more than we can
pretend to teach them.

We would also venture to recommend the chapter
on " Seats " to the attention of rational riders and
trainers, but especially of those who have to deal with
restive horses. In that chapter we could do little more
than hint at general principles so far as they are ap-
plicable to various kinds of riding ; here we can lay
down positive rules for the seat, and give reasons why
it should be so and not otherwise.

We have seen how a horse that meditates resistance
gets its legs under its body, coiling itself up, as it were,
round one fixed point, the fourteenth vertebra. The

GENERAL KULES. 303

nearer the rider's seat is to that point or centre of motion,
the less will it be liable to disturbance from the violent
efforts that ensue. If he sits further back towards the
loins, his weight being there will interfere with his
management of a rearer or a backer, and expose him
directly to the action of a kicker ; if, on the contrary,
he sits close to the horse's withers, he unduly over-
weights the forehand, and loses most of his control over
the hind legs. Let us compare together, for instance,
the upper and lower figures of Plate V. on the supposition
of the horse's wheeling sharp round suddenly ; those of
Plate VI. on the supposition of their attempting to rear
or kick ; and those of Plate VII. on that of their
attempting to back against the will of their respective
riders. As to the hindermost figure of Plate III. , selected
purposely to illustrate an exaggeration, he can do
nothing with his horse.

As regards the position of the rider's legs, the upper
figure of Plate V. and the lower one of Plate VI. sprawl
them out forwards, and the upper one of Plate VII.
sidewise, with stiff knees away from the horse's ribs,
so that they must alter their ivhole seat when they
require to give the spur, which must be applied in this
position with a stab, instead of growing, as it were, out
of and being the climax of the pressure of the calf, the
importance of which we have seen.

The position of the rider's body from the hips upwards
is by no means indifferent. The getting-up the horse's
head and neck to the required position demands a
certain amount of fixity of the spinal column, for the
work to be done by the arms brings into play the
muscles of the entire back. The rider that comes into
antagonism with his horse is only then safe in his seat

304 BESTIVENESS : ITS PBEVENTION AND CUBE.

when his own centres of gravity and motion fall in the
same perpendicular line with the horse's centre of motion,
otherwise he will have to contend with the centrifugal
motion by dint of muscular exertion alone.

Now, for a man standing upright, the centre of gravity
is in the perpendicular from the base of the skull, and
the centre of motion is at the point where this line
intersects a horizontal line drawn through both hip- joints.
If the rider sits upright, on his " triangle " (as explained
above), and in the middle of his saddle, this being in
the right place, his legs will, unless the stirrups obstruct,
come of themselves into such a position that his own
centres of gravity and motion will be directly over and
very close to the centre of motion of the horse. What
Englishmen are pleased to call " a stuck-up seat " may
be the result, perhaps, especially if the rider be awkward ;
but it is not a question of taste or fashion, but of
attaining certain definite objects which remain otherwise
unattainable ; for no one will pretend that the position
assumed by the hunting man for the purpose of making
his horse throw its weight on the fore legs, with its
head and neck well down and extended, can also serve
the exactly opposite purpose we have in view in the
correction of vicious animals.

A word with regard to the whip and its use will not
be out of place. The effect of this instrument depends
altogether on the part of the horse's body to which it
is applied, and the way in which it is used. One or two
strokes given at the proper moment, and in the right
place, will sometimes work wonders, whilst a severe
flogging almost always does mischief. It has been
pointed out that, in lounging, the whip may be made to
do the work which the rider does with his legs and

GENEKAL KULES. 305

spurs, and that, for this purpose, it should always be
applied under the horse's chest, about where the girth
lies, and never to the buttocks or hind legs> as this
usually ends in kicking. The same rule applies equally
to the riding-whip ; but this may be also used to great
advantage on the horse's shoulders — as, for instance, in
cases where the horse is preparing to rear — the effect
being to unfix its fore legs from the ground and make it
put them forward, just as, when applied under the
belly, it brings the hind legs in the same direction.
Therefore it is absurd, when a horse defends itself by
gathering its legs under it, to strike it under the belly,
whereas one or two strokes smartly applied to the
shoulders may probably have the effect of getting the
fore legs stretched ahead. The promptness and rapidity
with which the stroke is given, wherever applied, deter-
mines, to a great extent, its value ; for if the horse sees
it coming, it will flinch away if possible, just as it does
from a far-fetched stab with the spur ; and it can do
this much more easily with the hind quarters than with
its forehand, which is precisely the reason why a flogging
— that is, repeated blows aimed at the same place — is
generally useless, to say the least, whilst one or two on
the shoulders tell at once. The manner of holding the
whip or rod has much to do with this. We have often
been amused at hearing would-be sportsmen turn Con-
tinental, riders to ridicule for holding their whips or
switches with the point upwards, as if they only wanted
to imitate a sabre, whereas this is in reality the position
from which a quick smart stroke on the shoulders can be
most effectually applied ; for if the point be held down-
wards, it must be first brought up, and then down again,
so that it probably conies too late.

CHAPTEE III.

SPECIAL FOKMS OF KESTIVENESS.

IN the preceding chapter the general method of treating
restiveness has been sketched in outline ; what is there
put forward will be found applicable to nearly all cases,
and also suffice for the cure of most forms of dis-
obedience. There are, however, some others which, in
addition, require special methods of treatment, espe-
cially when they have become inveterate ; and these
are — bolting and running away, bucking or plunging,
rearing, and kicking.

Bolting. — The first step to be taken is to ascertain
why the horse bolts. A nervous and excitable tempera-
ment is sometimes the cause, and the only remedy will
be quiet and judicious treatment. Much more fre-
quently, however, bolting is resorted to by horses that
have some physical defect or peculiarity of conforma-
tion, as a means of avoiding what gives them great
pain ; in fact, it is frequently rather an effort of despair
than anything else, and an evidence that something has
been demanded of the animal that was beyond its
strength.

Eig. 7 shows the heads and necks of two runaway
horses ; in the one case the animal's nose is poked straight
out ; in the other, the chin comes back so as nearly to

SPECIAL FORMS OF EESTIVENESS. 307

touch the breast ; in both it escapes altogether the
action of the mouth-piece ; but the difference of position
assumed points to corresponding difference of conforma-
tion. The undermost figure shows that the way in
which the head is set on the neck, and the build of
both, offer no obstacle in themselves ; and the pre-
sumption is, therefore, that there is something weak or
defective in the loins, hind quarters, or legs. On the
other hand, in the upper figure there is evidence that
such obstacles do exist in the head and neck, the hind
quarters being, perhaps, very powerful. In a word,
horses with short necks, narrow jaws, and ill set-on
heads, or, again, with long unstable necks, endeavour
to escape the pain occasioned by injudicious attempts
to force these into a certain shape by running away in
the position of the upper figure ; whilst those with well-
formed heads and necks will, if their hind quarters be
weak, usually adopt that of the lower one — the getting
down of the head alone bringing the weight well on to
the fore legs and consequently easing the weak part.
It sometimes happens that there are defects at both
ends, and want of judgment or temper in the rider will
easily drive such a poor weak creature to despair ; for
those who have had much experience with young horses
must have remarked that the powerful and well-built
ones seldom take to bolting unless there is something
wrong with their tempers.

The first impulse of the great majority of riders whose
horses bolt is to put a sharper bit into their mouths,
or at least to shorten the curb, and perhaps rig the
horse out with some sort of martingale or running-reins
that gives them a good hold of the head, to secure
which more effectually they plant their feet firmly in

308 EESTIVENESS I ITS PREVENTION AND CUKE.

the stirrups, probably at the same time throwing their
own weight as far back as possible towards the horse's
loins. Energy is an admirable thing, but the energy
of stupidity seldom avails much ; and the above plan
of proceeding is nearly sure to make matters worse,
and convert a terrified animal into a vicious one. For
whether the anguish the poor horse endeavours to escape
from has its seat in the hind quarters or in the head and
neck, severe bitting is sure to aggravate it, and a rude
hard hand will do the same. The best — in fact the only —
remedy for a bolter is, a very carefully-fitted and well-
adjusted bit, a perfectly painless curb, a light hand, and
last bub not least, a very firm steady seat, somewhat
forward with horses that have weak hind quarters.

It is always a good plan to put a bolter on the lounge,
not, indeed, as is generally done, with the idea of
letting it exhaust itself, for weakness is more frequently
the exciting cause than strength ; but for the purpose
of studying carefully its action, and finding out by
degrees in what position or trim it will go steadily and
quietly in different places. The object will be, of course,
with a horse that is weak behind, to train it on the
forehand, getting its neck just sufficiently high up to
prevent its being able, when the bit is applied, to bend
its head round towards the hand, so as to escape
altogether the lever-action of that instrument ; but, on
the other hand, not so high or so far back as to throw
the weight on the hind legs. This will also afford a key
as to the dimensions of the lower cheek of the bit.

With a short-necked, narrow-throated, heavy-headed,
perhaps straight -shouldered horse, possessing good ser-
viceable hind quarters, the first object will be to get
these to bear the weight gradually in the manner

SPECIAL FORMS OF RESTTVENESS. 309

indicated in a previous chapter. This will, of course,
require a higher and gradually-ascending position of the
neck ; but as the difficulty probably arises in the junc-
tion of the head with this part of the body, no attempt
should be made to bend the nose downward, for that
is what annoys the horse. The best gear will be a
bearing-rein like that used for carriage-horses, but with
the rings as close under the horse's ears as possible, so
as to lift the neck unbent at the part known as the poll.
In both cases the dumb-jockey is useful if judiciously
employed.

Subsequently, when the horse has learned to bend
its hocks, you may bit it with a light, well-fitted bit,
which will bend the neck downwards without altering
the junction with the head ; in fact, what is technically
termed a " false bend " will be attained, which, however,
suffices to render the animal controllable so long as the
rider preserves the mastery over its hind legs, by keep-
ing his own close to its body. In riding such horses, it
is useful, when you find them beginning to rush, to bring
them by gentle means to stand still, throwing your own
body, from the hips upwards, somewhat forward, and
easing the reins altogether for a moment ; whereas the
common practice of unskilful riders is to throw them-
selves back and pull like grim death.

Eeining-back may also be employed, but not with
horses that are weak behind, nor otherwise than in a
proper position, so that the horse retires gently —
the contrary of backing, and never as a punishment.
Generally it will be preferable to stand still, and
encourage the horse, by feeling its mouth, to champ the
mouth-piece, when the stiffness of the head and neck
will gradually relax, and it may be put in motion again.

310 BESTIVENESS I ITS PBEVENTION AND CUBE.

Here it may be well to say what the rider should do
if his horse runs away with him. The general impression
seems to be, that the safest thing is merely to endeavour
to keep the animal straight till it gets tired of galloping,
and keep one's own seat as long as possible ; consequently
the rider plants his feet as firmly as he can in the
stirrups, and shoves these out towards the horse's
shoulders in order to get fixed points from which he can
have a dead pull on the reins, and of course his body,
from the hips upwards, goes to the rear, right over the
horse's loins. Now, although this method of proceeding
suggests itself very naturally, it is nevertheless all
wrong, as, indeed, must be quite clear to those readers
who have read the preceding pages with any degree of
attention ; for whether the difficulty has its seat in the
horse's hind quarters, or in the throat and neck, it is
sure to be aggravated in this way ; besides that one can
seldom reckon upon having room enough to try this ex-
periment without encountering some obstacle, or a sharp
corner, that brings horse and rider down with a smash.

Let us take the case of a horse running away in a
field or open space, in the first instance, as being more
easy to deal with. Here the principal object must be
to take your horse off the straight line and on to a circle
— at first, of course, a wide one, but by degrees gradually
narrowing. On a circle one has room enough even for
the tiring process, seeing that it never ends, but the
thing is to know how to get and keep the horse on to it.
In the first place, then, it requires simply coolness and
self-possession sufficient to enable the rider to sit well
down in his saddle, bringing his legs well back and
keeping his body upright — the legs being required there
to regulate the action of the horse's hind legs in the

SPECIAL FORMS OF EESTIVENESS. 311

manner already described, whilst the upright position of
the body affords a basis from which the arms can work.
Next, instead of pulling a dead pull on both reins alike,
the rider must take intermittent pulls on the one at the
side he wishes to turn towards, gradually increasing the
strength of the pull, and then as gradually relaxing to
begin again ; holding the other rein merely " counter,"
so that the pressure shall be exerted only through the
mouth-piece, whatever the bit may be, and not through
any other portion of it, which would be useless. This
intermittent pull on the rein must, however, be always
accompanied by a similar pressure of the leg, or if
necessary, spur, at the same side, the rider's hand and
leg acting in perfect unison ; and this will never fail to
turn the horse gradually, just as is required. The circle
affords, however, not merely an opportunity for avoiding
dangerous obstacles ; its great value is, that it also
enables the rider, by gradually obtaining command over
his horse, to demonstrate to the latter the utter futility
of its attempt to get rid of him by running away, and
that, too, without violence or severity. One single
attempt at bolting away, if taken advantage of in this
manner by a judicious rider, may prove the means of
effectually subduing a troublesome animal. On the
other hand, such a rider will abstain carefully from
driving his horse to running away.

It is more difficult to manage a horse that runs away
on the roads or in the streets of a town, because the
rider is more or less compelled to follow straight lines.
He can, however, unless the road be very narrow indeed,
by using the rein and leg at each side alternately,
compel the runaway to move on a serpentine, which is
nothing more nor less than a series of curves alternating

312 KESTIVENESS I ITS PKEVENTION AND CUKE.

to right and left, which will also enable him to clear
dangerous corrers; one of these, indeed, if well taken,
may possibly afford him an opportunity of gaining the
mastery ; in fact, it will be found that most runaways
are stopped after turning a corner.

The especial management of the horse's head will,
of course, in all cases, depend on whether it is carried
too high or too low ; if the former, the object will be to
get it down; if the latter, to get it up. The presump.
tion being that the horse that runs away with its head
up has no special defect in the hind quarters or legs,
the rider may attack these more energetically, which
requires his own leg to be in the right place, and the
horse's head to be brought round somewhat to the
same side. Now, although a dead pull downwards
with both reins together will seldom bring the head
down, an intermittent pull on one rein will bring it to
one side, after which it will come down, the horse not
being then able to stiffen its neck at both sides. With
the horse that carries its head too low, the presumption
being to the contrary of what is stated above, the
rider must use his own legs more cautiously, and whilst
he endeavours to bend the horse's head to one side
with one rein, he will try to work it upivards with
the other. This, of course, must be done with the
bridoon if the horse be bitted, otherwise with the
snaffle-rein; indeed, it will be found that bringing the
bit and bridoon alternately into action is preferable
to using them simultaneously. It should be scarcely
necessary to add, that the rider's weight must be always
thrown somewhat into the stirrup at the side you wish
to turn the horse towards, which is difficult when the
stirrups are hung very far from the seat.

SPECIAL FORMS OF RESTIVENESS. 313

Bucking or Plunging. — In bucking, the horse gathers
its legs under its body, puts its back up and its head
down, and then commences a series of see-saw move-
ments, throwing itself from the hind to the fore legs
in rapid succession, either without moving forwards,
or in a succession of bounds, which latter, however,
is more properly plunging. It occurs usually with
young horses, and is much less common with English
ones than with some foreign breeds, especially the
Russian steppe horses. Sometimes very tight girthing,
or too heavy a load on the horse's back, will cause
it to buck ; or the attempt to screw it up too suddenly
into school form. . The best method of handling young
horses that have acquired this vice is on the lounge
with the dumb-jockey, the great object being to get
them to move forwards, and prevent the head coming
down. As the bucking or plunging usually commences
when the horse is put into a trot, it should be kept as
long as possible at a walk on the circle, which is
best effected by letting a man go alongside its head,
holding the bridle if necessary. The reins should not
be buckled tight, as " forcing " a bucker will often make
it throw itself down, or rear up and fall back. For
the same reason, if it does begin to buck, just let it tire
itself out, and when it is well wearied, one or two
smart blows of the whip applied under its chest by the
assistant will make it go ahead, and thus, by degrees, it
will give up the habit.

If a horse takes to bucking or plunging under the
rider, his object should be to make it go ahead by a few
smart strokes of the whip on the shoulders, even at the
risk of its running away, which he can meet in the
manner described above ; and this will even give him

314 EESTIVENESS I ITS PREVENTION AND CURE.

an opportunity of getting the head up, by first bending
the neck to one side. It is, of course, absurd to sit far
back on a bucker, sticking out the legs in front ; a man
that does so will be shot off over the horse's ears at the
first or second plunge. The seat must be central, and
the rider's back as straight as possible, although the
natural tendency is to round it ; the rider's weight, too,
must be thrown " into his heels," right under his seat ;
this is the only chance of " sitting out a bucker."

Hearing is the most dreaded form of vice that occurs,
and therefore the dodge that cunning horses resort to
most frequently, as they at once perceive that the rider
is afraid of it. Still it is by no means so difficult to
conquer effectually as is generally supposed ; no doubt
a very courageous and cool-tempered rider alone can
hope to succeed.

Bearing would occur much less frequently if it were
well understood that it is almost always the last stage
of disobedience, and very seldom if ever the first. In
fact, its occurrence is evidence of injudicious manage-
ment of some kind, either from untrained horses being
brought into positions for which they are as yet un-
fitted ; or from something being demanded of them that
was beyond their power ; or from the rider not knowing
how to recognise and subdue the very first symptoms of
disobedience; or, finally, from his using violent and
intemperate methods of doing so.

We have already pointed out how bad management
of a backing or bucking horse may end in rearing ; but
bringing a remount, or sometimes even an old horse,
into the company of other horses, and then trying to
get it away against its will, will often do the same ; or
wanting to force a horse over a jump it does not like,

SPECIAL FORMS OF BESTIVENESS. 315

&c., &c. Now, let us see what a horse does with itself
immediately before it actually does rear up. The rider
is perhaps just congratulating himself how nicely he
is getting along, when all of a sudden he feels as if the
horse had collapsed under him ; his seat is " nowhere ;""
its head or mouth has shrunk away from the feeling on
the mouth-piece, and it has got its legs under its body,
and is come to a dead stand-still — the rider usually,,
unless his seat be correct, falling forward with his body,
which of course makes matters worse. Then most
riders will give a great dig with their heels or spurs just
anywhere they can get at the horse, or perhaps a blow
with their whip, whereupon the animal elevates itself
on its hind legs and becomes a rearer. If the spurs, or
even the whip, had been applied in proper time — that is
to say, before the horse came to a standstill — there
would have been some use in them, and it would pro-
bably never have come to rearing at all. But if a
man's legs are spread far away from the horse's sides,
and he thinks proper not only to dangle his reins, but to
sit with his back rounded in the so-called " knowing
fashion," he will then have no " feeling in his seat,"
and is consequently quite ignorant of what his horse is
going to do, and of course must come too late with both
spurs and whip, if he happened to possess these im-
plements. An immense majority of rearers learn this
vice when being ridden about in a slovenly manner by
young riders or grooms ; a man that keeps a lively feel
of his horse with both his hand and heels, and pays
attention to the play of its ears and to every variation
of its pace, will seldom if ever let it come to rearing r
because the moment he detects the least slackness he
will at once apply the proper remedy, which will be to

316 RESTIVENESS I ITS PREVENTION AND CUJLIE.

make the horse corne up to the mouth-piece at once ;
but then his own legs must be well closed up to enable
him to do so.

If you have ascertained that the trick of rearing was
first practised somewhat after the manner described
above, you may very reasonably hope to cure your
horse without much difficulty. The animal must be
led, ready saddled and bridled, into a riding- school, or
some enclosed space of convenient dimensions, in order
to avoid giving it an opportunity for attempting dis-
obedience on the way thither. The rider will then
mount, and begin by riding quietly round about at a
walk, not as if he were merely wanting to see whether
the horse would rear or not, but with the very distinct
idea constantly before his eyes of getting it in the first
instance well up to the mouth-piece, so as to have a
firm leaning, recollecting always that this will depend
quite as much on his own legs as on those of the horse ;
after which he will proceed to correct the carriage or
"form" of the animal in the way described in the
introductory chapter to Part IV., halting occasionally,
bending the neck and head ; and, finally, when he finds
that he has got a hold of his horse between his own legs
and the reins — that is to say, feels that he is the regu-
lator of the steed's movements at a walk — he may urge
it gradually into whatever trot it pleases to go itself,
and subsequently bring it into the form he himself
pleases ; in fact, he will re-train it till it is in perfect
obedience, when there will be no more danger of its
rearing, under a good rider at least.

Should the horse, during this period of training, " try
on " his old tricks, the rider must be prepared for it,
watching its movements attentively, and especially all

SPECIAL FOBMS OF EESTIVENESS. 317

slackening or cringing in its paces, which should be
promptly attacked, though not roughly. Acting merely
on the defensive is quite out of place in handling vicious
horses ; one must meet them boldly. One or two
promptly-administered cuts of the whip over the shoulders
will frequently nip any renewed attempt at rearing in
the bud. With all restive horses, but more especially
with rearers, it is essential that the regular seat should
not be in the least disturbed by the necessity for using
either whip or spur. A seat that may do admirably
well for riding a willing horse over the stiffest country
in England, may be perfectly useless for the sort of
work described here.

Horses that have become confirmed rearers, and fre-
quently thrown themselves back with the rider, will
require great caution, and must be handled in a some-
what more methodical manner, though still on the same
principle. We have shown what the horse does when
it is preparing to rear ; let us now for a moment look
at it in the act of rearing. After slinking away from
the rider's hand and seat, so that he Uoses all hold of
it, the animal suddenly stiffens its hocks, throwing its
whole weight on them, and at the same moment stiffens
also its neck, and especially the throat, somewhat in
the position shown by the upper horse in Fig. 7, so
that it becomes quite impossible to get a downward pull
at it, and thus defies the rider most completely. It
is always the same story — stiffened hocks and a stiff
neck.* The safest way of managing confirmed rearers
is on the lounge, without the dumb-jockey, which would

* In the English method of handling horses, little attention is
paid to the horse's hocks or neck ; whilst, on the contrary, the
pasterns, are severely worked, which is precisely the reason why
school methods must be employed for rearers.

318 BESTIVENESS : ITS PBEVENTION AND CUBE.

be very likely to injure the horse severely in case of its
throwing itself back. Of course the reader will at once
perceive that the general plan of treatment will consist
in getting the animal to bend its hocks and neck in the
manner already described above ; and we may there-
fore confine our observations here to what should be
done when it actually does rear, which will be usually
at the moment one attempts to put it into a trot on the
circle ; for which reason bending lessons, when halted
or at a walk, must be persevered in at first. Supposing,
now, the horse to be on the lounge, and suddenly to
stop and rear up, the trainer, who must have an
assistant that knows well how to use the whip, should
shorten the line in coils in his left hand, holding it firmly
in the right, just long enough to keep him clear of the
horse's fore legs should it make a plunge forwards, and
placing himself exactly opposite to the animal's head,
so that, by stepping back a pace or two, he is sure to
retain a good " feeling " on the line when its fore legs
again touch the ground, the assistant with the whip
stepping meanwhile smartly up behind the animal.
The trainer should, in this position, merely keep a
feeling on the line, as one would with a heavy salmon,
never attempting to pull the horse's head forcibly down-
wards, or to jerk at the lounge, as the steady pull
would only serve to make it lean on your hand and
persist so much the longer in rearing, whilst a sudden
drag is very likely to knock it over — a thing to be
avoided if possible. One must wait patiently, watch-
ing attentively the horse's movements, and taking care
always to preserve his own position, so as to be ready
when the moment for action arrives. But the assistant
with the whip should meanwhile deliver a few heavy

SPECIAL FORMS OF RESTIVENESS. 319

deliberately-aimed blows on the animal's buttocks —
not striking wildly, but taking care to hit one and the
same spot repeatedly, and watching anxiously for the
moment when the rearer shows signs of getting tired of
standing on its hind legs, and is about to go down.
This is the moment at which the last and most effective
cut of the whip should be inflicted ; and this, too, is the
moment for the trainer to give a short, sharp drag on
the lounge downwards ; and if the whip has been
applied at the right moment, the horse will have been
compelled to obey the lounge, the trainer's mastery will
have been asserted, and if the horse ever again attempts
to rear, during lounging, a very gentle pull of the
cavesson on its nose reminds it of its previous defeat,
and will probably insure obedience ; if not, the lesson
must be repeated in the same manner.

Should one or the other hind leg appear to be giving
way, as often happens, whilst the horse stands erect,
the trainer should give a good smart pull on the lounge
to the same side, which will throw the animal flat on
its side, instead of allowing it to fall on its back, which
is always attended with danger. Sometimes, no doubt,
a fall of the latter kind will cure the animal for ever ;
but it is better, for many reasons, that the horse, having
lost the power of maintaining itself and offering further
opposition to the trainer's will, should be compelled to
take the inevitable fall in the direction he prescribes.

Most horses, when they do at length consent to bring
their fore legs to the ground, especially if the whip has
been vigorously applied at the proper moment, will
make a sudden plunge forward, which is so much the
better ; the trainer must then step smartly to one side —
the off one, if possible — and catch the horse cannily in

320 BESTIVENESS I ITS PREVENTION AND CUKE.

mid-air with the lounge, handling it quickly and neatly,
and taking especial care not to stumble into the slack
coils in his left hand. This manoeuvre, if well carried
out, will afford complete mastery, and render the animal
perfectly obedient once for all. All that remains to be
done is to get the horse to stand still, the trainer shorten-
ing the lounge by degrees, and getting in front of the
head, and the assistant placing himself behind the
trainer's back, and putting his whip out of sight ; then
" make much " of the animal, give it a handful of oats
or a bit of something nice, loosen the reins and girths r
and send it back to the stable. Horses have excellent
memories and sufficient intelligence to understand that
they have been rewarded for obedience, and that their
attempt at having their own way has failed. This is a
main point to keep steadfastly in view with all restive
animals ; avoid getting defeated yourself, and be kind
and generous to the vanquished. Of course this would
only be a first step in the cure ; to make it perfect the
horse must be re-trained or handled from beginning to
end in the way already appointed.

As it sometimes happens that a man is taken com-
pletely by surprise, a horse rearing that has never shown
any previous symptoms of restiveness, it will be well
to point out what should be done in such a case. It
requires presence of mind and great coolness, also a
really firm seat, wholly independent of the stirrups on
the one hand, and the reins on the other, to enable one
to deal with a rearer ; but the thing can be done, and
without much danger, except on pavement or a slippery
surface, where it is better not to attempt a contest.
When the horse stops with the intention of rearing, it
first withdraws its mouth from the action of the reins

SPECIAL FORMS OF BESTIVENESS. 321

by getting its head more or less into the position shown
by the lower head, Fig. 7 ; bub when it begins to elevate
itself on its hind legs, it assumes the exactly opposite
position, shown by the upper head of the same figure,
which, of course, equally enables it to defy the action
of the mouth-piece. The advice usually given is to
slacken the reins altogether; but this is simply " playing
into the horse's hand," because its object is precisely
to defeat the rider's hand, first by slinking away from
it, and finally by resisting it openly. Evidently this
advice is dictated by the apprehension that the rearing-
up of the horse, depriving the rider of the usual support
of the knees and stirrups, will lead him to seek this in
the reins, and so pull the horse over backwards ; and
110 doubt this will prove correct for the great majority
of riders. * But if a man sits to his saddle by his
thighs, and has his own body in balance, there need be
no such apprehension ; and if he then has only presence
of mind sufficient to preserve a feeling with the reins
during the time the horse's head is passing from the
position shown by the lower to that shown by the
upper head, Fig. 7, there will be a moment when it
will be in the intermediate position (see Fig. 6, middle
head), and the animal's back-bone will then also have
assumed an angle, not greater than 45 degrees, with the
horizon; the hocks, therefore, will be still bent some-
what (refer to Plate I., and Fig. 4 to realize the mechanism
of the hind leg). This is the moment to screw both
spurs as forcibly as possible into the horses sides, the
effect of which is, as we know, to bend the hocks, if

* The very fact of the horse ever getting the length of rearing
is presumptive evidence of the rider's legs being in the wrong place
at the time.

322 BESTIVENESS I ITS PREVENTION AND CUKE.

the hand be held counter ; therefore the animal will,
in nine cases out of ten, make a plunge forward, and
having preserved throughout a proper degree of feeling
with the reins, the rider will be enabled to catch the
horse in the air and bring it to the ground, so that the
hind leg should touch this, if possible, a moment sooner
than the fore ones, or at least so that they should get
the greater part of the shock. This is in itself a very
severe correction, and one that good school-riders apply
with great effect, with other forms of insubordination,
not hesitating even to provoke an attempt at rearing in
order to have the opportunity ; if it be well done it may
perhaps suffice once for all.

It may, however, happen that the horse has contrived
to stick out its head (top one, Fig. 7) and stiffen its
hocks completely, so as to enable it to stand upright
before the rider has made up his mind what to do.
Well, even then the game is not lost, if only the rider
has a seat and patience to wait, just as in the loung-
ing process, till he feels his steed coming down out of
the clouds, which it is sure to do some time or another,
when, if his hands and legs are right, he will be ready
to act, as described in the preceding paragraph, on the
horse getting down to 45 degrees. In case the rider
finds the horse actually falling, either directly backwards
or to one side, let him throw himself off with a vigorous
push of both hands so as to get clear. This we have
done ourselves more than once ; but the trainer misses
an opportunity by being driven to this extremity.

Kicking. — There is a difference between kicking and
kicking. One horse will kick in harness, and not under
a rider ; another will do just the reverse. The former
is probably extremely ticklish and sensitive to anything

SPECIAL POEMS OF EESTIVENESS. 323

coming in contact with its hind quarters ; mares are
frequently so, especially in spring. The latter will
probably have some weakness in the loins or hind
quarters that is rendered painful when weight is put on
its back. When this vice proceeds from natural causes
of this description, there is no help for it but to employ
the horse in whichever way it is content to do its
work quietly. Again, one horse will kick at the spurs,
another at the whip ; of course the exciting cause,
whatever it be, must be avoided,

But something can be done with young horses that
simply take to kicking during the handling ; very fre-
quently the trainer has made some mistake, or been in
too great a hurry, or put the saddle too far back, or
girthed the animal too suddenly or too tightly. All
this should be, in the first place, well inquired into
and ascertained, and the vice will disappear with its
exciting cause. There are, however, some young ones
that take to kicking simply because they do not choose
to go. These should be put on the lounge with the
dumb -jockey, which will prevent their getting their
heads down, what a kicking horse always attempts to
do. If the horse stops on the circle and begins to kick,
the trainer should proceed precisely in the same manner
as with the rearer — that is, after shortening the
lounge, and placing himself in front of the animal,
simply wait patiently. Meanwhile the assistant with
the whip must place himself behind the kicker, and
holding a sufficiently long whip in readiness, wait till
the horse has extended its hind legs to their utmost
stretch. This is the moment to apply a good stroke of
the lash just under the animal's belly, taking care never
to hit the hind legs, nor to strike at all except at the

324 11ESTIVENESS ; ITS PEEVENTION AND CUKE.

moment these are fully extended. The effect is perfectly
astounding, and a few well-delivered strokes will gene-
rally make the kicker only too anxious to get away
from the whip and go ahead quietly. Some horses will,
however, when baffled in this way, cease kicking, but
still refuse to move forward. The trainer must then
proceed to " unfix their feet " in the manner described
in Chapter II., Part IV., or make them rein-back gradu-
ally. Obher horses will perhaps take to "running"
backwards. All one can then do is to follow them
quietly, merely keeping their heads straight, so that
they should not run up against a wall or the like, but
always taking care not to press so heavily on the lounge
as to throw the animal's weight on the fore legs, as
this, of course, will be a good opportunity to renew
the kicking. When the horse gets tired of backing it
will stop of its own accord. This moment must be
attentively watched for by the assistant with the whip,
who should then "pitch in" a dexterous stroke under
the belly, and this will generally suffice to get the
animal to go forwards.

In conclusion, it cannot be too strongly impressed
on the minds of those wTho undertake to handle restive
horses, that very little can be done by main force,
nothing at all by cruel or even severe treatment ;
whereas everything may be fairly hoped from patience,
judgment, and kindness. It is especially in this depart-
ment of riding that the truth of our Horatian motto,
" Vis consili expers mole ruit sua" verifies itself. One
can almost fancy that the passage was suggested to the
Latin poet by having seen some Eoman roughrider
dragging a rearing horse over on himself.

INDEX.

Angle of rein with bit, 170.
Angle of traction, 212-221.
Apperley, Mr., on seat, 80, 81.

Bars of bit, 165, 166.

Bars of mouth, 132-136.

Basis of seat, triangular, 72.

Baucher, 5, 113.

Bearing, line of, 166-168.

Bearing-rein, 255-259.

Bit, place of, in mouth, 174.

Bit, trial, 203.

Bits, harness, 197.

Bitting, importance to cavalry,

119.

Blanket, 61.
Blinds to bridles, 120.
Bobbing up and down, 82, 83.
Bolting, 308-312.
Bone, Monboddo, 72.
Bones, sitting, 72.
Breastplate, 64.
Bridoon, 194, 195.

Broken knees, 4,
Bucking, 313.

Cadence of horses' paces, 32-35.
Campaign school, 90.
Canter, hoof-tracks in, 30.
Carriage of cavalry horse, 143.
Causes of restiveneas, 277.
Cavalry bitting, 119.
Cavalry horse's load, 93.
Cavalry pack, 102.
Cavalry riding, natural, 140.
Centre of gravity, 21.
Centre of motion, 20, 41.
Channel, tongue, 137.
Chin-groove, 133.
Collar, 224-228.
Collar, shape of, 225.
Corns, 88.
Cruppers, 62, 255.
Curb-hooks, 176.
Curb, length of, 177.
Curb, place of, 176.

326

INDEX.

Direction of pull on reins, 124.
Draught-bar, 228.
Draught, training for, 243-264.
Dumb-jockey, 282.
Dumpy-bit, 186.

English method of handling,

270.

Equilibrium at rest, 27.
Equilibrium in motion, 41.
Experiments, French, 214.

Palling through, 167, 168.
Feet as bearers, 21-26.
Feet as propellers, 21-26.
Fehrmann's Horse Saver, 247.
Feltplate, 60.
Flap, saddle, 60.
French cavalry, 6.
Gallop, hoof-tracks in, 30.
Girth, place of, in saddle,

52, 53.

Girth, place of, on horse, 54.
Groove, chin, 133.

Halter, training, 153.

Hames, 229.

Handling, English method,

270.

Handling, rational, 115.
Handling, school method, 271.
Hard mouth, 111, 115.
Harness bits, 195.
Harness, reins for, 197.

Head and neck, Baucher's

position of, 113.
Head and neck, overhanging,

38.

Head, SirF., on seat, 77-79.
Height of wheel, 238-242.
Hoof -tracks, 29, 30.
Hook-curb, 177.
Horizontal pull, 241.
Horse-breaking, 110.
Horse-saver, 247.
Hungarian saddle, 48, 99.
Hunting seat, 77.

Jaw, lower, 132.
Jockey, dumb, 282.
Jockey's saddle and seat, 75.
Jointed mouth-pieces, 188.

Kicking, 322.

Length of bars of bit, 165.
Length of curb, 176.
Length of stirrup, 57.
Lever-action in saddles, 49.
Levers, orders of, 161.
Line of bearing, 167.
Load of cavalry horse, 95.
Load of sumpter-horse, 93.
Lounging, 273.
Lower jaw, 132.

Marochetti's statuettes, 104.

INDEX.

327

Military seat, 90-96.
Monboddo bone, 72.
Mouth-gauge, 200.
Mouth-piece, 178-190.
Mouth, width of, 136.

Narrow throat, 130.

Neck and head, Baucher's

position, 113.

Neck and head, overhanging, 40.
Nose-band, 155.

Occasional draught, 236-248.
Orders of levers, 161.

Pack, cavalry, 102.

Pelham, 184.

Place of the bit in horse's

mouth, 173.
Place of the curb, 176.
Place of the girth, 52-54.
Place of the saddle, 50-52.
Planes, horizontal, 213, 224,
Planes, inclined, 213, 224.
Plate, felt, 60.
Plunging, 317.
Pole-chains, 234.
Pole, length of, 235.
Port of mouth-piece, 179, 182.
Position of stirrup, 55, 56.
Pull on the reins, 125.

Race-horse weights, 97.

Rearing, 314.

Reins, double-harness, 197.
Reins, running, 160.
Restiveness, causes of, 277.
Riding, natural cavalry, 144.
Road-riding, 82.

Saddle-flaps, 60.

Saddle, Hungarian, 48, 99.

Saddle, lever-action in, 49.

Saddle, place of, 50-52.

Saver, Horse, 247.

School method of handling, 271.

Seat, good and bad, Mr. Apper-

ley, 80.

Seat, hunting, 77.
Seat, jockey's, 75.
Seat, military, 90-96.

Seat, " tongs-across-a-wall,"
81, 92.

Seat, wash-ball, 78.
Shape of Collar, 225.
Short shoeing, 88.
Sho alder-blade, 217.
Sitting-bones, 72,
Skeleton of horse, 10.
Snaffle, 149.
Snaffle, twisted, 151,
Soft and hard mouth, 111-115.
Standing stiff, 167-170.
Statuettes, Marochetti's, 104.
Steppers, short and long, 32.
Stirrup, length of, 57.
Stirrup, position of, 55, 56.
Strangles, 130.
Sumpter-horse lo.xcl, 93.

328

INDEX.

Surcingle, 53.

Surface of saddle, 60.

Throat, narrow, 130.

" Tongs across a wall," 81, 92.

Tongue-channel, 134.

Trace, length of, 229.

Trace, point of attachment, 224.

Traction, angle of, 212-224.

Trager, 86.

Training for draught, 243-264.

Training-halter, 153.

Trial-bit, 203.

Triangular basis of seat, 72.

Trim of a boat, 37.

Trim of a loaded cart, 37.
Trot, hoof-marks in, 29.
Trotting, 84.
Twisted snaffle, 151.

Unfixing horse, 304.

Wash-ball seat, 78.
Weight for race-horses, 297.
Whip, use of, 281.
Width of mouth, 136.
Winding-up a horse, 279.

W. B. WHITTINGHAM <t Co., " The Charterhouse Press,'* 44 and 45, Charterhouse
Square, E.G., and 91, Gracechnrch Street, London.

H. PEAT & CO.,
& ijantm Jllates,

BY APPOINTMENT
TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE Of WALES,

173,

LONDON

GARDEN & SON,

Manufacturers of all descriptions of

SADDLERY AND HARNESS

FOB

HOME AND INDIA.

G. & SON respectfully call attention to their Patent
''SAFETY SADDLE BAR," their "G RIP-
FA S T," to prevent Eeins slipping ; also to an
APPLIANCE for securing the rider's Seat,
invaluable for Buck-jumpers.

GARDEN & SON, 200, Piccadilly, London, W,

WHITE & COLEMAN,

Saddlers & Patent Harness Makers,

4, BISHOPSGATE STREET WITHOUT,
LONDON

(OPPOSITE THE CHURCH),

Keep all MAJOR DWYER'S Specialities in Stock.

GENTLEMEN before ordering should see their

PATENT HAENESS TUGS, SPEING HOESE COLLAES,

TANDEM BAES, EEIN AND WHIP HOLDEES, AND

STIEEUP LEATHEES WITHOUT BUCKLES.

THE ST. PANCRAS IRON-WORK COMPANY.

Manufacturers of

STABLE

FITTING PIGGERY

*lllimx&>, FITTINGS,

HARNESS ROOM FITTINGS, PAYING AND DRAINAGE.

Catalogues sent on Application.

Large Show Eooms at—

The ST. PANCRAS IRON WORKS
St. Pancras Road, London, N.W.

W. B. WHITTINGHAM & Co., Printers, 91, Gracechurch Street, London, and " The
Charterhouse Press," 44 and 45, Charterhouse Square, E.C.

W. B. Whittingham & Co.,

PRINTERS & PUBLISHERS,
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON, E.G.

AND /'^^^\ 44 & 45>

" THE CHARTERHOUSE |£| *lffiP m CHARTERHOUSE

SQUARE.

Agents to Government by Appointment for the Sale of the
India Office Publications.

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS.

Demy Svo. Price IDS. 6d.

COFFEE— ITS CULTIVATION AND PROFIT.

By EDWIN LESTER ARNOLD, Author of " On the
Indian Hills ; or, Coffee Planting in Southern
India," " A Summer Holiday in Scandinavia,"
&c.

The Daily Telegraph, says : — " A very interesting monograph
on the subject has been written by Mr. E. Lester Arnold, who gained
a practical knowledge of coffee planting in Southern India some years
ago, and is the author of a former book thereon. With facts and
figures regarding the cultivation of the plant, its proper soil and
climate, labour and labourers, planting, pruning, harvesting, pulping,
preparing, cost, and profit, Mr. Arnold mingles as pleasantly as
modestly, and always with a quiet and graphic effect, his own
reminiscences. . . . Such are the pictures which are called up
here and there in this excellent book on Coffee Cultivation, which
contains, along with pictures and recollections entertaining to the
general reader, all the facts and statistics indispensable to the young
coffee planter, and the best available advice for those who seek their
fortunes in this cultivation. The volume will, no doubt, become a
standard authority on its subject."

W. B. IHITTItiGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

The Scotsman says :— " An excellent practical treatise, embody-
ing the results of several years' actual experience in India, as well as
of study of the methods of cultivation adopted in other countries. .
. . . He treats the economic aspects of Coffee Cultivation clearly
and minutely, and at the same time he is able to impart interest to
his theme by his command of a pleasant, unaffected literary style."

The Bookseller says : — " A vast amount of practical informa-
tion, useful alike to those engaged in the culture of coffee and those
who invest capital in its production."

The Overland Mail says:— "This is truly a handbook of
practical information on its subject, which no coffee planter's library
should be without. It is got up. too, in a very handy and serviceable
form. Anyone can read it with pleasure, and will find it not only not
dry, but written with clearness and a thorough knowledge of the
subject ; the author having in view to interest the capitalist as well as
the planter, we do not doubt that it will effect the author's object —
' That it may prove useful and convey a lucid impression of the " facts
and figures" of coffee cultivation.' The publishers deserve praise
for the manner in which they have produced it."

The Athenaeum says : — "The Author knows a great deal about
Coffee, and he delights in his theme."

The Field says : — " A really good practical handbook on Coffee
Cultivation."

The Citizen says : — " For good, sound information we commend
it to the perusal of those interested in this branch of commerce.
Jt is the hope of the author that the work he has issued may prove
useful, and convey a lucid impression of the facts and figures of Coffee
Cultivation. After perusal of the book before us we shall be surprised
if the reader does not say that that hope has been fully realised."

Allen's Indian Mail says: — "It might not inappropriately
have been entitled ' A Handbook for Intending Coffee Planters,' as
which we think it excellent. Such persons will here find, in few,
well-digested words, the fullest information as to the countries most
favourable to their enterprise, the regulations as to grants of land
which obtain in each of these countries, the peculiar soil to be selected,
and the way to treat it during its transmutation from virgin forest land

into a productive plantation This coffee planter's vade

mecum is a full yet tersely and well-written guide to this branch of
agriculture, and should be in the hands of everyone who desires to
devote himself to it."

The Literary World says: — "Coffee, like every thing else, does
not stand still, and what was reliable authority some few years back is
now much behind the times. New growing districts have been developed,
and new methods of cultivation have been necessitated, information
regarding which Mr. Arnold's book satisfactorily supplies. He enters

91, GEACECHUECH STREET, LONDON.

I. B. WHITTIHGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

most fully into the minutest details as to the origin of the plant, choice
of seed, selection of site, aspect and altitude, mode of planting, draining
and irrigating, including a most exhaustive chapter on pruning; in fact,
gives a thorough account of all the requirements necessary for successful

•coffee growing He gives some capital descriptions of scenery

and climate, as well as some very amusing sketches of the natives and
their habits ; and intending coffee growers will find it a most complete
and, we should think, a thoroughly trustworthy guide."

The Home News says : — " Mr. Arnold's book is written so as to
be equally useful at home or in the hands of the young assistant making
•his first voyage to the tropics, ' up to the day in its data,' containing
the latest figures on production and profits, and hints on every matter,
In fact, that can be required by either of the two great divisions of
investors in coffee — those who embark capital in it and those who
dedicate their lives and energies to the profession. We can only add
that the book is admirably printed, and it has all the appearance of
being carefully and exhaustively written."

Fourth Edition, with important Additional Chapters.
Demy 8vo. Price los. 6d.

TEA— CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE.

By Lieut. -Col. EDWARD MONEY.

The Saturday Review, in the course of an extended notice,
says : — " We think that Col. Money has done good service by throwing
into the form of a book an essay which gained the Prize awarded by
the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, in 1872. The
author is one of a well-known Anglo-Indian family. ... He has
had plenty of practical experience, and has tested the labours of other

men Col. Money's general rules and principles, as far as

we can form a judgment, seem to have reason as well as experience
on their side. . . . No tea planter can afford to disregard his
experience."

The Indian Agriculturist says : — " Col. Money has advanced
with the times, and the work under review may well be considered the
standard work on the subject, and it ought to be in every tea planter's
hand in India, Ceylon, Java, Japan, China or America ; the merit and
sterling value of his essay has been universally and deservedly
acknowledged We recommend our readers who re-
quire full information and sound advice on the subject to procure
Col. Money's book."

91, GEACECHUKCH STBEET, LONDON.

W. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

Allen's Indian Mail says: — "The publication of so thorough,
clear and instructive a directorium as Col. Money's work is in itself
a proof of the attention devoted to this important industry, which has
a great future before it. No one who desires to understand the con-
dition of its development; still more — no one who has a pecuniary
interest in a tea garden, can feel that the subject of tea is known
until this work has been studied."

The China Express says : — " The experience gained since
1872 is added to the work, and it now forms a most complete guide for
the tea planter. The great progress the cultivation of tea is making
in India renders a practical work of this kind very valuable ; and the
method in which Colonel Money deals with the subject shows his
thorough knowledge of it."

The Scotsman says : — " With respect to the conditions of
climate and soil necessary for successful tea cultivation, the require-
ments of the plant in the way of water, &c., the varieties best suited
for culture in the various districts, the laying out of the tea garden,
and all the various details of cultivation and manufacture, Colonel
Money writes with the authority derived from many years of experience ;
and in the present edition the fruits of his latest experience are
embodied. To new beginners in tea cultivation this book must be of
the greatest value, while it will be found full of interest by outsiders
who may be desirous of information about the condition and prospects
of an important department of agricultural industry."

The Produce Markets Review says :—" Colonel Money
is a practical tea planter, and his work is the standard work on the
subject, so that it should be procured by all who are interested in
the subject. The new edition is greatly enlarged, and corrected by
the experience of the past six years."

The Planter's Gazette says : — "The cultivation of tea in the
British dominions is becoming a rapidly-extending industry, and we
are glad to see that Colonel Money's prize essay has reached a third
edition, for it is full of practical information and deserves to be studied
by every tea planter."

The Manchester Examiner says :— " During the last few
years the fact that India is a tea-producing country has become more
generally known in England ; but few people know that the finest
Indian teas are more expensive than the best of Chinese growth, and
that the average price of the tea grown in India is higher than that
which comes from the Flowery Land. Another piece of information
given in this book is not less suggestive ; we mean that which assures
us that India is capable of producing as much tea as would meet the
wants of Great Britain and all her colonies. But the culture is yet in
its infancy. Colonel Money's treatise is one of the most complete and
exhaustive of the kind we have ever read. He seems to anticipate all
possible difficulties ; his warnings and his counsels embrace every
branch of the subject, and only a practical man could have written

91, GEACECHUECH STEEET, LONDON.

W. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

them. One would think that a tea grower of common sense could
scarcely make blunders with such an admirable guide before him ; and
the commercial side of the enterprise is discussed in the same careful
manner as the agricultural."

The Broad Arrow says: — "In this work we have the results
of eighteen years' experience of a tea planter in India, and the author
has so written it that the beginner will find it invaluable, for he has
had his wants specially in view. It is, so far as we know, the best,
as it is certainly the most practical, book about tea that has been
published."

Third Edition. Crown Svo. Cloth, 35. 6d.

THE ART OF TEA BLENDING.

A Handbook for the Tea Trade ; a Guide to Tea
Merchants, Brokers, Dealers and Consumers,
in the Secret of Successful Tea Mixing.

The Field says : — " This is a practical and authentic little text-
book on the principles involved in Tea Blending."

The Grocer's Chronicle says : — " The book ought to be in the
hands of every grocer of the United Kingdom."

The Grocer's Journal says : — " We cordially recommend ' The
Art of Tea Blending ' to our readers as giving useful instruction and
guidance."

Allen's Indian Mail says : — " The author gives full technical
instructions for the professional tea-blender and tea-taster; and in
doing so, he imparts much information that will be found both valuable
and interesting to the tea-drinking public."

Broad Arrow says: — "A trader should be able by its aid to
make a name as a teaman, and realise the result which the house-wife
only needs — a gentle hint as to the opportunity of exercising real
judgment and correct taste in a matter of such important family
interest as tea."

The Grocer says : — " This is the third edition of a book which we
have previously noticed with favour, and which has met with consider-
able success. Although the art of successful tea-blending is not one
which can well be gleaned from mere book-lore — practical experience
being essential to its acquisition — there are many young beginners, and
possibly also some older hands, who will derive a good deal of informa-
tion from the work now under notice. It has evidently been prepared
with much care, and in its way is a very useful handbook."

91, GEACECHUECH STEEET, LONDON.

W. B. WHITTIKGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

The Daily Chronicle says: — "This capital handbook, which
will prove of great service to merchants, brokers, and all engaged in
the tea trade, has reached a third edition. For consumers we may
extract the information that water for making tea should be soft and
pure ; it should be boiled quickly, and used when at the boiling point ;
the tea will be at its best in rather less than ten minutes, losing part
of its flavour if allowed to stand longer. "

The Grocer's Gazette : — " This is a work which has now
reached its third edition, and which fully bears out its claim as an
excellent handbook on the subject. Not only is it a useful book to all
professionally engaged in the trade, but it is also calculated to educate
those who have not had the benefit of a practical experience, by
teaching them how to obtain a knowledge of the different classes of
teas and the proper method of mixing them. To the mature grocer
the work will be of interest, while the uninitiated may by its aid learn
how to select proper teas, please his customer's palate, and sustain
his reputation by keeping up the character of his mixings."

Super-Royal 8vo. Half -roan. Price 2 is.

THE TEA PLANTER'S VADE MECUM.

Compiled by the Editor of the Indian Tea Gazette*

The Indian Planter's Gazette says :—" The compilation is
comprehensive and varied, and the book will no doubt commend itself
to planters as a useful and ready work of reference."

Price 285.

THE TEA CYCLOPEDIA.

A Compilation, by the Editor of the Indian Tea
Gazette, of Information on Tea, Tea Science
and Cultivation, Soils and Manures, Statistics,
&c., &c., with Coloured Plates on Blights.
350 pages.

The Grocer says : — "One of the most valuable and exhaustive
contributions to tea literature which we remember to have seen. . . .
The cultivation of the plant in the different districts and provinces, the
selection of soils and manures, and buildings for its manufacture, &c.,
are all ably treated in this work ; and as it deals thoroughly with the
scientific, statistical, and domestic branches of the subject, it is a
manual deserving the attention of the tea planter, importer, dealer, and
consumer. The experience of practical growers and cultivators is here

91, GEACECHUECH STEEET, LONDON.

1. B. WHITTIMHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

fully narrated, the opinions of the most competent authorities on dis-
puted points are clearly given and explained ; and, in short, every matter
connected with the history of the tea trade, as a growing industry and
a widening channel of commerce, is gone into with a completeness and
precision which leave nothing to be desired."

The American Grocer says : — " The Tea Cyclopaedia is one we
can commend to our importers, grocers, and dealers, as being the most
complete work of its kind on Indian .teas, as well as furnishing innumer-
able items of interest to those engaged in the sale of China and Japan
teas."

2 vols., Svo. Cloth, 245.

INTERNATIONAL LAW (MANUAL OF)-

For the use of Navies, Colonies, and Consulates.
By JAN HELENUS FERGUSON (Minister of the
Netherlands in China).

The Saturday Review says : — " He [a consular agent] will
probably be able to carry about with him in this work a wider range
of the kind of technical information he is likely to want than in any
other two volumes extant. Mr. Ferguson has gone to the right
authorities in every part of the subject ; and, so far as we can judge
from a cursory inspection, he has epitomized them with care and

competence Altogether the work seems well fitted for

its expressed purpose, of supplying ' a manual for practical use and
ready reference in the hands of those who have no occasion or time to
consult elaborate text-books.' "

The Daily Telegraph says : — " The arrangement of the work
is admirably adapted to the object — general use by practical men — for
which it was designed. No doubt the business-like character of these
volumes has arisen from the fact that Mr. Ferguson has himself taken
an active part in performing the duties pertaining to those branches of
State-service which he has so clearly and succinctly expounded."

The Publishers' Circular says : — " Those who give even a
cursory examination to the book will soon be convinced of its value in
regard to comprehensiveness, arrangement, and the clear citation of
cases in point."

The Daily News says : — " He has compiled a manual of prac-
tical utility for those who have to discharge consular duties, and he
has most assuredly spared himself no pains to make public property
the results of wide and miscellaneous researches."

The Literary ^Torld says : — " As a work of reference it is all
that could be desired."

91, GEACECHUBCH STREET, LONDON.

W. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS,

Post 8vo. Cloth. 400 pages, 55.
SPIRITUAL LIGHT AND LIFE.

By HENRY VARLEY, B.A.

The Saturday Review says: — "There is a freshness and
originality about them [the sermons] which raise the volume un-
mistakably above the mere echo of the ordinary literature of
edification. . . His [the author's] teaching is throughout positive
and direct, not negative and critical, and those who think his
theology faulty or defective may still find much — as, e.g., in the very
striking discourse on ' God's Revelation in Childhood ' — that is
helpful and suggestive."

Public Opinion says: — "We deem the essays, as a whole,
eminently helpful to seekers after Spiritual Light, and to those who,
engaged in diffusing it, look for refreshment and aids to opinion in
the writings of the men of the time."

The British Quarterly Review says:— "These sermons,
which Mr. Varley has preached to an ordinary mixed congregation,
are marked by not a little freshness of thought and illustration. . . .
The sermons have the merit of mingling the doctrinal and practical
in a very pleasing way, and the volume we are sure will be welcomed
and appreciated by a large number of readers."

The Christian Age says : — " In power of analysis, in fresh-
ness, clearness and beauty of thought, and in vigour of style, we
have often been reminded of Mr. Robertson's sermons. This is
high praise, but it is deserved."

The Bookseller says: — "In the intensity of his thought,
Mr. Varley reminds one of Robertson at his truest, and his style
is eloquent and forcible."

Crown 8vo. Cloth, is. ; Cloth gilt, is. 6d.
THE DEVOTIONAL SERVICE AND CHANT BOOK.

For Occasional or Regular Use in supplementing
Extempore Prayer, with Responses and Chants.

The Christian "World says: — "Those ministers and people
belonging to free churches who desire the inclusion of liturgical
services in public worship should make the acquaintance of ' The
Devotional Service and Chant Book.' There are six distinct services,
with a large number of the Psalms and other canticles pointed for
musical use. Many of the prayers are the most familiar and the
best-liked in the Book of Common Prayer. The responsive portions

91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.

W. B. IHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

of the services are admirably arranged. We do not know a better
book of its kind, and we earnestly commend it to the inspection of
all churches that contemplate the introduction of a liturgical form of
worship. It is very clearly and suitably printed, and is, we doubt not,
published at a price adapted to general convenience."

The Rev. Newman Hall says: — "I feel increasingly that
Nonconformist worship needs this element — not to supersede — but
as supplementary to spontaneous utterance."

The Baptist Messenger says: — "The book is well and
carefully prepared, and is thoroughly evangelical in its tone. ; ..
It has also the advantage of cheapness."

The Christian Chronicle says :— " Liturgical services are
becoming very general amongst Dissenters now-a-days, and in very
many instances the innovation is a decided improvement. People
want to take a more active part in public worship. ' The Devotional
Service and Chant Book ' has been compiled to meet the growing
demand, and we can recommend it to the earnest consideration of
any church wishing to introduce a book of the kind. The book is
got up very neatly, and the printing is clear and not overcrowded.

Crown 8vo. Price is.

GUIDE TO THE PRINCIPAL CHAPELS OF ENGLAND, 1885.

Containing a List of Chapels, Names of respective
Ministers, Denomination, Hymn Book used, &c.

The Nonconformist and Independent says :— " it will

be found a very useful and cheap production."

The Literary W^orld says: — "Admitting of easy reference,
and forming a handy and comprehensive guide, especially adapted
for the use of pastors and secretaries of the churches."

The Christian Chronicle says: — "This is, we believe, the
first attempt to supply a want long felt."

The Publishers' Circular says : — " An eminently useful little
book."

Limp cloth, plain, is.; Cloth gilt, gilt or red edges, is. 6d.

THE LIVING EPISTLE;

Or, The Influence of Christian Character.

The Christian says : — " Unflinching in its loyalty to the highest
of all standards, simple in its delineation of what Christian character
should be, earnest in its appeals to the heart and to common sense, this

91, GEACECHUECH STEEET, LONDON.

I. B. IHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

little book brings to its readers a draught of clear, pure air, and ought
to send them on their way invigorated and quickened in their desires
after holiness."

The Freeman says: — "A really ingenious and beautiful expo-
sition of the inspired description of Christian life. The volume is from
the pen of the late Dr. Jenkyn, formerly of Coward College, and is
worthy of a place by the side of other works we owe him."

Third Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth elegant. Price 2s.

SERMONIC FANCY WORK

On the Figures of our First Acquaintances in
Literature. By JOHN PAUL RITCHIE.

I. Little Jack Horner. The Spirit of Self-Satisfaction.

H. Peter "White. How we are led by the Nose.

HE. Humpty Dumpty. The Spirit of Exclusiveness.

IV. Little Miss Mufflt. The Education of Fear.

V. Jack Spratt and his Wife. The Perfect Law of Liberty.

VI. Jack and Jill. The Climbing Spirit and its Incumbrances.

VH. Little Bo-peep. The Eecovery of the Lost Sheep.

Vni. Beauty and the Beast. The Union of the Strong and Beautiful.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

The Literary Churchman says:— " Pungent, amusing, and
replete with clever satire."

The Christian says : — " In this ingenious and novel experiment,
gravity and mirth go hand in hand. The style is energetic and pointed,
and the matter pregnant and suggestive."

The Sword and Trowel says: — "Very clever."

The Nonconformist says : — " Under the guise of commentary
on texts from old nursery rhymes and stories, Mr. Ritchie really gives
us some admirable discourses — ' Sermonic Fancy Work ' in very deed.
It is astonishing how, by the help of a slight vein of paradox and a
nimble fancy, he can pass, almost imperceptibly, from mild fun to very
sad earnest, touching not a few of our most ingrained faults in the
most efficient way."

The Scotsman says : — "A clever, wholesome, readable little
book."

The Homilist says : — " The sermons are really good. They have
satire, but it is satire which consumes religious rubbish and nonsense.
They have fun and humour, but you are made to laugh in order that
you may think with more vigour and seriousness."

91, GBACECHUKCH STREET, LONDON.

I. B. WHITTMHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

The Freeman says : — " The « Familiar Texts ' are the old nursery
rhymes treated homiletically. In the styles adopted we fancy we can
trace resemblances to those of some of the popular preachers of our
day. The wit is not without wisdom. The satire is not destitute of
sense. It is the sort of book that a reader with any humour in him
will find it difficult to lay down before he has read it right through."

Capital and Labour says : — " A droll book, and yet con-
taining much quaint wisdom in searching out and applying prin-
ciples of truth and common sense As a whole, and

considering its healthy tone and practical scope, we heartily commend
this handsome little volume. It is a fine specimen of the combined
arts of the typographer and bookbinder, and its attractive exterior
ought to. draw many readers, who will then be charmed with the
contents and with the unconventional method of treatment."

Crown Svo. Price 6d.

LIFE OF WYCLIF,

A Chapter from English Church History. By
HENRY VARLEY, B.A.

The Author says: — "This small contribution to the literature
evoked by the Wyclif Quincentenary is made in the hope that its
summary of the great Reformer's life, teaching and work, may prove
useful to many whom want of time, possibly want of inclination, debars
from the study of larger works on the subject. I have not aimed at
its exhaustive, scarcely at its original, treatment ; for in a field where
rich harvests have already been reaped by competent hands, what but
a few scattered ears are left for the gleaner ? "

Crown Svo. Cloth, 3$. 6d.

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR-POEMS, OLD AND NEW.
By GUY ROSLYN.

Crown Svo, with new Map of Cape Colony. Price is.
SOUTH AFRICA AS A HEALTH RESORT.

By ARTHUR FULLER, M.B.C.M., Edin., M.R.C.S.,
London (of Boshof, Orange Free State).

91, GKACECHUECH STEEET, LONDON.

W. B. IKITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICfflOIS.

Fcap. 8vo. Price is.

MAXIMS; OF LA ROCHEFOUCAULD.

Translated by LEWIS WINTER.

Crown 8vo. Cloth, 55.

POEMS, DOMESTIC AND MISCELLANEOUS.

BY JAMES GILES.

The Sheffield Independent says : — " Very pretty poems, full
of a dainty and airy melody. It is beautifully got up."

Public Opinion says :— " Mr. Giles has evidently a true
poetical instinct."

The Literary ^Torld says : — " Full of gentle human feeling,
domestic tenderness, and patient submissive thinking."

Crown 8vo. Cloth, 35. 6d.

WOMAN'S FORTITUDE.

A Tale of the Indian Mutiny. By Lieut. -Col.
EDWARD MONEY.

Public Opinion says: — "The author has managed to convey

the characteristic tone of garrison talk in a very clear manner

There is much good narrative and brilliancy of dialogue."

The Scotsman says : — " Written with much spirit ... it will
be full of interest to anybody who cares to know what European life
and society were in India in the last days of ' John Company.' "

The Daily Chronicle says : — " The horrors enacted at Cawnpore
during the Indian Mutiny give a tragic interest to this thrilling tale."

Capital and Labour says : — " The plot of the tale is carefully
constructed and well worked out, and while the main purpose is always
kept in view, opportunity is taken to depict some of the phases of
Anglo-Indian life, while the characters in the story are cleverly
portrayed, and the attention of the reader is never allowed to flag."

91, GEACECHUECH STEEET, LONDON.

W. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

Crown 8vo. Cloth elegant, bevelled boards, gilt edges.
Price 55. ; plain, 35. 6d.

JEMIMA.

A Story of English Family Life. By ADELAIDE.
With Frontispiece.

The Times says: — " 'Jemima,' by Adelaide, is another tale that
girls should care to read, with sufficient proportion of story, and of a
more original type than girls' books generally are. The humour, of
which there is an unusual proportion for such works, is not, perhaps,
-of a very subtle or rich quality, but it is easy and simple, and appropriate
to the characters. Any humour, so long as it is neither vulgar nor
obscene, is surely preferable to the long-drawn melancholy which is too
apt to pervade girls' books — for what reason we could never under-
stand; girls are no more naturally prone to sadness than boys."

The Scotsman says : — "A better story of its kind than ' Jemima'
cannot easily be met with. The book is written with a freshness
and exuberant buoyancy of manner that suit the subject admirably."

The Academy says: — "'Jemima' is a very natural and
charming story of a very natural and charming little girl. It is
exactly what it pretends to be — ' a story of English family life ' — but
it has a distinctness of quality which is by no means common in stories
of English family life."

The Daily Chronicle says : — " The story of English family life
told by Adelaide, under the title of ' Jemima,' is of a much more
realistic character. Lively and amusing throughout, there is also an
•element of good sense introduced, which keeps the juvenile escapades
within reasonable bounds, and extracts a lesson even from naughtiness."

Crown 8vo. Price 35. 6d.
ITALY REVISITED.

A sequel to " Italy and her Capital." By
E. S. G. S.

The Christian says :— " In these picturesque chapters the
rreader has many vivid and pleasant glimpses of the fair and sunny
South ; the people and their ways ; those who are doing Christian
work among them, and various personal experiences of the author.
An appendix gives much interesting information about the Italian
patriot Garibaldi, and the book altogether will serve to brighten
many a leisure hour."

91, GBACECHUECH STEEET, LONDON.

W. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

Crown 8vo. Cloth, ys. 6d.

SEATS AND SADDLES,

Bits and Bitting, Draught and Harness, and the
Prevention and Cure of Restiveness in Horses.
By Major FRANCIS DWYER.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON THE THIRD EDITION.

Bell's Life says: — "The work which Major Dwyer has so
successfully carried through the press in two former editions is, for
the third time, presented to the public in a new and enlarged form. In
all the details of horse management the author is perfectly at home,
and the practical way in which he deals with his subject cannot fail
to be appreciated by equestrians or those who keep studs. The first
portion of the volume is devoted to a lengthy dissertation on the all-
important subject of Seats and Saddles We assure our

readers that the whole contents of the book are well worth perusal.
It may be well, however, to mention that the question of bits and
bitting is thoroughly considered, while Part III. is taken up with
remarks on the true principles which should be observed in matters
of draught and harness. The concluding portion of the book deals with
that worst of all vices in the horse, restiveness, its prevention and cure."

The Saturday Review says: — " It is a book which we should
recommend to the notice of young cavalry officers."

In Large Crown 8vo. Cloth elegant, bevelled boards, 145..

PERTHSHIRE IN BYGONE DAYS.

One Hundred Biographical Essays. By P. R.
DRUMMOND, F.S.A.

The Nonconformist says: — " The volume is simply full of the
raciest material, on the whole well laid out, and cannot fail to prove of
interest to many beyond the circle of Perthshire men into whose hand
it may have the good fortune to come. Mr. Drummond had no purpose
to serve in writing the book beyond giving vent to his wide knowledge
and his love of the subject. He was a bookseller in Perth, and it is
evident that to nothing in literature or in human life was he indifferent.
All the notables he knew ; and he treasured up ana, year by year, simply

because it fell in with his tastes and enjoyments to do so The

book is full of delicious morsels."

The Athenseum says : — " It contains a great deal of sound
sense, and many amusing stories."

91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.

I. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

Svo. Cloth. Price 75. 6d.

OLD CEYLON.

Sketches of Ceylon Life in the Olden Time. By
JOHN CAPPER. With Illustrations by Ceylon
Artists.

" Readable and entertaining sketches."

New and Revised Edition. Svo. 2 vols. ics. each,

VOCABULARY OF THE

ENGLISH-MALAY LANGUAGES.

With Notes. English-Malay Vocal Dialogues.
By FRANK A. SWETTENHAM.

Demy Svo. Cloth. Price 75. 6d.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF

SAVAGE LIFE IN POLYNESIA,

With Illustrative Clan Songs. By Rev. W. W.
GILL, B.A.

Second Edition. Price 6d. ; cloth, is.

STRAY HINTS ON LAWN TENNIS.

With latest Club Rules. By NEMO. Including
Directions for making the Best and Cheapest
Poles yet invented — without Guy Ropes.

91, GRACECHURGH STEEET, LONDON.

W. B. WHITTIMHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

Price 2s. 6d.

A NEW CLEARING.

A Medley of Prose and Verse. By PLANTER'S
MATE.

Price 35.

SACHS'S GERMAN GRAMMAR.

A Complete Grammar of Pure Modern High-
German. A New and Practical Method of
Learning the German Language. By H. SACHS.

The Daily Telegraph says : — " A complete introduction to pure
modern High-German on true principles."

Second Edition. Price 75. 6d.
WHITTINGHAM'S SKELETON TELEGRAPH CODE.

A Secret Expansive Code for ordinary Business
Purposes — with CodeWords representing Pounds
Sterling, Numbers, every Date in the Year,
Weights, &c., in addition to Words and Spaces
available for 4,500 Special Messages. All Code
Words revised under the latest International
Regulations.

The Standard says: — " Appears to us to answer admirably the
purpose for which composed."

8vo., roan. Price 55. The " 1881 " Code, I2s. 6d.

THE SOCIAL CODE.

Compiled for Family Use in Telegraphing to
Friends abroad.

" The best of its kind."

91, GRACECHUECH STEEET, LONDON.

I. B. IfflTTHGHAI and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

Price 5$.

THE PREMIUM CALCULATOR.

An Office Manual, with Cut Index, for the use of
Underwriters, &c. By C. McKAY SMITH.

DR. AGER'S TELEGRAPH CODES.

General Commercial, £2, 155. ; Standard, 100,000
Words, £5 55.; Shipping, 2is.; Skeleton, 16,000
Words and Spaces, 125. 6d. ; Corn Merchants,
i us. 6d.

PAMPHLETS.

Price 6d.

How TO FIGHT THE WATER COMPANIES

WITHOUT A SOLICITOR.

By L. WASHINGTON.

Price zd.

SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK;

Its Magnitude and Comparative Results.

Price id. each.
By HENRY VARLEY, B.A.
SPIRITUAL LIFE.

THE RELIGION OF FEELING AND THE RELIGION
OF BEING.

THE SACRIFICE OF OBEDIENCE.

91, GBACECHUKCH STEEET, LONDON.

W. B. 1HITTIHGM1I and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

Price id.

GLADSTONE'S FIGURES.

What has happened since 1840 ; the Speech
of the Rt. Hon. W. E. GLADSTONE at Leeds,
October 8th, 1881.

Price 6d.

NEMESIS OF COMMUNISM.

A few Extracts from Diaries in the Twenty-First

Century.
By an EX-CANDIDATE.

Price id.

ADDRESS ON THE OCCASION OF THE DESTRUC-
TION OF HIS CELLAR OF WINE.

By Mr. WILLIAM GREEN.

Price 6d.

INDIAN u. CHINESE TEAS.

By Lieut.-Col. E. MONEY, Author of " The
Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea," &c.

91, GRACECHUBCH STREET, LONDON.

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