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THE GAIIGHANI LIBRARY
Engl. & Americ. Books,
Paris, 224, rue de Rivoli
Nice, 16, Quai M&ssena

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The Master of the I'l-aniHam Moor Fox-
hounds has several of these Saddles in use, <^
and so much approves of them that he -;.
has kindly allowed us to name them after
him.

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IMPORTANT TO OWNERS OF HORSES.

^PASIATREUSIS^

The Great Remedy for Roarers & Whistlers.

A CERTAIN CURE FOR

HORSES' SORE THROATS, IRRITATION OF THE THROAT,
STRANGLES, &e.

Also for SPAVIN, CURBS, SPLINTS, RINGBONES,
CAPPED HOCKS.

Enlarged or Stiff Joints can be reduced by the use of. this
preparation, giving freedom of action.

Contracted Muscles, Sinews, and Sidebones made Elastic.

It is the quickest known Remedy to reduce Inflammation,

It does not Blister or cause any Irritation when applied,
nor does it remove the Hair.

W. CLARK'S

(W/IS BLEH BEFORE THE PUBLIC THIRTY YEARS.)

FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE GROWTH OF

HORSES' FEET,

and to prevent and cure

BRITTLE OR SHELLY FEET, CRACKED AND

GREASY HEELS, SAND CRACKS, SEEDY TOES,

DISEASED FROGS, JARRING OF THE FEET,

FEVER IN THE FEET,

FOUNDER, CORNS, CONTRACTIONS, FALSE

QUARTER, QUITTOR, WEAKNESS OF THE FEET,

RINGWORM, PRICK, THRUSH, AND

NAVICULAR DISEASE.

528, Oxford Street, London, W.

Is a marvellous preparation for Strengthening the Muscular System. With Anti-Stiff there
is no faith required ; it goesstraight for the muscles, and you can feel it at work. It has a
peculiarly warming, comforting, and stimulating effect on all weak or stiff muscles and sinews.
Quick in its action, and cleanly and pleasant in use.

Rub it into the muscles every night for a fortnight, and you will be pleased at its support-
ing and strengthening properties. There is not, nor has been, anything like it till now. It
differs from all Oils, Embrocations, and Liniments, both in substance and effect.

Some athletes are so fond ot it that they rub it all over them.

CYCLISTS.— It was to cydists that Anti-Stiff
was first introduced, and they quickly welcomed it,
as it just met a need. Cyclists required something
that would he easily cmried, that would prevent the
dreaded stiffness resulting from over-uscd muscles,
and a preparuliDH that would strengthen the sinews.
It was used by M. A. Holbein on bis record 24 hours'
ride. By the three con-
seciitive " Brighton Re-
cord " breakers before
and during those feats.
By Felix Greville when
training for the Hill
Climbing Medal, which
he obtained. By R. J.
Mecredy when training
for his Champion.-ihips.
By HaiTy Parsons, during
the summer, when train-
ing for his records— 0 to
60 niUes. By R Camo-
bell. Royal Scottish B.C.,
when winning his IHM
races. By nearly e\ery
winner of races and re-
cords during 1890.

ATH-LETifiS.-H.

Griffin, Handicapper,
N.C.U., Jan. 7, 18'Jl^
" Personally I can spcik
in very hi;;h terms of it.
During 1890 I used it on
several occasions, notably
for a stiffened shoul.lcr
through " putting the
shot," which it quickly
put right "like a shot."

GYMNASTS
and COMhDIANS

— B'-othei-s Harrison (two
Macs) say : — '• We can ( , ,, ^JSX i

with pleasure testify to (fTP^. , » \ V^ v^
the remarkable prepanv ^--^'ISP ^ ^^
tion called Anti- Stiff, '
having found it match-
less for stiffness conse-
quent on our knock
about business. We
Eliall be most happy to
reconmiend it to our
brother and sister professionals."
^•?'^-?'?-?^^S--non. Sec. of Spartan F.irriers
writer- 1 have tried your AnliStiff. and shaU cer-
tamly recommend aU the members of our champion
team to use it, when training for the Southern Coun-

ties' and National Cross-Country Championships, as it
is a good embrocation for removing stiffness and 'or
strengthening the muscles. Those of them that alreauy
use it speak highly of it.— G. Gardiner." (The Spartan
Harriers hold the Championship of 1839 and 1890).

Sid Thomas writes, December 30, 1890—" I have used
Anti-Stiff several times this year, and have found it
worth all that the pro-
prietor claims it to be."

BOXERS use

Anti-Stiff. — J. Ho.ue.
Widdle-weight Amateur
Champion, 1890, writes
November 22, 1890— "I
have come to the con-
clusion that Anti-Stiff is
invaluable to all boxers.
Previous to my entering
for the Amateur Cham-
pionship this year, I
found it very beneficial
in strengthening the
muscles of the body and
promoting quickness
which is essential."

SWIMMERS.—

W. Evans, the 100, 220,
500 and 880 yards, and
Salt Water Amateur
Champion of 1890, writes
December 15 — " I tried
Anti-Stiff on November
25, rubbing it well in,
then went for a swim of
a mile and a half in the
Canal ; to my surprise I
did not feel the wa"ir
cold, but came out as
fresh as a lark. I will
always use it in open
water championships."

PEDESTRIANS
— C. W. V. Clarke, ex-
Amateur M^alking Cham-
pion, writes Dec. 23, 1890
— "I have tried your
Anti-Stiff, and am oidv
sorry 1 liad not known of
. „ , . 't before. 1 think it the

most excellent strength giver and preserver I have
ever tried, and that is a good many. Unless I am
mistaken it will get me back to the form I showed
tliree years ago, when I won the Championship of
England and Canada."

^°" %!","' f ^''■' '/■' ""ff'-.f''-' ''y Cha,mt!, Athlelk Asenl,, etc., or

A. A. WILSON, Chemist, CHISLEHURST.

HANDBOOKS OF ATHLETIC SPORTS.

Editld by ERNEST BELL. ^LA., ikin. coll. camb.
In S tv^-., uarkt ci*th. Illustrated^ y. tx/. Auvi.

VOLUME I.

CRICKET. By tlic Hon. and Rev. K. L\Tr£LTON, Cam. I niv.
Eleven, 1S75-S, Headmaster of Haileybur)- College. /f7//i
9 lUustraticMS,

LAWN TEXXIS. By II. \V. W . Wili^erforce, Barrister-at-Uw,
Secretar)- All England L.T.C., Four-handed Champion (with Hon.
P. B. Lyon), iSS;, with a Chafer for Ladiks by Mrs.
Hillj-ard (Miss Bingley), L;idy Champion, iSSo.

TEXXIS. By Ji'll\x Marshall, author of ''The Annals of
Tennis." Wi:': T.\j/:s.

A\4CA'E2'S. By Major Tames Sfens and Julian Marshail.
irifi 4 niustnitions.

FIJES. By Rev. J. A. Arxan Tail of Charterhouse School.

GOLF. By W. T. Linskill, Hon. Sec. .and late Captain of the
Cambridge University Golf Club. With 5 inustratiom.

HOCKEY. By Frank S. Creswell, Hon. Sec. to the Hockey
Association.

VOLUME II.

ROWING AND SCULLING. By W. B. Woodgate, Barrister-at-
Law, Oxford University Eight, and Winner of the Diamond and
Wingfield Sculls. With 8 Illustrations.

SAILING. By E. F. Knight, Barrister-at-Law, Author of "The
Cruise of the Falcon," "The Falcon on the Baltic." With 54
Illustrations.

/\^
/ V

.SWIMMING. By Martin Corbett and John Racster Cobbett.

Wit/i 60 Illustrations.

VOLUME III.

BOXING. By R. G. Allanson-Winn, Inns of Court School of
Arms, Winner of the Middle Weights, Cambridge, 1876-7 ; Heavy
Weights, 1877-8. With Prefatory Note by Bat Mullins. JVifh
31 Illustrations.

WRESTLING. By Walter Armstrong (" Cross-buttocker"),
late Hon. Sec. Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling Society
in London. With 26 Illustrations.

FENCING. By H. A. Colmore Dunn, Barrister-at-Law, Inns of
Court School of Arms, Winner of the Medal at the German
Gymnasium. With 17 Illustrations. •

SINGLE- STICK AND SWORD EXERCISE. By R. G.
Allanson-Winn and C. Phillipps-Wolley, Inns of Court
School of Arms. With numerous Illustrations.

VOLUME IV.

CYCLING. By H. Hewitt Griffin, London Athletic Club
N.C.U., C.T.C. ; author of " Bicycles and Tricycles of the Year."
With a Chapter for Ladies by Miss L. C. Davidson. With
45 Illustrations.

ATHLETICS. By H. H. Griffin, President of the Ranelagh
Harriers. Illustrated.

SKATING. By Douglas Adams, London Skating Club. With
a Chapter for Ladies by Miss L. Cheetham, and a Chapter
ON Speed Skating by a Fen Skater. With 125 Illustrations.

VOLUME V.

[ In the Fi'ess.

FOOTBALL— RUGBY Game. By Harry Vassall, Treasurer of
the Rugby Football Union, late Captain of the Oxford University
Football Club.

FOOTBALL— ASSOCIATION GAME. By C. W. Alcock, Secre-
tary to the Football Association, and the Surrey Cricket Club ;
Editor of the " Football Annual."

BASEBALL. By Newton Crane, President National Baseball
League of Great Britain. Illustrated.

LACROSSE, ROUNDERS, BASE-BALL ROUNDERS, FIELD-
BALL, BOWLS, QUOITS, CURLING, AND SKITTLES.
By E. T. Sachs, C. C. Mott, and J. M. Walker, Assistant
Master Bedford Grammar Schools.

VOLUME VI.

RIDING.— A Guide to Practical Horsemanship. By W. A. Kerr,
V.C., formerly Second in Command of the 2nd Regiment Southern
Maharatta Horse. With Illustrations.

RIDING FOR LADIES, By W, A. Kerr, V.C. With Illustrations,

VOLUME VII.

\Preparing.

DRIVING. By W. A. Kerr, V.C, with a Chapter on Stage
Coaching, by C. A. Hartley, of Llandudno. With Illustrations.

STABLE MANAGEMENT, By W. A. Kerk, V.C

VOLUME VIII.

{Preparing.

GYMNASTICS. By A. F. Jenkin, Inns of Court School of Arni>,
Winner of the German Gymnastic Society's Challenge Cuj),
1887-8-9. With 19 Illustrations.

CLUBS AND DUMB-BELLS.

The different Sections of the above may be had in 17 separate Volumes ;
price One Shilling each ^ with exceptions.

LONDON : GEORGE BELL & SONS, 4, YORK STREET,
COVENT GARDEN.

E. TAUTZ & SONS,

Breeches makers, Sportiiig Tailors, &c.

HUNTING, RIDING, RACING, POLO,
SHOOTING BREECHES,

and KNICKERBOCKERS.

BUCKSKINS — Hunting and Military.

ORIGINAL MAKERS OF THE USEFUL

KNICKERBOCKER BREECHES,

]]liich have li ad such a marked success.

RIDING TROUSERS, OVERALLS, LEGGINGS,

GAITERS, SPATS, HUNTING COATS, COVERT COATS,

DRIVING COATS. RIDING SUITS, SHOOTING SUITS.

Hwiting Dress and Requisites of every description.

LADIES' DEPARTMENT— Habits, &c.

TAUTZ'S CELEBRATED KHAKI TWILLS AND CANTOONS

FOR RIDING SUITS, AND BREECHES FOR INDIA

AND COLONIES.

Vide The Field, May 23, 1885 :
" All an intendine: Queensland Colonist needs to purchase in London
are several pairs of Tautz's Twill Riding Breeches."

485, OXFORD STREET, LONDON, W.

N.B.— NO OTHER ADDRESS.
Telephone No. 3633. Telegraphic Address : " Buckskins, London."

HORSEMANSHIP.

W. A. KERR, V.C.

THE ALL-ENGLAND SERIES.

Small 2>vo, cloth, Illustrated, price is. each.
CRICKET. By the HON. AND Rev. E. LyttelTON.
LAWN TENNIS. By H. W. W. WiLBERFORCE,

Sec. A.E.L.T.C.
TENNIS, RACKETS, and FIVES. By JULIAN MAR-

SHALL, MAIOR SpenS, and REV.J. ArNAN TAIT.
GOLF. By W. T. LlNSKlLL, Cam. Univ. Golf Club.
HOCKEY. By F. S. CresswelL. {In paper cover, 6d.'[
ROWING AND SCULLING. By W. B. WOODGATE,

Diamond Sculls.
SAILING. By E. F. KNIGHT, Author oj " The Cruise

of the ''Falcon,'''''' ^s'c. {Double volume, 25.]
SWIMMING. By M. and J. R. COBBETT.
BOXING. By R. G. ALLANSON-WiNN, Winner of

Middle and Heavy Weights, Cafnbridge, 1876-8.
WRESTLING. By WALTER ARMSTRONG, Author of

" Wrestliana.'"
FENCING. By H. A. COLMORE DUNN, Inns of Court

School of Arms.
BROADSWORD AND SINGLESTICK. By R. G.

All ANSON- Winn and C. Phillipps- Wolley.
FOOTBALL— RUGBY GAME. By HARRY Vassall.
FOOTBALL — ASSOCIATION GAME. By C. W.

A L COCK

SKA TING. ■ By DOUGLAS Adams, London Skating Club.

With numerotis Illustrations. {Double volume, 2s. \
C YCLING. By H. H. Griffin, L.A. C. , N. C. U.,C.T. C.
ATHLETICS. By H. H. GRIFFIN, L.A.C.

GYMNASTICS. By A. F Jenkin, German Gymnastic
Society, etc. {Double volume, 2j-.]

CLUBS. By G. T. B. Cobbett and A. F. fENKIN.

Preparing.
DUMB-BELLS. Preparing.

BASEBALL. By Newton Crane.
LACROSSE, ROUNDERS, BOWLS, QUOITS, etc.
By J. M. Walker, E. T. Sachs, and C. C. Mott.
RIDING. By W. A. KERR, V.C. {Double volume, is.\
RIDING FOR LADIES. By W. A. Kerr, V.C.
DRIVING. By W. A. Kerr, V.C. Preparing.

CAMPING OUT. By A. A. MacDONELL. Preparing.

L ONDON: GEORGE BELL ^'sONS.

PRACTICAL

HORSEMANSHIP.

BY

W. A. KERR, V.C,

FORMERLY SECOND IX COMMAND OF THE 2ND REGIMENT
SOUTHERN MAHARATTA HORSE.

ILLUSTRATED.

LONDON : GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET,

COVEXT GARDEN.

1891.

LONDON :

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,

STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

PREFACE.

England has the credit of behig a nation of horsemen.
To any such specialite our countrymen have no vaUd claim.
Half an hour's stroll in the Park, or a few minutes' loll
over the rails by Rotten Row, will convince any capable
equestrian that this popular belief is not founded on fact,
but, on the contrary, is a palpable fallacy. During the
London season, and out the of season, some of the worst,
as well as some of the best, riding in the world is displayed.
Before the Crimean War our cavalry rode very indifterently,
so much so that Napoleon the Great is reported to have
said that did he possess our horses, he could readily beat
our men. But we have changed all that. Of hard-riding,
])old-riding, and rough-riding we could always boast, but
with us the ina?ii'gc (derived from the Latin words, viayins,
" the hand," and ago, " to do, or act ") was never popular.
A national failing is to " talk horse,'' but a large majority
are supremely ignorant on the subject, and few and far
between arc those who can be termed manus agcre, or
skilful to handle. Among us are not a few who, in the

K ^ r \ CY

vl PREFACE.

words of Punchy are " the fattiest men on an 'oss, and the
'ossiest men on fut." The proportion of EngHshmen and
EngHshwomen, of the upper and middle classes, who have
any practical knowledge of horses and their management,
in and out of the stable, is really very small. Military
statistics show that the lower strata of society are not any
better acquainted with the noble animal, for out of the
seven hundred recruits, who last year joined one of our
principal cavalry depots, only one individual had ever, prior
to taking the Queen's shiUing, ridden a horse.

That the English, Scotch, and Irish can justly boast a
natural love for the horse cannot be denied. Our instinctive
desire to be his master, our aptitude to accommodate
ourselves, to some exclusive extent, to his ways, and a
facility of acquiring the art of riding him, are possessed
by us as by no other nation. Though we do not make
him, with true Arab zest, the omnipresent partner of our
occupations, and part and parcel of our history, still he,
more than any animal under the dominion of man, occupies
our thoughts and is our constant theme. We have seen
exhibitions of horsemanship by the Bedaween of the
desert, by the famed Tungustanee horse, by the pick of
the Maharatta and Mogulai so^'2iVSy fantasias executed by
the swarthy riders of the Sahara ; we have witnessed feats
in the saddle by the Gaucho and the Cow-boy, but, with
the exception of our own colonial kith and kin — the
Australian stockman — none can compare with the finished
horseman of these isles ; and no woman, save and except
H.I.M. the Empress of Austria and her sister the ex-Queen

PREFACE. VI i

of Naples, looks so well outside her horse, or manages him
with such perfect ease, as the fair daughter of Albion,
Scotia, or Erin.

We do not pretend to teach riding, as some medicos
profess to cure, by written instructions. The equestrian
art is no more to be acquired by the sole means of printer's
ink and the artist's pencil — even one so deft as that of
Miss Sophy Turner — than are painting, sculpture, or
fencing. All we aim at, in these few pages, is to give the
tyro, and those whose faults need correction, some useful
wrinkles as aids in the application and development of the
practical tuition which must be undergone.

There are in London, and in a few of our fashionable
watering-places, riding-schools where civilians can receive
sound instruction, and which have all the advantages of
capacious covered-in rides; but we are not all dwellers in
towns. Moreover, much is to be learnt out of school by
close observation of proficients, and by putting into prac-
tice at home the few hints contained in these pages.
\A'hen the reader is in the vicinity of a garrison town at
which a regiment of cavalry is stationed, or near to a
cavalry depot, an introduction to the officer commanding
should be sought, who, the applicant finding his own horse,
might be disposed to permit of his joining " the ride."

The art of equitation, as now taught in the British army,
is of the highest. Harshness and undue severity are no
longer permitted in the military school ; the lessons are pro-
gressive and thoroughly explained by question and answer ;
the muscles, by an admirable system of gymnastics and

viii PREFACE.

physical drill, mounted and dismounted, are by degrees deve»
loped and hardened ; the height and weight of the recruit
are added to, and his chest measurement greatly increased.
Great stress is laid on the necessity of avoiding any such
rough forcing treatment as is likely to create nervousness
or beget want of confidence. The introductory lessons are
short, and only the quietest and most sedate horses, animals
thoroughly broken to their work, are the novice's first
mounts. The result of this carefully thought-out and excel-
lent system is that our men are well down in their saddles
in an easy, natural, and strong position, understand the
different " aids," and can use their weapons with good
effect. The seat of the trooper is now a near approach
to what is understood by "the hunting seat," a combination
of ease and flexibility, in which, as aptly described by Sir
Francis B. Head, Bart, " the knees form the pivot, or rather
hinge, the legs beneath them the grasp, while the thighs,
like the pastern of a horse, enable the body to rise and
fall as lightly as a carriage on its springs." Our gallant
Six Hundred, who perpetrated that magnificent folly the
death-ride of Balaclava, with their upright balance "fork"
seats, would, with all their devoted heroism, have found it
impossible to go in and out of a road in line, negociating
the stiff fences on either side, without drawing rein or
without emptying a saddle. And yet this feat was per-
formed by one of our regiments during last autumn
manoeuvres without the slightest hesitation, though this
" double event " would have sent many a so-called hunting
man skirting round by " shuffler's bottom."

PREFACE. IX

Whenever a man presumes to give advice, or to pose
as an instructor, he lays himself open to the charge of
egoism and arrogance unless he can adduce valid reasons
for fancying himself qualified for such a task. In this
instance the writer, possessed of a stable mind from his
boyhood upwards, can fairly lay claim to many years of
practical experience as an owner of all sorts of horses,
as an amateur trainer, and as a not unsuccessful gentle-
man-rider on the flat, over hurdles, and "between the
flags." In old Deccan days of " saddle, spur, and spear,"
when men rode hard over a break-neck country for
'' first blood," many a grim-grey boar has fallen to his
hog-spear. As adjutant and second in command of a
smart cavalry regiment, he, as in duty bound, has imparted
the art of equitation to many a score of as good light-
horsemen as ever drew sabre or charged home. The
remarks on horse-buying, suggested by the author's some-
what lengthy and wide experience, may put intending
purchasers on their guard, save much disappointment and
serious loss, and, at the same time, help to mount them
to their satisfaction. The subjects of " Driving," and
" Stable -management," are reserved for subsequent volumes.

In these pages — all too few for the demonstration of
an art in which perfection is seldom attained — the writer
addresses himself to three classes of those who prefer to
take exercise on four legs: — Firstly, to those who never
have ridden at all ; secondly, to those who having ridden
a little are secretly convinced that they are but at the
bottom rung of the ladder ; thirdly, to those who having

X PREFACE.

ridden a good deal, and that very badly, are willing to
" climb down," to take a back seat, and to commence
de novo.

The first attribute of a good horseman, or horsewoman;
is courage or nerve ; the next, hands and seat. It has been
said that about four-fifths of the art depend on attaining
a just seat, and the balance on the possession of light
hands. But there are other essentials which are treated
of in the body of the volume. The reader will please bear
in mind that perfection is not to be attained without long
and continuous practice on all sorts of horses, and that
there is a vast difference between riding and being carried.
It can only be said of few that —

" He grew unto his seat ;
And to such wond'rous doing brought his horse,
As he had been incorps'd and demy-natur'd
With the brave \yf3.%V— {Hamlet.)

Very reluctantly, in some cases of persistent vice, the
author has suggested drastic measures and severe correc-
tion. " He that spares the rod spoils the child," is a true
maxim too little applied in these superficial days of cram ;
then again, *' A merciful man is merciful to his beast."

W. A. K.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

Preface ... ... ... ... ... v

I. Introduction ... ... ... ... i

II. Choice of a HoRhj-: ... ... ... ... ii

III. Action ... ... ... ... ... 30

IV. Practical Hints : Mounting, 37 — Mounting with-

out Stirrups, 43 — The Seat, 47 — The Aids, 53 —
The Walk, 59— The Trot, 67 — The Canter, 72—
The GALLor, 77 — Dismounting, 80— Spurs, 81 —
Leaping, 85

\'. Teachin(; the Young Idea ... ... ... loi

\T. Vice: Rearing, 116 — Kicking, 120— Sticking-up,
OR Reestini;, 124 — Shying and Starting, 127 —
Buck-Jumping and Plunging, 131

VII. Bits and Bitting ... ... ... ... 134

VIII. Saddlery ... ... ... ... ... 153

IX. Hints on Costume ... ... ... ... 167

X. Hints on BuviMi ... ... ... ... 169

XI. Shoeing ... ... ... ... ... 181

XII. Some Random Wrinkles ... ... ... 201

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

"Khated," an Anglo- Arabian ... ... Frontispiece

The Points of a Horse ... ... ... ... 13

"Speed of Thought," a High-Caste Arabian... ... 22

Mounting — Four Positions ... ... 37, 39, 40, 41

The Hand and the Reins ... ... ... 3^, 63

Mounting without Stirrups-
Three Positions ... ... ... 44, 45, 46

The Trot ... ... ... ... ... ... 68

How Not to Cantek ... ... ... ... ... 73

The Right Sort ... ... ... ... ... 85

A Workman ... ... ... ... ... ... 94

Instructed and Uninstructed Methq]) ... ... 102

Saddles 107, 154, 155, 156

With and without Attachment ... ... 165, 166

Rearing ... ... ... ... ... 117, 119

Kicking ... ... ... ... ... ... 121, 123

The Last Resourc k ... ... ... ... ... 132

Bits ... 139, 141, 147, 151, 152

Bolted ... ... ... ... ... ... 167

HORSEMANSHIP.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

A WORK entitled *' A Guide to Health and Long Life "
says : " In general it may he laid down as a rule that
riding is the best exercise for regaining health, and walking
for retaining it." Why not preserve a J/zsic milieu, ride a
good deal, walk a good deal, and banish the doctor ? Riding
certainly, in the most effectual manner, strengthens the
stomach and intestines, and is less tiresome and laborious to
the lower limbs than walking, so that persons in a weak
condition of health can take horse-exercise with less pain or
difficulty. Both body and mind are enlivened by riding.
Sir Philip Sidney wrote : " You will never live to any age
without you keep yourself in health with exercise, and in
heart with joyfulness ; " and a medical aphorism says : " The
grand secret (of health) seems to be to contrive that the
exercise of the body and that of the mind may serve as
relaxations to each other." Ye who have experienced the
indescribable elasticity and happiness of a morning gallop
on Newmarket Heath, the Downs, or some other expanse of
sound turf, with a free-going horse under you, " who looked

i:

HORSEMANSHIP.

as though the speed of thought were in his limbs," breathing
the pure bracing atmosphere of a summer's early morn, tell
me what is more exhilarating, what so exquisitively
refreshing ?

Give me a noble steed of stainless purity of breed, his
limbs fashioned fair and free in nature's justest symmetry,
one that can travel far and fast, untiring as the ship on the
sea, a crisp keen air, then begone melancholy, a fig for dull
care, throw medicine to the dogs ! Who among us, when
the hot blood of youth galloped through his veins, has not
felt

" The joy, the triumph, the delight, the madness,
The boundless, overflowing, bursting gladness,"

when the hounds throw their tongues sharp and quick,
the gorse bends, quivers, and cracks again, and a varmint
racing-like wild Hector, accepting notice to quit, flashes
from the cover and bravely faces the open? Better this
than all the cunningly compounded pick-me-ups of the
Materia Medica.

No one should attempt to acquire the art of riding — for
it is an art, and a very high one— simply because it is the
correct thing to do. There must be a natural ^'hankering
after it," a desire to emulate the prowess of some acknow-
ledged artist in the saddle. Three things are all but indis-
pensable to the tyro who aims at perfection — courage,
temper, firmness. Without the first he will lack confidence,
and this want of courage the horse speedily finds out and
presumes on. A bold determined rider imparts those
qualities, in most instances, to the animal under him, and,
vice versa^ timidity is transmissible. The horse's instinct is
very keen ; he is not long in finding out whether he has a
man or a " muff" on him. Temper and patience are synony-

INTROD UCTION.

mous terms ; without them the pupil can neither be taught
himself nor impart instruction to his horse. Temper im-
plies the exercise of discretion and judgment. Though we
are opposed, as a rule, to the force cofitre force system, there
are occasions when firmness, in combination with courage
and patience, can alone establish the mastery of man, and
these must be brought into play in the case of vicious, stub-
born animals.

As an example of temper in combination with Job-like
patience and firmness, and an illustration of the saying, " all
things come to him who waits," I may instance the treat-
ment by which a well-known Yorkshire breeder and breaker
— one who always broke-in his own colts — cured a stubborn
and by no means uncommon case of mulishness. Riding a
colt one day, about noon, the colt reested^ i.e. obstinately
refused to turn out of the road that led to his stables. He
reared, whipped round, kicked, plunged, stuck his toes firmly
in the ground, backed into the ditch, and otherwise behaved
himself unseemly. Many a man would have administered
severe punishment, and have endeavoured to exorcise the
demon of contrariness by free appHcation of the Newmarket
flogger and the Latchfords. Our friend's creed was the
siiaviter m viodo, spiced with patient determination. After
exhausting every method of kindness and encouragement
he determined to " sit it out," so, bringing the disobedient
youngster back to the point of disputed departure he halted
him there, sitting in his saddle as immovable as one of the
mounted sentries at the Horse Guards, or the Duke of
Wellington at Hyde Park Corner. At the end of an
hour's anchorage a fresh essay to make the pig-headed colt
go in the way it should go resulted in a renewed exhibition
of rearing. Observing a lad passing at the time, the deter-
mined tyke ordered him to go to his wife and tell her

HORSEMANSHIP.

to send his dinner to the cross roads, for there he meant
to remain out all night and the day following if need be.
The repast duly arrived and was despatched on the animal's
back. Another effort was but a fresh failure, so the
statuesque weary wait was resumed, and the veteran breaker
sat again for hours immovable. Here was the living exem-
plification of Patience on a monument. With the setting
sun came the horseman's supper, still not a move, and the
sturdy yeoman prepared to make a night of it. In due
course his top-coat and a stiffly mixed " neet-cap " arrived.
Whether or no the colt divined the meaning of these
campaigning arrangements deponent sayeth not, anyhow,
his master had hardly donned the one and swallowed the
other when the quadruped, with one long sigh, one that
nearly carried the girths away^ all his obstinacy evaporated,
and thoroughly defeated, relieved himself from his post and
quietly walked down the road in the direction he had so
long protested so firmly against. The lesson was"^ a per-
manent one ; it took some eight hours in the teaching, but
lasted a life-time — he never "stuck up" again.

Horse-breaking or horse-taming are very much and very
effectually understood and taught by Professor Sydney Gal-
vayne, the Australian expert, whose extensive establishment
at the Model Farm, Neasden, London, N.W., is well worthy
of a visit. The story I am about to relate refers to that
master-of-the-horse's struggle with, and victory over, that
concentrated essence of equine ferocity^ the Clydesdale sire,
"Lord Lyon," a horse of fine breeding, magnificent physique,
power, and action, and, but for his fiendish temper, as grand
a specimen of his race as. has been produced. Some of my
readers may have heard of the vicious General Chasse, the
combative Alarm, the well-named Phlegethon — he of the
heUish temper, of Cruiser, and other man-eaters, but all com-

INTRODUCTION.

bined were harmless, well-disposed turtle doves as compared
with this Scottish specimen of downright devilry. Only three
or four weeks previous to meeting the professor in the ring,
his lordship would have worried a man to death had not
his owner emptied the right barrel of his gun right into the
savage's face, knocking his off eye out and otherwise damag-
ing his truculent visage. The loss of this optic did not im-
prove the murderous brute's look, and when Mr. Galvayne
first exchanged looks with the ferocious stallion he must
have felt something as Sir Charles Napier did when, un-
armed, he faced the glare of the tiger. " Why surely that
brute must be out of devil's dam," muttered one horsey on-
looker as the splendid savage, led by four men, each holding
on to a long and strong tow rope, came plunging into the
marquee. But before he had time or opportunity to indulge
in any of his antics the tamer had him in his meshes, he
was " Galvayned " — a sort of Scottish-maiden process, only
to be learned by attending its inventor's classes — and to
some extent powerless. The writhings of the demon during
his first lesson might have been compared to the contortions
of the vast python when Waterton took him by the throat
in his hollow den. If the Australian had thrown away the
glimmer of a chance he would have been savaged. Had
Lord Lyon got him fairly down, with firm teeth-hold, then
" not the gaunt lion's hug, the boa's clasp," would have been
more deadly. Completely frenzied, roaring like a hungry
lion, his solitary eye gleaming with passion, the Clydesdale
put forth all his might, he struck out in front like a prize-
fighter.

" His ears laid back ^ his tangled "SYXVi^xx^g mane

Upon his compound crest now stands on end ;
His nortrils drink the air, and forth again

As from a furnace vapours doth he send."

(J^HAKESPEARE, slightly altered.)

HORSEMANSHIP.

Many a horse, in stable parlance, is said " to kick himself
straight," but this unruly patient lashed out with the vigour
and activity of a thoroughbred, reaching far above his own
great height. In response to Mr. Galvayne's order, an
assistant stepped into the ring to wipe Lord Lyon down, for
the struggle between man and beast had been so long and
severe that the perspiration was flowing freely on either side.
A scream of rage, followed by one, two, straight from the
shoulder, sent the well-intentioned servitor flying out of the
ring. Though at one time it seemed likely that the two
hundred spectators, professor, his assistants, and even the
marquee itself would disappear in the struggle, what can
stand before " science's wondrous wand" } At length victory
declared for the system; for a time, at least, his lordship
accepted defeat, and, turned loose, followed his ponqueror
sullenly round the ring, stopping and turning, with no good
grace, to the word of command. 'Twas but a patched-up
truce, for, after submitting to be put once or twice through
his facings, he once more broke out with all his savagery,
refused to obey, and then rushed open-mouthed at his
adversary, intent this time on forcing the fighting. Rearing
up, he threw himself on his man, and got him down. Though
unprepared for this sudden act of rebellion, Mr. Galvayne
never lost his nerve or presence of mind, and, from the
ground, landed the aggressor a terrific cut from his whip
across the nose. This saved his life, for it turned the brute
aside. On his feet in an instant and at work again, the
Australian, nothing daunted, flogged the horse round the
ring. Again the infuriated animal came at him, full of mis-
chief, only to be met by severe punishment, which seemed
to take the steel out of him. He obeyed the mandate to
step back, and was forced to retreat at the word of command,
finally leaving the tent, on his best behaviour, led by one

INTRODUCTION.

man, and he a stranger. Next day, beyond a few feeble
kicks, he exhibited no trace of vice, backed twice the whole
circle of the ring, refused to attack though challenged by
the whip being flourished in his face, and returned to his
stable a conquered horse. Never was victory more complete
or more hardly earned. At one time the victor only escaped
by ^' the skin of his teeth." Here, then, is a galvanic com-
bination by which a horse with the worst reputation for vice
in the United Kingdom, one so essentially dangerous be-
cause of his variable moods, and one possessed of a legion
of devils, was reduced to reason and usefulness. Previous
to being operated on by the deft tamer. Lord Lyon, when
the dark fit was on him, would walk clean through the walls
of his box and worry at large. The colt and the mature
horse were both cured, but by widely different methods ;
that of the East Riding breaker would have had little effect
on the Clydesdale, in fact, he would have dined and supped
off his rider, Before quitting this subject, I desire to register
my opinion that no horseman's education can be considered
complete till he has thoroughly mastered Mr. Galvayne's
excellent systems of training and general management of
the horse. They are based on "science and humanity" v,
"ignorance and barbarity;" on the possession of a little
common sense plus the knowledge of how to apply it.
They work in the case of untractable animals what Moham-
med termed "a goodly thorough reformation," and con-
siderably shorten the colt's curriculum of training, to the
conservation of legs, temper, and constitution.

There are three roads, or methods, by which a man pos-
sessing the attributes I stipulate for may become an adept
in the art of horsemanship. The first is by putting the boy
from his earliest days on the donkey or pony, and allowing
him to tumble about till practice gives a firm seat, probably

HORSEMANSHIP.

good hands, and an insight into tke various ways and tricks
of horses. It has been contended that this early tuition or
practice is needless, and, in some cases, positively harmful.
Needless, because some of the finest riders the world has
ever produced knew little or nothing of the art in their
nursery or even schoolroom days ; harmful, because at that
tender age, the back is weak and the spine liable to injury.
The cases of the Empress of Austria and her sister, the ex-
Queen of Naples, both magnificent horsewomen, are cited
by those who oppose the lessons of early age, for neither of
these skilled ladies rode much before attaining womanhood.
The Arabs have a saying that, " the lessons of infancy are
engraved upon stone, the lessons of ripe age pass away like
birds' nests ; " and despite the prowess of these royal dames
and others, male and female, whose names might also be
quoted as examples, I maintain that the schooling should
commence with the " ride-a-cock-horse-to-Banbury-cross,"
first on the father's crossed leg, then on his shoulders, and
so, by degrees, in front of his saddle. By this means all
nervousness at being hoisted high in the air is overcome ;
the rough, bucking, bounding motion becomes a positive
delight, and the flaccid infantile muscles are taught to grijD
and hold on. This is the time, and these are the means,
by which to eradicate the germs of nervousness and to
create nerve. We all know how passionately fond children
are of their ponies, and how they seem to cleave unto them
above all other pets or toys ; how they clamour each for
their turn for a ride. By degrees we promote the two and
three year olds to the backs of donkeys or preferably of
some very quiet, well-trained, grass, not corn-fed, ponies, till
at about six years old we find them so grounded in the rudi-
ments that they may then be taken in hand and properly
instructed. My first task, therefore, will be to teach the

2NTR0D UCTION:

young idea how to sit firm, how to acquire that natural
adaptation to every movement of the animal under him,
which constitutes perfect balance, and how to handle his
reins.

The second mode is that of mounting the tyro on a
perfectly-trained horse, and step by step leading him on till,
aided by practice in the riding school or under a qualified
out-of-door instructor, such proficiency may be attained as
is necessary for amusement, or even show, air, and exercise,
or all four combined. A graceful seat may be insured, and
good hands acquired, but long and continuous practice on
every variety of horse will alone entitle the pupil to call him-
self a "horseman." Artistic riding implies something more
than mere boldness and the ability to charge an ox fence, or
"go in-and-out-clever;" it means the mesmeric influence
— the brain, the eye, the nerves, the muscles, all unconsciously
acting on the aids together— of the man guiding and bend-
ing the horse to his will without seeming effort. Those
among us who may be termed " fair riders " are numerous.
One may make a good show on a well-broken hack in the
park, another may ride well to hounds, a third may distin-
guish himself "between the flags" or "on the flat," but to
excel in all is given to but very few. The pupil who has
commenced late in life will always find it difticult to throw
off a certain riding school mannerism unless, so soon as a
safe firm seat has been secured, the lessons are continued
on horses all differing in temper and action. Learning and
diversity of practice should go hand in hand.

We now come to the third method, which is the easiest
to the instructor. We have now to deal with boys who
have never ridden. A hard plucky boy is pretty sure to
make an apt pupil. The material to work on is good, and,
with the help of a little encouragement, sticking-plaster, and

lo HORSEMANSHIP.

some bruise lotion, will bear a lot of knocking about.
Nobody cares much if he gets a purler, and, if of the right
" grit," he less than anybody else. His bones are not suffi-
ciently set to break, he falls light, and is accustomed, after
the fashion of our English playing fields, to " rough and
tumble." All lads, however, are not fashioned in the
Spartan mould, many are nervous and timid, requiring
gentle handling, constant encouragement, and every device
that may inspire confidence. With such a one the lessons
must be short and on the quietest of ponies, undue straining
and fatigue being carefully avoided — in a word, he must be
" coaxed " into the saddle. An over modest, retiring dispo-
sition is often mistaken for timidity, but by judicious
management, confidence in himself and his powers may be
established. Many a youngster, who in his early days has
been known as a " sap " and a " muff," has developed into
a good, if not first-class horseman, and in the sterner realities
of war has won an enviable reputation at the cannon's mouth.
In either case there is, happily for the instructor, nothing
to be unlearned, no bad habits to eradicate.

In these days of ceaseless travel, colonization, restless-
ness, and general going to and fro, men cannot say when
they may not be called upon to ride great distances on
half-broken horses. They may unexpectedly find them-
selves mounted on an Australian buck-jumping Brumby,
careering on the South African veldt, bestriding a fresh-
caught South American mustang, climbing Judah's hills on
some sure-footed Syrian, scouring " Hagar's desert, Ishmael's
plains," carried by a true-bred Khailan of the Anezeh, or
taking " a breather " over the Toorkoman steppes, rejoicing
in the untiring powers of a staunch little Bedevi, the pride
of some Yomut nomad. We Britishers might aptly be
claimed as "the tribe of the wandering foot," for the

CHOICE OF A HORSE. II

migratory instinct is dominant in the race. We are ever
seeking " fresh woods and pastures new." For those whose
fortune it is to live at home in ease, riding may be regarded
as a hixury, and not a necessity ; but to others — mihtary
men, Indian and other civihans, whose lot is cast beyond
these pleasant shores, and Colonials — ^it is a something that
must be learnt as thoroughly as possible.

I conclude my '' preliminary " by quoting from one of the
most perfect horsemen of bygone times, His Grace of
Newcastle : *' Those things which to you, perhaps, seem not
very concise, but too prolix, might if shorter have left you
in darkness ; whereas you (will) have now a full sunshine to
look on you with the splendour of the knowledge of horse-
manship. This art does not consist only in study and
mental contemplation, but in bodily practice likewise. You
ought to be well informed that the art of horsemanship
cannot be collected together in a proverb, in a short
aphorism, or reduced to a syllogism, or brought into a
little compass as the poesy of a ring; nor can there be
one universal lesson, as many desire this art. For my part,
I am very sure there is nothing universal in horsemanship,
nor in anything else I know."

CHAPTER n.

CHOICE OF A HORSE.

If a man merely desires to ride for amusement, for air and
exercise, or for the mere " pomp and circumstance " of the
thing, he can, always providing he has a long purse and
a thoroughly dependable, competent judge at his elbow,

12 HORSEMANSHIP.

generally mount himself to perfection. Despite the un-
equal distribution of capital in this little world of ours, the
" honest broker," the man with the special knowledge, who
makes his friends' or employers' interests his own, is a rarer
article than even the big available balance at the bankers'.
Still, this vara avis is not yet so extinct as the dodo. Many
of us, far too many, alas ! though suffering keenly from that
aicri sacra fames which we are never able to satisfy or even
to take the edge off, are blessed with more dimes than dollars.
To those who cannot at any moment draw a big cheque at
sight, and who, like myself, want a very good horse for very
little money, I mainly address myself.

When writing of hacks I do not use the term as indicative
of inferiority, nor do I refer to the wheel-like actioned
hackneys or roadsters of Norfolk, Yorkshire, and often of
somewhere else beyond the eastern shores of these islands
— a blend of the true old Marshland Shales stock with a
blend of the carty element, hardened by an occasional dash
of the thoroughbred to " revivify the flame and bid it burn
afresh." When freely fortified by blood, these hackneys,
those bred in the East Riding of Yorkshire especially, make
excellent hacks for heavy and elderly gentlemen, with whom
a good, quiet, weight-carrying cob, incapable of tripping,
and able to walk five miles an hour, fair " heel and toe,"
without suspicion of run or amble is a pearl of price. But
it is the thoroughbred, or very nearly so, cantering and
galloping hack, not this conglomerate, that I have in my
mind's eye, and that I would put the reader on.

To enjoy one's self thoroughly one must study one's ease.
Captain Percy Williams's " bone-setting," liver- shaking, stir-
rupless rides from Hounslow to Hyde Park Corner, to which
I call attention hereafter (p. 52), were excellent in their way,
and strongly to be recommended as a means to the end he

CHOICE OF A HORSE.

1 4 HORSE MA NSHIP.

aimed at, but what's wanted in Rotten Row or elsewhere in
a perfect riding horse are good looks, together with quality,
manners, and smooth easy action. Nicely reined in, he
should go neatly, lightly, and quite within himself. Such
a horse is deceptive as to pace, and goes much faster than
he appears to do, stealing over the ground apparently with-
out an effort. Placing his fore legs well in front of him,
without any rounding or climb of the knee, no "fighting
the air," the racing-like sweep of his powerful well-gathered
haunches gives him a stride and pace that smothers any
plodding half-bred labouring by his side. I would, for my
own riding, fix the standard of such a horse at fifteen hands,
and certainly no more ; but I stand barely five feet eight
and a half inches under the standard.

The horse and his rider should be proportionate in height,
conformation, and power one to the other. To my eye a
little, stubby, thickset man perched, "like a tom-tit on a
round of beef," on a sixteen hands animated clothes-horse
sort of an animal is a very offensive object to contemplate.
A long, lanky, spindle-shanked rider bestriding a podgy
little hog-maned cob, his spur-garnished heels almost touch-
ing the ground, is another object I abhor. A big burly
fellow crushing a light-framed blood " tit " under his elephan-
tine proportions is enough to make an angel weep. Picture
the Claimant on a Shetland or New Forest pony, or General
Tom Thumb outside the stalwart Harold of Calwich and
Islington fame. Such incongruities must be tabooed.

My horse should be neat and pretty rather than handsome
and of grand physique, beautifully balanced and moulded, a
patrician from head to heel. I would have him of the high
caste Arabian type, his head the index of his blue blood, a
level croup set off by a switch tail carried away from his
buttocks with that arch peculiar to the azeel horse of the

CHOICE OF A HORSE.

IS

desert. The drop of the hind leg may be straightish, and
a somewhat long cannon bone with a shorter radius will
qualify his daisy-cutting proclivities. He should be long in
proportion to his height, that length made out by the distance
of the elbow to the stifle, from the back of the wither to
the point of the shoulder, from the hipbone to the extremity
of the haunch. These salient points give strength, propell-
ing power, and freedom of action. In his walk he must
step gaily and lightly, placing his hind foot well in front of
the imprint of the fore ; so free his action that the slightest
indication of the " aids " shall set him instantly into an eight
to twelve miles an hour out-and-on trot, or into an easy
collected placid canter. To top up all, he must carry his
handsome blood head in its proper place, and have so sensi-
tive and obedient a mouth that he answers to the slightest
touch of the helm and can go handsomely in a packthread.
Such a delightful hack costs money; but to those who
know where to go for animals of this class in the rough, and
possess the requisite skill to teach them manners and to
put the polish on, there is no necessity for great outlay.
There are numbers of young thoroughbreds troubled with
that incurable disease, " the slows," to be picked up by
people on the spot. Owners do not care to keep them, and
trainers, wanting their stalls and boxes for horses endowed
with racing speed, insist on getting rid of them. Many of
these would, if put aside for a year or two, in able hands,
come up to the fancy picture I have drawn. Their main
fault is a too great breadth of chest, which militates against
speed, but this conformation, desirable in the hack, is
generally accompanied by a churn-shaped barrel, a certain
indication of a good feeder and of a good wear-and-tear
constitution. A blood horse is always up to a stone or two
more weight than his build indicates.

i6 HORSEMANSHIP.

When the purchaser desires to invest in a horse to both
hack and hunt, he must content himself with something less
showy, of more decided points, and more of the general-
purpose type. The breeding may be as high, in fact in our
grass counties, with their big-acre fields, large fences, and
racing packs of hounds, blood is a sine qua non. The fifteen
hands horse will carry his rider brilliantly in a small cramped
country, or over the high banks and steep hills of Wales
or West of England, where one verging on sixteen, with his
scope and stride would come to grief; or would, better than
his big brother, rattle up and down the Surrey and Sussex
slopes and downs. But if a man means to keep with hounds
over " the Turkey carpet " of Great Britain — Leicestershire
— and to take those ready-made graves, those buU-finchers,
oxers, and other big obstacles in his stride, then he must
have not only a high-bred, but a fifteen-three horse under
him.

There are, as I have said, many counties in which the
pocket Hercules will force the galloper whose name figures
in the Stud Book, to strike his flag j but for '' the Shires,"
there must be height with scope, and especially so if the
owner desires to find a purchaser. One of the best hunters
that ever looked through a bridle was the famous ''Jack
Russell's" equally famous pony, "Billy," the produce of
a two-year-old grass colt, a grandson of " Eclipse " and an
Exmoor pony mare. But Dartmoor is not the Midlands,
and though the clerical Nimrod's, multiwi in parvo, could
gallop all day over those heavy moorlands, and jump boun-
dary fences big enough to stop anything but the wild stag,
he would not have shone in the Shires. Like the blood
hack, the hunter should be faultless in front of the saddle.
When a happy medium between the two is aimed at, the
rounded beauty must give place to a deeper girth, still

CHOICE OF A HORSE. I7

stronger loins, longer arms, shorter cannons, big angular
knees and hocks ; the finished prettiness to a certain rough-
and-readiness ; the light sprightly action to, what the Ameri-
cans term "vim" — the equivalent of our words "go" and
"power" — the taking front action, though still active and
clear of the ground, to be supplemented by the evidence of
enormous propelling power behind and lifting capacity in
front.

The hack first spoken of should "hardly break an egg
if he trod on it," but this general-purpose hack and hunter
combined must unite show with utility, some of the former
ingredient being sacrificed to add force to the latter. In
the hack, the trot, walk, or canter are the only really im-
portant paces, but the hunter must be handy over all sorts
of ground at the gallop, and should be all action though
with nothing flashy about it. Much as I object to the
steep quarter there is no doubt that the " goose-rumped "
droop of croup and angularity of hip, ugly as it undoubtedly
is, gives greater leverage when high timber or stone walls
have to be jumped. Persons in search of such horses as
these will do well to attend the annual sales of the Compton
Stud Company, held in September, at Sandley, Gillingham,
Dorset, at which establishment carefully selected blood sires
are mated with approved mares.

At the end of the season, when all London goes out of
town, or pretends to, many of the park hacks are sent to
Tattersall's to be sold without reserve. In the highlands
or on the continent Lady Plantaganeta Vere de Vere does
not ride, and, of course, Mrs. Ponsonby de Tomkyns, the
wife of "somebody in the City," follows suit. The riding
horse, often a really good specimen, purchased at great cost
and sometimes with judgment, is put down. As with the
ladies so with the men. The Duke of Broadacres sends

c

l8 HORSEMANSHIP.

his animal to Albert Gate and Mr. Lombard's pays a visit
to Knightsbridge, also to emerge therefrom under new
ownership. There need be no blind buying here, for the
constant visitor to the Row of a forenoon must have seen
the identical hacks ridden day after day, and must have had
ample opportunity of pretty correctly reckoning them up.
When on the day of sale — bidding, of course, through some
one who knows the ways of the professional habitues — if some
fashionable West End or Paris dealer appears " fond," the
bidder may safely go on. Perhaps from the two and a half
months' constant bucketing up and down that monotonous
ride the horse may be a little stale, but, if he be young, and
passes the vet, a few shoeless weeks in a cool roomy covered-
in yard, with a bite of green food, will soon freshen him up
and restore his action. At the end of the racing season at
Newmarket a lot of very useful cobs are annually sold. If
a man is a really good judge, or can enlist in his service
one who is, there is no better place to pick up a good
horse than at the numerous fairs throughout the United
Kingdom, and the further he goes afield the better his
chance of suiting himself at a moderate price.

We now come to the Cob^ which, if a safe, handy, symme-
trical, and gentlemanly animal, light in hand, and active,
and of good colour, is one that, as the dealers say, "keeps
the money together." There must be nothing of the polo,
'or of any other pony, about him, neither must he be a
dwarfed thoroughbred, but a cob pure and simple ; such a
one as was " Sir George," and is " Little Wonder of Rig-
maden Park," Mr. Morton's " Sir Gibbie," Mr. W. Burdett
Coutts's "Tommy," or Mr. C. E. Cooke's " Cassius." A
coarse carty-looking cob gives one the idea of an under-
sized agricultural horse. Now that the Itahan and other
governments so extensively patronize pedigree hackney

CHOICE OF A HORSE. 19

Stallions, and that they are being " boomed " in the
United States, where one hackney used to be bred we have
now a dozen. Breeders appear to be sacrificing power
and the old. thickset build to lightness and quality. The
shows so much patronized by those who want to make
a name to attract foreign buyers, by others who have
something to sell, mainly fostered by parvenus, whose sole
aim is to keep themselves right in the eye of the gullible
public, do not show that we are making any improvement.
The best horse at Islington was passed over the other day
because "the runner" who showed him knew not the art
of bringing out his magnificent action, the premier prize
going to a horse that is decidedly weak behind.

The correct type cob should, for easy mounting, be about
fourteen hands high, must have a sweet head — many of
these hackneys and roadsters have beautiful Arab-like heads
— perfect shoulders and legs, long straight quarters, and a
great deal of substance. I have seen many such, admirable,
jaunty, and pleasant walkers, a few easy trotters, though
generally with round wheel-like action, but only one or two
able to canter fairly well. The only hackney with good hind
galloping action I have seen is " Dr. Syntax." It has often
struck me that the mating of an Arab sire, one with action,
such as Colonel Willoughby's " Elston," now standing at
Murrel Green, Wincfield, Hants, with the old-fashioned
thick-set hackney mare would be productive of the best
results.

The game of polo and the rage for galloway and pony
racing, both on the flat and over hurdles, has created a
demand for quite a difterent cob from that we have just
referred to. These bantamized racers take us back a
century or more to the days of ''the little gray horse"
" Gimcrack." Judging from an engraving now before mc,

20 HORSEMANSHIP.

this miniature, muscular, firmly knit, and active racer must
be the model our polo-pony breeders are endeavouring
to breed up to. Making due allowance for the lack of
anatomical knowledge in the animal limner of those days,
this remarkable son of the Godolphin Barb must have pre-
sented the beau ideal of a racing galloway. Irrespective
of his great weight-carrying powers, marvellous staunchness,
and hardness of constitution, he was considered to be so
perfect a model that his last proprietor left him for a length
of time at Tattersall's for public inspection.

In running these galloways —for it is a misnomer to term
them ponies — it is found that blood alone can ensure their
success. Many of them are undersized thoroughbreds, and
as such are very hot and strongheaded. These blood-cobs
are in every way qualified to make perfect hacks, and in
addition are superlatively good hunters for boys. Those
not quite fast enough for racing, and not handy enough to
play polo well, are, as often as not, the best on the road, in
the park, or in the hunting-field. A smart racing galloway
or polo player commands a high and increasing figure. A
year ago, when the i6th Lancers were ordered on foreign
service, two hundred and seventy guineas were given for
one pony^ and some, the property of officers of the nth
Hussars, sold at public auction on the eve of the corps
sailing for South Africa, changed hands at a still longer
price. Fashion, without valid reason as usual, has decreed
that these beauties should be smartened up by having their
manes hogged. The vile disfigurement, in the case of a too
light or a ewe neck only accentuates the deformity. Though
quite as well able as my neighbours to maintain my seat in
the saddle without extraneous aid, I am free to confess that
not once or twice, but scores of times, has a grip on the
mane saved me from a fall. Under no circumstances should

CHOICE OF A HORSE. 21

this mutilation be countenanced. For docking, in the case
of some harness horses, there may be some excuse ; but
for this senseless barbarism, which serves no purpose, there
is absolutely none. Having already stated my opinions on
the just proportion between the horse and his rider, I will
only add that these miniature blood horses should only be
ridden by medium-sized men. Some of them carry young
ladies to perfection, but they lack the height necessary to
carry a full-grown equestrienne.

Ofttimes and many have I been accused of being afflicted
with the Arab craze. To the accusation I plead guilty
without extenuating circumstances. Having had as much
and more to do with pure-bred horses of the silent desert
than most men not of Ishmaelitish lineage, I hold the tough
Arab fibre in the highest esteem. I am convinced that in
the black tabernacles of the Bedaween of the Maha Rania
exists the horse in the perfection of his beauty and pride.
The difficulty is to get really good specimens of the highest
pedigree. Only two faults can be found with the Arabian
for park and road riding — viz. that for general purposes he
lacks height, seldom being found over 14 hands 3 inches
high ; and that he is a careless walker, given to tripping.
Those now being bred in this country are rapidly acquiring
increased stature, and with the change of habitat they
appear to lose this slovenly habit. In the face of persistent
opposition this terse, active, and altogether delightful little
horse is rapidly winning his way into favour. "The value
of a thing is exactly what it will fetch " is an old axiom.
A few years back I have seen Arabs sold at Tattersall's for
a few sovereigns, but now anything worth looking at readily
fetches ;£"i2o and upwards. Their intrinsic value will be
ascertained when the results of their unions with approved
weight-carrying, blood, and three-parts bred marcs appear

22

HORSEMANSHIP.

CHOICE OF A HORSE, 22

on the market. We shall then go back to those times when
the choice potent blood flowed in a broad full stream^ and
our thoroughbreds so-called — we have never yet been able
to boast the possession of an absolutely pure thoroughbred
— were for all purposes, save "sprinting," superior to any»
thing we now possess.

The description of the horse's hoof in Isaiah, "their
horses' hoofs shall be like flint," is true to-day of the
Arabian's, which is as hard as the nether millstone. In
him strength and beauty have met together.

The Barb lacks the harmonious beauty and truthful
balance of the Arab. He is often fifteen hands and over,
has a lean, bony, and often somewhat plain head, with thin
compressed lips, a small mouth, a large expressive eye,
calm in repose, but full of courage and flash when roused, a
strong, arched neck, short back, broad loins, and generally
beautiful shoulders. A steep quarter, meanly set on tail,
light thighs, and " cat hams " dwarf his hind quarters,
giving an appearance of an exaggerated forehand; but
these defects are more than compensated for by his
undeniable vigour, stamina, and endurance. He is more
leggy than his first cousin of " Hagar's desert, Ishmael's
sands," and his feet are not so well formed and regular, but
his limbs are very strong and are everlasting wear. In
point of strict utility he, when pure, is quite on a par with
the Arab. Up to the reign of Muley Mahomed, son of
Muley Abderrhaman, about a.d. 1775, the Government of
Morocco provided each country village with a pure-blooded
stallion, of which the owners of mares had free use for stud
purposes. Since that Sultan's death, however, this useful
custom has been discontinued and, consequently, the
quality of the horses has deteriorated to such an extent that
it is difficult to find one of pure blood. Moreover, the

24 HORSEMANSHIP.

exportation of horses is hampered by such heavy duties
that permission to take them out of the country is illusory.
Doubtless in the royal stables there are some fine specimens.
The Emir Abd-el-Kader of Algiers, when at the height of
his power, defending his native land against the armies of
France, inflicted the punishment of death, without mercy,
on any Moslem convicted of selling a horse to the
Christian.

About foreign horses I shall have little to say. Many of
those now sold, both for riding and driving, are what we
term " soft foreign substitutes." One very nice stranger, for
young ladies' riding especially, is the real Spanish jennet.
Under the Moresco Khalifat the commercial enterprise of
the Arabs knew no bounds. In those warlike times richly
caparisoned horses of the purest blood were the most
acceptable royal gifts, and to the stables of the Kalifs of
Cordova, Toledo, Seville, Valencia^ Murcia, and Badajos,
during the rule of the Moslem on the Siberian peninsula,
came the very pith and marrow of Mesopotamia, Nejd,
Morocco, and Tunis. The royal farms of the Alham.bra
were the breeding grounds of the finest and purest blood
horses of the Orient. Granada, the Damascus of Spain,
enjoys a climate akin to that of " the eye of the East," the
oldest city in the world. In the true Andalusian jennet's
veins runs a stream in which mingles some of the bluest
blood of Asia and Africa. He is a gentleman every inch of
him, small and pretty, graceful and easy in his paces,
carries his dapper, well-bred head handsomely in the
proper place, and is gifted with a good mouth. There is
not much of him, but what there is is good and comely,
quite the animal to catch the eye and win the affections of
a young lady or an Eton boy.

Some of the half-bred French Arabs, from Arab sire and

CHOICE OF A HORSE. 25

well-bred mares, make excellent hacks and are hardy.
Austria, Hungary, and Poland all furnish their quota of
horses bred on similar lines, and Italy, if not already in the
field, will soon be catering for our wants. Of late years she
has been our largest and best customer for thoroughbred
and hackney sires, buying only the best, regardless of cost.
In securing choice specimens of the azeel Arab the Italian
agents have been peculiarly fortunate. One of the most
beautiful ponies I ever had was a Sardinian, evidently full
of Arab blood. In the vicinity of Pisa, at Babericina, the
Newmarket of Italy, and at San Rossore, on the Arno, the
beautiful pine-clad estate of the king, which skirts the Medi-
terranean for sixteen miles, and rejoices in a dry sandy soil,
and mild, healthy, and constant climate, are three large
studs with two thousand five hundred horses. In them is to
be found the English thoroughbred and the Arab in great
perfection ; the beautiful well-knit Melton, the winner of the
Derby, a prize-fighter from head to heel, and the purest
Anezeh being found side by side.

In Poland, mainly in the Government of Wolthymia, the
Count Branitzky, and Counts Joseph and August Potocki,
and others of the nobility have inherited from their ancestors
studs of pure Arabs in which the true types and strains of
blood have been carefully and jealously maintained. These
horses have earned for themselves a very high reputation ; a
pair, owned by the late Lord Lyons, the British Ambassador
at Paris, enjoying the reputation of being the handsomest in
the Bois. The climate and generous keep, added to the
careful system of selection practised by these intelligent
breeders, and by those to whom they succeeded, have added
considerably to the bulk and height of these Arabians.
Price alone stands in the way of their free introduction to
our stables, for they are as clever under the saddle as in

26 HORSEMANSHIP.

harness. The Orlov, another horse of Arabian descent,
though not pure, owing to an admixture of Dutch Friesian,
is essentially a harness horse, and in American hands would
be a trotter. There is nothing in the German bred horse to
recommend him to my readers.

Ponies of all sorts come to us from abroad. Hungary,
Russia, Norway, and Iceland, each contribute in ever-
increasing numbers, and now that Shetlanders are eagerly
sought after by our wealthy American cousins, and have
risen greatly in price, we may expect still heavier importa-
tions. Of these diminutive animals few are good, many
indifferent, most unfit for anything save the coal-mine and
the costermonger's cart or barrow. AVhen we consider the
cost of freight, risks by sea and land, and the low price at
which these little slaves are purchased here, the wonder
is what must be their cost in their native pastures. It is
easy to distinguish these half-starved uncouth strangers from
the ponies of these Isles. Ere long, however, the ex-
aggerated droves or mobs of the New Forest — where
overstocking and, during the winter, cruel neglect bordering
on almost absolute starvation, is rapidly ruining this once
famous breed — the ponies at the royal grazing-demesne
must lose their neat finish. At no distant date they may
become as common-looking and plebeian as the products of
the coarse wershy pastures of the inclement North or of the
Danubian marshes. Under the influence of the American
" boom," and with such men as the Marquess of London-
derry, the Earl of Zetland, and others interested in the Shet-
land breed, there is no fear of its deterioration. Ranging
from Z.'^ to II hands these miniature horses have, in pro-
portion to their stature, enormous strength, are very docile,
and easily managed. My only objection to them is that
they are spread too much — too thick through for children's

CHOICE OF A HORSE. 27

riding. A child's pony ought to be narrow, so that the little
legs may get a grip of his sides. If broad on the back the
little one has about as much hold as a man on the pad of
an elephant ; moreover, the short " chunky " pony is much
more proppy and jerky in his movements than those of
lighter and more " planky " build.

Though of late years — grazing sheep having been found
a more paying industry — pony breeding in AVales has been
conducted in a very slip-shod manner, some good ponies
are still to be found in the Principality. There is little
doubt that the Welsh pony is the descendant of the horse
that in the days of Rome, yoked to the scythed chariots of
our forefathers, used to spread dismay into the serried ranks
of the war-worn legionaries. On the Cambrian mountains
the war-horse of the Angles became dwarfed, but lost none
of its vigour and activity. In these latter days it, on the
borders of Shropshire especially, has been crossed with
blood. The late Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Bart., of Wynn-
stay, introduced the thoroughbred element, and in and about
Brampton Brian, Ludlow, Knighton, Corwen, Llampeter,
Welshpool, Newton, and Montgomery, following the banks
of the Severn from Pool Quay down to Llanidloes, is to be
found many a natty scion of the Arab Selim, of May Fly,
L'nderhill, Polardine, and Wandering Alinstrel. The Berwyn
mountains, south of Corwen, on the line from Ruabon to
Bala, are famous for a very superior "stiff" breed of pony,
distinguished by peculiar white markings under the belly.
Some are beauties, all are active as cats, are able to go any
distance on very short commons, and are as hardy as the pro-
verbial tinker's dog. The best animals to be found in Soutli
Wales are on the borders between Builth and Breckon.
Copenhagen, the Anglo-Arabian tliat carried the Duke of
Wellington at Waterloo, was foaled at OldColwyn, Denbigh.

28 HORSEMANSHIP.

Facile princeps amongst our pedigree pony breeders stands
that critical judge, Mr. Christ. W. Wilson, of Rigmaden
Park, Kirkby Lonsdale. The success of his various little
model sires. Sir George, Little Wonder, and others, in
stamping their mint-mark on the mares of that portion of
Westmoreland to which their services have been confined,
is strongly in evidence. Many of them come as near
perfection as need be, and he who covets the possession of
one of these little beauties must be prepared to pay for the
luxury. The stallions being closely inbred are very
impressive, and transmit the characteristics of the Rigmaden
Park blood with undeniable truth. The Exmoors appear
to have deteriorated, though not so far back Mr. Knight,
of Simons Bath, bred some such as a judge could find little
fault with — staunch, sturdy, safety conveyances for whom
the longest day with the Devon and Somerset Stag Hounds
is but a trifle. Akin to these are the ponies of Dartmoor
and Cornwall.

At the Pony Stud Farm, Pebworth, Gloucestershire, are
three small-sized Arabs, sent home by Mr. J. H. B. Hallen,
the General Superintendent of the Horse Breeding Depart-
ment in India, where, for the object advertised, their services
must be thrown away for lack of good pony mares. I have
never seen these horses, but, if they be good specimens of
the breed, I should have thought a more suitable location
might have been selected. Better placed are the two
beautiful Nejd high-caste ponies, owned by the Albrightlee
stud, in the vicinity of Shrewsbury. North of the Tweed,
at Auchenflower, Ballantrae, Ayrshire, Mr. Alex. Murdoch
has the " right article ; " his mares run in a half wild state,
never receive any attention at foaling, and his youngsters
after half an hour's experience of this world are to be seen
galloping. round the fields like deer. With that experienced

CHOICE OF A HORSE. i^

breeder constitution in sire and dam is a sine qua 7ion.
Some capital ponies are bred in the western isles of Scot-
land, and the establishment of an extensive pony farm on
Achill Island, off the coast of Mayo, is projected.

The popularity of Galloway and Pony racing, and of polo,
already referred to, is certain, at no distant date, to furnish
us with a race of the most perfect miniature horses in the
world. Seeing how easy the Arab is to handle at speed I con-
sider him above all others the best calculated to beget polo
ponies. Ridden with a mere halter he answers immediately
and intelligently to the voice of his rider, to the sway of his
body, or to the pressure of knee and thigh, stopping short
from full gallop, going about on his own ground, and at
once springing into " full power ahead " again, doubling or
jinking, and managing his legs as nimbly as a chamois.
There is a pliancy about the Arab such as no other horse
can boast of, he can " pat butterflies " when at the verge of
speed. That his pace is of no mean order was amply proved
by Hermit in his great race with the imported English mare
Voltige, in the Calcutta Trades Cup. He comes of a long
ancestry, seldom exceeding 14. i^ hands high, so that the
breeder has, to some extent, the power to control and keep
down the height. That he can stand the rigours of a Euro-
pean climate was testified to by the correspondent of the
Timcs^ who inspected Bourbaki's army when, in order to
escape total defeat and the bitterness of surrender, it
sought asylum in Switzerland. " The horses," wrote that
gentleman, *' present a still worse appearance than the men,
seeming more fitted for the knacker's yard than to bear their
burdens; although, undoubtedly, the Arabs justify the
established reputation of their breed by the very tolerable
condition they present, and the comparative elasticity of
their paces."

3© ttORSEMANSHlP.

CHAPTER III.

ACTION.

Too much stress cannot be laid on true, " corky," easy,
and safe action. It is essential both to horse and rider.
There must be nothing forced about it. Without gliding
smooth action, which comes from perfect symmetry and
just balance, there can be no manners, no intrinsic value
in the hack, no great pleasure to the rider, and no con-
servation of energy. A labouring goer can never be a
thorough stayer. The walk should be bold and free, the
foot picked up smartly, with well bent knee, raised clear
from the ground, thrown forward straight to the front, and
placed again on the ground lightly yet decidedly and with-
out hesitation. I like to see a horse inarching with a bold,
swaggering, airy walk, looking about him at passing objects,
and swinging his tail like the plumes and sporans of the
Black Watch, as the splendid corps proudly sweeps past the
saluting flag. If he can swagger along at the rate of five
miles an hour in such form, fair "toe and heel," then he;
is not only a comfort to his owner but a luxury. Objection
may be taken to such horses as are constantly looking about
them on the score of their being addicted to tripping on
inequalities, over a rut, on a freshly " darned " or metalled
road, but they are generally of the light-hearted mercurial
sort which, if they make a false step, never permit the trip to
degenerate into a downright stumble, and are sharp in their
recovery. Of such is the Arab, one of the surest footed
animals in the world ; he is constantly tripping at the walk,
but rights himself in a second, as if his foot had trodden on

ACTION. 31

the horned viper or the cobra. My experience is that
hght-hearted horses are more prone to this disagreeable
liabit than are the more plodding, placid, methodical goers,
but when one of the latter makes a mistake it is apt to be a
serious one.

Nothing is more unsightly in the walk, or in any other
pace, than the far too common habit of " dishing," or
'^ paddling." A horse is said to " dish " or " paddle " when
in the walk, or, more frequently and in a greater degree, in
the trot, the fore leg, from the knee downwards, is not
lifted from the ground and carried forward in the plane along
which his whole body is moving, but is caused to describe,
before reaching the ground, a lateral ellipse or curve some-
what similar to that of the paddle of a canoe as it leaves
and re-enters the water. This faulty action is best detected
when a horse is being met or followed. The fore foot
should be thrown out perfectly straight, devoid entirely of
lateral twist. Dishing is most commonly seen among our
carriage horses and the hackneys and roadsters proper.
These products of Norfolk, and Yorkshire — the profane term
the former "Norfolk rollers'' — have of late, since the creation
of a Hackney stud book, come much into fashion, and to
certain of the Confidence tribe are we indebted for the
accentuation of this objectionable gait. Unfortunately it is
])Otentially hereditary.

When using the term hack I mean it to apply to the
thoroughbred, or "cocktail" (nearly thoroughbred). If
there be a flaw in his pedigree, then let the alien blood
be that of the Yorkshire roadster. For trotting purposes
we, in the old country, want nothing beyond the capacity
to do his twelve mile an hour under the saddle if needed.
To ride a fast trotter in the Park at the verge of his speed
would be shocking bad form; one that can step handsomely,

32 HORSEMANSHIP.

well within himself, alongside a companion in a swinging
canter or hand-gallop is the extreme concession good taste
can sanction. I mean no disrespect to those afflicted with
the trotting craze, only let them keep their trotters to the
Alexandra Park and such-like unfashionable gatherings.
The trot should exhibit a true, equal, and collected action,
not lofty or climbing, but ''out and on" of the forward
throwing description right from the shoulder, the hocks
well flexed, and the haunches well tucked under. We see
far too much of that horrible rolling funereal " up to the
curb-chain " style of knee action which, in black horses
especially, bewrayeth their Friesian origin. Not a few
so-called Norfolk trotters hail from the rich dairy land of
this Netherland province. For pleasant attractive riding
there must be nothing extravagant.

The canter — which I may remark wears a horse out and
makes him groggy on his fore legs quicker than any
pace — is par excellence the easiest pace of the horse, and
consequently the most patronized by ladies. It is essentially
the lady's pace, and being artificial as to its measured
and collected slowness and circumstance, requires careful
teaching. Perfect hand and perfect seat can alone impose
this stately and delightful action. No horse can canter
in perfect form unless he is light of mouth and in his paces,
has long, well-laid-back riding shoulders, springy pasterns,
can get his haunches well under him, and can " bend him-
self," or bring his head down to his chest. This capacity
for bending implies a clean throttle— the game-cock throttle
— and a well set-on head. In the canter, the horse trained
to perfection and handled by an artist, will lead with either
leg, but, as a rule, ladies' horses go with the right or off
foot forward. He ought to be trained and accustomed to
lead with either leg in obedience to the rider's will and

ACTION. 33

hand. The utmost nicety of the hands is necessary,
especially in the slow five-mile-an-hour rate of progress, and
here comes in that give-and-take of the reins on which so
much depends. When the horse has settled down into his
canter an easy and regular action is maintained ; he is
nicely balanced on his haunches, the hocks are brought well
under without any outward '' wobble," the fore hand is
lightly lifted from the ground, and there is nothing " false "
in the motion. A horse is said to go false when, if
cantering to the right on a curve, or circling to the right,
he leads with the left, and vice versa, if cantering to the left,
he leads with the right. The rider must feel the cadence
of every stride, and be able at will to extend or shorten the
action. Simple as the pace appears it really belongs to the
haute ecole of the equestrian art. It is sometimes to be seen
illustrated to perfection by some of those equestrians who
" do miserable penance in Rotten Row," occasionally by
men and women, when going to cover, in our best riding
schools, and in the circus by some star rider.

No lady or gentleman, in riding in the park or on the
road, ever dreams of galloping ; a hand-gallop, or, in other
words, an extended canter, is all that can be perpetrated.
There is, however, no reason whatever why, on some breezy
downs or in crossing big " turkey-carpet " enclosures, the
pleasure of a " breather " should not be indulged in.
Horses gallop in all shapes and forms. There is the gallop
of the race-course and of the hunting field ; the one daisy-
cutting close to the ground, the other higher from the
ground and therefore safer, neither climbing nor laboured,
both demonstrating enormous leverage and power behind.
The exception proves the rule, and almost all of our racers,
gifted with the keenest edge of speed, possess the poetry of
motion. They appear to glide over the ground without an

D

34 HORSEMANSHIP.

effort But it is not always that these faultless gallopers are
the best stayers ; there is something flashy about them that
appears to assign a mile as about the length of their tether.
A horse that, with his head in its proper position, can, at a
good pace and collectedly, cross ridge and furrow is, in my
opinion, as near to the ideal of a galloper for most purposes
as need be. When fully extended the stride cannot be too
long, provided it is not the lobbing gallop of the wolf, is
vigorous, devoid of climbing in front, and with a powerful
recover and leverage from the propellers. The print of the
hind feet should be inches in front of the fore ones. Short,
proppy, or stilty action of the fore legs is indicative of
soreness from overwork, used joints, a recent sprain of the
shoulder from a slip or fall, rheumatism, or chest-foimder. In
this last case the horse is said to be shoulder tied. Mayhap
some mischief in the feet, such as laminitis, coronitis, canker,
or navicular disease, may be the cause of the horse not
laying himself down to and stretching out fully in his gallop.
Some very fast horses gallop very wide behind — Eclipse, for
instance — others with the points of the hocks turned some-
what in towards each other, giving the appearance of what
we term Iznock-Jzneed in man. As a rule speed is more
frequently found in the latter conformation. Those that
are pinned in at the elbows seldom go with any ease to
themselves or comfort to the rider. As a rule they have
short, unpleasant, jarring action, and are liable to fall. The
horse that turns his toes out like a dancing master, must
have twisted ankles, is apt to hit himself, is liable to break
down, but may withal have the gift of going.

Pigeon-toed horses i.e. those with the fore feet turned in,
invariably make bad hacks. Ayston, Mr. Thomas
Assheton's famous mount, prized by his hard-riding master
as the finest performer that he ever " rode across Belvoir's
sweet vale," suffered from this malformation and was, in

ACTION.

35

consequence, so bad a hack that he had to be led to cover.
I have noticed that horses with rather low shoulders, but
fine at the point and rather light in the neck, are generally
pleasant and speedy gallopers. Fine-topped ones with high
large shoulders are often high actioned and by no means
fast or pleasant conveyances. The length of pace in no
way depends on the height of the horse. Champion, a well-
known Arab racer, when in training at Meerut, North-West
Provinces of India, covered twenty-one feet at each stride.

The late Captain Roger D. Upton, of the 9th Lancers, in
his work of Newmarket and Arabia calls attention to the
abihty of the Arabian to play with his fore feet even when
at a hand-gallop. He further makes the following remarks,
which are ap7-opos to the unusual liberty of shoulder
possessed by these true pure-bred horses of the pathless
desert : '' Most must have noticed when riding on the grass
by the side of roads, how constantly their horses are putting
their feet into grips, or on the edge of them, which have
been cut to carry off the water, and which, it would appear,
they are incapable of avoiding, jerking and shaking their
limbs, and making it unpleasant for their riders. I have
known Arabs, on the contrary, either at a canter or a trot,
avoid these grips and obstacles by a most nimble manage-
ment of their legs, either by extending one shoulder and leg
beyond the grip, or putting one foot neatly down before
concluding the usual length of pace." Whyte Melville
termed this handiness with the feet "patting butter-
flies." I have, on more than one occasion, noticed the
eager Arab pig-sticker, when brought up alongside the
mighty boar at racing speed, lay his ears back, and go open-
mouthed at " the father of tusks," and strike smartly at his
" bow back " right from the shoulder as a passing reminder.

Though, perhaps, not the most elegant, the firmest seated
riders in the world are the Australian stockmen, their horses

36 HORSEMANSHIP.

by far, with perhaps the exception of the Bedaween's Arab,
the most active and the best trained. When yarding cattle
or heading a bullock that has broken away, these horses
follow the fugitive, turning, twisting, and wrenching, with all
the activity of a sheep-dog. Fallen trees and all kinds of
obstacles are taken in the stride at the verge of speed.
The sudden halt, turn, or spin-round, as unexpected as in-
stantaneous of one of these stock-horses, would send the
best of our horsemen flying out of their saddles. All this
racing and chasing is accomplished by aid of the plain
snaffle bit, the reins, for the most part, lying loose on the
animal's neck, his rider being busy Avith his twenty foot,
short-handled whip.

Ambling, or what in America and Canada is termed pacing
or racking, is a lateral camel-like motion much in vogue
in Eastern countries, and in the United States for harness,
where the speed is frequently very great and quite equal to
an ordinary gallop. The pacer Billy Boice, under the saddle,
covered his mile in two minutes fourteen seconds, and few
of our blood hunters, untrained, would cover that distance
in less than two minutes. Though unsightly to the English
eye, this peculiar gait is certainly the easiest of all to the
rider, and is the least injurious, save the walk, on the Queen's
highway. In India and in the East I have ridden pacers
long and continuous stages with the greatest comfort, and
it is wonderful how a trained pacer gets over the ground
seemingly untiringly and without effort. For invalids and
old gentlemen seeking a thoroughly comfortable airing, there
is nothing, outside a horse, like this pacing, the off fore and
hind feet being on the ground alternately with the near fore
and hind feet. In the State of Kentucky, America, where
men and women ride long distances and are frequently in
the saddle, their horses, all of English blood, are trained to
this peculiar running-walk.

( 37 )

CHAPTER IV.

practical hints.
Mounting.

Never approach your horse from behind_, or mayhap he
will, being in playful mood, " land you one " more forcible
than pleasant. Having carefully looked him all over to

MOU.XTING — FIRST POSITION,

38

HORSEMANSHIP,

satisfy yourself that he has been carefully groomed, and
that he is properly bridled and saddled, the orthodox
manner of placing yourself on his back is as follows.
Stand opposite his near fore foot, place the left hand open
on the neck, just in front of the withers, the back of the

hand to the horse's head (position No. i). Take up the
reins with the right hand, separate them by placing the
third finger of the left hand between them^ then draw
them through the still open hand until you feel the horse's
mouth; turn the slack of the reins over the fore-finger to
the off side, the mane side, of the neck ; twist a lock of
the mane round the forefinger and thumb, and close the

hand firmly, the thumb acting as a stopper on the reins.
The right hand, now free, takes the stirrup by the eye, or
the stirrup leather immediately above the eye, and turns
the stirrup so that its sides are at right angles to the
horse's body. Place the left foot in it as far as the ball.

MOUNTING.

39

You will now stand facing the tail, your left arm on the neck
and hand on the crest holding the reins and wisp of the mane.
Let the knee press against the flap of the saddle to prevent
the toe from digging into the horse's side. With a hop come

MOUNTING — SECOND POSITION.

round to position No. 2 in mounting, at the same time
seizing the cantle of the saddle with the released right hand.
You will now be looking over the saddle, with the left foot
in the stirrup, the whole weight of the body being on the ball
of the right foot. Before the hop which, aided by the stirrup,

40

HORSEMANSHIP.

faced you or swung you round to the left has died away,
give another big hop or spring — the motion, quick as
thought;, must be ahnost continuous — and stand balanced for
a second on the stirrup (position No. 4), to transfer the right

MOUNTING— FOURTH rOSITION.

hand from the cantle to the right side of the pommel, throw,
swing, or cock your right leg over, not letting the knee go
higher than just sufficient to clear the horse, and so drop
quietly into the saddle, as light as '' feathered Mercury,"
and not like a sack of oats. The right hand is in the best

MOUNTING.

41

position to stay and " lower handsomely " the weight of the
body. Put the right foot into the stirrup by aid of the foot
and not of the hand. If your groom be present he, stand-
ing on the off side of the horse, should hold the horse's

MOUNTING — THIRD POSITION.

head with one hand and bear a portion of his weight on
the off stirrup with the other. Position No. 3 represents
an attempt to climb into the saddle : the gentleman has
muddled the double-barrelled hop, so, at the risk of turning
the saddle round and of tearing a lock from the horse's mane,

42 HORSEMANSHIP.

is dragging himself aloft. The reader will please to ob-
serve that the hands placed on the horse's neck and saddle
are merely to guide the body, and are not to be used as
hfts.

The above is secundum artem, but for the rough-and-ready
horseman the following method is equally effective. Being
proficient at the art of riding, and having the fear of the
horse's heels before his eyes, he, as a matter of course, goes
straight up to his head without any of the studied mannerism
indicative of the riding-school. The reins are caught up
in the right hand, which rests on the saddle, the left being
engaged in guiding the left foot into the stirrup. The rider's
back, in contradistinction to the practice of the manege, will
be towards the horse's tail. The left hand then reUeves the
right of the reins, and by giving the body a swing so as to
bring the chest against the horse's side and at the same time
springing from the ground, the rider gains position No. 4,
as in the first manner of mounting. The lock of the mane
is gripped by the left hand, along with the reins, as he pre-
pares to rise.

A third and very general practice of mounting, is for the
rider to walk quietly up to the horse, take up the reins in
the left hand, and, with his front facing the horse's side, to
put the foot on the bottom or tread of the stirrup, which so
hangs that this can be done without laying hold of the eye
or leather with the right. The left still holding the reins
grasps a lock of the mane, the right being placed on the
cantle. One spring places his body in position No. 4 (which
should be upright and not leaning over the withers, as repre-
sented in the illustration) and he, as usual, lightly swings
himself into his saddle.

If the tyro's too solid flesh and inactivity prevent his
adopting any one of the above three saltatory methods,

MOUNTING. 43

then there remains nothing for him but a fourteen hands
cob, and the mounting block.

In adopting the first and strictly orthodox plan, the rider
had better tighten the off rein a trifle more than the other,
as, otherwise, he may find a playful animal, when he is
placing his foot in the stirrup^ giving him a nibble or even
taking a pattern out of the seat oi his breeches. On the
other hand, when mounting with his face to the horse's
head, if, perchance, his toe gave the horse's ribs a prod —
a not unlikely occurrence — he might happen on a stern
reminder from the near hind hoof

With practice, backed up by a moderate degree of agility,
the act of mounting quietly and neatly, without any strain
to yourself or horse, will be acquired in a very few lessons.

Mounting without Stirrups.

As the first lessons in equitation should be conducted
without stirrups, it is essential that the beginner — man, youth,
or boy — should learn to vault into the saddle without the
assistance of these adjuncts. In the army, recruits are
constantly practised at rapidly mounting and dismounting ;
and if these exercises can be, as they are, neatly and actively
executed on and off a military saddle, the average civilian can
have no dilificulty in going through them on the plain riding
or hunting saddle, with its low pommel and cantle. The
illustrations, reproduced from instantaneous photographs,
represent the various positions of mounting without stirrups
from the near side; but, in practice, the rider should accustom
himself to get into the saddle from either side. Horses should
be mounted and dismounted, led, and fed, as often on the
off as the near side. Many horses, restless when being
mounted on the near side, submit quietly when mounted on

44

HORSEMANSHIP.

the off. Practice on a quiet fourteen two or fifteen hands
horse in the first instance, then, by degrees, try your hand on
something bigger till you can deftly and neatly throw your
leg over a sixteen-hander, beyond which height no horse,

MOUNTING WITHOUT STIRRUPS — FIRST POSITION.

except a mammoth dray or waggoner, should be. Cross the
stirrups over the horse's neck, or, for practice, slide them out
of the bars and remove them ; stand immediately opposite
and close to the saddle ; take up the reins with the right
hand, pass the little finger of the left between them, and

MOUNTING.

45

draw them through the hollow of that hand till the horse's
mouth is felt, and throw the ends of the rein over the neck
to the off side. In the illustration the rider is represented, as
in the case of mounting with stirrups, with a lock of the mane

MOUNTING WITHOUT STIRRUPS — SECOND POSITION.

twisted round the fore-finger and thumb, but it is preferable
to grasp the pommel with the left and the cantle with the
right hand. Spring well from the ground into position
No. 2, raising the body by the strength of the arms and
wrists, dwelling there for one moment only to preserve the

46

HORSE MA NSHIP.

balance, and, as in position No. 3, quitting the hold of the
right hand to place the heel of it on the off side of the pommel
so as to break the descent of the body on to the horse's

INIOUNTING WITHOUT STIRRUrS — THIRD POSITION.

back, throw the right leg smartly over his back and drop
without jar or bump of any kind into the saddle ; of course,
when mounting from the off side the motions are reversed.

THE SEAT. 47

The Seat.

Many of our finest and most graceful riders are men who
have never had a lesson from a riding-master — intuitive,
natural, horsemen after the manner born. The via7iege^ pure
and simple, teaches a great deal, but is apt to leave a certain
" stuck up " stiffness behind it. My ideal of an elegant
horseman is one who combines all the studied art of the
school with the wholesome laxity of the thoroughly capable
untaught.

To illustrate what is meant by " wholesome laxity " I will
first describe the riding-school seat, and then endeavour
to tone down the ramrod unyielding primness inseparable
from strictly military instruction, which, to some extent, is
absolutely necessary to give uniformity of appearance to
large bodies of men in movement. Before settling himself
in the saddle the rider draws the reins through his left hand,
and, taking a half turn over the fore-finger, the thumb being
firmly pressed upon them and the hand well closed, the
strongest possible grip consistent with good riding is secured.
The hand in proper position will be perpendicular to the
pommel, the knuckles turned towards the horse's " pack-
wax," the wrist slightly rounded towards the body, and the
little finger on a line with the elbow. The arm hangs
perpendicularly from the shoulder, scarcely touching the
body, with liberty for the elbow to move freely backwards
and forwards to " give and take," and to preserve touch of
the horse's mouth. An appearance of its being pinned to
the side is to be avoided. In some schools the pupil is
taught to let the elbow touch the hip joint, a position to be
condemned on account of the constraint it imposes. The
rider, in glancing towards the pommel, should be able to

48 HORSEMANSHIP.

see the back of his thumb and upper edge of the fore-finger
only. The position of the body is perfectly upright and
straight, shoulders well squared, chest thrown out, small of
the back drawn in, and the head so placed that the line
of vision be directed straight between the horse's ears. Feet
should be almost parallel to the sides of the horse, the toes
slightly turned out so that the calf of the leg be brought
to bear against the horse's sides ; heels depressed, and the
ball of the foot resting on the sole of the stirrup iron. The
grip should extend from the knees to half-way down the calf
of the leg, the knees being just sufficiently bent to permit
the rider, when rising on his stirrups at the trot, to rise and
fall without undue display of daylight. An easy posture is
for the back of the heel to be in a perpendicular line witli
the posterior bend or hollow of the knee. The whip, which
till the reins are taken up and arranged, is in the fork
formed by the thumb and fore-finger of the left hand, is
transferred by being drawn — not flourished — into the right.

The right hand is then permitted to hang down in a
natural position.

Now, then, as to an equally correct, less studied, and,
therefore, much easier seat. Permit me to walk or ride
round you and to make a few slight alterations. Turn the
thumb of your bridle hand more down, your knuckles almost
across the horse's neck, and drop the hand a bit ; rest the
back of the right hand easily on the thigh. Do not sit bolt
upright, as if you had swallowed a ramrod or had gone
through a severe course of back-board drill ; do not, on the
contrary, roach your back, poke your head forward, and sit
all-of-a-heap in a toad-like position ; do not adopt what Sir
Bellingham Graham termed "awash-ball seat." There is
no occasion whatever for you to look straight out between
the horse's ears, and to hold your neck as if it were glued to

mE SEAT. 49

one of the old-fashioned military leather stocks. Sit easily
and naturally as in a chair, get all of that buckram stiffness
out of your body, and Avhen you give the horse his head,
let the whole body flex with his motion. We do not want
to see this yielding to his movements developed into an
exaggerated swing or bend, it should be nothing more than
an almost imperceptible sway, devoid of all lateral inclina-
tion. Men that look stiff and ride stiff are seldom, or never
ideal horsemen ; they tire themselves and fatigue their
horses. A man can sit perfectly upright without appearing
as if he wore steel corsets, had a steel wire doing duty for
spinal marrow, and was trussed up like the brave old Cid
on Bavieca when, like Death on the Pale Horse, his mailed
corpse "reared on his barbed steed" led the Spanish host
against King Bucar of Morocco. An easy seat in no way
detracts from a firm one, but the very reverse. To preserve
a perfect equilibrium or balance, the rider's body, without
seeming to do so, must adapt itself and conform to every
movement of the horse. The position of your legs and
feet are well enough, but there is a certain stiffness and
want of play about the knee and ankle suggestive of the
surgical manufacturer's art rather than of a live limb, and
of the leg being nailed to the saddle flap.

^Vhen you have so far perfected your grip of the saddle,
and have acquired confidence, then, having selected the
best model of your sex, one in whom the ease and grace
of being perfectly at home is contrasted with the restraint
and formality of the riding school, copy that model as closely
as can be. Be sure that he is a man who shines not only
in the Row, and on the road, but in the hunting field also.
Although the seat of hunting men varies considerably, there
is an undefinable something about a first-rate cross country
rider, a certain subtle ease, security, and confidence begotten

E

50 HORSEMANSHIP.

of having ridden all sorts of horses, over all sorts of countries,
and at all descriptions of fences. He takes no trouble to
appear or act like a horseman, there is no affectation, no
attitudinising, nothing peculiar about him, yet his every
motion is that of a gentleman and of a finished equestrian.
Do not make your own selection of a model, but elect to
follow the silent teaching of one who is on all hands an
acknowledged brilliant horseman, and not a mere fearless
bruising rough-rider, " the first in the throng," perhaps, but
still not a master of the art.

Some short rotund men may acquire a strong seat, but
dumpies cast in that mould can never make elegant riders ;
in fact, such figures are not attractive under any conditions.
Men so built are apt to roll in the saddle, and once out of it
are difficult to get back again. It is not the low stature
that militates against such robust Pygmeans ; it is the round
and short thigh, the fleshy knee, and the general Bacchana-
lian chubby conformation that handicap them so heavily.
Perhaps for all purposes a well-proportioned five feet seven
to five feet nine man, light-flanked, broad-shouldered, all
" wire and whipcord," with strong arms, muscular but hollow
thighs, riding between nine stone seven to ten stone seven,
is the one best calculated to look well on a horse and to get
all that is necessary out of him. The ''tall, plump, brawny
youth " Somerville spoke of is another individual who does
not, as a rule, make a good show in the saddle. Some tall
men, notably Colonel Anstruther Thomson, look remarkably
well and are fine horsemen^ but it must be borne in mind
that the longer the stirrup leather is, the more difficult is it
to keep the leg and foot steady. Tall men, especially
those with abnormal length of limb, should remember the
necessity of educating their thighs and knees to take a firm
grip of the saddle, and of keeping their bodies steady.

THE SEAT. 51

Though we have not yet got so far as the trot, 1 shall here
refer to a very objectionable fore and aft pendulum move-
ment of the leg from the knee downwards which grinds the
calf of the leg against the saddle flaps to the detriment of
both. Sometimes the knee takes part in this odious un-
workmanlike " swag " friction motion.

There is a prevalent idea that tall men soon tire their
horses, but as much more of the weight in such cases is
carried below the stirrup bars than in those of men of less
length of limb, this notion will not bear investigation. Why
they tire their horses sooner is that their elongated stature
brings with it an increase of weight; the shorter the length,
in the absence of rotundity, the easier it is kept stationary ;
but some of our best cross-country performers have been
over six feet in their stocking soles. Mr. Thomas Assheton
Smith, the mightiest hunter that ever wore a horn at his
saddle bow, was a twelve stone man, five feet ten inches
high, athletic, well-proportioned, very muscular, but slight.

Before discussing the proper length of stirrup, I would
say a few words on the important subject of riding without
stirrups. If a man contemplates becoming a perfect horse-
man, and will not be content with mediocrity, he must
accustom himself to regard the stirrup as a mere accessory
support, and not as an absolute necessity. In my remarks
on early tuition, I have endeavoured to explain the several
advantages claimed for this ancient mode of riding. The
cavalry recruit is permitted the use of stirrups for a short
time only after having had some forty lessons. He is taught
to leap without stirrups, and the more he rides without them
the greater is his strength, the closer the grip and the better
the balance. It is only towards the close of his long spell
of instruction that he is permitted to ride with stirrups and
to take up his bit rein. No horseman can have perfect

52 HORSEMANSHIP.

freedom of hand till his seat be firm, and this grip, com-
bined with balance — both essentials — is only to be acquired
by riding, as the famous Numidian cavalry of Carthage,
stirrupless. The late Major Whyte-Melville quotes one un-
deniable authority as a noteworthy exponent of the advan-
tages of this practice as a groundwork for beginners. " The
late Captain Percy Williams, as brilliant a rider over a
country as ever cheered a hound, and to whom few jockeys
would care to give five pounds on a race-course, assured me
that he attributed to the above self-denying exercise that
strength in the saddle which used to serve him so well from
the distance home. When quartered at Hounslow with his
regiment, the 9th Lancers, like other gay young light
dragoons, he liked to spend all his available time in London.
There were no railroads in those days, and the coaches did
not always suit for time : but he owned a sound, speedy,
high-trotting hack, and on this " bone-setter " he travelled
backwards and forwards twelve miles of the great Bath road,
with military regularity, half as many times in the week.
He made it a rule to cross his stirrups over his horse's
shoulders the moment he was off the stones at either end,
only to be replaced when he reached his destination. In
three months time, he told me, he had gained more practical
knowledge of horsemanship, and more muscular power
below the waist, than in all the hunting, larking, and riding-
school drills of the previous three years."

According to the strict rules of the riding-school, the
proper length of the stirrup leathers is determined by the
sole of the stirrup iron touching the lower edge of the ankle-
bone when the foot hangs loose. Another method of deter-
mining the suitable length of stirrup leather is to place the
tips of the fingers of the right hand against the bar to which
the leathers are hung, and measuring from the bottom bar

THE AIDS. 53

to the armpit; when the sole of the stirrup-iron reaches
the rider's side under the armpit the adjustment is correct.
When taking a gallop across country, or over broken rough
ground, the stirrups should be taken up two holes, and
when starting on a long journey it is advisable to do the
same. This will ease both horse and rider. When long in
the saddle the rider will find much relief by at times taking
his feet out of the stirrups and letting the legs hang loose,
toes pointing downwards. He should invariably adjust his
stirrups prior to mounting, and see, unless some malforma-
tion of limb has to be provided for, that both are of a length.
All stirrup leathers should be double barred ; that pattern
of buckle permits of the easier alteration of the leathers and
allows them to lie flatter under the upper flap of the saddle.
On no account must the end of the leathers be run throus^h
the space between the bars, it must lie back flat on the flap.
at an angle, passing under the rider's thigh.

The Aids.

In horsemanship the aids, so called, are the almost im-
perceptible motions and practical applications of the bridle-
hand, or hands and legs, through which the wishes of the
rider are conveyed to the horse in order to determine his
movements, turnings, and paces, and by which he is taught
to obey the bit, and is given a light mouth. Their object
is, through certain indications, to make the rider understood
and obeyed by the horse, and it is necessary that these
indications should be such that the rider can employ them
instantaneously and with certainty under all circumstances.
They should be so simple and so marked that no man can
mistake, and no horse misunderstand, them. Obedience to
hand and leg is the foundation of a horse's education ; it

54 HORSEMANSHIP.

will not suffice that he should own the mastery of one, he
must be amenable to both, for without invariable, unhesi-
tating obedience to both he cannot be a perfect riding-
horse.

For obvious reasons the voice, except it be in the form
of the word of command, is not permitted to rank among
the aids in the military riding-school, but with every other
class of horse it is fully entitled to be regarded as such.
Many an old troop or battery horse knows and obeys the
command as readily as the trained man on his back.

The different aids are called in requisition in the follow-
ing manner, the supposition in most cases being that the
horse is being ridden in a snaffle or on the bridoon.

Walk. — Slacken the hold on the bit by turning the little
fingers of both hands forwards towards the horse's head,
both legs at the same moment and together being pressed
to the horse's side, giving the word to move with the
accompanying k-l-k. When the horse has moved off bring
his head in, arch his neck, do not let him poke his nose
out, let the hands resume their former position, do not let
him saunter in a slovenly manner, but step out smartly well
up to the hand. Do not press him beyond his best walking
pace, and be careful that the pace is a true one, not border-
ing on the trot or amble.

Halt. — Simultaneously with the word Whoa I or Halt!
bring the little fingers towards the breast, turning the nails
of both hands inwards and upwards in the direction of the
body. See that when halted he stands evenly on both hind
legs.

Rein hack. — Properly speaking, this movement to the rear
should be performed with the bit, and in using it great care
must be taken not to jerk the mouth. Before attempting
this practice with a novice, he must be prepared for it by

THE AIDS. 55

being made to stand well reined in, so that the rider's hand
may have the necessary bearing (called appui) on his
mouth. On giving the word Back I feel both reins lightly
by working the little fingers towards the breast, previously
pressing both legs to the horse's sides to raise his forehand.
The prevalent idea with many is that in reining back the
horse's weight should be as much as possible thrown upon
the hind legs, and that his haunches must be drawn well
under him in a sort of sitting posture. This, however, is
wrong. "W^e want the horse to step or walk backwards
collectedly in a straight line, not to run, hurry, or stagger
back out of hand with more or less pain and difiiculty,
frightened and excited. Now, with all his weight in addi-
tion to that of his rider thrown on his hind quarters, and
his hocks bent under him at an angle of forty-five degrees,
he is less able to use them and to step back, and his temper
is roused to resist the aids. He will probably lay his ears
back, hug his tail, show every sign of sulkiness or fight, and
will, as likely as not, rear. Under such circumstances the
hands must be at once eased off, and both legs applied to
regain his balance forward, for till he stands up again fair
and square the attempt must not be renewed. With
temper and firmness, unless the conformation be at fault,
most horses may in a few lessons be taught to step to the
rear by means of the aids^ but some will obstinately refuse
compliance with the rider's wishes. In this case the best
plan is to subject the obdurate animal to the Galvayne
system. Should the horse take kindly to the movement
the rider must be careful to ease the reins after each step,
to at first exact only a few steps, increasing by degrees,
to be careful that the haunches are not thrown to one side
or the other, and that the whole weight does not fall on one
of the hind legs suddenly.

56 HORSEMANSHIP.

The Canter. — The aids to be used in this pace are fully
discussed in the paragraphs on that subject.

Right or Left Turn. — Preparatory to turning a few bend-
ing lessons will be found useful. Their object is to
teach the horse that when he feels the right rein he must
turn his head to the right, that pressure on the left rein
implies that it must be turned to the left, and that when
both reins are felt he must arch his neck or "rein in."
During these lessons he is not permitted to move off his
ground. When the bend is complete he should be taught
to hold his head in that position without restraint, and must
not be permitted to throw his head back hurriedly into its
original position, it must be brought back quietly by the
rider's hand. In turning to the right or the left, the horse
is kept up to his bit by the pressure of both legs, the pres-
sure of the one on the side to which the turn is to be made
being the stronger.

F?rssure of the Leg. — This necessary aid is best acquired
by circling the horse on his forehand and haunches, without
which it is difficult for the rider to be perfect in its applica-
tion, or the horse thoroughly obedient to its pressure. By
circling the horse on the forehand he learns on the applica-
tion of the leg to move his haunches to either hand, and
by making him circle on his hind legs we prevent him from
moving them to the right or left. Without a series of
diagrams it would be almost impossible to describe and
teach these instructive lessons of the Baucher incthode,
which entirely upset the system of the old school. If a
copy of the " Training of Cavalry Remount Horses," by
the late Captain L. E. Nolan, of the 15th Hussars, who fell
at Balaclava, be obtainable, I would counsel the reader to
procure and carefully study it. To that gallant officer,
more than to any other, do we owe the present excellent
horsemanship of the British cavalry.

THE AIDS. 57

Undoubtedly the best method a beginner can follow in
acquiring the scientific application of the various "aids"
of hand and leg is to join a military school. There,
in that sequence of mounted movements known as the
" single ride " he will, with attention, soon learn every variety
of turn, inclination, and pace. He will there be taught that
the simultaneous application of hand and leg is the ground-
work of good horsemanship. The leg pressure must not be
a heavy clinging of the limb, or a clumsy kick in the ribs
from the heel, but an elastic pressure or " feel " of the
muscles. The movement of the hand, though almost imper-
ceptible to the spectator, must communicate itself distinctly
to the bars of the horse's mouth. The great skill of a horse-
man in the management of the bridle hand consists in not
making the bit to be felt too severely, and in moderating its
effect by the mildness and pliability of the hand; or, in
other words, in not employing more strength than the horse
actually requires, and in checking or yielding by degrees,
but never harshly or suddenly. The effect of the rein on
the bit should be lively and certain. Under no circum-
stances must the rider contract the habit of ^' riding in the
horse's mouth," or, more plainly^ that of seeking support
and balance from the bridle. The pressure on the bit
should be just sufficient to give a steady and graceful
carriage to the horse's head. In order to secure exactitude
of bit action, the reins must be held of the same length, the
cannons of the mouth-piece exercising, to an ounce, the
same pressure. Nothing irritates, in the first place, a
horse's mouth so much as constant dead pressure upon it ;
and the irritation in time begets callousness.

Most horses, if carefully taught, in obedience to the will
of the rider, signalled by leg pressure and the attitude he
assumes, respond at once by breaking into any pace and

58 HORSEMANSHIP.

turning in any direction. All that is required is patience
and system on the part of the instructor. The Bedaween of
the desert are not, in our acceptation of the term, good
horsemen. Their seat is cramped, and their bridle a
halter, with a piece of chain as a nose band. They have
neither bit nor spur, yet in full career their horses pull up
into a dead halt, start off again at full speed, turn and
wrench with all the fire and activity of a Waterloo Cup grey-
hound, and obey the slightest motion of their wild masters.
In a very few months a well-bred English horse can be
trained to be as observant of his rider's dumb motions as the
pure-bred steed of Nejd, or the equally high caste " air
drinker " of the Maharaina. There is nothing the Arab can
teach his terse, swift, and mettlesome companion of his tent
that we cannot, if so minded, teach the descendants of the
Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Barb, and the Byerley Turk.
Our horses are, under kind intelligent treatment, eminently
teachable, but their high spirit is often broken by brutality
and impatience. The horse possesses great nervous sensi-
bility, and is easily disposed to the various impressions of
fear, affection, and dislike. The rider should endeavour to
establish a sort of mesmeric lingual influence over his horse.
Nothing is better calculated to calm and steady a horse,
to make him obedient to his master's will, to prevent an
accident, or to reassure a frightened animal, than the con-
fidence he feels in the voice he is accustomed to hear, in
tones of kindness, reproof, or commendation.

" Soothe him with praise, and make him understand
The loud applauses of his master's hand." *

This is the secret of the Arab's proverbial whispering in his

horse's ear.

* Dryden.

THE WALK. 59

The Walk.

Much valuable instruction is gained from that apparently
simple pace, the walk, which, of course, is the first ventured
upon, and ought to be practised for some time before any of
the other paces are attempted. It is in this slow pace that
the rider acquires the fundamental lessons of seat, the aids,
of turning, inclining, stopping, reining back, and so forth.
The novice, therefore, will do wisely to practise all these
movements at the walk,''always keeping his horse well up to
his bit and exacting a quick animated step, free from even a
suspicion of ambling. The feel on the mouth should be
such that every beat of his action is deUcately but distinctly
felt. The horse must not be permitted to move forward
the moment his rider springs from the ground or is in the
saddle; a well trained animal should not stir till he gets
the " office " to walk — the slight pressure of both legs and the
feel of his mouth equally with both reins. The rider's hands,
not more than six inches apart, should then be down just
in front of his thighs, with a good long hold of the reins
behind the pommel. This is not strict riding-school teach-
ing, but the position is unrestrained, it gives the horse's
head due liberty, and looks well. He should ride in a per-
fectly straight line, diverging neither to the right nor to the
left.

The exercise of the circle, which can be practised in
any convenient open space as well as in a riding-house, will
be found to greatly assist in giving firmness and grip witli
balance, also in perfecting the hands, and in developing
the aids of body, legs, and whip. In India almost all the
school work is al fresco. A piece of ground one hundred
and twenty feet long by fifty feet broad should be staked or

6o

HORSEMANSHIP.

Otherwise marked out, and to this the practice should be

confined. The accompany-
ing diagram describes the
lines to work on. The two
large circles, A and B, are
each fifty feet in diameter
and can readily be described
by means of a lawn-tennis
marker ; the smaller ones, C
and D, are necessarily each
twenty-five feet in diameter.
The intersection of the circles
and the termination of the
diagonal lines are the points
where the ground is to be
changed from one circle to
another. The rider need not
confine himself to working
in one circle, as this be-
comes monotonous and irk-
some, and moreover soon
brings the horse into the
treadmill habit of working
it^ reeling it off by rote. He
should never be aware of
the rider's next move or in-
tention except through the
truth and correctness of the
aids.

After travelling round the
large circles, he should be
guided to perform the figure 8. The number of circles ma}-
be multiplied and their diameter diminished, the rider, from

THE WALiC, ^i

time to time, diversifying the track and changing ground
diagonally from one circle to another. The number of per-
mutations and combinations to be described on this limited
area are numberless. The greatest exactness, uniformity
and delicacy must be observed in their execution ; each and
every circle or change must be mathematically correct. The
pace and time must be uniform, and the horse, in order to
readily obey the hand, must be kept well up to his bit. A
visit to any circus will show the tyro that in order to
preserve the poise of his body the horse must lean towards
the centre of the ring proportionately to the size of the
circle and the speed at which he is working. Naturally,
the rider must conform to that inclination ; both must travel
in the same plane. In describing the circle, the inward
rein is lowered and slightly borne upon with an even
pressure ; if it be held unsteadily, or jerked, the horse will
not strike a true circle. He will require also the support
of the outer rein and, probably, the aid of the outward
leg, or a slight touch on the flank from the whip, which,
under any circumstances, will remain in the rider's right
hand.

Most horses will take their signals from the inclination of
the rider's body. For instance, suppose in working these
circles and changes the rider wishes to circle to the right,
he turns his body slightly in that direction, drawing the
right leg a little back, and advancing the left so much for-
ward. The hands, I have said, should be low down,
slightly apart, and in rear of the pommel. I place them in
this free-and-easy position because such a hold of the reins
makes the rider sit square in his saddle, and for another
reason, which is this : — In guiding a horse, pressure on the
off side of the mouth guides him to the right, and a
tightened near rein inclines him to the left. Every one

62 HORSEMANSHIP.

knows this, yet in almost every case one-handed riders, by
exerting a rein pressure on the side of the neck, expect him
to forget all the teaching of the breaker and to do the very
reverse. Colonel Greenwood, late of the 2nd Life Guards,
writing on this subject, says, " When you wish to turn to
the right, pull the right rein stronger than the left; this is
common sense. The common error is precisely the reverse.
The common error is — when you wish to turn to the right,
to pass the hand to the right. By this the right rein is
slackened, and the left rein is tightened across the horse's
neck j and the horse is required to turn to the right when
the left rein is pulled. It is to correct this common error,
this monstrous and perpetual source of bad riding and bad
usage to good animals, that these pages (' Hints on Horse-
manship ') are written. I never knew a cavalry soldier,
rough-rider, riding-master, or any horseman whatever,,
who turned his horse, single handed, on the proper rein."
Again : " The soldier who is compelled to turn to the right
by the word of command, when the correct indication is
unanswered, in despair throws his hand to the right. The
consequence is, that no horse is a good soldier's horse till
he has been trained to turn on the wrong rein." Without
the same excuse for it, the same may be said of all ladies
and all civilians who ride with one hand only, and of almost
all who ride with two hands ; for, strange to say, in turning,
both hands are generally passed to the right or left ; and I
have known many of what may be called the most perfect
straightforward hands — that is, men who, on the turf, would
hold the most difficult three-year-old to the steady stroke of
a two-mile course and place him as a winner, to ,half a
length, who, on the hunting field, would ride the hottest and
the most phlegmatic made hunter with equal skill, through
all the difficulties of ground, and over every species of fence.

THE WALK.

with admirable precision and equality of hand ; or who, on
the exercise ground, would place the broken charger on his
haunches, and make him walk four miles an hour, canter six
and a half, trot eight and a half, and gallop eleven, without
being out in either pace a second of time — but who have
marred all by the besetting sin of side-feeling, of turning
the horse on the wrong rein. The consequence is, that
they can ride nothing which has not been trained to answer
wrong indications.

When riding with one hand on a double bridle, it is ex-
pedient that each rein should lie
between two fingers. This is not
the rule, but it has two advantages ;
the one, that all the inner sensitive
surfaces are exposed to the sense
of touch, the other, that a much

stronger hold is obtained. If the bit reins be divided by
the third in heu of the little finger, the reins will then be
properly divided, and the hand more alive to the feel of
the horse's mouth. The reins, therefore, should enter the
left hand in this order : The right bridoon uppermost,
between the index and second finger, the right bit between
second and third, the left bit between third and little, and
left bridoon under the little finger. The mass of spare rein,
brought up through the hollow of the hand, leaves it in the
following reversed order, falling over, like the mane, the
off-side of the neck, all being tightly stopped by the pressure
of the thumb, thus : Left bridoon uppermost, touching the
thumb, the left bit next, then <the right bit followed by the
right bridoon touching the first finger.

In the event of the right hand being requisitioned, the
bridoon rein, off side, is taken between the second and third
fingers, and the bit, if need be, between the third and little

64 HORSEMANSHIP.

fingers, or, if j^referred, the outside of the little finger rests
on it, both reins being stopped by the thumb, as before,
over the second joint of the index finger ; or the thumb
can advantageously be left free. Thus on either hand there
will be an equal tension of the four reins, and the horse-
man will be in the best possible position to control and
direct the horse.

When riding an animal with a fine or sensitive mouth the
horseman cannot be too cautious as to how he uses the bit
reins. The movements of the hands in bearing upon either
rein are precisely the same, save that in handling the bit, on
account of its greater power, a greater delicacy is requisite.
A well-bitted and handy horse can, when the rider has all
the reins in the left hand, be readily turned to the right,
provided he is going up to his bridle, as follows, and the
movement is almost imperceptible. Turn the wrist down-
ward so as to bring the heel of the hand nearer the body,
at the same time drawing the elbow back just sufficient to
bring a trifle more tension on the off reins. Should the
horse not at once respond, a touch with the right heel well
behind the girths will send his croup over to the near side
and bring his fore hand round in the desired direction. In
order to turn to the left, the action must be reversed : the
wrist is turned so as to bring the nails uppermost and the
knuckles downwards; this will bring pressure on the left
reins, which, by bringing the elbow forward and letting the
hand go over a couple of inches or so to the right, will be
increased ; the application of the left heel will then complete
the turn. But by far the most certain method is to take
the reins in both hands. Except when a horse is well
trained, and works well up to his bridle, the effect of the
reins, when held in one hand only, cannot be depended
upon with the same certainty as when both hands are em-

THE WALK. 65

ployed. The cavalry soldier must, of course, have his
sword-arm free for the use of his weapon — sabre or lance —
but with civilians there is no need for such freedom of the
dexter hand.

Nothing that I know of is so well calculated to give the
novice unyielding rigidity of hand as to take his first lessons
outside a wretched stale old drone more fit to do night work
with a "growler" than to carry a saddle. In Austraha,
when a bullock gets bogged, the bushman fixes one end of
a strong rope to his horse's tail, an.d the other is made fast
to the beast's horns, and the beeve is speedily hauled out
Many of the old " crocks " provided by riding-masters — so-
called — have as much feeling in their mouths as in their
tails, and the effect of riding such jaded callosities may be
readily imagined. What "give-and-take" movement can
there be with a dead pull on a mouth as hard as the nether
millstone? what better recipe for destroying sensitiveness
of hand and elasticity of wrist ? what greater inducement to
the beginner to ride in the plodding slave's mouth? On
the other hand, there is no more certain way by which
to unsteady and unnerve the pupil, than to put him on
high-spirited, excitable, fidgety, restless horses, or on those
with mouths so light that they, unable to face the bit, in
order to get the pressure off the bars and into the corners
of the lips, go with their noses stretched out like giraffes —
" stargazing," as it is termed.

" Hands " such as possessed by the late Fred Archer are
natural gifts. To a few, a very few, is given the power of
immediately adapting them to the pecuharities of any
horse's mouth, and this exquisite sensibility of touch is
more freely bestowed on the gentler sex. This much-to-be-
envied power may be by long and varied practice developed
into a high art \ but if the germ be not implanted nothing

V

^6 HORSEMANSHIP.

approaching perfection can be attained. Though the in-
born talent can neither be communicated nor self-acquired,
still the means of forming a fairly good and useful hand can
be imparted, and by practice and study a certain amount of
cultivation arrived at. Archer began riding as a child, and
the finest exhibitions of handling of horses I have ever seen
preponderate among those who have been in the saddle
from their youth upwards. My readers must not on this
account despair ; for though that indescribable finish, which
a few of either sex can lay claim to may be denied to them,
the safety, grace, and excellence of ordinary riding is, with
few exceptions, within the reach of all.

To preserve a light, easy feeling upon the horse's mouth
the hands should not be clamped on to the reins like a
vice, but only sufficiently closed to prevent the reins slipping
or being drawn through the fingers. The alternate relaxa-
tion and contraction of the fingers on the reins, though all
but imperceptible, will be reciprocated by the horse ; a sort
of electric current, so to speak, is by this operation estab-
lished and continued between the hand and the bars of
the mouth, any sense of " dead pull " is done away with, the
mouth does not become heated and hardened, the horse's
attention is kept on the qui vive, and he moves pleasantly
under full command. The hand must be one continued
active spring in correspondence with the motions of the
horse's head, and the lighter the play of the spring the better.
The hands that control with the most delicate touch always
hold the master-key. Force contre force may sometimes be
called for ; there is no rule without its exception; but with
horses the light hand wins the day.

THE TROT. 67

The Trot.

Once more, and without apology for so doing, I refer to
the "up-stirrup" practice so strongly advocated and so
constantly put into practice by that fine horseman, the late
Captain Percy Williams, of that good old fighting corps,
the 9th Lancers, as the shortest cut towards attaining a
thoroughly firm and workmanlike seat. Nothing shakes
the beginner so quickly and so thoroughly down into his
saddle. As a groundwork for beginners there is nothing
like " up stirrups." I do not advocate the doing away with
these aids entirely, for without them no one can, in our
saddles or in any other that I know of, ride to the best
advantage ; but to give the tyro grip with balance they, in
the A B C of equitation, should be left in the saddle-room.
When the cavalry recruit is first allowed these luxuries they
are invariably a hole or two longer than they will be
eventually fitted, so that his dependence on them as *' hold-
fasts " may be limited, and that he may bring every muscle
into play to secure his equilibrium. No man can lay valid
claim to the title of horseman till he feels himself thoroughly
at home in the saddle under all emergencies without
stirrups.

We take it for granted that the pupil, by close attention
to the instruction he has already received, and by constant
practice, has acquired a close, strong, and flexible seat, and
that, together with grip and balance he has, to some extent,
mastered the " aids," the action of hands and legs being
simultaneous. Without stirrups the trot is the most difficult
of all paces. The position of the body of the rider, with or
without stirrups, must be precisely the same, the toes raised
and the feet nearly parallel to the body of the horse. There

68

HORSEMANSHIP.

is a tendency of the toes to droop and point outwards when
the foot is not supported by the stirrup irons, which position

i?r

THE TROT.

not only eases off the due pressure of the inside of the knee
and thigh, transferring it to the calf, but produces a con-
strained and unsightly appearance.

THE TROT. 69

The rider must bump the saddle, there is no help for it ; but
the jolting will do his liver good, and strengthen the muscles ?
of his stomach. He must rise and fall with the pace of the
horse ; but a good deal of the " bone setting " may be got rid
of by allowing both body and limbs to be perfectly flexible
and free from restraint, except so far as to preserve the proper
position in the saddle and to guard against the tendencies
above referred to. With the bridle in both hands, using the
bridoon reins only, his first trot must be slow and of short
duration. He must not seek support from the bridle, or by
clinging, like a sailor shinning up a bare pole, to the sides
of his horse, but must sit well down and endeavour to find
his seat by the aid of the balance alone. If nature has
endowed him with round thick thighs and short muscular
legs, why then he will have a inauvais quart dWieiire, and a
rough, slippery fifteen minutes it will be. Men with long
flat thighs will take to the novel situation, if not nervous,
like young ducks to water. Once perfected in the trot, all
the rest is comparatively plain sailing. To beginners first
lessons must be slow and of short duration, and the horse
selected to take them on had better be well bred, with springy
pasterns, and an elastic yielding spine. Many tyros, whose
muscles and interior economy are unused to the efl"ort, will
soon tire, others become numbed, and in warm close
weather I have known not a few suffer from giddiness.
Under such circumstances, an immediate halt, with a
friendly grip on mane or pommel, is allowable. Of course
the rider, say what the instructor may, will at first endeavour
to promote a rise at the expense of the bars or angle of the
horse's mouth. Some there are who, if allowed stirrups,
will rise in them to make the horse raise a trot, not having
learnt the fact that the trotting of the horse induces the
rising, not the rising the trot. Others work their arms

70 HORSEMANSHIP,

and commence ducking up and down, like feminines
dipping in the sad sea wave.

After, as in the walk, a course of " single-ride " and circling
as advocated in this chapter, the rider will have mastered the
primary difficulties of the trot, and he may now, at the close
of each day's practice, be indulged with stirrups a hole or two
longer thani he will, perhaps, care for. As he improves, he
will, according to the action of the horse, be properly fitted
in respect of length of leather. The stirrup will be brought
to meet the foot — the leg being in its proper position — not
the foot to the stirrup. At first he must not be encouraged
to rise in his stirrups, but to sit well down in his saddle — the
whole of the body springing from the elasticity of the balls
of the feet bearing on the stirrup together with the flexibility
of the ankles and knees. Having found his balance, he may
then, with such grace and ease as he can command, gently
rise and fall with the action of the horse — taking care not to
exhibit too much daylight between himself and the saddle,
also, as already protested against, seeing that his feet do not
''swag," or swing forward, as he falls into his seat, or,
pendulum-Hke, travel back under him as he rises. A very
ugly and, amongst old gentlemen, prevalent trick or habit
the pupil should be warned against, viz. the conversion of
the elbows into wings wherewith to aid the body in adjusting
itself to meet the bump. It always, to me, conveys the
impression of an ugly old duck emerging from some horse-
pond, and on tip-toe flapping his pinioned wings.

Once the rider has acquired the art of rising on the leading
leg, has learnt to overcome the mysteries of the double bump,
and can collect and extend his horse to any speed he wills,
he may for greater ease, taking some living George Rice for
his model, slightly alter his seat. Without reaching his back
or thrusting his chin out, he, still well down in his saddle,

THE TROT. 71

may incline his body from the loins just a little forward,
bringing his hands inwards towards his waist. The hands-
wrists rounded so that the nails are towards the body — remain
stationary, the body, as it rises and falls, approaching and then
retiring from them — the greatest distance between the hands
and the waist being, as the body seeks the saddle, say four
inches. At the extreme of the rise the lower waistcoat button
will touch the hands without disturbing them. This is an
essentially quiet style of riding ; the rise and fall is minimised
so as to be almost imperceptible; it gives spring to the
shoulders, elbows and -wrists, and favours light, sensitive
handling.

In seeking to catch the cadence of the rise the rider

should be up in his stirrups when the off fore leg is down ;

the time being taken from this foot. The rise must not

be made suddenly, or with a jerk ; the impetus must come

from the horse. It is far more elegant to underdo than

overdo movement. A man jumping up and down in his

saddle, like a stamp in an ore crusher, must be a most

uncomfortable load for the poor beast whose vertebrae he is

pounding. A horse at the trot must not be permitted to

hang on the rider's hand, or to dawdle in his pace ; the pace

must be true. Should he go "unconnected," i.e. half

cantering and half trotting, it is impossible to keep even

motion with him. If urged beyond his pace he will what is

termed " break up," and go all abroad, perhaps break into

a gallop. In such case he must be pulled up, steadied, and

once more, with his head in, made to step clean, light and

evenly. He must not on any account be rated or punished,

the fault was not his ; he was asked to go faster than his legs

could carry him. A few caresses and kind words will

*' gentle" him. In this little island eight-and-a-half miles

an hour is as fast as a common hack or park trot need be,

72 HORSEMANSHIP.

if well done : we leave " under the thirties " to our go-ahead
transatlantic cousins.

The Canter.

From the trot the horse naturally springs into the canter,
that is if the rider knows how to prepare him for it. I must
here refer the reader to the chapter on Action, in which this
armchair pace is fully described. How often do we see a
" muff" endeavouring to put his horse from a trot into a
canter. First a dig in the ribs with one heel, to be followed
by a jam from both — klk ! klk ! klk ! a chuck with one, then
with both bits at the poor brute's mouth, and an inviting
rise in the stirrups. The trot becomes a faster and more
unconnected trot, still no canter, the pace degenerating into
a sort of a go-as-you-please indescribable double-shuffle — a
cross breed between the gait of a galloping cow, the rack of
a Jerusalem jackass, and the *' flippant shtep" of an Irish
pig with a lead to its hind leg. Another fumble with the
reins, more back-heeling, spiced with a Httle red-hot profanity
perhaps, and a "rib-binder" from the whip, drive the quad-
ruped into a sprawling gallop, wrong leg leading, the reins
are here, there and everywhere, bunched up all of a tangle,
and the Mr. Washball, to save a runaway or a cropper, has
to pull up as best he can.

The Canter is an artificial pace, during which, in a repe-
tition of short bounds, the forehand rises first and higher
than the quarters. Though the easiest of all to the
rider, it is the most tiring and trying to the horse. The
horse being light in hand and well balanced — having pre-
viously, when in the hands of the breaker, been tutored in
Bending, Reining-in, and in obeying the pressure of the leg
— can be made to strike a canter from the halt, walk, or

THE CANTER.

73

74 HORSEMANSHIP,

trot. The great secret in striking off is to take the weight
off the leg you wish the horse to lead with. Should the
horse be at all awkward in this pace, the best plan is to
give him ten days' or a fortnight's instruction in the open-air
riding-school, suggested at page 59. In a state of freedom
a horse almost always leads, in his three natural paces —
the walk, the trot and the gallop — with the left leg, only
changing to the right to turn to that hand ; for this reason
it is advisable to give him his first few lessons working
entirely to the right. In cantering to the right increase
the pressure of the legs, touching him, if need be, with the
spur, restraining him with the reins, preferably the curb,
and at starting throw all the weight possible on the near
hind leg. The excess of pressure on the mouth should be
exerted by the left hand, that on the horse's side from the
rider's right leg. This excess of bearing on the near side
of the mouth is not to turn the horse to the left, but to
bring all the weight on the near side. Always place the
horse in position before asking him to strike off. In this
position his off-legs are at liberty, and the forward impulse,
communicated by the aids, compels him to use them. The
light, playful action of both hands raises his forehand, the
pressure of both legs makes him bring his haunches under
him, and the prick of the spur sends him forward. Care
must be taken that he does not bore on the bit, but that
it exerts a reining-in influence, otherwise the leg and spur
will only communicate a forward influence without the
essential bringing in of the haunches, when the effect on the
hind quarters is lost. In cantering to the right the off fore-
leg leads, followed by the off hind; in cantering to the
left the placing of the legs is reversed. Teach him to work
in a circle, to commence with, and then on the straight line.
Once perfect in working in these two directions, then teach

THE CANTER. 75

him to circle to the left, to change legs' on the move,
to strike, either leg leading at your option, a canter from
both the halt and the trot, and to turn to the right and
left without alteration of pace. The canter, though collected,
should never be so slow as to effect the lightness and
spring of the horse's action, and must not be permitted to
develop into a hand-gallop. In bringing the horse to a
walk, do not permit him to fall first into a trot. Plenty of
'•' Reining-back" practice will tend to get the horse well
on his haunches and to develop the use of them ; further,
it accustoms the animal to collect himself, to trust to the
rider's hand and leg for guidance, and teaches him to yield
to his master's will. Never continue the canter too long ;
being an unnatural pace it soon tires the horse and shakes
his forelegs. The hands must be constantly feeling the
mouth in order to retain the head and neck in their proper
position, without in any way counteracting the forward
impulse communicated by the pressure of the leg and the
occasional gentle reminder from the spur, if inclined to get
" behind the bit," or disinclination to go well " up to the
hand." A horse may canter as much behind the bit as he
pleases, provided he does not flag, and at once, in response
to the pressure of the rider's leg, goes forward to the hand.
Some well-trained horses canter handsomely be the reins
ever so lose. If a horse be inclined to lean on the bit,
the best plan is to yield to him, to press both legs and
touch him with the spur, by which means he will at once
come on his shoulders. A sudden halt from a sharp canter
may result, in the case of young horses especially, in
throwing out a curb or otherwise injuring the hocks ; it is
advisable therefore to slacken pace before halting.

When a horse has struck the canter truly, the rider's chief
object must be to collect the pace. With this in view he

76 HORSEMANSHIP.

should keep his hands low, with a long, easy hold of the
reins in both hands, and his legs close to the horse's body,
whose hind quarters must be kept in a straight line with the
forehand. The motion of an easy canter is as comfortable
as that of a rocking-chair, but when the action h false, i.e.
disunited with the fore, or disunited with the hind legs, it is
the very reverse, and immediately makes itself felt. There
are three distinct movements in the canter which are false :
First, when in cantering to the right, the near fore foot leads,
followed by the near hind. Second, the horse is said to be
" disunited with the fore " when in cantering to the right the
near fore leg is leading. Third, ''disunited with the hind
legs," when the both hind feet do not make the same length
of pace, the off hind remaining or being put down further
back than the near one. All riding horses, from the race-
horse to the child's pony, should be taught by the pressure
of the rider's legs to bring their haunches under them on all
occasions, whether at the halt or at the speed. To correct
false or disunited action, the most certain method for the
beginner will be to pull up into a walk and then strike off
properly again. But if this is not, especially when riding in
company, convenient, the rider must pull him up into a trot,
feel both reins to the left, the horse's head being kept slightly
bent to the right, firmly close the pressure of the left leg,
touch him with that spur, and throw as much weight as
possible into the near stirrup. This will bring his haunches
in and rectify the fault. In the second instance, in order to
raise his whole forehand, close both legs on him, let him
feel both spurs, feel both reins to the left, his head still slightly
inclined to the right and throw the weight on the near fore
leg. In the third case, the object is to impede the action
of the near hind leg to bring that of the off hind further
under him and so restore his balance. His head, therefore,

THE GALLOP. 77

is kept straight with a good hold, and firm pressure of the
left leg with application of the left spur sends his quarters
flying over to the offside, and he must change. In all these
applications of the aids the horse's temper must be taken
into consideration. It is of importance that impulse com-
municated to the horse by voice, pressure of the leg, or
spur, should be tempered with judgment and knowledge
of his temper so that the result sought for may be obtained
without the risk of his getting beyond the control of the
rider's hand. In the canter especially, the spur must be
applied with caution and delicacy.

The Gallop.

In the gallop, as compared with the canter, the horse no
longer throws himself back on his haunches with his fore-
legs lightly touching the ground, but throws the greater part
of his weight on his fore-hand ; the hind-quarters, thighs
and hocks now being called on to exert their full propell-
ing power. For this reason, therefore, it is essential that
the hunter should be well-formed in front of the saddle.
That, in addition to this, he should be deep in girth, strong
over the loins, or couplings, with fully developed gaskins,
goes without saying. The head has to be brought down to
its proper level so that his eyes become the lantern of his
feet. The great mistake most men make in galloping, down-
hill especially and over rough broken ground, is in not giving
their horses enough play or liberty of the head. In another
part of this volume I have assigned to the Australian stock-
rider the position of the first horseman in the world. 1 should
not recommend one of these colonial centaurs to steer a
two-year-old for the Criterion, or a three-year-old for the
Derby or St. Leger ; did I possess a likely nag for the Grand

78 HORSEMANSHIP.

National I should not offer him the mount ; he would be
very much out of his element in the Row, and might not,
during his first season, shine in the shires ; but taking him
all in all, for covering long distances of ground, for skill
in sitting thoroughly wicked and dangerous horses, and in
riding them through thickly timbered country, over break-
neck fences and trappy ground, he has no match. In a
mountainous, log and boulder strewn country, full of
scarped rocks and dangerous gullies and ravines he
shines preeminently.

It is on record, how that Jack Shirley, the whipper-in to
the Tedworth Hunt, was one day observed on his famous
horse " Gadsby," following the hounds at a rattling pace
straight down hill, with a large open clasp-knife in his mouth
busy tying a whip-cord lash to his whip. The old trained
hunter, by throwing his legs forward and his body back,
knew that he was safe in galloping straight down the turfy
incline, and so did hard-riding Jack Shirley. What was
seen with the Tedworth might be witnessed any day and
every day in the bush. The stock-rider, in an ordinary buck-
saddle, with a snaffle bit, has to be ever on the alert to round
in some break-away steer or to turn some pugnacious bull.
His horse, too, when once he is broken to the game, is as
clever as a sheep dog : he has full liberty of his head and
uses it. The reader will not dream of galloping in Rotten
Row or on the Queen's highway, but there is no reason
why he should not, when so disposed, enjoy a "breather"
on the Downs, or over any good sound galloping ground ;
indeed, should he aspire some day to don *' pink " he must
accustom himself to the gallop. On light springy turf, such
as that of the Heath, at Newmarket, he may give his horse
his head and let him stride along, getting up in his stirrups,
grasping the mane, and going slowly up the last bit of

THE GALLOP. 70

rising ground -, through heavy ground he will ease him and
pull him together, but he must come fast and straight
down every declivity. I learnt this when hog-hunting on
the low rocky mimosa-covered hills of the Deccan, when he
who hesitated was lost, so far as first spear was concerned.
At the gallop, both hands must be on the reins : the rider
need not follow any prescribed rule in the matter of holding
them, so long as he keeps his hands low.

Though I do not advocate men as a rule riding like
jockeys, i.e. standing in their stirrups, still that position un-
doubtedly eases both man and horse. The long stirrup
leather does well when the ground is not broken, but when
uneven surfaces, such as ridge and furrow, water meadows,
and among ant-hills, the leathers must be shortened a hole or
two. There are degrees of raising oneself in the stirrups ; it
cannot well be underdone, and is very commonly overdone.
All that is required is that the weight should be taken off the
seat and cantle of the saddle, so that the loins and propellers
may have full scope for unhampered action. If the reader will
compare the long easy seats of some of our crack jockeys —
men jockeys, such as Tom Cannon, Webb,Watts and others —
and those of the " dolls," who usurp all the cream of the riding,
to the detriment of the turf and the horses, he will see what
I mean. These men do not get their backs up like angry
cats, do not display a lot of daylight, and do not keep their
seats off the saddle by holding on by the reins. When a
horse is going over broken ground he must, of necessity, to
accommodate himself to its inequalities^ shorten or lengthen
his stride. In such case the rider, then requiring all the
hands nature and art has given him, must sit down in the
saddle, allowing the horse, as much as possible, full liberty of
fore hand, so as to measure his own distance.

8o HORSEMANSHIP.

Dismounting.

When the horse has come to the full stop, or halt, transfer
the whip to the left hand, slide the left hand down the rein
till it meets the horse's neck, and twist a lock of the mane
round the thumb or forefinger. Disengage the right foot from
the stirrup ; place the heel of the right hand upon the off
side of the pommel-flap ; and, supporting the weight of the
body upon the right hand and left foot in the stirrup, bring
the right leg gently backwards over the hind quarters, being
careful to clear the hip and croup, the right hand gripping
the cantle as the body descends on the near side. When
the descent is to be on the off-side these positions are reversed,
the right hand having hold of the mane, the right foot in the
stirrup, and so on.

There are more expeditious methods of dismounting than
the above, all requiring more or less agility, which may be
practised with advantage. When the horse is at a halt, or
walking slowly, the rider, leaning a little back, may disengage
both feet from the stirrups and throw his right or left leg,
according to which side he desires to alight^ over the horse's
neck, sliding down with his hip next the horse's shoulder.
If he means to come down on the near side, the reins will
be in his right hand, and vice versa. This will land him with
his face to his proper front. When throwing the leg over the
horse's neck he must be careful that its head is not suddenly
thrown up.

Another speedy way in which to leave the saddle is to
draw both feet from the irons, to place the heels of both
hands on either side of the pommel, and, taking the spring
from the hands, elbows, and shoulder, to vault off the horse's
back, landing in a forward direction level with his fore-feet.

SPURS. 8i

Constant practice in this last mode of dismounting will be
useful in teaching that, in the hunting-field, very essential
knack of falling clear of one's horse.

Spurs.

"He tires betimes, who spurs too fast betimes."

Far ash, the ancient Egyptian for " rider," is said to have
been derived from the Hebrew root, to prick or spur ; so
that " the persuaders " have been used and abused for some
three thousand years. I wonder how many accidents have
occurred during the past centuries, how many good horses
have been ruined, how much money lost, and how much
devilish temper and bile let off, by the cruel, needless, sense-
less application of the armed heel ? In horsemanship there
is no subject more worthy of consideration than this use
and abuse of the spur ; and I was pleased to find that a
well-known and thoroughly competent sporting writer,
" Borderer," had, in an article in B ally's Magazine, written
with his usual force on the cruelties perpetrated by many
riders, male and female, by the untimely and far too free
application of the rowels. Though Frederick the Great
was of opinion that his troopers did more execution with
their heels than with their sabres, and that the horses' weight
and initial velocity made more impression on either cavalry
or infantry than the keenest blade or the sharpest-pointed
lance, we are not now writing with a view to charge squares,
or, like our heavies at Balaclava, to ride clean through a
serried column of dragoons. Moreover, we are of opinion
that spurless horsemen, mounted on well-bred chargers, if
their hearts be in the right place, can ride through any
square or mass of men, provided they get within striking
distance alive — a contingency of some considerable difficulty

G

82 HORSEMANSHIP.

in these days of quick-firing guns, repeating rifles, and smoke-
less powder. A well-known hunting man related the other
day the following anecdote, which goes far to show that, in
many instances, spurs are by no means necessary to induce
young horses to face awkward fences. " Some years ago
I was riding with hounds in company with Major Whyte-
Melville. There was a scare amongst several loose colts,
which ran down a green lane, turned and jumped over a
nasty, complicated fence, with timber, and a blind hedge
and ditch — not one fell. He exclaimed, ' Had those colts
been subject to a bad hand and tight curb-chain, they would
all have fallen.'"

The uses of the spur are few, its abuses many. Man, of
course, must maintain his supremacy, and there are occa-
sions, oft and many, when a combination of cool determina-
tion, plenty of time and patience, and a little sharp
punishment, are required to curb some mutineer or to
quell some outbreak. Without prompt and feeling punish-
ment resistance may grow into a vicious habit, or, at least,
a wilful propensity which must at once be curbed. I have
mentioned the treatment slowly measured out by the York-
shire Tyke to the horse that positively declined to go the
road he was wanted. But we have not always the time
to sit hour after hour, inwardly cursing the perverseness of
equine nature. The lesson of obedience has to be short,
sharp, and decisive. The prescription must be compounded
of steel and catgut. The horse, with an angry snort, an
attempt to unseat you, and a straight up-on-end rear, shows
fight. " Beware of entrance to a quarrel ; but being in,
so bear't that the opposed may beware thee." Realize
these words of Shakespeare, and execute sharp sentence.
Anger in a man, as in a horse, is a short madness, so
during the contest retain perfect temper; do not permit

SPURS. 83

yourself to get into a passion, or to drift into cruelty.
Fight it out all along the line, but fight calmly and with
judgment. First of all, before proceeding to extremities,-
speak to him in a stern voice — he will understand it —
" Who-ho, then ! What are you at, eh ? Steady ! " and
so forth. If he persists, then the time for the legitimate
use of the spurs has arrived; sit firm, bring down your
whip, or, better still, ash-plant, on his ears and over the
shoulder, on the side he declines to turn to, and let him
feel the rowels in earnest ; strike with both heels simul-
taneously immediately behind the girths — it is not given to
every man to be able to drive in both spurs together — and,
if necessary, repeat the dose. You must not be beaten, for
horses that have once found out that they can please them-
selves as to which road they shall take are never pleasant
hacks.

Another occasion when the spur may be advantageously
used, is when a horse, not pumped out, that can jump,
baulks at his fences and obstinately refuses. When a good
game animal refuses it is because he has had enough of it,
and dares not to trust himself. Many obstinately decline
to face a fence, from the fact of their having been invariably
spurred when ridden at the obstacle, and, as often as not,
from having their clumsy rider's spur stuck into their arms
on landing and getting away again. Can it be wondered,
then, that, under these circumstances, many horses, especially
thin-skinned, sensitive ones, detest the sight of a jump. It
is with the horse that can jump when he likes, and only
when he likes, that the spur can best deal ; those that can
jump and won't jump must be made to jump. A friendly hint
from the rowels very often convinces a wavering horse that
his rider quite means him to fly the obstacle in front of him,
and this is the case especially when water has to be cleared.

84 HORSEMANSHIP.

The spur should be the last and not the first resource of
the rider. Unjust, ungenerous, ungrateful punishment has
broken many a brave heart, and crushed many a gallant
spirit ; it has converted many a noble nature into that of a
savage. Though in the army the recruit is allowed spurs
before his feet ever feel a stirrup, the propriety of which
may be doubted, I would not permit any man to ride with
them till he is far advanced in the scientific application of
all the aids of hand and leg, and till he has been well
instructed in jumping and riding all sorts of horses, with
and without stirrups, over a rough country.

As compared with the whip, the spur, as a punisher or
" waker-up," has the advantage of being " the spur of the
moment." It comes without warning ; the horse cannot
watch for it out of the corner of his eye as for the whip ;
he, if both are applied together, as they ought to be when
a forward movement is demanded, cannot swerve, and
though more dreaded it inflicts less pain. The rider should
learn that a prick from a sharp rowel — and all rowels kept
for use should, like the probe of Josh Billings' "muskeeter,"
be " fresh ground and polished " — is quite as effective as a
violent stab. Many sleepy, lazy horses, especially those
that are slovenly walkers, are all the better for an occasional
superficial prick, just sufticient to awaken attention. In
the canter, too, not a few require an occasional touch of
the spur to make them go pleasantly up to the bit. To
spur a dead-beaten horse, especially one that has done his
best, is absolute cruelty.

Of spurs there are several varieties. When riding in
Newmarket or Butcher boots, or in leggings, the common
hunting or swan-necked hunting pattern will be found the
most convenient. For park work the plain box-spur,
with either straight or swan-neck, in Latchford's patent

LEAPING.

85

boxes, or the Gentleman's box-spur, also either straight or
swan- necked, are most in use. I prefer the plain, straight,
round-necked pattern, with hunting spike rowel.

■<^t'^"^,:^...

THE RIGHT SORT.

Leapinc.

A pupil should invariably be put on a thoroughly made,
safe, and pleasant hunter; one that goes quietly and col-
lectedly at his fences, and that does not know how to make

86 HORSEMANSHIP.

a mistake or refuse. Such a horse will certainly teach the
novice how to ride him^ and will, at the same time, greatly
assist him in riding others. If a man aims at becoming a
thorough workman over a country, either to hounds or
"between the flags," he must learn to ride across any shire
in the United Kingdom, from Fife to Cornwall, from
Donegal to Cork, and on every variety of horse from the
galloping, long-striding, thoroughbred of the Shires to the
thick-set blood " big-little-'un," suited to the mountains of
the Principality or the forest of Exmoor. He will soon learn
the difference between negociating a light-flying country and
a deep-holding or rough one, between an open and an
enclosed one.

Before the rider attempts jumping he should have
acquired a good firm close seat, well down into the saddle,
centaur-like. He should have no hankering after cobbler's
wax, no inclination to part company with his horse, despite
rearings, plungings, kickings, swervings, and such-like re-
prehensible performances. In these pages I have had
occasion to refer to the balance-seat, for without balance
there can be no really elegant horsemanship, but the
necessary grip of the saddle must not be sacrificed. Those
who attempt to ride over fences by balance alone will find
they have as much as they can well do to maintain their
seat over a rasper, especially if there be a drop at landing ;
and a sudden swerve or decided refusal will most likely
entail a dissolution of partnership. I must stipulate for the
rider being perfecty at home in the saddle, for to ride
properly at and over a fence, to land cleverly, and to get
away again speedily, he must feel the mouth with the
proverbial " pack-thread " rather than with the leather rein,
and to give his horse room and liberty to collect himself
before taking off — the hands must be divorced from the seat.

LEAPING. 87

Some men, when they have formed their seat, ride best
with long stirrups, some with short. The best plan, in
fencing, is to ride with that length of leather which is most
convenient and easy, remembering that when too long the
foot-hold on the irons is difficult to retain, and that for
support the rider might as well dispense with them and their
weight. In the hunting-seat proper the knees form the
grip and hinge, the inside of the calf of the legs the grasp,
while the thighs enable the body to rise and fall with the
undulating fore-and-aft motion of the horse as lightly as a
well-balanced carriage on its springs. The stirrups should,
therefore, be of a length sufficient to enable the rider to
raise that nameless portion of humanity just sufficiently
clear of the saddle to let this system of springs work freely,
without bumping, when occasions arise demanding the
entire removal of pressure and weight from the cantle of the
saddle so that the horse's loins may have full play. The
rider, by merely rising in his stirrups, should at once throw
his whole weight on to his knees, the lower part of his
legs, and into the stirrups, into which the foot should be
thrust well home. We hear a good deal of a ''handsome
long seat," but, well as it looks, it is not a strong seat, nor
one calculated to ease or assist either horse or rider. What
is wanted is that just seat, compatible with an easy, erect,
workmanlike attitude, which enables the rider to humour
himself and his mount by almost imperceptible changes of
position with a sort of ball-and-socket movement.

Having secured a good jumping nag, a snaffle hunter if
possible, the beginner will commence with the smallest
obstacles, both as regards height and width. I am not so
much afraid of his falling off as of his unduly interfering
with the liberty of the horse's head. From the very first he
must learn to abstain from attempting, by aid of the bridle.

HORSEMANSHIP.

to give his horse the smallest assistance. Though, by firm
handling of the bridle, the horse as he nears a fence must
be made to feel that there must be no refusal, and that
swerving will not be tolerated ; yet the instant that he is
about to gather himself for the effort, all bit-pressure must
be slacked off, and he must be permitted to negociate the
obstacle in his own way. There is no mistaking the
indications a horse telegraphs to his rider when he means
jumping. When he comes at his fence cheerfully and
determinedly, pricking his ears, and collecting his stride so
that the powerful sweep of his haunches may be brought
to bear, he is certain to try, and by his momentum almost
as certain to land over it.

If horses possessed the gift of speech they would, on
nearing a fence, be it a flight of sheep hurdles, a stiff
*' oxer," a high, strong and spiteful-looking bull-fincher, an
awkward stile, or water, exclaim, '^' Pray give me liberty of
head, and ease off that abominable pressure on my chin,
unless you want to cramp my jumping powers, throw me
down, and come yourself an 'imperial crowner.'" We hear
of men lifting their horses clean over big fences. It is an
expression and nothing more. How can any one, seated
on a moving object weighing, say twelve to thirteen hundred
pounds, to say nothing of his own ten to sixteen stones, lift,
without any purchase, over half a ton off the ground some
seven feet two and a half inches, the height cleared recently
by the Canadian gelding Filemateur? When Emblem
cleared thirty-six feet three inches at Birmingham, and
Chandler covered a still greater distance at Leamington,
they did so by their own unaided enormous jumping powers
and momentum, their riders did not lift them the decimal
of an inch. A lately executed instantaneous photograph
demonstrated the fact that even in the trot the horse's all four

LEAPING. 89

legs are at times in the air together off the ground, and
numbers of sun pictures have proved the gallop to be a suc-
cession of bounds. Nothing short of a winged horse can be
" lifted^^ over his fences. The action of the hands and arms
in "lifting" may induce the horse to increased effort as he
is about to spring, but in the sense the term is generally-
applied it is senseless. In a vast majority of cases this inter-
ference with the due freedom of his movements will flurry
him and prevent his taking off at the proper time and place.
The pupil is on a thoroughly made hunter, and if " on the
bare earth exposed he lies," the fault will be his own; he
must either tumble off or, by awkward handling of the reins,
cause the horse to jump short or otherwise bungle the fence,
and so bring him to grief. He must begin with something
small, simple, and easy, which he must learn to do well
The horse, I take it, is one of those that can be depended on
to jump in cold blood. Many of the best that ever crossed
a country in the wake of a pack of hounds utterly repudiate
the idea of "larking" or "schoohng." On some old hunters
the presence of hounds produces an excitement instanta-
neously recuperative of physical powers — all their prostrated
energies suddenly revive, groggy stiffness and staleness give
place to sprightly eagerness, and, like " the antlered monarch
of the waste," they sniff the tainted gale, and listening to
the cry that thickens as the chase draws nigh, are eager for
the fray. But in his sober hum-drum moments of cold
blood this same horse may positively decline to look at a
fence of any kind. Many contend that all horses dislike
jumping; are afraid of it. Such is not my experience.
Some are so fond of it that no enclosure will keep them
within bounds, and I have seen extraordinary leaps, not the
product of fright, taken by all sorts and conditions of horses,
from the thoroughbred yearling to the Shire colt.

90 HORSEMANSHIP.

The confidence or the courage of the rider depends, not
so much, in the bulk of cases, on his own inherent nerve as
on the character, strength, action, and cleverness of the
horse he bestrides. A bold, big, and safe fencer generally
transmits some of his qualities to the man on his back.
That hereditary possession of " a spare leg," or the wonder-
ful power some horses possess of being able to save them-
selves from a fall under almost all circumstances, transmits
a feeling of safety, and wondrously reduces the size of the
fences. Rest assured there is great virtue in the " fifth leg."

Let the tyro begin with a low sheep-hurdle or leaping-bar,
not higher than the horse's knees, closely and thickly inter-
laced with or incased in gorse, and placed in a narrow lane,
a gap in a fence, or in a gateway. In riding at the jump he
should take both hands to the reins with a long but steady
hold, keeping his head straight at the fence. Commencing
at a walk he should break into a trot, and, in the last few
strides — more than likely the horse will, of himself, quicken
his pace as he nears the jump in order to gain impetus — into
a canter, keeping the whole attention fixed on the spot
selected to jump. Where he should jump is your affair, how
he should clear it is his business.

When quite certain that he has made up his mind to
" have it," without relaxing the hold of the bridle, quietly by
leaning slightly forward, shift your weight on to your thighs,
knees, calves, and stirrups, by which precaution the con-
cussion or "hoist" of that sudden upward jerk or effort
necessary to the horse to clear it is avoided, and all jar to
carrier and carried is prevented. As the horse alters his
position in the air, or "reverses," his head and fore hand
being lower than the quarters, the rider's body, if the reins
be not held too short, will, by leaning back, naturally and
automatically resume its seat in the saddle. When the

LEAPING. 91

horse has topped the fence, and is on his downward journey
along the parabola he is describing, he extends his neck, and
should the rider's hold of his head refuse to relax and to
humour this extension motion, then the poor animal, on
landing, will be embarrassed by finding the said rider
perched on his pack-wax a foot or so in front of the saddle,
his neck encircled by the gentleman's arms in perfervid
embrace. The result may be that both come to the ground.
It is not easy, should the horse at once resume his pace, to
crawl or wriggle back into the saddle, and the effort gene-
rally ends in a "pip."

Had the rider been possessed of strong arms, *' hands of
iron," and a firm unyielding seat, and had he been permitted
to use a curb-bridle, there would probably be a fiasco^ and
especially so if the fence had been ridden at at any pace.
Denied that forward stretching-out liberty of head, the horse,
pinched by the curb, with his chin in his chest, *' props," i.e,^
sticks his two fore-feet on landing firm into the ground ; held
by the curb he is unable to " get away," or, in other words,
to pick up his fore-feet and resume his canter or gallop, con-
sequently the weight of his own body, and that of his rider,
multiplied by the initial velocity, revolve in a circle round
the firmly planted hoofs and a somersault, the man below,
the horse above, both on their backs, is the unpleasant
finale.

One of the greatest difficulties the tyro has to overcome is
the inability, at first, to yield to the extension of the horse's
head without being pulled forward out of the saddle ; he will
persist in " riding in the horse's mouth," or holding on by
the reins. In order to obviate this tendency as much as
possible, a good plan — one only, however, to be put in
practice when the horse can be depended on to jump for
certain, or when the pupil is well advanced and well shaken

92 HORSEMANSHIP.

down into his saddle — is to take such a long hold of the
reins that the hands are brought back as far as the rider's
hips. This ensures plenty of scope, for not only are there
several inches more length of rein, but the elbows being bent
there is the additional play of a straightened against a flexed
arm. The horse, as he goes over and reverses, will avail
himself of the slack; the hands, as his fore-feet reach the
ground, will, without any wrench, be drawn in front of the
body over the pommel of the saddle, and the seat will not
have been disturbed.

After some practice the beginner should learn to drop
the reins altogether, to go over the fence with his hands
in his pockets, or ''trussed" with a walking stick passing
across his back and between his elbows after the manner of
the back board. Having practised with stirrups he should,
as confidence comes, endeavour to do without them. The
height of the fence will be increased by degrees, and the
pace at which it is ridden at varied. He will walk quietly
up to it and let the horse take it standing, or he may take
it at a trot, both of which operations will be found very
different from the easy swing of the canter, and especially
so if the horse be short in back and body, and what is termed
a buck leaper.

Almost any horse, particularly a fresh one, full of jumping
powder and '' beany," or a youngster full of life, if cantered
at a small prickly fence will skip at least fourteen feet, land-
ing as light as a feather, without his rider feeling aught but
a pleasurable sail through the air; but the upright rear,
followed by immediate reversion, coupled with the violent
effort and hoist of the propellers is a motion of a very
different and much more 2/;zseating kind. The shock to the
rider, till he learns how to accommodate himself to the jerk of
the descent, is considerable, and this adapting of the body

LEAPING. 93

and grip is only to be acquired by practice on all sorts of
horses. It must be learnt, for, with the exception of water,
double post-and-rails, too close to go " in and out," or big
fences with a wide ditch either on the take-off or landing
side, all jumps must be ridden at slowly.

I have elsewhere described the peculiar gate-jumping pro-
clivities of Jack the Whip's Irish vaiilter^ and of my own
mare " Up-she-rises." To be thoroughly au fait the horse-
man must be equal to sitting such almost perpendicular
performers as if glued to the saddle, and without much of a
strain on his gripping or balancing powers. Having become
proficient over one hurdle he should learn how to negociate
a double, or what is termed " in and out clever," or " the
double event." A fence of this kind may be readily im-
provised by placing another gorse-laced hurdle some eight
or ten feet from that in the gateway, further in the field and
connected with it by wings. At first the two jumps in rapid
succession, especially if there be any hesitation or dwell
between them, will loosen the hold on the saddle, but that
will be speedily overcome. The first attempts, if made at
a smart canter, will be found easy enough ; it is when the
horse trots slowly up to the double that the cobbler's w^ax
is necessary. A landsman gets his " sea legs " by a lex noii
scripta^ and, by the same unwritten law, the horseman main-
tains his equilibrium in the saddle when his horse is pitching
in and out. It is all plain sailing so long as the horse forges
ahead, but should he take it into his head to baulk, to jump
the second hurdle side-ways, or to jump the wing, and the
rider be trusting entirely to balance, he may safely calculate
on being shunted over the horse's head or spilt over his
shoulder.

In riding at high timber the pace must be slow and
collected. If a horse, not trained to steeple-chasing, be

^4

HORSEMANSHIP.

LEAPING. 95

rushed at a strong gate or a stiff post and rails, he will
probably either take off too soon or too late, in either case
heavily striking the top rail, which, failing to give way, will
turn both over a regular crumpler. As height and width
require different efforts, it is needless waste of muscular
power to make him exert both when one will sufifice. Of
all animals the deer tribe are the biggest and best fencers ;
and a hunted deer, when about to charge park palings or
some unusually high obstacle, will almost invariably slow down
to a trot. I call to mind an exemplification of this. The
Indian antelope, once it has made up its mind to make a
certain point, cannot be turned from that resolve. At the
grey dawn of a December morning we, a long column of
cavalry in file, were on the line of march, crossing, in pursuit
of the rebel, Tantia Topee, one of the extensive black
cotton plains of the Central Provinces. A tola of antelope
came galloping down on our right flank, evidently bent on
crossing the rough country road along which we were riding.
The men shouted at the deer as they came speeding on, but
they would take no denial, and jumped through the line
wherever an interval or opening presented itself. One
corps, the Aden Horse (Major-General Henry Moore, C.B.,
was then, as a lieutenant, in command of the troop) was
marching in good order, well ''locked up," and a black buck,
finding no opening, dropped into a trot, and then with one
mighty bound flew clean over two of the sowars' heads.

Men who go out r^^-hunting with the Queen's must have
observed how the mutilated half-tame bucks always slacken
speed when about to jump a very high fence. The late
Thomas Assheton Smith, the possessor of the most bull-dog
nerve in the saddle and out of it, one of the few, the very
few, who occasionally rode for a fall, going at places which
he well knew no horse could leap over, never rode fast at

96 HORSEMANSHIP.

his fences. " When a man rides at fences a hundred miles
an hour, depetid on it he funks ^^ was the oft repeated opinion
of this preux chevalier^ this ^^ grand chasseur Smit." When
a horse goes at a great speed he cannot rise to any con-
siderable height from the ground. Never ride a beaten horse
at stiff timber, for he is almost certain to breast it, and a
fearful somersault may result. Double post and rails, if they
are pretty close together, may be taken in the stride ; they
are usually not very high, and must be ridden at with good
pace in order to get sufficient impetus for the horse to spread
himself sufficiently ; but, if to be taken '' in and out," must
be approached leisurely, otherwise he will land too far over
the first rail and too close under the far one to permit of
his clearing the latter. This is another description of fence
to be avoided on a tired horse, and especially so when the
posts are not far apart.

Very few men care to take a line of gates, and yet they
are seldom as high as most of the fences an average horse
clears without an effort, and the taking off is usually sound.
Stiles, usually placed in cramped awkward corners, are
almost invariably low, but unbreakable. They must be
approached at a walk, a trot, or at a slow canter, for horses
are apt to be very careless at them. Moreover, both land-
ing and taking off are generally on or from puzzling ground,
without sufficient elbow room, with a ditch and narrow plank
for foot-passengers.

Why both men and horses, both first-class performers of
their kind, should shirk water is unaccountable. In the case
of the rider, deference to the thermometer and love of his
clothes may act as a deterrent, but, surely, for the horse no
such pleas can be advanced. At timber, such as it is im-
possible to surmount, the noble brute will not refuse ; send
him at a seemingly impenetrable buU-fincher, the bottom

LEAPING. 97

growth of the thorns as big round as a man's leg, and he
will crash through it like a rocket, or get "hung up " in the
attempt ; at the ox-fence with its double ditch, a bank, a pair
of hedges, and a stiff, low, oak rail he disdains to turn tail ;
but the cold glare of -water, which, without an effort, he
could skim over in his stride appears to paralyze him. It is
a sort of rubicon he may not cross. If the footmarks of a
blood-hunter, one such as we find in the Shires, be measured
as he gallops over sound turf, it will be found that at every
stroke he covers twenty-two feet. At IMeerut, North-west
Provinces of India, the fourteen hands two inch high
Arabian " Champion " covered twenty-one feet at each
stride. Yet, strange to say, it not unfrequently happens
that a mere ditch of glittering water, over \vhich a boy on a
pony *'good at water" would fly with consummate ease,
often stops an otherwise perfect fencer.

It is the naked ugliness of the water that creates this
aversion to the water jump, both in the man and in the
horse. I have seen a man come down to a willow fringed
brook like a bird on the wing, his heart seemingly hardened,
but as he nears the chasm, like Bob Acres, the courage
oozes out at the fingers' ends ; the horse, only too willing,
perhaps, feels and answers the irresolute pair of hands, the
gallop getting slower and slower dwindles into a canter, and
the two slither and slide into the muddy clay-bottomed brook
together, and serve them right. But the same horse and
rider will not hesitate one moment if the same expanse of
water be fringed and fronted by a thick low hedge, and will
clear it in faultless style. People say you cannot go too
fast at water ; and to judge by the exhibitions one sees at
Islington and other shows this is true; but I take leave to
differ. That horses, unless ridden very freely, are apt to
refuse I admit ; it stands to reason also, that to carry a horse

H

98 HORSEMANSHIP.

over wide water a strong impetus is essential ; but I insist
that, let the pace be ever so great at which the horse is
brought down to the jump, he must be collected before
actually reaching it. If rushed right on to the bank at the
verge of speed he cannot possibly measure his take off, and,
if the bank be rotten, may flounder like a behemoth in
Limpopo, right into the middle of it, or chest the opposite
bank. Spin him at it, let him understand that he has no
power to resist your will, that he must go where resolutely
directed, and bring him to the brink primed but collected.

Some rogues, when they first catch a glimpse of the pol-
lards, or a sight of water, make up their minds to cut it if
possible. When mounted on "<7 brute at wafer, ^^ the rider
must hold his head in a vice so that he cannot refuse, a
few gentle reminders from the spurs will excite his courage,
the pace must gather as he approaches the glittering streak
or wintery flow, then a vigorous lift and "high over! " will
land him in the next field — if he will but make an effort.
With such a brute the maximum of speed must be in the
last few strides, for any attempt to steady him on the brink
would be seized hold of as an excuse for refusing. In short,
in riding at water, the horse should be taught that there is
no time for making two bites of the cherry ; that he must
not go in and out, but over. It is, I grant, a very difficult
thing to slacken speed with any horse not ''''good at waters
When a dirty, muddy brook, or small river, which meanders
or rushes between two perpendicular loamy banks, ten or
twelve feet below the level of the field, is deep enough to
drown both man and horse, and "dark as Iser rolling
rapidly," the prospect is not over-inviting to either biped
or quadruped.

Stone wall jumping, on the back of an Irish horse, or on
the back of most horses, Arabs especially, after some prac-

LEAPING.

99

tice, is perhaps the easiest and safest of all. There are no
drains on either side ; the horse sees what he has to do and
knows how to do it con ainore ; they can be measured to a
nicety. Some of the walls one meets with in Ireland are
ugly customers ; the longer they are looked at the bigger they
grow, they are to be jumped but not looked over, and yet
the nimble natural fencers of the Emerald Isle top them
without an effort, flying them, no matter how high, but almost
invariably displacing a barrow-load of the top stones by a
parting kick from the hind feet. Their riders, too, knowing
no fear, send them at these seeming posers at a hand gallop,
and yet few chip their knees. A horse accustomed to hunt
with the Galway Blazers would skip over our Somerset,
Gloucester, or Oxfordshire walls. Properly speaking, when
a man is not in a great hurry, a wall should be ridden at
slowly, as recommended in the case of high stiff timber. A
good wall jumper is not, as a consequence, clever at rails or
gates. Banks, save in the case of Irish horses, '' after the
manner born," must be taken on and off slowly. A clever
English hunter, one of those blessed with that handy *' fifth
leg," will soon learn how to accommodate himself to this
kind of fence, but many, unused to it, will attempt to fly it,
and so come to grief.

In Ireland gates are not so common as with us; the
connection between fields is frequently a gap built up with
stones, after the manner of a roughly improvised wall.
Having grazed one enclosure, the brood mare, a great Upper
in her day, sees a nice tempting bite on the top of the
bank, so hops on the top of it followed by her foal. Having
grazed the top, she takes a fancy to spy out the nakedness
of the land in the adjoining field, and drops quietly from
her perch, clearing a drain en route., and possesses herself
of it, the foal again following. So the child is brought up

100 HORSEMANSHIP.

as it should, and does, go ; and from constant practice,
when at maturity, charges these huge but safe fences at any
speed from a walk to racing pace, seldom making a mistake.
He can hop or crawl on and off like a goat, jump on, and,
when broad on the top, turn and go along the bank, or will
charge it in the most resolute fashion, merely dwelling on
its crest for less than a second to bring his powerful haunches
again to bear.

There is but one fence I would counsel the readernever to
attempt under any circumstances, unless it be to escape the
attentions of a mad bull or some such follower — that is, a
deep drop leap into a hard road. All well-trained hunters
should lead and ought to follow well through cramped places.
An ugly drop into a road is pretty certain to result in a bad
fall and broken knees, and at such a fence the rider is fully
justified in dismounting and leading by running his whip
through the rein. The horseman who " dares do all that
may become a man," need not fear being twitted for nervous
over-caution.

The Irish train their horses by leading them over the high
banks and walls with a long rein, a man bringing up the rear
with a driving whip. After a few practical riderless lessons
of this kind the colt learns the use of his legs, and perfects
the schooling he has been receiving from earliest days. A
boy is then placed on his back and the leading-string tuition
continued. After a few rolls together they become an fait
at the business. This, in my opinion, is the very best
method to be followed in teaching lads how to sit a fence,
only, in the case of my pupil, I would substitute an active,
sharp blood-cob or pony, narrow in the back, for the un-
trained colt. Seating him on a 51b. steeplechase saddle,
with a blanket rolled up in front, firmly strapped to the D's,
and no stirrups, I would have him led by an active groom — a

TEACttlNG THE YOUNG IDEA. loi

fast runner and good at jumping and scrambling — over all sorts
of low fences. After a bit the youngster would be allowed
the use of reins and an easy smooth snaffle, care being taken
that he should, on all occasions, take a long hold of the
horse's head, keeping his hands back at least as far as the
outer seams of his breeches. Such a course of breaking in
will prove invaluable, and the boy, if his pluck be that of
the ordinary English lad, will look upon the performance as
"a jolly lark."

CHAPTER III.

TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA.

In the introduction to this little work much stress has been
laid on the advantages of early tuition. I have quoted one
Arab proverb, and there is another equally to the point :
^' The young branch is made straight without much trouble,
but the old wood can never be straightened." Before
putting a child on a pony we must not only be very careful,
as I have mentioned in my remarks on these miniature
quadrupeds, that it shall be narrow across the back, and
possessed of light, easy action ; but it must, in addition, be
very carefully trained, and paddock fed. I purposely use
the words " miniature quadruped," for the animal to carry
children should be a pony, and not a dwarfed horse. As
compared with horses, ponies are possessed of more brain-
power ; from having to shift for themselves from foalhood
they are more independent, and therefore more tricky. Let
the pony for children have as much Arab blood in him as
possible, this Eastern strain being quieter, more com-

f 'r, ^' '\

.i, :rf^«-

\;'

TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA. 103

panionable, not easily frightened, more patient, and indif-
ferent to liberties. These desirable qualities are hereditary.

The Russian or Siberian pony, now so common in this
country, is one to be avoided. There is no mistaking this
Muscovite visitor. He is invariably a cream, or dirty
yellow, verging on chesnut, in colour, long in the body,
straight in the back, with upright shoulders, very narrow
chest, and a steep, mean quarter, small donkey feet, and a
very short, unyielding fetlock. Two of his marked peculi-
arities are a short head, with the eyes placed low down
from the ears, almost equidistant between muzzle and poll,
giving the idea of an exaggerated, disproportionate height
of forehead ; the other, that the chest appears to grow and
extend itself, like a tap-root, down the inside of the forelegs.
Though a very Caliban among ponies, this little commoner,
with his rug-like coat, is as clever and tricky as " a cart load
of monkeys," and up to all the pranks of a fresh yarded
Australian Brumby.

The pony is a clever, teachable little fellow, and if taken
in hand young can be taught as many tricks as a performing
dog. But what is required for children is extreme docility j
and until it be trained to be perfectly safe to handle in every
part of the body, to carry anything alive or still placed on it,
to permit the little ones to crawl under it, and to take no
notice of being pulled about in any manner and in any
direction, it is not fit for beginners to practise on. No
nursery pony should ever taste oats. On grass in the
summer, and hay in the winter, with the addition of a few
roots, it will keep its condition and do all the work required
of it. The distances some of the Australian run or bush-
fed horses cover is almost incredible. If our horse-owners
would but grow the new forage plant, Lathyriis Silvesiris,
they would curtail their corn-chandler's bills to an extent

104 HORSEMANSHIP.

that would agreeably startle them ; for this pea has been
analyzed, and is found to contain all the feeding qualities
of the best New Zealand oats, and as green fodder, hay, or
in the shape of either sour or sweet silage, is eaten with
great gusto.

When a good child's pony is not to be procured — though
an advertisement in the Quee?i, or some respectable society
journal, will generally supply the want — the best plan is to
purchase some attractive, quiet little fellow, almost if not
quite unbroken, and educate him at home. It is not
advisable to make the purchase from a mob of those bred
in a state of nature, and fresh from the Shetland Isles, the
Welsh hills, or the Forest, wild as hawks. Preference had
better be given to those that have been some little time in
captivity, and have become reconciled to and familiarized
with the various sights and sounds of civilized life. To
railway trains especially they must be accustomed, and the
best way to create indifference to their rush and screaming
whistles is to turn the pony out in a field adjoining the
railroad, attaching his feeding-trough, filled with some tempt-
ing carrots, to the fence next the line, and placing a crib
with some sweet hay alongside it. Frequently lead him
over and under railway bridges and let him stand there, as
well as at level crossings.

All his exercise — and he must invariably be well exercised
before young children are put on him — should be on the
high road, a crowded one for choice, so that he may not
shy at carts, carriages, bands, and other strange objects and
sounds. He should be trained to stand fire without flinch-
ing. The sense of hearing, very acute in the equine tribe,
requires education as much as any other. In a perfectly
trained animal the whole five senses — seeing, hearing, smell-
ing, feeling, and tasting, must be thoroughly educated; he

TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA, 105

must do all that is required of him readily, well, and safely,
without the faintest sign of temper. Should he enter into
conflict with man he must be forced to retire baffled and
defeated. A little forty-two inch mite can, if so minded,
make a stubborn resistance.

Children — boys especially — are prone to be tyrannical and
often cruel. Parents would do well to impress on their olive
branches that " humanity to animals is a duty reposing on
the same foundations as the claims of man to humanity." It
appears to me that the abominable treatment the unfortunate
sea-side donkeys are subjected to must have a very bad
effect on their infantile riders, and that the officers of that
admirable association for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals are often far too lax in their supervision of these
long-suffering, over-worked, and shamefully maltreated four-
footed slaves.

A very able writer on the subject of early tuition, which
he strongly advocates, a gentleman who has taught his own
youngsters, says, *' the boy who takes his first lessons on a
cart horse, or a donkey, will spoil his bridle hand, and rarely
get light and sensitive with it afterwards." In this I fully
concur. He adds, '' We found the best way to teach the
use of the reins was from a gig, or some one-horse vehicle.
We fixed the pupil securely between our knees, so that
either he or she should have no need to attend to their own
security, and putting a rein in each hand, we left the little
one to steer, and on a very fine mouthed horse, to see the
effect of his right or wrong movements. After a good many
journeys had been taken in this manner, the child, some-
times driving and sometimes watching us, was generally fit
to be trusted with the reins on horseback, supposing that he
had, with frequent short rides, learned to feel little anxiety
about his own seat, and to keep his arms moderately still."
Here again I am with the writer.

ic6 HORSEMANSHIP.

Another good plan is to place a child anxious to ride, as
most of them are, on the pommel of the saddle in front of
you and let him hold the reins. The horse must be a very
quiet animal without a suspicion of a shy or a bolt in his
composition. A steady, thoroughly dependable groom or
coachman may be trusted to do the same, but the less
children are about the stables the better, where they are
certain to be in the way, may get into danger, and probably
will hear bad language. The governess should never be
permitted to interfere with the riding lessons, for the chances
are a hundred to one against her knowing anything about
horses or their habits, and a thousand to one against her
being a qualified instructor in the art of equitation. I have
already stipulated that children's ponies should be perfectly
broken and trained, paddock, that is grass, fed, and that
under no circumstances, save as a bribe, should they ever
taste corn. To this I will add that regular exercise is
also necessary. Many ponies, and horses too, when kept at
regular steady work, are sober and steady, which, after hours
of idleness and high keep, get above themselves and become
unruly.

As a general practice children commence learning to ride
to pilch-pads, of which I give illustrations.

It will be observed that the one for the girls and boys
combined, is provided with only one head, and that a knee
roll takes the place of the leaping crutch. The head screws
into its socket, and can be transferred to the off side, where
there is a corresponding receptacle. These pads should be
constructed, as much as possible, on the straight seat prin-
ciple; in fact, but for the expense, miniature side-saddles
should be used, one for near and the other for the off-side
seat. Such little saddles are now made by Messrs. Champion
and Wilton, perfect in shape, and, minimize, if not abso-

TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA.

107

lutely do away with, the possibility of injury to the spine.
Pads for boys give the pony a too great width of back, they
do not give so correct and firm a seat as the cross saddle,
and are not nearly so easy to sit
on. I recommend a light racing
saddle, without knee rolls, made
of fast-dyed drab or brown buck-
skin, as more clinging than pig-
skin. It should be fitted with Ds
in front, to which may be strapped
a neatly rolled blanket about three
or four inches in diameter coming
down to the child's knees. This will
give confidence and prevent falls.

To commence with, no stirrups should be allowed to
either sex, and for some time at least girls, appropriately
dressed, should ride on
the cross saddle entirely.
The reader is referred
to my remarks on this

system in the com-
panion volume for

ladies. Some children

take to riding like

young ducks to water.

All, more or less, have

an aversion to lessons

or to anything in the

form of tuition. Born

with a full wide stream

of original sin pulsing in their veins their desire to do

those things which they ought not to do, and not to

do those things which they ought to do is very strong.

loS HORSEMANSHIP.

One man can lead a horse to the well, but twenty cannot
make him drink. Those children whose bias does not lie
in the direction of ponies — mighty few by the way — should
be encouraged to learn not as a task *'the daily round,"
but as a pastime. The ride on the paddock-pet should
be considered the treat, the blue riband of the day's amuse-
ment, something to be looked forward to, and to be with-
held only as a punishment. Our role is to convey the
lesson so that it be no more irksome than practice at lawn-
tennis; that it is playing at riding and not studying it.
All little ones live in a sort of dreamland in which they
picture to themselves what they will do when grown up.
The boy has his hero, the girl her heroine, and, as often as
not, the sexes are reversed. We must, " unbeknowed " to
them, educate them up to their riding standard of perfection.
The spirit of emulation takes the boy right up to the
cannon's mouth, and the same power converts the delicately
nurtured girl into a Grace Darling. We may have to give
confidence and courage where nervousness and timidity
reign, to implant a feeling of safety and contempt for a fall,
and to create a zest for what appeared a bore.

Children should never be allowed to tire themselves in
the saddle, and when the colour quits the girl's cheek,
especially if she be deUcate and growing, that must be at
once taken as a sign that her energies are being exhausted
• — she must dismount. It is impossible to lay down any
hard and fast rule as to the age at which children may
commence learning to ride, so much depending on the
individual strength. The preparatory essays may, as I
have said, date from earliest childhood — from the ride-a-
cock-horse period — and boys, if strong, will take no harm
at any age, but the girls' teaching had better be deferred
till the sixth or seventh year. Many of them, however, from

TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA. lo;

natural bent take the lead in all romps and pastimes, and
bare-backed, astride, or in any fashion that seems to them
best, outvie their brothers.

At first, the boys and girls should be put up, but soon will
learn to mount themselves, and for this purpose the pony
is trained to stand in the ditch, by the side of a low wall,
a sufficiently high step, a bank, or anything that will furnish
the necessary elevation. They should be encouraged to
practise mounting, as well as riding barebacked. After a
bit, as the boys grow, they will learn when the pony is at a
trot, to lay hold of the mane with both hands, and from
either side, to vault on his back or clean over him. Nothing
is easier so long as he be under weigh. Note the riders
in the circus, they always swing themselves on to the back
or saddle when the horse is in motion.

When children are kind to their ponies it is marvellous
how close the bond of union between them and their four-
footed friend becomes. The Arab mares and their foals let
the young Bedaween take all sorts of liberties with them.
I have seen a Httle riding lad in a racing stable seek pro-
tection under his mare's legs — a by no means placid-tempered
animal — from the bullying treatment of the other urchins.
Sir Francis Head in his '' Horse and his Rider," mentions a
visit to the farmyard of a Mr. Roff, on the Brighton Road,
near Croydon, where to his surprise he observed a lot of
children playing with a yearHng colt, which'allowed them to
crawl between ihis legs and fondle him in various ways, just
as if he was a dog. On riding into the yard to inquire by
what magical means the little quadruped had been made so
gentle and tame, he was informed by the worthy old farmer
who owned the colt that his wife, kind to all her beasts, had
for many years been yearning to add to them a pet colt ;
that accordingly he had bought her one, and that she had

I lo HORSEMANSHIP.

tamed it. With uxorious pride he added " she could tame
anything." Though disapproving of children being about
the stable, there can be no harm in their visiting their pet
in his paddock, hovel, or loose box, taking with them some
little treat, and spending an hour or so with him.

Children are by no means light-handed, and are much
given to ride in the pony's mouth — that is, hold on by the
bridle. The rubber-coated flexible snaffle bit will give them
all the command they need over a well-trained pony, and will,
at the same time, save his mouth. The rein, a single one,
should be narrow, soft and pliant as kid, and held in both
hands. At first, perhaps, the better plan is to give no reins
at all, but let the little rider preserve the balance by holding
on to the roll in front of the saddle.

During the first few lessons the pony must be led by a
light long rein buckled to the off ring of the bit and passing
under the chin through the other ring to the instructor on
the near side. For a day or two he had better keep close
to his little pupil and confine the pace to a walk, giving only
a very little instruction. An apt child with some nerve will
soon shake down into the saddle, may be led about at full
extent of the eight foot rein, and from a walk may be coaxed
into trying, for a few paces only, a slow jog-trot. These
rudimentary lessons are best given in the paddock and out
of sight of mamma, should that lady not be a horsewoman.
If present, her over anxiety will only distract the child and
implant fear where no fear is.

From being led on foot, as progress is made, the next
step in advance is to mount a good steady reliable horse,
and to lead from the saddle. The child may now for the
first time — the use of the reins as already explained having
been carefully taught — have the bridle put in its hands.
Keeping the pony on his right hand and at a good distance,

TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA. in

though level with his horse — if too close, a sudden start
might unseat the child, and throw him among the horse's
feet — the pupil, led at a walk, must now be taught to keep
his hands steady, and to put his earlier teaching into
practice. Confine the first lessons to careful instruction in
handling the reins, how to incline and turn to the right or
left, to circle, to turn about and to stop.

When the pupil is fairly proficient at the walk then try a
jog-trot for a few paces. The instructor's careful attention
must be directed to the endeavour to get him to preserve
the seat rather by balance than by grip, to abandon the hold
on the roll in front of the saddle and thus to have the hands
free to guide the pony. At first he need not bother himself
or his pupil about sitting up, keeping the elbows in, and
so forth ; all that will come in good time when the rough
motion is got over, the little muscles have begun to adapt
themselves to the up-and-down action which at first shakes
loose and displaces every effort at grip, and the tender skin
gets hardened. The child cannot learn everything at once,
there is no need for cramming, festina lente best does it.

When a sufficiently firm seat has been obtained, quite
independent of the reins, the pupil begins to acquire con-
fidence, and can guide and control the pony, putting it from
the walk into the trot, and keeping up the trot for half a
mile or so without slipping, like a pair of compasses, first to
the right side of the saddle and then to the left, half the
battle is won. The child's enjoyment of the ride is the
surest index of progress. The undulating motion of the
canter will be appreciated as a relaxation after the jolt of
the trot. Day by day the leading rein will be brought less
into use, till at length the youthful rider is permitted to try
its "prentice hand" free from the leading strings, first of
all in some quiet paddock or field, and then in company

113 HORSEMANSHIP.

with its instructor on the high road, or in the park when
nearly empty.

So far the child-rider has not experienced the luxury and
support of a stirrup. As part of the pony's education ought
to be to stand stock still the moment the rider is unseated,
there is not much fear of a child being dragged. Still, as
prevention is better than cure, all saddles should be fitted
with the safety stirrup bar made by Messrs. Champion and
Wilton. When these patent-safety arrangements are not used
I prefer the boy's-clog-slipper to the open stirrup. The girl's
length of leather should, as explained in the volume on
ladies' riding, be such as to bring the left knee up against
the lower and padded face of the hunting head; a boy
should ride with a somewhat short stirrup or clog, and with
a bent leg, otherwise he will find himself riding on the
" fork," standing astride over rather than sitting down in the
saddle ; he will, with long stirrups, not be sufficiently seated,
will be too forward in the saddle, and so be liable to lose
his clog. No doubt the foothold of the stirrup is much
firmer than that of the clog.

With boys and lads I do not counsel any coddHng. The
English boy — and in the term I include Scotch and Irish —
as a rule is a young dare-devil requiring curbing. We have
the testimony of the Duke of Wellington as to the gay light-
hearted manner in which our British boys, fresh from the
playing fields, marched on that June evening some seventy-
six years ago, to tackle the war-worn Old Guard of France,
and how the gallant young fellows bore themselves through-
out that long and bloody day. When our boys are twelve or
fourteen years old, they, if brokG«i early to the saddle, are fit
to ride anything, and the more of all sorts they practise on
the better. Plucky youngsters of this fibre, those who with
years will develop what Carlyle termed '' the silent fury and

TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA. I13

aristocratic self-possession" of their race, will go anywhere
and do anything. What we have to do is to teach them how
to play the game like gentlemen and not like butcher-boys.

Lads such as these are frequently puzzled as to the style
of seat they should assume on horseback. If they take
upon themselves the studied inanege teaching, they are
alarmed at being chaffed for aping the military school — a
no very bad school as I have endeavoured to show. If
they shorten their stirrups, double themselves up "all-of-a
heap," and turn their toes out, they are often charged, and
rightly so, with riding like tailors. When I see a lad with his
shoulders up to his ears, elbows stuck out, leaning over the
pommel of the saddle as if he wanted to go a bit faster than
the horse, his heels in, one rein held tighter than the other,
handling his horse's mouth roughly, and urging him beyond
the true verge of his pace, I dub that lad a butcher-boy.

The great difficulty is to ride like a true sportsman, avoid-
ing any outre characteristic. It is utterly impossible to
adhere to any strict rule as to the correct seat for general
horsemanship. The seat must be varied in accordance with
the circumstances in which the rider is placed, but under all
conditions, it can be graceful and easy. The perfect horse-
man can appropriate to himself every style of seat. The
only man I ever saw who could ride well over a big country
with the then prevailing military seat — long stirmps and
sitting on the " fork " — was the late Earl of Cardigan. At the
head of the nth Hussars the leader of " The Six Hundred "
was perfect in the saddle, as military riding was then under-
stood, but his lordship's seat with the Quorn was strangely
out of place. The same seat cannot be preserved on any
and every horse. All affectation of a peculiar style of riding
on ordinary occasions is to be eschewed ; it is bad form.

I have seen a man steal down Rotten Row slightly raised

I

iU HORSEMANSHIP.

in his stirrups, his body bent gracefully over the pommel,
his hands well down, the points of his elbows near the
centre of his body, his head just a trifle inclined to the near
side. He is steady in his saddle as if nailed to the flaps,
is merely Hghtly feeling and steadying his horse, and his legs
dropped neatly down his sides into rather short stirrups are
motionless. The animal he is on is going well within himself,
smoothly, and with an even striding movement, devoid of
all impetuosity ; his head is in its proper place, with hand-
somely bent neck. At a mere indication from the bridle
he at once drops into a trot and so into a walk, cool, and
collected. The horse and man are on excellent terms, but
the exhibition, perfect of its kind, is out of place in the
Park, though just what one would expect from a crack
gentleman-rider at Sandown or Aintree.

On another occasion we see the same horseman in a very
different attitude, one neither neat nor graceful. He is on
a resolute, lurching, leather-mouthed brute, carrying his head
low, and "fighting for his head." The evil eye and the
position of the ears, together with the frequent reaching
forward and downward of the head, shows that this time
the rider has " a handful " to deal with. He must give and
take with such a puller, or be hauled out of the saddle on
to the withers. He is sitting upright in his saddle, and his
arms pulled out nearly straight; the feet thrust well home
in the stirrups are, in order to obtain a strong purchase,
placed in front of the girths as far forward as the horse's
elbow, and he is on the alert to yield the body forward to
give to those impatient snatchings at the bit and borings of
the head between the forelegs. To pull up such a brute he
has to throw himself back in the saddle till the whole body
from foot to head is in an inclined plane, and as straight as
animated clay can be.

TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA.

"5

Yet another time, and we watch this gentleman mastering
a hot, fly-away " star-gazer," and note how he accommodates
himself to the altered circumstances. The impetuous and
excitable animal comes along, his nose in the air and head
flung from side to side, impatient of control of bit and
martingale. His ears are in constant motion, turning to
every point of the compass, as if expecting the spring of
some evil beast ; he fights at the bit and climbs in his fore
action, and comes yawing along in anything but a straight
line, bounding from side to side. Our friend is now seated
well down, and far back on his saddle, the body with a back-
ward inclination, the reins are held wide apart, his elbows
are at his sides, and his feet further forward than in what
may be termed the elegant position.

Finally, we have an exhibition of how to handle a lurching
sluggish goer, and how to adjust the seat to his lazy habit of
going. He comes up the ride, hugging the rails, his ears
laid well back along his poll and his tail switching. He has
no vice save that of laziness. His rider has to galvanize
some Hfe and " go " into him, so sits down in the saddle,
keeps his heels back so as to have the spurs ready and handy
to administer an '' awakener," and is shaking him up and
lifting him at each stride.

From this it will be seen how necessary it is that he who
aims at perfection should ride every variety of horse. Of
the four seats depicted above, that first sketched, with the
stirrup leathers lengthened a hole or two, will answer all
purposes in the hunting field or in any other field when
galloping over turf is the order of the day. It is affectation
and folly for a man to pose as being what he is not. When
any of our flat race or steeplechase cracks don silk, they
ride like jockeys, but, on the road or in the park, they drop
everything that smacks of the racecourse. Men of the first

Ii6 HORSEMANSHIP.

flight across the big pastures of the Shires, when they change
their hunters for the blood hack, and discard leathers and
top-boots for trousers and Wellingtons, let down their
stirrups and adopt a medium seat adapted to road riding.

With so many blood galloways about, there is no excuse
for a boy of riding proclivities not making himself thoroughly
efficient in the saddle. Under his light weight these beauti-
ful and clever animals can go anywhere and do almost any-
thing. If his friends are prepared to pay the piper he can
be mounted to perfection, for, irrespective of these miLUiun
in parvo pieces of equine perfection, he has many a clever
thoroughbred at his disposal. Many a disappointing selling-
plater is to be picked up for an old song which would carry
him on the road or in the park to perfection, and make light
of his burden in the fastest and longest run of the season.

CHAPTER VI.

VICE.

Rearing.

Rough handling of the bit rein in the case of a high-
tempered horse is often an incentive to rearing. Some rear
from excitement, impatience, or in play. Slight rearing,
except on smooth flag-stones, though decidedly disagreeable,
is not dangerous; but confirmed high "getting up," the
protest of a stubborn horse, is one of the most dangerous of
equine vices. There are violent modes of frightening young
horses out of the habit, but with old confirmed oflenders a
radical cure is very problematical. A well directed stunning
blow on the ear brings some to their senses, but the danger

VICE.

"7

of this violent measure is that an ill-directed one may land
between the ears and produce poll-evil. In my younger
days I cured one vicious brute addicted to this vice by
breaking a soda-water bottle, in a leathern envelope, over

/^-i

GETTING Ur.

his head when pawing in the air, and, in so doing, came
near blinding myself. Such drastic measures require a
determined, reckless rider.

Horses addicted to rearing generally do it when forced to
go in any direction contrary to their wishes, or on being pre-
vented going where they do wish. The first act on the part of

1 1 8 HORSEMANSHIP.

the offender is a dead stop, followed by backing, with, perhaps,
a vicious kick or two. Then he raises his forehand a foot
or two off the ground, balancing himself on his haunches.
Directly he rises, you should lay hold of the mane with the
left hand, lean the body well forward towards the neck, and
give him all his head, carefully refraining from bearing on
the mouth. As he descends, if the display indicates temper,
just before his feet touch the ground, rip the spurs well into
him, at the same time administering one ! two ! three ! from
a severe cutting-whip under the flank. To this smart, quick,
and decisive punishment he will probably plunge forward,
or may resort to plunging with kicking, so see that before
he is quite down you are firm in the saddle. If his temper
be thoroughly roused he, more likely, will rear straight up
on end and walk about on his hind legs, like a performing
bear, playing the castanets with his fore feet. This is
dangerous work for both man and horse. He must on no
account be touched by whip, spur, or bit while up, or, the
chances are, he will fall back on the top of you to your
injury and that of the saddle ; he may also break, or at
least rick, his own back. Punish him as much and as
severely as you please as he lowers his forehand, for he
cannot rise again till his fore feet again reach the ground ;
but sit still, leaning all your weight forward, till the descent
commences. When sensible that he is about to topple
over backwards or sideways, take your feet out of the
stirrups and throw yourself clear of him. A moderately
active man, with his senses about him, ought to land on
liis feet.

Fortunately, an extreme rearer seldom kicks. Should the
brute roll over, if you are on your legs, give him a good
trouncing before he can rise. In the case of a slight rear,
I have known the slipping of the right hand along the bit

VICE.

119

rein till it nears the mouth, followed by a strong downward
bearing to the rights by throwing the horse off his balance,
nip the vagary in the bud. The running martingale does
some good, and there is a rearing bit, of which, however,
I have no great opinion. McKenny's saddle-attachment
is, in most cases, most effective, in that it prevents the

THE SADDLE ATTACHMENT.

horse from getting his head into the position necessary to
a straight-up-on-end rear. Its action is explained in the
illustration, iw which the attempt to get up is frustrated at
the outset.

Should rearing in a modified form be merely the playful
letting off of a little too high spirits or impatience, do not in
any way punish the horse ; ride him in a McKenny attach-

120 HORSEMANSHIP.

ment, let it act when he does attempt to rear, and stroke
him down, gentle him, and talk kindly to him when he leaves
off his nonsense and does as you want.

Upon the horse's coming to the ground the rider must be
careful not to take hold of his head too suddenly, and, if riding
with a double bridle, on no account to touch the bit rein,
for this, assuredly, will send him up in the air again. If
the horse spars with his fore legs, there is little danger of
his falling backwards, but when he rears with them, and his
feet bent under him, after the fashion of a dog standing up
to beg, danger is to be apprehended. Professor Galvayne's
No. 2 twitch has been successfully and publicly tried, on
various occasions, notably at Durham, on an inveterate
rearer and plunger, " Cicily," by Ruperra.

A horse that is given to rearing, even in its mildest form,
is no " mount " for a lady ; and if the habit cannot be
eradicated by the Galvayning system — a system to which all
good-looking, inveterate vicious horses should be subjected
'—then ''get rid of him."

Kicking.

On a horse suddenly taking to kicking, first ascertain
that he is not bothered by a fly, and see that the saddle
does not pinch or hurt him, as badly-stuffed ones are apt to
do. A hard, unyielding stuffing will dispose the most gentle
animals to kick, and ahvays aggravates the vice in those
viciously disposed to lash out. There is very little danger
to the rider in this disagreeable habit ; but, in a crowded
ride, such as Rotten Row, or in the hunting-field, when a mob
of mounted folk are crowding through the same gateway,
or " skirting " down the same lane, the peril to other riders
and their quadrupeds is considerable.

When a horse stands still, lays his ears back, shows the

VICE,

121

whites of his eyes, tries to get his head down and his back
up, hugs his tail, and begins wriggUng his hind quarters,
then, if a sharp peremptory "what are-ye-at-eh ? " and a
sharp catch at the hridooii fail to exorcise the evil spirit, be
prepared for a kicking bout.

Some horses are very cunning; they cannot lash out
in full vigour so long as the head be kept well up, so, in

*.^' '

U V^'^"'^ ^-.^

HAVING HIS FLING.

order to get it into the most effective kicking position,
the object in view being to get rid of the rider, to dislodge
him, they not only kick violently in order to loosen his grip
and hoist him out of the saddle, but, having gained this
initial advantage over him, continue to lash out as they go,
eventually parting company with their burden. Once the
rider is out on the pommel his control over the reins ceases,
down goes the head, and each succeeding lift accentuates

122 HORSEMANSHIP.

his descent, making the dissolution of partnership a certainty.
A kicker such as this — a refractory, resolute and deter-
mined animal, with confidence in his ability to get rid of
his load— will lash out furiously and soon tire himself. The
rider must sit firm and sit fast, keeping the heels or spurs
away from his sides, and rate him soundly in a loud voice.
Horses are very knowing in finding out, whether their master
is on their back or not, if he be nervous or "full of fight."
The contest must be one as when Greek meets Greek. Get
his head up at once, by mere strength of arm or by a sudden
and severe snatch at the bridle, and punish his mouth till
he ceases his antics ; do not use the spurs, they do more harm
than good, but let him feel the whip severely over his ears
and neck. He will fight hard for his head, determined, if
possible, to get it down ; but it must be kept to a point of
elevation at which it is impossible for him to kick with both
heels at once. Draw the bridoon through his mouth — in
the case of an animal of this sort it should have a sharp
twist on it — and back him. If a big field, ploughed for
choice, be handy, turn him into it, urge him into a gallop,
and let him have his kick out. By hauling his head in
(here the McKenny attachment again comes in very handy),
placing your hands with a firm clench on the bridoon rein
on the withers, and getting up in your stirrups, jockey
fashion, your seat being clear of the saddle, you may let
him kick himself straight almost without your feeling
the jar. When he is thoroughly tired, take him back to
the place where the exhibition of temper commenced, and
force him, by fair means or foul, to pass the spot ; let him
thoroughly understand that he has met his master. Though
a horse is rarely cured of the propensity to kick, this one
will understand that with that particular rider on his back
the game is not worth the candle, and so will not try the

VICE.

12

trick on with him again. I never yet met with the horse
whose head I could not get up with a twisted snaffle. We
all think highest of our own bantlings, and so, perhaps, I
may be pardoned for recommending Kerr's model bit, with
a twist on the mouthpiece as being, in the opinion of the
inventor, well adapted for getting a determined kicker's head

WELL STOPPED

up. For such unruly brutes I attach smaller rings to the
butt of the mouthpiece inside the large rings to which the
bridle and reins are stitched. Through these smaller rings
passes a long rein which acts as a nose-band, crosses under
the chin, and so reaches the rider's hands, converting the
snaffle into a kind of gag-bit.

If a horse takes to kicking standing, and refuses to

124 HORSEMANSHIP.

advance, a good plan is to apply the whip smartly down the
shoulders, at the same time twisting or turning him round,
on his own ground till he is dizzy.

Sticking-up, or Reesting.

Sticking-up under the saddle is what jibbing is in harness,
and has been described as the result of too much faith in
his own and too little in his rider's powers as against want
of confidence, in the case of jibbing, in his own power. In
the Introduction, we have seen how the patient but deter-
mined Tyke encountered and conquered on the ''everything
comes to him who waits " tactics.

Horses given to this habit of '' reesting," as it is termed
north of the Tweed, which means that they are self-willed,
insisting upon going just where it pleases them, and nowhere
else, are difficult to deal with. Each has his own peculiar
fad : one positively declines to go away from home, another
insists on pulling up at a certain point, and beyond that
stubbornly refuses to budge ; a third insists upon going up
some road, or taking some turn in the reverse direction to
that which his rider wills ; a fourth has a disagreeable trick,
no matter who may be in the saddle, of depositing the
equestrian on his back in the middle of the road at a certain
favourite point. Unfortunately this determined "sticker-
up" is given to rearing, plunging, kicking, and mayhap is
handy with his teeth.

With such an awkward customer a long and careful course
of instruction in backing is necessary. The movement is an
unnatural one — some take to it kindly, others are most un-
willing to " rein back " a single step. The lessons can best
be taught at home. If he is badly broken, and does not
answer to the bridle and the voice, his " backing " instruction

VICE. 125

should be on the Galvayne method, a system only known
to the professor and his pupils, and which I, for palpable
reasons, may not here disclose. Go to Neasden, pay your
two guineas, or whatever the fee may now be, and learn that
in dealing with awkward horses all that is required is a little
common sense and the knowledge of how to apply it.

When properly broken, as he will be under this system in
a very short space of time, ride him to one of his favourite
reesting haunts, and, on his making the slightest attempt at
any of his vagaries, at once apply the reversing gear, back
him and spin him round till he reels under you, then, before
he has time to recover himself completely from his vertigo,
back him over the same ground, past the point of contention,
and the chances are that he will for that once, at least, forego
his desire to " stick up," and will do as he is bid. Even
without backing, though that is the trump card to play with
such an awkward hand, progress in the desired direction
may be made by spinning him, by means of a horizontal
pull, in the direction he wants, carrying his head, when you
mean him to proceed, beyond the point he had made up
his mind to go. The spinning must be continued till he is
thoroughly confused and quite thrown out of his calculations.
When he has had a full dose of circling, all thought of re-
sistance will have vanished.

Should the rider lack confidence in himself to do battle
with and subdue an obdurate, inflexible brute — one
endowed with an extra load of " cussedness" — he may put
the following bewildering lesson into practice. Previous to
starting on his ride, having provided himself with eight or
nine feet of stout, strong, and dependable cord, made of
four or five strands of the best whip^cord, and some well-
tarred spun-yarn or waxed string, he, on the first symptom
of the coming sticking-up performance, should dismount,

1-26 HORSEMANSHIP.

and cross the stirrups over in front of the saddle. He will
then, in the quietest manner possible, proceed to teach the
rebel that man's dominion is a power not to be trifled with.
Fasten the cord to the off cheek ring of the snaffle, and pass
it under the chin through the near ring. Take up the hair
of the tail, if there be enough of it, and tie it in a double,
two-turn knot, making all secure from slipping by serving it
with the spun-yarn or waxed twine. Be very careful that
the knot cannot come undone. If the hair be too short,
then wind the yarn tightly round it, close to the dock, turn-
ing up the ends into the roll. Bring the end of the cord
back from the bridoon, divide the hair into two equal parts,
pass the cord through the division and, with a slip knot,
make the head fast to the tail. The horse's head should be
drawn so that it faces to the rear. He will then be fixed
in a position akin to that of a playful puppy with his tail in
his mouth. In the case of a full grown horse the distance
between the knot on the tail and the muzzle should be about
five feet. If averse to having his tail handled, the rider,
to be quite prepared for the fray, and in order that the lesson
be short, sharp, and decisive, had better have the knot on
the tail tied before leaving the stable. Start the horse waltz-
ing round and round, and keep him pirouetting till, from
exhaustion and giddiness, he shows signs of tumbling or
lying down, then cast loose the knot from the tail, take the
cord in the left hand held loosely, and be on his back
while he is bewildered and his brain confused and dazed.
He will by this time have learnt that " what's sauce for the
goose is sauce for the gander," and that there is little use in
kicking against the pricks. Under this strange distracting
circling, or rather revolving on the centre, system, he will
come back to his right mind and become as obedient as a
well-broken spaniel, the favourite reesting-place will no longer

VICE. 127

possess any attractions, and he will proceed on the rider's
way a sadder and a wiser animal. Should this circumlocution
treatment not be sufficiently drastic— repeat the dose.

Shying and Starting.

When not occasioned by defective vision, shying is either
a constitutional infirmity, a vice, or the outcome of high
animal spirits. We take the last cause first. A high spirited
horse over-primed with too liberal allowance of oats and
short of work, is taken out. He is in " rare fettle," the hot
blood courses through his veins, he is in exuberant spirits,
as frolicsome as a kitten, " fit to jump out of his skin," and,
in the language of the stable, " beany." He rejoices, and is
exceeding glad, goes as if scorning to touch the ground,
flies his flag gaily, gets his head in the air, snorts, and every
motion tells his rider that the sprightly beast is ready to
jump with joy. Presently he pricks his ears forward and,
looking intently forward, as if some lion were in his path, he
cranes and stiffens his neck, and his light corky dancing
walk changes into a cautious sort of march. The object
that has riveted his attention and from which he is prcr
pared to shy, is merely a heap of road metal, or perhaps no
more than a leaf, yet he either spins round on his hind legs
or shies from it, starting aside like a broken bow. All the
time he has been preparing for a shy, a start, or a bolt.
There is no mistaking the signals. As likely as not there
may be no object at which he may have an excuse for
shying, but as he means to have his fling out he pretends to
be afraid of something not visible. Anyhow his bound aside
is as sudden and vigorous as if a royal tiger with an angry roar,
or rather grunt (for Mr. Stripes grunts or growls when he
charges) had sprung upon him. The horse's antics, no

128 HORSEMANSHIP.

doubt, are unpleasant, but surely no rider in his senses
would punish the mettlesome, frolicsome, dumb animal, for
having his bit of a lark.

An habitual shyer can be told the moment he exhibits his
vice ; he will, from having been frequently punished, make
a long, and possibly dangerous rush past the object that
alarms him. Such an offender is difficult to deal with.
When the indications of an impending shy are evident, a
good plan is to immediately pull him up and to let him
stand looking at the object of his fear, speaking kindly to
him in a reassuring tone. Finding it does not move, he
will soon approach it, though perhaps giving it a wide berth,
and, like the Priest or the Levite in the parable of the good
Samaritan, passing by on the other side. On no account
force him on ; let him stand and look at it till he has not
only ceased to fear it, but to take any interest in it. He may
pass the dreaded obstacle without any signs of timidity, but
should he still show any aversion or nervousness, appease
his apprehensions by talking to him and patting him, and in
approaching it incline his head away from it. Once past it,
turn him round and walk him by it again, and when his
dread of it has disappeared, coax him up to it, let him walk
round and round it, smell it, paw it if he will, feel it with his
upper lip, and if possible walk him over it.

The usual and most unhorsemanlike method is, by dint
of bridle and spur, to force the horse up to, or hold his head
towards, the object of his dread, to " cram " him past it,
and then to flog and spur him, so that, on the principle of
adding fuel to the flame, he has two fears to contend against
— that of his own imagination, and the reality of certain
punishment. When his head is forcibly directed toward
the object, his hindquarters are naturally turned from it,
and in that position, he with the greatest ease shies or backs

VICE. 129

away from it, possibly dropping his hind legs into the ditch
by the roadside ; whereas if the opposite rein be pulled, his
head is drawn away from it, he may make a rush forward,
but he cannot swerve laterally. Having ascertained the
objects of his special aversion, you should by every means
possible familiarize him with them. If pigeons are allowed
to fly and flutter about the stable, they will perch on the
horse's back and head and work wonders in the direction
of calming his fears. Some horses have a great objection
to passing a decomposed carcase of an animal ; even if they
cannot see it, the putrid smell appears to affect their highly
sensitive olfactory nerves.

Should the rider be in a hurry and mounted on a bad
confirmed shyer, he must, on being warned of his intention,
take a firm hold of the bridoon in both hands, and draw the
bit sharply through his mouth, squeeze him with both legs,
turn his head away from the object, giving him the spur on
the side away from the bogie ^ and at a sharp pace rattle him
past it.

Some horses are very awkward when meeting or being
overtaken by vehicles. In Great Britain any conveyance
meeting you passes on your right hand. My advice to the
reader is when mounted on any animal, no matter how per-
fectly quiet, staunch, and well-mannered, on seeing anything
unusual approaching, to get his horse well in hand. Should he
evince any symptoms of alarm and fix his gaze on the coming
object, speak reassuringly to him, bear on the near rein, and
pressing him with the left leg, touch him with the spur on that
side. " A stitch in time saves nine," so pull his head gently
towards the hedge, wall, pavement, or whatever may hem
you in on the left side, distract his attention as much as
possible, and endeavour to meet and pass the object without
his seeing it. The same applies to any object overtaking

K

130 HORSEMANSHIP.

you from behind. You both are aware of its approach, he
does not see it, but you can. As before, your first object,
having got him by the head, is to divert his attention, and
then to turn his head to the left, inclining your course in
that direction also.

The most awkward position a rider of a confirmed shyer
can be placed in is when he, at short notice, finds himself
meeting a rapidly driven vehicle in a narrow road or lane.
He is painfully aware that the brute will shy and become
ungovernable, also he begins to be aware that the fast near-
ing driver cannot, or will not, pull up. There are visions of
a capsize into the ditch or the fence, of imminent collision
and of serious damage to all concerned. What is[to be done ?
He must just put his pride in his pocket, go about, and seek
safety in flight. There is only one other way out of the
dilemma, and that is to put the horse at the fence, landing
over it into the adjoining field, and leaving the road to the
vehicle. Of the two I prefer the clean ignominious retreat.
If there be no time to turn, or the horse is inclined to " stick
up " or " reest," there is no help for it but to pull his head
towards the approaching object, giving him at the same time
a sharp dig with the spur on the same side. This will send
his quarters away from it and towards the fence, then as the
critical moment arrives another drive from the off Latchford
will straighten him a bit, and he will pass clear. The rider,
if he wishes to save his knee, must never ease-off the right
rein. The horse will have sense enough to keep his head
and the point of his shoulder out of harm's way. In the
case of being overtaken under similar straits, all the rider has
to do is to keep in front of the carriage till the road widens,
or some friendly cross-road, bay, or open gate presents itself

No young horse properly and intelligently broken in should
be guilty of shying.

VICE. 131

Buck-jumping and Plunging.

Though none of our home-bred horses get the length, as
do the AustraHans, of buckmg the saddle right off, over
head and forelegs, without breaking the girths, yet some of
them are very awkward customers when they are determined
not to be ridden. A "double-first," at the art of buck-
jumping will, at the shortest notice " sling " any man short
of an Australian stock-rider. Good sound girths, man,
saddle and bridle, if stuck to, are all " slung " of a heap by
the mighty efforts of the horse. He will bound straight up
into the air — not a long bound, but a buck, tuck his head
between his fore legs, so that his face looks right on the
ground, roach his back like a hedge-hog, spin half round in
the air and come down with all four legs stiff and unyield-
ing as bars of cast-iron, landing with a "prop," the con-
cussion of which makes his rider's jaws crack. Without
changing his ground, this delightful saltatory performance,
with a few wriggles and rapid lateral jerks thrown in, is re-
peated with surprising rapidity ; buck follows buck in rapid
succession, interspersed with certain spinnings round on the
hind legs, till the rider's sticking-on powers are tested to
the fullest, his teeth feel pretty well loosened and his spine
rather the worse for wear. The wind-up of such a bout is
that the rider suddenly finds himself cleaving the air as if
hurled from a catapult, and if he can quietly endure, as
depicted in this wood-cut, he will overcome the most deter-
mined performer.

During these vagaries the horseman is absolutely. power-
less ; all he can do is to stick to the saddle if he can. A
soft sheepskin or numnah under the saddle has been known
to cure some buck-jumpers. As compared with this energetic

132

HORSEMANSHIP.

" notice to quit," the plunger's efforts are as child's play.
With some horses, young ones especially, it is a mere frolic,
and as such is harmless. When about to commence the
game he will shake and throw his head about, exhibiting
impatience of restraint, he will dance, sidle, and fling him-
self about, endeavouring, at the same time, to " force the
hand " which, as explained elsewhere, is the act of suddenly

THE LAST RESOURCE.

throwing the head forward with a view to release the mouth
from the constraint of the bit. A certain amount of liberty
of head must be accorded when he plunges forwards and
sideways, but on no account must he be permitted to get it
down between his forelegs. The rider must sit back and
sit fast, keep his horse's head up, and let him have his lark
out. The vicious plunger is an animal of another sort, he,

V-ICE. \%%

like his first cousin the buck-jumper, means that his rider
should be " slung." He is quiet enough during the process
of mounting, and lets him remain so long as he is not asked
to move on, but when the mandate comes to make pro-
gress, he forthwith " sets to " in downright earnest. With
an angry snatch at the bit, back come his ears and down
goes his head, he hugs his tail like a hound under the lash;
swells himself out, hogs his back till it is arched like a
camel's, and without further preliminaries — these don't take
much longer than a second or two — he plunges forward with
mighty bounds. Here again there is little for the rider to
do save to stick on and keep the sulky brute straight. This
is the display of a pure unadulterated sulky disposition ; the
American word " cussedness " best describes it.

Violence of temper may be gentled down by firm and
judicious treatment and handling, but these sullen disposi-
tions can never be eradicated. Such an animal, if tackled
by a determined rider, is generally found to be a hung-hill,
hare-hearted brute. Such a one should be taken into a deep
clay, ploughed field, and there provoked to a duel. The
clay would afford good foothold, but no "jumping powder."
Armed with a severe Newmarket flogger and long hunting
spurs, the horseman, holding him by one hand, will rain
stinging cuts over his head, ears, neck, shoulder, and flank,
lancing his sides all the while, till he gives up the contest.
The treatment may be cruel, but such a horse is nothing
but a cow-hearted bully, and should be flogged like a
garotter.

When riding a plunging horse use the Fitzwilliam girth,
or have three girths to the saddle, two fairly tight, the third
slacker, so that in the event — a very probable one— of the
two braced ones giving way, the third may hold the saddle.

In concluding my few notes on Vices, I wish to accentuate

134 HORSEMANSHIP.

my already recorded opinion that, under no circumstances
should a lady ride a horse addicted to any of the besetting
sins referred to in this chapter, nor ought she to be seen
outside one possessing any fault likely to compromise her
safety. Nevertheless, it behoves her to be armed at all
points, and prepared to control all sorts of steeds. Should
she, unhappily, be called upon to baffle the misbehaviour of
some unruly animal, she must, above all things, studiously
preserve her calm, collected, presence of mind. The least
symptom of nervousness on her part will at once com-
municate itself to her opponent, and the response will be
more energetic rebellion. On no account must the feel
on the mouth be abandoned to seize hold on the crutch
or pommel ; the relaxing of the reins, except in the case of
rearing, means certain defeat. Should any vice suddenly
develop itself, such as will not yield to gentle treatment,
then the task of bringing the offender into subjection must
be left to the so-called " rough-rider," or to Mr. Galvayne
and his pupils. Certainly the administration of severe
punishment or coercion is not the province of the lady.

CHAPTER VII.

BITS AND BITTING.

There is a key to every mouth, provided the rider knows
the high art of applying it. What are termed " fine hands "
are inborn rarities to be developed only by long and patient
practice with all sorts of animals. A perfect hand is what
in pianoforte playing the " touch " is in contra-distinction

BITS AND BITTING. 135

to " execution." How often does it happen that the Hght
hand of a woman softens and controls, with a kind of magic
touch, the temper of the most fretful steed, when, the moment
a man gets on his back, the same horse becomes an un-
governable brute ?

The best bit and bridle for a horse is, of course, that
which is best adapted to the particular work he is required
to perform. The Bedaween Arab sets little store by speed,
but places a very high value on what the Scotch term "jink-
ing," and coursing men "wrenching" — his life depending
on this ability of his mettlesome mount. And yet he, like
the warlike Persians of old, frequently has no bit, but guides
his horse by the shaft of his long lance and restrains him
by a chain nose-band. In the frieze of the Temple of
Minerva, in the Acropolis of Athens, the horses are repre-
sented as ridden without bridle or saddle.

Allan McDonogh, whose name as one of the finest steeple-
chase riders of all time will be handed down hand-in-hand
with the charming Brunette, steered Sailor to victory over a
very severe course at Bandon, having, for the last mile and
a half, nothing but his whip to guide with. The " chaser "
had breasted a high bank and, in rising, broke the throat
lash, the bridle coming off in his prostrate pilot's hand.
McDonogh, a good faller, was in the saddle before the horse
had righted himself, was soon in pursuit, and crowded on so
much sail that Sailor actually took a "boreen" — a narrow
lane between two stiff banks — in his stride. The riders of
the other horses, seeing him bridleless, tried to run him out
at the turn, but the masterful jockey was equal to the occa-
sion, and, almost chmbing out onto the fast speeding Sailor's
neck, clasped his nose, so guided him round the post, and,
with a straight course in front of him, made all the rest of
the running — winning easily.

136 HORSEMANSHIP.

For cavalry purposes, where so much depends on the charger
being taught to halt or stop, turn, wheel, and " reverse," at
full speed, all of which necessitate his being well in hand so
as to be thrown instantaneonsly on his haunches or to change
his legs, the curb-bit is of paramount necessity, otherwise
his rider could not give fullest effect to his weapon. The
Australian stockman's horse or the Indian *'pig sticker"
can do all this, and more, in a plain snaffle, but the one
always has his eye on the break-away bull, steer, or cow,
the latter on the bristly four-footed bandit. The polo pony
soon takes as much interest in the game as his master, and
learns to keep an eye on the ball. Not so with the cavalry
soldier, who for the first time, and probably for the last,
makes the acquaintance of his foeman on the field of battle.
We see illustrations of mounted swordsmanship at our so-
called military tournaments ; but these exhibitions are as like
the actual stern reality as weak tea is to spirit above proof.
In the melee all depends on a powerful, active, and handy
horse, completely under control, on the rider's firm seat and
balance, on his strong arm, knowledge of his weapon, and
unflinching courage, and last, but not least, to a bit of luck
and the absence of a stray shot.

Curb-bits and curb-chains are all very well when the
horse has to be slightly thrown on his haunches with his
head in a certain position, but when loosed in the easy
freedom of his speed, " upon the pinions of the wind," on
turf, light soil, and over fences of almost every description
—always excluding a hot eager mount in Crampshire — there
is no bit to compare with the snaffle. A snaffle bridle
hunter is a luxury I shall treat of in another volume. Sir
Francis Head, writing on this subject, sensibly remarks,
" When a horse is enabled, like a soldier whose stiff stock
has just been unbuckled (a relic of barbarism no longer in

BITS AND BITTING. 1^7

use), to drop his head to its natural position, he not only-
goes safel}^, but without risk of cutting his fetlocks over
ground deeply covered with loose impediments of any
description ; and, accordingly, in Surrey, it has long been a
hunting axiom that it is the curb-bridles which, by throwing
hunters on their haunches in a false position, cause them to
cut their back sinews with those sharp flints which, in a
snaffle bit, they can clatter over without injury." That
admirable horsewoman, Mrs. Power O'Donoghue is in
favour of a double-ring snaffle, which is termed " the
improved Newmarket snaffle."

I have always found, during a somewhat lengthy experience,
that the unmanageableness of certain horses is, in a large
majority of cases, due either to over-bitting or to the pro-
verbial " hands of iron" which, among men especially, are
the rule rather than the exception. One of our at one time
crack steeplechase jockeys, who shall be nameless^ but who
has been on the back of many winners, from that of the
Grand National downwards, has such a heavy unyielding
hold of a horse that any animal, no matter how silky of
mouth, entering his stable, leaves it a hard dead puller.

I do not subscribe to the very generally accepted opinion
that there are as many degrees of mouths as there are horses,
and that, consequently, each individual unit of the equine
race requires a particular bit made to suit him. Were such
the case, then "touch," or deft handling, would be of little
effect, and the loriner's inventive faculty would know no
rest. Already the bridle-bit maker's genius and ingenuity
has been pretty freely exercised, for since the days of the
Roman emperors (Theodosius is represented in an ancient
sculpture riding with one warranted to break the jaw of the
bull-headed Bucephalus) up to the present there are no fewer
than some six scores of bits all said to act like a charm on

nS HORSEMANSHIP.

bolters, runaways, pullers, dead mouths, et hoc genus oinne.
The purchaser can be provided with anything from the plain
hunting (Fig. i) and the easy *' Mulling" mouthed snaffle
(Fig. 3), the saw-faced, double-jointed instrument of torture
known as Woods' snaffle (Fig. 4) to the Chifney (Fig. 14)
with its enormous leverage, or the powerful combined double
snaffle, " The Champion," of Messrs. Champion and Wilton.
New patents are being constantly applied for, claiming to
be the best bits in the world ; and that these cranks, fads, or
notions are, in the words of the advertisers, of course" con-
structed on purely scientific principles " goes without saying.

It is not only the horse's mouth that the rider has to con-
trol : he has high courage, and often temper — the latter in
nine cases out of ten the outcome of bad and stupid treat-
ment— defective setting on and carriage of the head, and
peculiarities of action to deal with. Few, if any of us, have
given such practical and careful attention to this important
subject of Bits and Bitting as did the late Don Juan Secundo,
a brilliant exponent of the haute ecole, and the inventor of a
bit bearing his name. The Segundo bit was held in high
esteem by that prince of loriners, the late Mr. Benjamin
Latchford, of St. Martin's Lane.

This Spanish centaur made the horse's mouth his special
and close study for a period of many years, bringing super-
lative horsemanship, exquisite hands, rare intelligence, and
a fine temper, to bear on the handling of this little under-
stood organ. Attentive investigation and mechanical genius
enabled him to determine, on fixed principles, the precise
form and method after which each part of the bit should be
shaped and put together so as to accommodate itself to each
class of mouth, thus rendering the horse easy and pleasant
to ride, and the bit, though mild, thoroughly effectual. To
determine these principles he first of all studied the anatomy

I40 HORSEMANSHIP.,

of the mouth, externally and internally, observing precisely
where and how the various bits exercised their control,
where and why they produced irritation and soreness, and
where, by exercising an excess of pressure, they by degrees
deadened and hardened the bars. His aim was the maxi-
mum of power to the horseman with the minimum of pres-
sure on the bars and chin. At the same time means had to
be devised by which to do away with the aptness of the
tongue to interpose itself, as a sort of cushion, between the
bars and the mouth-piece of the bit.

The mouth, so far as it is affected by bitting, consists of
the lips, the bars, the channel, the palate, and the tongue.
The bars — that toothless portion of the gum of the lower
jaw, which is between the molars and the tush in the case
of the horse, and between the molars and incisors in that
of the mare, and on which the cannons of the bit rest —
vary in shape considerably. If fleshy, round, and low, the
mouth, unless tenderly handled, is almost certain in time
to become dead. When moderately sharp and thin they
constitute what goes towards making a good mouth, but
if lean and very sharp, especially in the case of a hot
or high-couraged horse, they are almost certain to form a
very tender mouth, best suited to the give-and-take handhng
of a lady. These remarks also apply to the chin. A large
tongue is objectionable from its already stated aptitude
to prevent the free and exclusive action of the mouth-piece
on the bars, by which, while defecting the controlling
power of the bit, it is itself often severely injured. We
know how sensitive this organ is, and what agony a wound
of it entails. It became, therefore, necessary that the liberty
or port intended for it should surround it horizontally,
besides being of sufficient capacity for it to be lodged
with ease.

BITS AND BITTING.

Ui

A bit is composed of four principal parts or pieces — the
Bra?tches, which are divided into two parts, the one A,
the. butt or end of the mouth, upwards. to B, the top-eye,
called the Cheek ; the other extending downwards from the
butt A to C, called the Leg. In proportion as the cheeks
and legs of the bit are long or short the horse will carry his
head either high or low.

The month-piece is divided into three parts, namely, the
cannons, which extend from i
to 2, the heels from 2 to 3, and
the arch or port for the tongue,

A, 4, 4-

Mr. Segundo was led to
classify all mouths under four
heads, namely, three defective,
and one good mouth. To these
he added two additional, result-
ing from falsely placed heads,
making six in all, thus : —

I St class — Runaway, or very
hard-mouthed horses.

2nd class. — Hard - mouthed
horses, or those bearing heavily on the bit.

3rd class. — Good-mouthed horses.

4th „ — Very tender-mouthed horses.

5th „ — Star-gazers, or horses that carry their heads
too high.

6th „ — Borers, or horses that go with their heads close
to their chests.

In order to deal with class i, runaway or very hard-
mouthed horses, the leg of the bit is of great length and
inclined forward, also the curb-chain is very severe, being
composed of enchained links, the bars of which are angular,-

THE SEGUNDO TAT.

142 HORSEMANSHIP.

With class 2, the leg is somewhat shortened, and in a straight
line with the cheek, the curb also less sharp and angular.
For good mouths the legs are still shorter, the links of the
curb quite round, interwoven, and of regular width. A
special bit is designed for very tender mouths and for colts.
As the curb chain has to act on the most sensitive chin, it is
made wide, with interwoven links, in order that the too
sensitive horse may bear upon the bit without shrinking
from or being hurt by it ; in other words, that he may " face
his bit." An elastic curb-chain is recommended for the very
tenderest chins. For star-gazers the curb-chain is of the
same make and proportions as that for good-mouthed horses,
in order that the horse, which has been punished by severe
curb-chains and is touchy and tender about the chin, may
not throw up his head and carry it like a giraffe ; and that,
in case of a natural defect of setting on of the head, he
may yield to the leverage of the long legs of the bit, with-
out being worried by the curb-chain. In combating the
propensity to bore, the curb chain is on the same principle
as that recommended for hard-mouthed horses, or such as
bear heavily on the bit, the legs being considerably shortened.
The curb-hooks^ of which that on the off side of the cheek
is termed the »S, that on the near side the hook, call for a
passing word. As it is important that the curb-chain should
always lie on the chin — each class of bit, according to the
length of the cheek, having a hook of a different size or
length — the length should be measured from the point of
attachment with the top eye of the cheek to the centre of
the cannon or butt of the mouth-piece. In the proper adjust-
ment of the curb-chain depends the whole action of the bit.
Close attention to the following rules is, consequently, re-
commended : — See that the bit be the exact width of the
horse's mouth, to prevent it slipping either to the right hand

BITS AND BITTING. 143

or the left, and the heels of the mouth-piece from hurting or
pressing more on one bar than on the other. The proper
place for the mouth-piece is about -half an inch above the
tush of the lower jaw. In the case of hard-mouthed horses
the curb-chain should be rather tight : for good-mouthed
horses, star-gazers, and borers_, neither too light nor too
loose; for very tender-mouthed horses, rather loose than
tight. , . , _

An important point in the action of the Segundo bit is
that the mouth-piece has a partially rotatory movement
on its branches; or, more plainly, the branches move
upon the ends or butts of the mouth-piece to the extent
of a quarter of a circle. For this movement the inventor
claims the following noteworthy advantages : — ist, It enables
the horse to keep the mouth-piece always in its proper place,
independent of the branches, the slightest movement of the
tongue sufficing to introduce it into its port or arch, and
thus fix it in that position which is best suited to the former.
2nd, The friction of the mouth-piece against the bars, occa-
sioned by every pull of the bridle, which, by constant
repetition, hardens them, is hereby almost entirely, if not
altogether, done away with. 3rd, Were a vicious horse to
seize the bit, or one of its branches, with his teeth, he could
still be made to feel the bit, because, the branches acting
independently of each other, and of the mouth-piece itself, the
curb-chain may be brought instantly into play, and the horse
under its subjection. Thus those fatal accidents, hitherto of
daily occurrence, which proceed from the rider or driver
being unable to stop his horse on account of the action of
the branches being suspended, are sure to be avoided by
means of the rotary movement given to the mouth-piece.
4th, It frees the tongue from all oppression, and the horse
from the necessity of putting it out, or of drawing it over

144

HORSEMANSHIP.

the mouthpiece, because the port has sufficient room to allow
the tongue to move with ease, an advantage of which it
would be deprived if the mouthpiece were without this
movement.

Amongst horsemen generally there are erroneous views
as to the action ^of the port. It is commonly believed
that when the mouth-piece, by the elevation of its port, bears
against the palate, the rider or driver has greater command
over the horse ; so the poor quadruped is tortured by bar-
barisms such as gridiron swing and stop ports, sliding ports,
solid gridiron ports, Turkey ports, and other devices designed
to bear against and bruise the palate. The power of the bit
depends solely on the proportion of the branches. A too
low and small port, however, is as bad as one that is too
high, for it acts with similar violence on the tongue, squeez-
ing it between the cannons of the mouth-piece and the bars,
and forcing it to assume an unnatural position. When a horse
is seen to loll out his tongue, or to be constantly gaping or
opening his mouth, depend on it the poor animal is seeking
relief from some defective construction of the bit. The
habit is a great annoyance, but the owner has it in his power
to eradicate it.

Anyone noticing the hansom cab horses of the metropolis
must be convinced of the prevalence of a habit of boring
to one side of the street and of perpetually hanging on one
rein. There is nothing more irksome, not to say dangerous,
to rider or driver than a one-sided mouth, nothing more
difficult to cure. It arises in the first place from one of the
bars becoming more callous than the other, owing to greater
use being made of one rein than of the other, producing, by
unequal pressure, greater friction on one of the bars. Reins
of unequal length may cause this defect of mouth. When
once the mouth assumes this one-sidedness, the horse^

BITS AND BITTING. 143

desirous to relieve the sensitive bars of the pressure, turns
his head to that side, and the more the rider or reinsman
pulls in the contrary direction, the more the horse persists
in his vice. Sometimes, but very rarely, horses are met with,
which, from malformation of the mouth, have one bar higher
than the other, a defect producing considerable irritation,
but in the great majority of cases, the habit is created by bad
hands holding on to a bad bit, by careless and inattentive
riders and drivers. Only a skilful and experienced hand
can successfully combat this habit, hence it is that we see so
many good-looking horses condemned to the slavery of the
cab-rank. The most efficacious means of cure is a radical
change of bit, and it alone can lessen the acquired defect.
A snaffle bit, a piece of chain being substituted for that
half of the mouth-piece which rests on the callous bar, has
been recommended, as has been a bit of flannel wound
round that side of the bit to which the horse is inattentive.
Probably a snaffle smooth on the sensitive half of the
mouth, and with a twist on the other would have the same
effect. With change of bit must come change of hands,
and they must be those of a master of his art.

If a bit does not suit a horse he will, by restlessness, throw*
ing his head about, yawning, going "one-sided," carrying his
head either too low or too high, by slabbering, and by
various dumb motions, speedily apprise his rider of the fact.
Mr. Benjamin Latchford — whose name is a household word
among horsemen as bridle, bit, stirrup and spur maker, one
of " the good men of the mystery of loriners," a craft or
guild having its ordinances dating back to the times of
Henry 11. , son of King John — gave it as his opinion that
" the horse has naturally no vice, and that every description
of vice found in him is created by the treatment he receives
from those in whose care he is placed." To illustrate this

L

146 HORSEMANSHIP.

doctrine, one to which I heartily subscribe, he, out of hun-
dreds of cases, quotes two, which will bear repeating. The
Mr. John Tilbury referred to was as well-known in the horse
world as is Mr. Edmund Tattersall to the present generation.
" At the time when John Tilbury, of Pinner, Middlesex,
kept many first-class horses, an intimate friend of his, whose
town house was in Berners Street, Oxford Street, and his
country house at Richmond Hill, had a beautiful black horse;
he was a full-sized animal of splendid symmetry, and his
pace not amiss, as he always took the cab with his master,
mistress and tiger, without the use of the whip, from one
house to the other within the hour. He came to me, after
unsuccessfully trying all the bits Mr. Tilbury had ; and, by
Mr. Tilbury's recommendation, he told me the horse had
worked extremely w^ell for some considerable time, but for
the last six or eight months had carried his head on one
side — so much so that he was sure he could not see his
way properly. I told him I thought the horse was over-
bitted ; he was quite sure he was not. I showed him an old
Stanhope bit, with a very easy mouthpiece, which I offered
to lend him to try. It was very old-fashioned and of scarcely
any value. He said, ' Do you want to see my cab smashed
and one or more killed ? ' I asked him whether the horse
was a kicker. He said, ' No, he is not.' Then I offered
to get into the cab myself and drive ; but he said my life
was of more value to society than his, and it would appear
cowardly of him if anything were to occur ; so^ after an hour
or so, he consented to try the bit. I put it on, he drove
away, and in half-an-hour called to ask me to lend it to
him for a few days. I told him to keep it for a week or a
fortnight. He came in about a fortnight after and asked
me the price of the bit. I told him I would make one
for him wdth the cheeks to match his carriage bit, which

BITS AND BITTING.

M7

was a very handsome one which I had made shortly pre-
vious. He was very pleased with the bit, and paying me
the high price of his carriage bit for it, said it was the
cheapest article he had ever bought, for with it the horse ran
as straight as an arrow, and that the bit and horse should
never be separated while he lived." The other instance,
and perhaps the more convincing, was in the case of a
gentleman, born and bred in the hunting field, but not over-
burdened by the cash balance
at his bankers', who bought
likely, but seemingly unman-
ageable horses, for, say twenty
guineas. By patience and kind
perseverance he would find
the right sort of bit, and, by
strict attention coax the horse
away from any and every vice
he found it had previously
contracted. Calling on Mr.
Latchford, in order to pur-
chase a No. 2 Segundobit, he
related the following story :
" I gave twenty guineas for a
horse I have now sold. I
never Igive more than twenty guineas, and when I sell, my
price is invariably one hundred and twenty guineas. The
horse I have just sold I purchased for twenty guineas, because
no one could ride him. First I found the bit to suit his mouth,
then, with kind treatment and proper exercise, I soon had
the best hunter in the field. A young nobleman, with three
or four good hunters, was very vexed that he could not keep
up with me. He bought my horse, which, of course, I sent
to his stables. The next time out the horse was no better

THE STANIIOI'L KIT.

I4S HORSEMANSHIP.

than his others; another day, and still the same. He
cursed, he swore, and, in his passion, said he would have the
horse shot. Of course the gentlemen of the hunt would not
allow such a thing with a horse they had seen work so well,
so he sold me the horse for twenty guineas, and I put my
old bridle on the right bit and took the lead as before, which
so exasperated the young nobleman that he challenged my
education in riding ; said he could ride as well as I could,
he had been taught by as good masters as I had, and a great
deal more of such intemperate language, and, after some
five or six good runs, said he must have the horse, for he
could no longer be left in the cold. So next time we went
out, being very near each other, and seeing that he was very
much out of temper, I offered to change seats — I to ride his
horse, and he to ride mine, and all went well. He was
delighted, and on our return he gave me a second one
hundred and twenty guineas, and I sent the horse to
his stable — bridle and saddle, just as he was — with in-
structions always to use him in that bridle and saddle, and
no other; and, as I have another horse the No. 2 Segundo
bit suits so well, I am come to buy one." Mr. Latchford
adds, '^ No part of God's creation is more varied — conse-
quently requires more patience and kind attention — than
the horse's mouth and temper." In that gentleman's
opinion, an opinion deserving the greatest respect, he
found the Segundo bit, with the exception of the Melton
bit (Plate A^ No. 5) to suit more horses than any other, and
to be in greater demand. If I may venture to hazard an
opinion, somewhat opposed to that of this long practised
expert, I [should say that the Melton pattern, good as it un-
doubtedly is, in a nice tender mouth, would be greatly im-
proved by the substitution of the Segundo thick-heeled port.
The limited space at my disposal will not permit me to

BITS AND BITTING. 149

enter as fully as I could desire into this important subject.
In a future volume devoted to Driving, I shall have
occasion to discuss it more fully.

On page 139 are illustrated the various riding bits in
common use, and of these I have no hesitation in emphati-
cally condemning No. 4, Wood's snaffle, and No. 12, the
Bentinck bit. No. i, the plain snaffle, No. 2, the double-
mouthed snaffle, and No. 3, the Milling-mouthed snaffle, are
three useful bits, of which No. 2 is the most powerful. Nos.
5, 6 and 7 are three varieties of bit and bradoon, or bridoon ;
the first, of the type generally used for steeple-chasing, and
sometimes in flat racing ; the second, the Leicester bit, with
twisted bridoon, is essentially for hunting, as is the third,
which has a port and plain-mouthed bridoon. No. 8 is a
hunting bit, with slide mouth, which is sometimes fitted with
rollers, seven in number. All the above, with the exception
of No. 4 — which is only introduced as a sample of what cruel
artifices man can be guilty of — are used for light or medium
mouths. Nos. 9, 10 and 11 are three varieties of Pelham
bits, the two first the Lipping Hanoverian and the Lipping
plain-mouth respectively, the third the straight-cheeked
Hanoverian. The Lipping patterns, both used with one rein
only, are single-reined curbs, or " hard and sharps," the port
being jointed to the mouth-piece and the cheeks revolving
on the butts as in the case of the snaffle. These joints and
port do not deaden the mouth like the common curb bridle
when used alone, and, on the whole, these bits in light
hands are good hack bridles. For general use, always
reserving a good word for a true fashioned Segundo, I am
not in favour of single-reined curbs. No bit looks better
or is more effective than No. 1 1, the straight-cheeked Pelham,
always provided the hands are light. For hack-cantering
the modified Hanoverian Pelham, is sufficiently powerful for

150 HORSEMANSHIP.

most purposes, and I never met with a mouth so tender
that would not face it. This bit is a compromise between
the snaffle and curb, with elongated leg-branches and a/
ring at the ends of the butts or mouth-piece for the second
rein ; to the top-eye of the cheek the curb is affixed. The
mouth-piece should have a low port with plain mouth —
no rollers, olives, twists, etc. The cheek, which is con-
structed to turn, should, in my opinion, be straight, as look-
ing more workmanlike. That some, ladies especially, prefer
what are termed the Ladies' Hanoverian, the Ladies' re-
versed Hanoverian, the Pad Check, and Snoko-Pelhams,
is a mere matter of taste. This variety of bit is too little
understood and too seldom in use. A well-trained horse
ridden in a bridle of this description, in the hands of an
expert, will, with the mere pressure of the leg, and the
unspellable " klk," at once break from a walk or trot into
the canter. It is, as will be seen on examination, no
more encumbrance in a horse's mouth than the snaffle, with
this advantage, that, by taking up the lower rein, it is a
mild or strong curb bit. This double-reined Pelham has
another great advantage over either of the Lipping patterns,
that it does not require such fine sensitive hands. It has
been objected to Pelhams that they make horses go heavy
in hand, but the fault lies with the rider, not with the bit.
The Bentinck, No. 12, is a device of the wicked to bruise
and injure the horse's palate. No. 13, the Stockton bit,
is a combination of the snaffle mouth-piece, the revolving
branches of the Segundo with a little slide, and the double
rein of the straight-cheeked Pelham — a useful bit. In the
Chifney, No. 14, the curb-chain is attached to the perma-
nent hook on the cheek of the bit, forged on to it, the
head-stall of the bridle going on to the eye of the loose
cheek. The leverage so obtained, especially if the chain be

BITS AND BITTING.

151

of angular links and the horse's chin sharp and thin-skinned,
is enormous.

CAPTAIN KERR's MODEL PATENT BIT.

Of gag-snaffles there are several, but I shall only mention
thcit invented by Mr. Sydney Galvayne, for which he claims
that it completely subjugates runaways, either under the

152

HORSEMANSHIP.

saddle or in harness, can stop the horse in its own length,,
and can with safety steady a rusher at his fences.

I venture to submit the claims of an invention of my own,
which, when used in conjunction with a nose-band, will be
found to exercise control in combination with comfort. It
is a combination of the double-jointed snaffle, the Pelham,
and the Segundo port. The lightest snaffle bridle horse
goes handsomely in it, finding in the port a liberty or har-

CAPTAIN KERR S MODEL PATENT BIT FOR RUNAWAYS.

hour for his tongue ; he cannot insert his tongue between
the cannons of the mouth-piece and the bars of his jaw, and
if the mouth be over sensitive, the round smooth cannons
are encased in white, tasteless, rubber. Should a confirmed
bolter get the leg between his teeth, the action of the joints
is such that it is at once wrenched from his hold. The
snaffle can be mild or severe at the rider's pleasure. In the
case of habitual runaways I make " assurance doubly sure "
by adding a fast, loose, sliding, or roller loop on to the butt,
as may be deemed best. A iiose-band which may, in ex-

SADDLERY. 153

treme cases, be lined with curb chain, as is customary in
Arabia, passes through these loops, the rein attached to it
going direct, or crossed under the chin if extra pressure
be desired, into the rider's hands.

CHAPTER VIII.

SADDLERY.

My impression is that every horse should have his own
saddle, and that it should be as carefully fitted on him as the
glove or boot of a dame of fashion. There are as many
peculiarities of make and shape in horses' backs and withers,
and in the placement of the shoulder blades, as in the
formation of ladies' hands and feet. Of late years con-
siderable improvements have been made in the structure of
the trees, the ventilation, panneling and workmanship of
both cross and side-saddles. There is a fashion in saddlery
as in everything else.

The engravings following represent improved ventilating
saddles manufactured by Messrs. Champion and Wilton.
That weighing slbs., and therefore too small for general
purposes, being built especially for polo, combines all that
can be sought for in a first class saddle, viz. perfect cut
and style, extreme neatness, with the best of materials, all
carefully hand-sewn by permanent workmen, and complete
ventilation ; also it affords a close grip, giving the rider a
secure and easy seat. The larger, full-sized one, is an ex-
cellent type of an ordinary riding-saddle stuffed in front of
the knees. In comparison with the clumsy shoddy products

15+

HORSEMANSHIP.

of provincial bunglers, these masterpieces of the saddler's
art are as St. James's to St. Giles's, as a thoroughbred to a
*' coster's moke."

It is the worst possible economy to go to a cheap shop
for saddlery, or indeed for any gear connected with saddlery.
In these days of rapid tanning it is most difficult to get

good sound wearing leather, and it is only the leading firms
that supply this material. The reader must not be led away
by tempting advertisements of clearance sales, of large pur-
chases of bankrupt or only slightly soiled salvage stock, all,
of course, by unnamed first-rate makers, in which saddles are
offered at alarming sacrifices and at unheard of low prices.

SADDLERY.

J55

Such rubbish would be dear at ;^5 the baker's dozen. An^
enormous quantity of machine-sewn saddlery is manufactured
for the colonies and export, a little of it, by firms of good
standing, is good, but a great deal is inferior, and the bulk
good for nothing. This too is to be avoided. A good price
must be paid for a superior article, such as will look well,
wear well, and give satisfaction to man and horse.

As it is convenient to be acquainted with the different
component parts of a saddle, the reader is referred to the
illustrations, i,
is the head or
pommel ; 2, the
twist; 3, the skirt;
4, the seat ; 5,
the cantle ; 6,
the flap ; 7, the
knee-roll ; 8, the
front and back
facings of the
pannel ; 9, the
gullet; 10, the
pannel.

Polo - players
insist upon hav-
ing the light 51b. saddles, though, roomy as the one illustrated
is, I fail to see with what object, unless it be that they look
neat. Be your weight light or welter, never order a small
saddle for road, park, or hunting-field. A roomy saddle, in
which the rider can sit with ease and comfort, one which the
moment he is mounted gives him the proper grip, is also
beneficial to the horse, because it spreads the weight he has
to carry over a larger surface, the pressure per square inch
l^eing thereby diminished. In the case of a light weight,

156

HORSEMANSHIP.

except on the flat, a pound or two is neither here nor
there, but a heavy man in a small saddle will cut the
horse's back to pieces. Pressure from a too small or ill-
fitting saddle will not only produce sore back, but obstinate

abscess, and ultimate fistula
of the withers. In too short
a tree a tall man must sit
so far back on the cantle
as to bring it down on the
ridge of the back, the sur-
face ofthe skin is abraded,
a warble or sitfast is formed,
and anl operation necessi-
tated.'if Sixteen inches from
cantle '^A^o, pommel is, I
consider,': a-^ small size for

(5 LB. rOLO-SADDLE.)

general' purposes, for small
or medium^sized men, but

no heavy or tall horseman should ride in anything less than
eighteen inches.

No doubt a quantity of stuffing in front of the knees acts
as a sort of cobbler's-wax in retaining certain indifferent
horsemen and old gentlemen in the saddle. A very little
stuffing, to an extent hardly perceptible, may be permitted,
but the plain flap is now in almost universal use. In making
a sudden stumble or blunder, or in landing over a big and
especially a drop leap, the rider, without losing his seat, may
be projected forward two or three inches, and in the absence
of stuffing at the knees he glides or slips forward without
any strain or inconvenience the required distance ; but, on
the other hand, if the knees be arrested by the padding the
muscles of the thigh are often so severely strained as to in-
capacitate the rider or to force him to ride for weeks in a

SADDLERY. \'!*J

bandage. The plain flap is cheaper than the stuffed one,
looks more workmanlike, wears longer, after a wet day dries
more quickly, and is much the more pleasant of the two to
ride on. When, in the case of a tall and especially of a light-
legged man knee stuffing is patronized, he should order his
saddler to carry the knee roll well down to the lower portion
of the saddle flap. It stands to reason that the knee and
shin of a six-footer must come much lower down on the flap
than those of a dumpy.

Messrs. Champion and Wilton have recently applied the
principle of cutting away the front part of the Tree, which
has proved so successful to their side saddles. The new
pattern, called the " Lane Fox," after the veteran master of
the'_Bramham Moor Fox Hounds, gives the rider, as nearly
as possible, a flat seat, adds greatly to his comfort, renders
sore withers impossible, and adds to the appearance.

The same firm fit their patent safety-bar to any saddles.
That well-known authority who writes under the pseudonym,
" Brooksby," speaking of this invaluable invention, the out-
come of long and close attention to the difficult problem,
says, " I have at various times tested nearly every description
of invention in this line, and up till now with the result that
I threw away each in turn, preferring the risk of being hung
up to the liability of finding myself stirrupless at least after
every fall, and often without a fall at all. The stirrups would
come away when I was not to be dragged ; and on three
different occasions, in my search for safety, I found myself
called upon to enjoy to the full the luxury of riding a whole
run with a single stirrup — in each instance, too, upon a horse
that was only too ready to utilize the opportunity. Messrs.
Champion and Wilton have spent five years in attempting to
overcome the difficulty ; and as I have fully tested and dis-
carded their earlier shortcomings, as well as those of other.

$58 HORSEMANSHIP.

inventors in this direction, I am happy to be in a position
now to say that I consider they have at length arrived at
exactly what is required. Their patent bar will release a
rider in any direction, when caught by either the stirrup or its
strap, but so long as he is in the saddle (or within several
inches of it) the action of the bar is rendered impossible by
means of a small lever in the upper saddle-flap, the stirrups
will only come out in case of a fall, and even then not by
their own'weight. The Fates gave me very recently the oppor-
tunity of experimenting much too closely on the working of
the safety-bar in question, with the result that I untwisted
my stirrup leather from my bent spur and refitted it to the
saddle with a very strong sense of gratitude to Messrs.
Champion and Wilton." To this I add that it is not in
the hunting-field alone that the rider is liable to be thrown.
The stirrups most generally in use are the solid bottom,
the Melton, the two-barred, the three-barred, the wide and
narrow oval, and the solid bottom with Foljambe or Prussian
sides. The selection is a mere matter of fancy. Many advo-
cate the open-barred varieties as presenting less surface of
metal to the sole, and, therefore, in winter, not striking so cold
to the foot. Some prefer broad bottoms, others those narrow
in the tread, and the majority like a heavy iron as, on the foot
being thrown out of the stirrup, a weighty one more readily
swings back to it. Personally speaking, I prefer a light stirrup,
but then I ride with a comparatively thin sole to my boot,
one that will bend slightly. I like to be able to feel my
stirrup even when not bearing on it, and am convinced that
a strong unyielding sole predisposes to loss of stirrups.
There is one important point connected with the make of
stirrups which the reader should bear in mind, and that is
the construction of the eye, which should be flat, parallel
to the bottom (barrel-eyed) so that the leather bears evenly*

SADDLERY. 159

If cut in a segment of a circle, the leather, accommodating
itself to the curvature, assumes that shape, and is, there-
fore, difficult to alter in a hurry, and liable to give way at
this point. For wear, the skin side of the leather should be
outwards. The leather buckles should be double-barred.

Stirrup-irons should invariably be of the best wrought
steel, and, like bits, only purchased from first-rate makers.
Messrs. Latchford have been established since 1700, and are
the senior wranglers and double-firsts of the loriners.

Though perhaps not quite so neat and natty, the girth
known as the Fitz-William is preferable to the two narrow
ones generally used outside the hunting field. This arrange-
ment is composed of one double width of web with two
buckles at each end, and of a narrow one, encircling and
secured to the broad one by two loops or keepers, through
which it passes. By this alteration perfect safety is obtained,
for ifall four buckles of the broad girth be carried away, the
narrow one still retains the saddle in its place and prevents
the released girth from dangling. In the event of the straps
or buckles of the narrow girth being broken it cannot dangle
either, being kept in its position by the loops. The extra
cost is only five shillings — ^money well laid out.

The crupper, though now seldom seen outside the ranks of
the army, or in harness^ will be found useful for low shouldered
ponies, with which the saddle will persist in coming too far
forward and interfering with the action of the shoulders,
and, in addition, causing the animal to stumble. Unless the
reader goes to Mr. Chris. Wilson, of Rigmaden Park, Kirkby
Lonsdale, Westmoreland, he will find it difficult to find a
pony with good riding shoulders. The crupper, to be of any
use, and still not to interfere with the liberty of the wearer,
should admit of one, or two fingers at most, being run under
the strap. Mr. Galvayne advertises a crupper which retains

i6o HORSEMANSHIP.

its shape and prevents or cures soreness of the dock caused
by chafing. Colt breakers should take a note of this.

Though not at present touching on hunting or steeple-
chasing, I may mention that there are certain ''herring-
gutted" horses, i.e. horses light in the back ribs, that cannot
be ridden up an acclivity without what is termed " running
through their girths." The deep brisket and tapering cone-
shaped middlepiece cause the saddle to slip back. To keep
it, as much as possible, in its proper place, the breast-plate
is used, and is, more frequently than not, buckled on so tight
as to cramp the horse's action. Horses of this " tucked up "
conformation should not be too tightly girthed. The saddle
must be allowed sufficient play to regain its proper position.
The object of the breast-plate is to keep the saddle from
slipping too far back along the waspish carcase, and as the
strain on it, and consequent pressure on the horse's shoulders,
is frequently very great, even to breaking, it should be stuffed
and stitched.

The ills that horse-flesh is heir to are legion, but of the
whole too extensive range none is so thoroughly annoying
as a sore back ; the mischief is invariably traced to badly
fitting trees. Although a very large percentage of properly
constructed saddles will fit well bred horses in good con-
dition, in order to effectually prevent sore backs, the horses
liable to this equine complaint should be measured, and the
woodwork of the tree modelled to the back. If this be
done, a numnah, placed under the saddle, and the girths
kept fairly tight, then a sore back becomes an impossibility.
The " humanity " sponge-lined numnah, invented by Messrs.
Champion and Wilton, are strongly to be recommended.
Careful fitting and adjustment of the saddle undoubtedly
reduces friction, and, in the majority of cases, does away
with its baneful effects ; but with some high-bred horses

SADDLERY. i6r

the skin of the back is so easily irritated, that it will in-
variably become chafed under a long day's work, and
injury be inflicted either at the withers or underneath the
seat of the saddle. The peculiar feature of this excellent
preventative and curative saddle-cloth, is in the adaptation
of the firmer kind of Turkey sponge, the soft nature of
which suggested itself to the inventors as an agent for
counteracting the friction of the saddle. This invention
keeps the most tender-skinned horse in a position to work
in comfort. It is made in two varieties ; either of bridle
leather, lined at the withers with fine natural Turkey sponge,
thus interposing a soft pad between the saddle and the
withers ; or of white felt, lined at the back as well as the
withers with the same sponge, and intended for such
horses as are apt to become troubled under the seat, as
well as at the withers.

We now come to bridles, and there is a fashion in these
as in everything else. Some ladies patronize bits with orna-
mental cheeks, stitched nose-bands, fly-flappers over the
horse's nose, throat latches with loose appendages dangling
below the horse's jaw, round reins and other outre incon-
gruities. Now the only bit of ornamentation I can sanction
about a well-appointed horse is a coloured brow-band, or front.
On a rich dark brown I must confess to a liking for a bit of
rich orange silk ribbon on the forehead band, it gives Hfe to
the countenance. Many ladies sport their favourite racing
colours, and all, if not too loud, light up the horse's head,
especially if it be a lean, clean-cut, blood one of the Arab type.
All the rest, as in the general " get-up," should be as plain
and quiet as possible. The reins must be pliable and fine in
grain as a kid glove, and, Hke the bridle, stitched on to the
bit. A groom who cannot clean and burnish a bit without
soiling the reins has mistaken his calling. A multiplicity of

i62 HORSEMANSHir.

buckles and billets are unsightly and needless, but I prefer
a buckle on each side of the throat-latch as doing away with
that long end so often seen dangling down. When riding
with the double bridle, the tyro is recommended, the horse
being light-mouthed, to tie the bit rein evenly in a knot,
dropping it on his neck. There is nothing "muffish" in
this, for some of the best and most experienced horsemen,
when riding high-couraged horses, ride only on the bridoon
or snaffle (the difference between the bridoon, and snaffle
is that the former has no cheek) the bit being handy to
take up if needed. Grooms are apt to run the ends of
the bridle head-stall too far through the loops, and so leave
an unsightly surplus of loose leather. Another mistake these
men are constantly making is to buckle the throat-lash, or
latch, too tight. Nothing looks worse unless it be to let it
hang loose below the lower bend of the jaw. It should be
just tight enough to prevent the bridle coming off over the
ears. Many a horse is maddened by the agony inflicted by
a too sharp and severe curb-chain. The reader's attention is
respectfully directed to the chapter on the Segundo system
of bitting. A runaway horse has been known to pull up of
his own accord on the curb parting. Where a horse has
a thin, fleshless, sharp-edged lower jaw, a leather strap,
buckskin for choice, which, pipe-clayed, looks clean and neat,
should be placed under the curb-chain, by which simple ad-
dition much pain is avoided without sacrifice of leverage
on the cheek of the curb and chain.

The standing or head martingale, is an arrangement that
can only be used in hacking and driving, and is both safe
and serviceable in the case of an awkward brute that insists
on getting his head up and star-gazing.

A great improvement on the running-rein martingale, is an
attachment to the stirrup bars of the saddle, invented last

SADDLERY. 16:

year by Mr. J. McKenny, the well-known veterinary surgeon
of Dublin. It is claimed for the patent that (i) it gives
perfect control to the rider over the horse, be he badly
broken, a hard puller, or ill-tempered ; (2) it minimizes the
danger of being thrown, either by the horse rearing, plunging,
or shying; (3) simplicity in construction, and ease with
which it is attached to and detached from the saddle. The
diagram given below explains the structure and adjustment
of the attachment, a pair of which costs ten shillings.

AB is a thin steel plate made to overlap and slide on to
the stirrup-bar of the saddle. CD, another steel plate, flat
at the end C, and riveted on to B, to which it gives a
shoulder. At the other end, D, of this plate is a crank

neck with an eye-hole in it, through which passes the ringE.
The neck, D, projects outwards at an angle of about 40°,
and attached to it is a stitched round leather strap, F, con-
necting it with the ring G, through which the rein, coming
from the cheek ring of bridoon, passes into the rider's hands.
It is advisable to have that part of the rein which plays
through this ring rounded. The mode of adjustment is to
slip the flat side, C, under the stirrup bars, so that the rings
come to the front, with the bent portion of the cranks out-
ward, and pass the unbuckled ends of the rein through the
rings G. If more power be required, an extra long rein can
be buckled to the rings E, passed through the cheek-ring of
the bridoon, and brought back into the rider's hands through
the rings G. Or, in the case of the horse carrying his head

1 64 HORSEMANSHIP.

too low, the reins may, in similar manner, be attached to
the bottom eyes of the bit.

Without admitting that this attachment can effect all its
sanguine inventor claims for it, I think that the arrange-
ment is one of decided merit. In the hands of a good
horseman it can with ease control an unruly horse, and
by its use, an inferior rider acquires efficiency. The rings
do not interfere with the direct pull on the horse's mouth
when the rider's hands are kept low and the horse goes
with his head in its proper position, but immediately the
position of the hands or head are altered, the rings become
self-acting, and the rider's command over the animal vastly
increased. For instance, when a horse suddenly takes
it into his head to shy, bolt, plunge, buck-jump, or kick,
pleasantries for which the rider is quite unprepared, he, by
the sudden and unexpected jerk is thrown out of balance,
sidewards, upwards, or backwards. Be the list to port or
starboard, or in any other direction, the attachment comes
instantaneously and automatically into play, administers a
severe chop to the bit, equivalent in force to the impetus
given to the rider, while at the same time it enables the
rider to retain his seat. This self-inflicted punishment is an
effectual deterrent against a repetition of these pranks.

The effect on a horse kicking is admirably demonstrated
by the artist (see page 123) : the wicked little cob's head is
drawn into such a position that his kicking is confined to
mere lifting. In the illustration of the horse rearing (see
page 119), the rider is in comparative comfort without much
danger of the brute falling back on him. When a horse
rears, the rider often loses his balance. I have seen many
a one slip quietly down over the tail and land on his feet
or in an undignified sitting posture. In his anxiety to save
himself he irresistibly pulls on the reins, and in so doing his

SADDLERY.

165

hands get into such a position that the horse must topple
over. Now, by McKenny's system the rider has only to stick
to the ring rein to maintain his seat undisturbed, and, at the
same time, to exert a downward pressure on the bars of the
mouth. This attachment, in good hands, ^vill be found of
great service in breaking young horses and in getting their
heads well into the counter. On the whole I consider it a

^

WITH ATTACHMENT.

meritorious addition to our hst of efficient riding requisites,
and it is equally effective, with a special attachment on the
off side, on the side as on the cross saddle.

The ring-martingale is another appliance aiming at keep-
ing a horse's head down, and is more commonly used in
racing than elsewhere. When leaping, the tyro should
never attempt to ride in one, for it requires to be used with
nice judgment, and the rein passing through its rings either
dropped or "eased-off" when the animal is gathering him-
self for his effort, to be taken up again the moment he is

i66

HORSE MA NSHIP.

landed once more on the ground and is in his stride. The
stitching of the reins to the bit has already been recom-
mended, but, when they are buckled on, the buckles should
be guarded by a sliding piece of leather, longer than the
diameter of the martingale ring, to prevent the rings sliding
down on to the buckles and catching. Many very serious
accidents have been caused by the neglect of this pre-
caution j the ring remains fixed in the buckle, the horse

WITHOUT ATTACHMENT.

finds his head imprisoned in a one-sided manner — for it is
seldom that both rings get caught — loses control over him-
self, and gallops into the first ditch, upsetting both himself
and his rider.

A noseband exercises a marvellous effect on some head-
strong pullers. A very hard-mouthed, excitable ex-steeple-
chaser I used to ride with the Pytchley, though almost

COSTUME.

167

frantic when ridden in a Melton bit and bridoon, and out
of all control with snaffle alone, in a big field, unless allowed
to go abreast of the leading hounds, a proceeding Captain
Anstruther Thomson did not quite approve of, would go
comfortably and collectedly in pretty light nose-band and
plain thick snaffle. Some violent horses go very temperately
in the Kerr model bit (see page 151), when used in connection
with a tightish nose-band.

POLTED !

CHAPTER IX.

HINTS ON COSTUME.

A GENTLEMAN neced not, to ride well and to look well out-
side his horse, descend to the dress of a stableman. In
Rotten Row, when the ride is crowded, no man with any

l6S HORSEMANSHIP,

pretention to taste appears in breeches and boots, or in
breeches and leggings, though these nether garments are
quite allowable in the country. In the park, well cut
riding trousers are essential, and in wearing them the stirrups
should always be longer than when riding in breeches. Few,
very few, tailors can build a pair of riding trousers well, so
that they shall fit well up into the fork, and lie faultlessly
over the boot without the slightest drag from the strap. My
idea is that a horseman can generally be told by the cut
of his breeches. A workman who is much in the saddle
always insists on comfort combined with fit. He goes to
men who understand their business, and who only supply
the best of materials.

I can tell breeches turned out by such " top sawyers " as
E. Tautz and Son, of 485, Oxford Street; Whiting, of South
Molton Street, and others of their calibre^ in a moment from
the clumsy pyjamas of the ordinary tailor. These firms are
careful that they should be nice and full in the thigh, fit
to the knee as if moulded on that joint, and that — a very
important point — the knee buttons be well in front and per-
fectly true. Great care is taken in giving exact and sufficient
length, in keeping the inside seam of the leg straight and
the outside seam full. The materials most in vogue for
home wear are leather, i.e.^ buck or doeskin, Venetian cloth,
Bedford cord, Prussian twill, buckskin cloth, velvet cord,
either white or drab, moleskin, drill and cantoon. For India
and the colonies there are special materials, such as thin
doeskin, kharki, and various twills. For every-day wear
during the winter I prefer a mouse-coloured or grey very soft
buckskin, substituting a doeskin of the same sad hue in the
summer. These latter I especially commend to my friends
in India.

Without suitable drawers, however, leathers of all sorts in

HINTS ON BUYING, 169

cold, wet weather sooner or later are apt to produce the
pains and aches of Caliban, with various ills that flesh is
heir to. These firms give particular attention to the make
of these very necessary under-garments. They are of all
the various stockinette materials in wool, cotton, or, pre-
ferably, of silk, and are made to fit every part of the leg
accurately, so as avoid the possibility of wrinkles, and are
fitted with a riding band of corded linen stiff enough to
afford support to the loins. This band is a great comfort
to the wearer, yet not stiff and unyielding like stays.
Breeches or knickerbocker breeches of the drab velvet cord
always look well, and are comfortable wear. A Queensland
colonist strongly recommends Tautz's twill. It matters little
whether boots or leggings are worn. Patent leather or
brown leather Butcher-boots look well, but I prefer the New-
market ; whatever make they may be, the reader will do well
to see that they fit close without pressure at the top where
they join or overlap the breeches, and that there is sufficient
room in the foot. Gloves should be easy; those manu-
factured by Messrs. T. P. Lee and Co., of Duke Street,
Bloomsbury, are to be recommended.

Susie

CHAPTER X.

HINTS ON BUYING.

' What is the cause of the sudden coolness between Tom Jones and
ie Brown ? " " Tom sold her father a horse."

Ninety-nine men out of every hundred who can ride or
drive a horse fairly well, consider themselves fully competent
to purchase him. Now, though even riding and driving

1 70 HORSE MA NSHIP.

him moderately well is not an accomplishment vouchsafed
to or attained by the majority of horse-owners, the purchasing
part of the programme is by far the most difficult. The
advice I would offer the majority of my readers is, '''■Never
buy for yourself y The friend, if he be thoroughly reliable
—a rara avis in this greedy, clutching world — may, most
probably will, by his superior tact, judgment, and experience,
save you from five-and-twenty to fifty per cent, on the deal.

Having made up your mind to ask your friend to " find
you something," and having fully explained what sort of
animal you want, the work expected from the quadruped,
and arranged as to price, give him carte hla?iche to buy out-
right. Do not suppose for a moment that such a man will
bother himself to run through the various dealers' stables, to
see what is up at Tattersall's, or perhaps train it into the
country, merely for you to look at, find fault with, and re-
ject. Speaking for myself, I would any day sooner buy for
a downright good judge than for a know-nothing who rather
fancies himself, and is above taking a wrinkle from one who
has forgotten more, perhaps, than he ever knew. Somebody
wrote very sagely that "pride costs us more than hunger,
thirst, or cold." No inexperienced gentleman can cope
with the tricksters and copers of the trade, and should he
attempt it, will assuredly pay heavily for his folly.

No trusty friend available, the next best step, provided
money be no particular object, is to go to some dealer of
character or responsibility, state your requirements and
figure, and place yourself unreservedly in his hands. If
possible, get yourself introduced by some good and valued
customer whose patronage is worth retaining. Men of this
class do exist, but are hard to find. In purchasing from a
dealer you must be prepared for a flood of eloquence, to be
asked a price long beyond the horse's intrinsic value, and

HINTS ON BUYING, 171

to be supplied with an animal fit to show, but not fit to go.
The nagsman who will ride him up and down the yard is
pretty certain to be an artist in the saddle, one who, as he
gets " the office," rides either to sell or to buy. As in this
case the object is to effect a sale, the buyer must not be
disappointed if the fine goer he saw at Mr. Topsawyer's
marching in such grand form, and trotting as loftily as old
Shales himself, on changing hands, settle down into a very
ordinary performer. If satisfied, he should, before closing
the transaction, endeavour to get the horse on trial for two
or three days. Many dealers, if they know the animal they
are selling to be a genuine article, will accede to this arrange-
ment. It is never good policy to let the animal be sent
home without previous examination by a veterinary surgeon.
If the price to be paid be a high one, then a warranty of
soundness should be exacted.

If, however, the intending buyer be thrown on his own
resources, then, in guarding himself and his pocket, the
following hints may prove of value : —

Never take any notice of those advertisements emanating
from persons whose names are not in the directory, calling
attention to some marvellous specimen of horseflesh fresh
from the breeder's hands, a weight-carrier, brilliant fencer,
up to twenty miles an hour on the road, carries a lady, very
handsome, on short legs, and so forth.

Where practicable, it is advisable to buy direct from the
breeder rather than the dealer. This method, however, is
attended by the drawback that, as breeders like to realize
as soon as possible, the purchaser may have to content
himself with a young, immature, and half-broken colt or filly,
of an age when many '' go roarers." On the other hand, he
may be pretty sure of getting something fresh and sound.

In treating with the ordinary run of dealers, sharpers who

172 HORSEMANSHIP.

make trickery their trade, the purchaser must enter their
premises with the seeds of suspicion sprouting freely within
him. He need not, by his manner or remarks, show any
sign of want of faith, only, as the sailors say, let him *' Keep
his weather eye lifting." It is impolitic and in bad taste to
say or do anything to insult the fellow who, till ruffled, will
probably be most polite. Should any unsoundness or any
objectionable fault present itself, it serves no purpose to
remark on it, or decry the man's wares ; better far let the
horse be rejected with the simple remark, " It's not exactly
the animal I want." These gentry, when they, see there is
no prospect of a deal, are very touchy and, as a rule, are
adepts at slanging. In the event of the horse pleasing, to
express one's self in that sense means an addition to the
contemplated price. The Turks have a saying, ''He that
masters his tongue saves his head " — in this case substitute
"purse" forehead." Endeavour, in the first instance, to
see the horse at rest in his stable. Introduce yourself by
saying you are on the look out for such and such a horse,
and express your desire to have "a look round," otherwise
the astute dealer, on learning your requirements, will at
once order a saddle and bridle to be put on So-and-so.
Should this look round be declined, rest assured that there
is some screw loose about the horse it is intended you
should see; it is pretty certain to be unsound, ill-tempered,
or given to some evil habit.

Having gained admission to the stable and made your
selection, watch him narrowly and quietly as he stands. You
may detect him in the act of crib-biting or wind-sucking ;
he may stand with one toe of the fore-leg pointed or ad-
vanced, a sure sign that all is not right inside the wall of
that hoof; if standing so that almost all his weight is thrown
on his hind feet, in which position they will be placed well

HINTS ON BUYING. 173

under him, it may be safely concluded that both fore feet
are more or less diseased ; vice versa, if the hind feet are
unsound, he will throw all his weight on his fore hand. A
leg may be what is termed " knuckled over," or " used," i.e.
flexed at the fetlock joint, a certain indication of over- work.
Constant shifting of the weight from one leg to the other is
another sign of tender, fevered feet and of general soreness.

Note how the groom goes up to him to strip him. Many
horses, when in high condition and doing little work, will
when the groom approaches them lay back their ears, partially
lift a leg, and make a grab at the manger ; but this may be
mere play and make-believe devoid of real vice. If the horse
be vicious, then the handling of the groom will betray the
ugly fact. Instead of going up to him confidently, he will
give his heel a wide berth, take every precaution against a
pattern being taken out of his shirt or jacket, and will be on
the look out for being jammed against the standings. Any
dodging on the part of the groom is indicative of vice in
some form, and nervous fear on that of the horse, a certain
sign that he is in the habit of receiving punishment for it,
or that the man is a savage. Take time over these observa-
tions, or you may be out of your reckoning; do not be
" bluffed " out of the inspection, or hurried over it. Any
" come ups ! " and flicks with the whip are attempts to
deceive. Peep into his manger and note any signs of
''quidding," i.e. partially masticated and rejected food.

As soon as the horse is turned in his stall, be on the look
out for stiffness, string-halt, lameness, and uneven action.
It is difficult to keep the stableman from " figging " or
" spicing " the horse as he leaves the stall, they are so adroit
at it, and invariably have some of the " cocktail " condiment,
ready for immediate use, in their waistcoat pockets. It is a
practice I very much object to, and invariably protest against.

1 74 nORSEMA NSHIP.

So far all being satisfactory, or fairly so, stand the horse on
level ground up against a dead wall, look for broken knees,
capped hocks, spavins, thoroughpin, splints, scars in the
inside of the knees, above and below, produced by speedy
cuts, side and ring bone, thickening of back sinews,
difference in size of feet, rings round the walls of the hoofs,
converging towards the heel, sand cracks, etc. Look
carefully at the back part of the fore leg, along the pasterns,
and above the fetlock for wounds caused by the operator's
knife in unnerving.

If he stands well and true — many perfectly sound horses,
especially those that have been in harness, or often and long
in dealer's hands, are taught to stand in a straddling position,
like a cavalry horse in India at his pickets in the lines- — and
his general conformation be pleasing to the eye, or sufficiently
so, have him walked and trotted, with a long loose rein
giving perfect liberty of head and movement, not merely past
broadside on, but to and from you. If the action be fair
and square, free from dishing, especially that form known
as dishing in, which is dangerous, and otherwise true and
sprightly, order the saddle to be put on.

While this is being done, have a look at his withers for
fistula, and note if there be any marks on the throat of the
crib-biting strap. It may be remarked en passant, that a
cribber is not in the eyes of the law unsound unless the vice
has militated against the horse's usefulness. Crib-biting and
wind-sucking are two forms of the same pernicious habit.
In the former case the horse lays hold of the manger or
other object with his incisors, arches his neck, and draws
in air with a peculiar noise ; in the latter he presses his lips
against the hard object, brings his feet together, and then,
arching his neck, sucks in volumes of air without fixing his
teeth.

HINTS ON BUYING. 175

The mounted tests should be on hard ground, and com-
menced at the trot. By commencing at this pace any hidden
lameness is almost certain to show itself. Make the rider
turn round sharply, then have him galloped to test his wind.
The dealer who would venture to show a broken-winded
horse must be an idiot ; but there are not a few who in
order to get to the windward of the buyer will, in the case
of thick- winded animals, roarers, grunters, whistlers or pipers,
try on what is known as the " long trot " trick. This dodge
is executed by galloping the horse at some distance from
and out of ear-shot of the purchaser, easing up in the return
journey, so that the stress on the pipes being relieved, the
normal breathing is resumed. High blowing is a habit of
flapping the nostrils in and out of the nasal openings, and is
not of much moment, but all other noises are disorders
of respiration or inspiration. Most roarers grunt and cough.
It is best to ride the horse yourself in order to discover
these imperfections in breathing. A horse that has not
a good wind is of little use for fast and severe work, though
we sometimes find magnificent roarers, such as Prince Charlie
and the expatriated Ormonde. Chronic cough asserts itself
in the stable as well as out of it, and is generally hoarse and
hollow. If in London, Hyde, Regents, or Battersea Parks
will afford ample room for a fair trial ; in the country there
need be no difficulty on the score of elbow room. Ride
him from the stable yard to the park at as smart a trot as
the pavements and traffic will allow, to ascertain if he is
alarmed at vehicles. In the ride make him keep company
with other horses, and abruptly turn him away from them
in an opposite direction ; this parting company will try his
temper and exhibit his docility. If a cross-grained, stubborn,
wilful nature he will try to get his own way, and back, kick,
rear, and plunge ; in which case, the sooner he goes back

176 HORSEMANSHIP.

whence he came the better. If he shies have nothing to
do with him ; it is a dangerous vice, the outcome of defec-
tive vision or nervousness. A sudden, abrupt shy has a
strong unseating tendency.

When the purchaser has satisfied himself as fully as above
recommended, he should, having arranged the price at some-
thing Uke thirty per cent, below that asked, call in his own
veterinary surgeon for a crucial examination of the eyes,
feet, and mouth. It will be this practitioner's duty to point
out what unsoundness, if any, exists, and to give his opinion
as to the extent, present and future, to which it may militate
from the horse's usefulness. Horses are " kittle cattle," and
the " tricks of the trade " many and clever. Despite every
precaution there must always be an element of luck and
risk attending horse-dealing. There is a strong tendency
among dealers in horseflesh to hold back a something. The
veterinary surgeon, be he ever so clever and experienced, is
not omniscient. For all he knows, the animal may be
subject to megrims or staggers, an affection fatal to a horse's
use under the saddle ; or he may have dust or stone balls in
his bowels, and so suffer from frequent attacks of colic or
gripes. Many an unsoundness, bad habits, tricks, and
objectionable features only crop up weeks after the purchase
has been completed.

The tyro is often puzzled in his endeavours to determine
the exact cause and seat of lameness. An experienced
judge, with his practised quick eye, will be able to locate it
almost at a glance ; but he learned his lesson, very probably
paying dearly for it, and so must the novice. The following
wrinkles may be of use. The lameness of a fore leg, either
near or off, is indicated by what is termed " nodding " of
the head, and is very much on all fours with the flinching
gait or hobble of the biped when his poor feet are sore or

HINTS ON BUYING. 177

the shoe pinches. When the lameness is seated in the near
fore leg, the moment the foot of that leg comes in contact
with the ground the horse throws up his head and raises his
near shoulder to ease the weight of his body off that side,
and, transferring the centre of gravity to the sound side, then
drops his head. Of course, this transference of weight is
the reverse when the mischief lies in the off leg. When both
fore feet are lame, the nodding may be very slight or totally
absent ; but the action will be very short and close to the
ground, and the poor sufferer will go as tenderly and as
cautiously " as a cat on the ice." In hind-leg lameness the
nodding is very slight, and, as in the case of the fore legs, the
quarter on the same side as the tender foot is correspondingly
raised, the sound leg and foot being brought rapidly under
the body with a sort of catching recovery, the latter being
hastily brought to the ground. All round lameness will be
accompanied by a very short, cramped, delicate action.

Under ordinary conditions, lameness may generally be
traced to some malady or defect from the knee or hock
downwards. There is a remarkable sympathy between the
digestive organs and the sensitive structures of the hoof, and
any inflammatory action in the body is almost certain to find
its way to the laminae of the feet. Like ourselves, the
horse goes suddenly lame from rheumatism, lumbago and
sciatica. In chronic rheumatism the lameness shifts about
day by day ; lumbago confines itself to the loins ; but
another phase of a similar disorder attacks the muscles
and fibrous tissues of the chest and shoulders, producing,
in stable parlance, what are known as '^ chest founder" and
"shoulder tied."

Certain copers more tricky than their neighbours resort to
such petty practices known as "beaning" or "wedging," in
order to disguise lameness. But these devilish, knavish tricks

N

178 HORSEMANSHIP.

are too palpable to deceive any save the most unwary.
When a horse is lame on one foot the sound one is lamed
by inserting a piece of iron, wood, or other hard material be-
tween the shoe and the sole of the foot, thus, by compelling
the poor animal to distribute his weight equally on both poor
feet, to stop ''nodding" and disguise his infirmity. In other
cases the sound foot is pared right down to the sensible sole.
In buying from an acquaintance or from any private
source, if the purchaser's name and credit be good, there
ought to be no difficulty whatever in having the horse sent
on trial for a few days. A well-known authority tenders
the following sage advice, " Never purchase a horse from a
friend ; nor from a litigious man, nor a petty lawyer ; nor
from one who cannot pay the expenses of a lawsuit." The
law of warranties being so uncertain, and the capacity of
fracturing the ninth commandment among the horse-dealing
fraternity so illimitable, my advice is, never go to law on
a horse case unless you have a fancy for squandering your
substance on those harpies who thrive on "litigious terms,
fat contentions, and flowing fees." Better far " make your
loss " than get into the law courts. When a dealer demands
payment before delivery, in the face of good references,
then be more than ever suspicious, and insist on a trial.
Never return a horse that has been paid for until the price
be refunded ; or, mayhap, you may lose the quadruped and
have to whistle for your money ; and, in sending him back,
state plainly the cause why. If you have made up your
mind not to keep him, and have, on the score of unsound-
ness or wrong description, valid excuse for so doing, state
plainly where the fault lies and stick to it.

As possession is nine points of the law, delay payment,
if possible, until the horse can be thoroughly examined and
as thoroughly tried. Some horses, odd as it may appear,

HINTS ON BUYING. 179

develop vice when they get into a strange stable, are handled
by strange grooms, and are put to work to which they are
unaccustomed. This misbehaviour wears off, however, with
the novelty of the situation and surroundings. Equity says,
and fairly too, that no vice can be recognized that did not
exist anterior to the day of sale ; so if the animal be return-
able let him be sent back at the earhest possible date.

I can remember purchasing, some years ago, a very likely
horse from a well-known West End dealer, a man hard of
hearing, but quite at the top of the tree. The horse was
as likely a one to carry twelve stone to hounds as was ever
foaled, and looked good enough to win the Grand National.
He was described as being a perfect fencer, and one likely
to win a big steeple-chase. I hacked him all the autumn
and liked him immensely, got him into good hard con-
dition, and one fine November day met the Pytchley on
him at BadbyWood. After a weary bit of woodland hunting
a fox broke cover, and I thought myself in for "a good
thing." My blood ran faster in those days than it does
now, somehow fences seemed smaller, so thought I to my-
self, " Now, Charles Payne, where you go to-day there go
I also." But I didn't; for the brute had no more idea of
jumping than a cow of fly-fishing, and gave me four con-
secutive bad falls, the last of which brought the warning
from a hard-riding farmer, " Governor, if you persevere with
that duffer, my word, he'll break your neck I " Next morn-
ing saw me in Piccadilly, bellowing down a certain ear
trumpet, that though it might be the custom to load up the
confiding stranger with the most picturesque and admirable
lies, that sort of thing neither suited me nor my pocket ;
that I had bought and paid for a hunter, and a hunter I
would have. That afternoon, accompanied by profuse
apologies, I took back with me to Weedon one of the

I So HORSEMANSHIP.

cleverest little horses that ever faced a country, and a winner
of the Goodwood Stakes ; a rare galloper and jumper that,
at the end of the season, found his way into the stables of a
sporting Lord Chief Justice of England.

A horse bought from a dealer is almost invariably in big,
flabby, show condition, and, if put immediately to strong or
even moderately long work, will assuredly " go-all-to-pieces."
He must, by judicious exercise and feeding, be brought by
degrees into working condition. When not in trim the back
is soft and tender and requires seasoning ; this gradual con-
ditioning is especially necessary when he is destined to carry
a side-saddle.

No docked horses are allowed in the army, so by being
docked, the sale of many a handsome, showy, charger-like
animal is rendered less easy. Intending purchasers can
always satisfy themselves as to this operation having been
performed or not by examining the dock. In its natural
state the hair grows thickly at the point or end of the tail,
leaving no bare bald space, whereas, when the caudal guillo-
tine has been used, the circular space at the end or butt is
entirely bare of hair. There can be no possible advantage
in docking a riding horse.

Some very good horses are to be picked up at auctions.
At the end of the London season many of the best hacks
are sent up to Tattersall's to be sold without reserve. At
this and other first-class repositories, metropolitan and pro-
vincial, the horses are on view two or three days prior to
the day of auction. The uninitiated had better go round
the stables accompanied by some good judge. It is not
a very difficult matter to find out some of the antecedents
and particulars of the animals in the catalogue ; the sharp-
sightedness of gold is proverbial, and the universal solvent
may here be used with advantage.

( i8i )

CHAPTER XI.

Shoeing.

" Xo foot, no horse." Arabian maxim.

I do not propose to inflict the reader with a long and
scientific description of the anatomy and functions of
the horse's foot — the most important organ, from a rider's
point of view, of his body. Undoubtedly the usefuhiess of
the domesticated horse is mainly due to the strength,
elasticity, and perfect soundness of the hoof; the feet,
therefore, should always be objects of particular attention
to the horseman. We daily see horses lamed and crippled
by the ignorance and crass carelessness of shoeing-smiths,
and undoubtedly navicular disease, a predisposition to fevers
in the feet, and contraction are much more in evidence than
formerly. A close study of the horse's foot will well repay
any one who is " concerned about horses," and to those
disposed to read up the interesting subject, I can strongly
recommend Dr. George Fleming's standard work on
"Horse-shoes and Horse-shoeing," and a very instruc-
tive pamphlet from the pen of Professor G. T. Brown on
the " Structure of the Horse's Foot, and the Principles of
Shoeing," reprinted from the Journal of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society of England.

In order to clearly explain the remarks we are about
to make, the following two diagrams of the structure of the
horse's hoof are necessary. The one represents the sole,
or ground surface, of the foot, the other the horny box or
" horn-shoe," as it is appropriately termed. In Fig. i,

1 82

HORSEMANSHIP.

which depicts the forefoot, it will.be observed that the
outer side, measured from the apex of the frog C, is some-
what more expanded than the inner side. A is the wall of
the hoof, the white line conform.ing to its periphery, represent-
ing the junction of the sole D with the wall. The long
triangular cushion or pad C, with a cleft running down part

of its length, is the
frog. The inflections
of the wall G are the
bars. E is the toe,
and H marks the heels,
the upper portions of
which are distinguished
as the bulbs.

Fig. No. 2 represents
the hoof or horny box
as taken off by the aid
of heat, or by soaking
for a time in hot water.
E is the toe, G the
coronet. The shaded
sloping lines running
from the coronet to the
sole are the horny laminae composing the wall, which here
represent both the inside and outside quarters. At the
back of the hoof are the heels H. The convex cushion
rising up between the heels and projecting itself forward
towards the centre of the foot is the upper and interior
surface of the horny frog. A is the sole.

The reader desirous of carefully studying the beautifully
designed mechanism of the horse's foot, should obtain from
Mr. Ward, of Piccadilly, his namesake in Wigmore Street,
Cavendish Square, or from any other competent naturalist,

Fig.

SHOEING.

183

prepared specimens of the external and internal structures
of this marvellous organ, including the hoof or horny box,
a section through the centre of the foot from toe to
heel, and a preparation of the internal foot with the hoof
removed, showing the horny folds of the membrane and
the coronary band. With these before him he will soon
grasp the subject, and be enabled to dictate intelligently
how his horse should be shod.

When ahorse freshly shod returns home from the shoeing*
smith's forge, the sole of the foot presents a deeply concave

^^(.^^^^^^'-^'''^tv^T^

Fig. 2.

dome-shaped form, the frog and bars have been neatly cut
away and trimmed, the outward wall or crust, from the clenches
to the sole, at its junction with the shoe, has been rasped
and smoothed, and, taken as a whole, the newly armoured
foot, as a specimen of neat workmanship, does apparent
credit to the workman's free and deft handling of rasp, file,
and drawing knife. The basis of the art of good and correct
shoeing is non-interference with and the preservation, as

1 84 HORSEMANSHIP.

much as possible, of the natural tread, leaving the whole of
the bottom of the foot to take its natural place on and hold
of the ground. The sole is slightly concave at the bottom,
and convex above, but if a remove has not taken place for
some weeks the surface meeting the ground will be found
nearly flat, the crust, bars, frog, and sole being all in one plane.
A horse that has never walked in a shoe preserves a slight
dome-like formation of sole, though nothing approaching
that concavity wrought by the unsparing use of the
drawing-knife, the bars and frog being in firm contact
with the ground. Under certain circumstances and in
very dry climates many horses work a life-time without
shoes — the Australian race without plates of any kind —
but in this humid climate of ours a substantial hoof
armature is absolutely necessary with a large majority of
all classes of horses. The drift of the operation of farriery
ought to be to supply additional strength to the foot in
order to render it capable of resisting the hardest bodies
and of sustaining the additional weight we pile upon the
horse's back. We want all the sustaining strength obtain-
able in the walls, so the modern fashionable shoeing-smith
rasps away a considerable amount of its thickness to make
the foot fit the shoe, in lieu of the shoe fitting the foot.
He pares away till the sole is reduced to a thinness that it
yields to the pressure of the thumb. That triangular mass
of soft horn, the frog, intended by nature to act, in conjunc-
tion with an internal mass of fatty and fibrous tissue, as a
cushion to prevent concussion, and to render progression
easy and springy, is so neatly cut away that except in deep
ground, it cannot possibly perform its functions. The
bars, which, as they attach the wall of the hoof to the
pedal bone, might be considered of first importance in the
structure, are also subjected to this insane desire of making

SHOEING. 185

a neat job, and are carved away and weakened. This so
called ^'opening out of the heels" is imaginary expansion,
and is a practice which cannot be too strongly condemned.
The hoof horn's province is to protect the internal sensitive
structures, so the farrier, flying in the face of nature, sets
to work and denudes them of it. The horse is made to
carry and haul loads for which, perhaps, he was never
intended, and is forced to work long continuous hours on
all sorts of roads and pavements, the devices of man ; so the
shoer, with his knife and rasp, inflicts on him an unnatural
and tender foot.

Some farriers argue that the surface expansion of the
foot, caused by the weight of horse and rider, is such that
the concave sole assumes the form of a plane on its impact
with the ground, and go so far as to advocate a horizontal
hinge at the toe of the shoe to admit of the necessary ex-
pansion. With reference to this old, very general, yet
absurd theory, Professor Brown says, "the base of a horse's
foot cannot expand, nor the sole descend to any extent
without tearing the inside of the hoof from the internal
membrane to which it is everywhere closely and securely
attached." Dr. Fleming adds the weight of his unquestion-
able opinion in these words : " These inflections form what
horsemen and horse-shoers term the ' bars,' and this arrange-
ment of the wall round the wings of the pedal bone is one
of the strongest arguments against the imaginary expansion
of the heels ; because, these wings being inelastic, it is evi-
dent the wall would be torn from them, or the living tissue
between bone and wall would be seriously compressed if
the hoof alternately widened and contracted at the heels."
That the hoof yields under pressure cannot be gainsaid, but
only sufficiently to avoid concussion. The sole does not
descend to an appreciable extent.

1 86 HORSEMANSHIP,

The frog is intended by nature to retain a certain amount
of moisture to keep the horn above it soft and elastic, to
give the foot a firm hold of the ground, and so prevent
slipping, to protect the soles from injury from stones and
other bruising substances, to aid in supporting the weight,
to act as a buffer in diminishing concussion, and to assist
the powerful flexor tendon in bending the foot. When,
therefore, the presumptuous meddler of the forge keeps
cutting it back, and it is kept, so to speak, "out of work,"
it becomes shrivelled and soft, in many instances the disease
known as " thrush " sets in, and the foot becomes unsound.
But this is not all. Inside the hoof, immediately above this
horny frog, is a mass of fatty fibrous tissue, an elastic
cushion, known as the " plantar cushion," which, acting in
unison with the frog, prevents jar, and aids in furnishing
ease and elasticity to the horse's action. When the horny
frog fails to meet the ground the " plantar cushion " cannot
perform its functions, and so the whole spring is taken from
the " coronary cushion " lying in the upper and inner surface
of the wall of the hoof, close to where hair and horn meet.
The whole cunningly devised elastic apparatus is thrown
out of gear, an undue strain is thrown on this uppermost
coronary arrangement, ring-bone frequently being the con-
sequence. When one part of the apparatus is called upon
to discharge the duties of three it must suffer from the un-
natural strain.

The horse, as found on the runs of Australia, or roaming
at large on the prairies or veldt, requires no care of his feet,
they look after themselves and all goes well ; the horn,
worn by the attrition of the ground over which he wanders,
being continuously reproduced. But these vast natural
pastures do not cause the same wear and tear as our
metalled roads and pavements. Nothing, when sound turf

SHOEING. 187

has to be galloped over, can be so easy to the horse as the
foot in its natural state ; but such going is the exception,
not the rule. It seems impossible, under the present cir-
cumstances of domesticated equine servitude, to do away
entirely with " the unyielding iron rings," which in the case
of worn out shoes taken from the feet of two of Messrs.
AUsopp's horses weighed twenty-three pounds. When we
consider that every ounce added to the weight of the foot
necessitates a lifting power equivalent to four hundred
ounces at the loins, some idea may be formed of the effect
of the needless, holding, dragging, wait-a-bit clog, resulting
from heavy shoes. Nature intended the horse to walk,
trot, gallop, and jump barefoot. Lord Pembroke, who
wrote many years back, said, "the shoes in England at
present, that are contrived with the most sense, are what
they call plates^ for the racehorses at Newmarket. I do
not say they are perfect, but they are nearer the truth than
any others I know ; but they are not substantial enough for
common use, though sufficiently so for the turf."

In the face of the great improvements lately wrought in
the manufacture of steel, there can be no valid reason for
weighting our horses of any class with heavy, clumsy shoes.
Some few feet, by their particular form and strength, provided
the sole be never pared or the frogs and bars interfered with,
are enabled to resist the wear and tear of our turnpike
roads and streets, and the harder the objects to which the
feet are exposed the more obdurate and flinty they become ;
but the plurality must needs have some wearing protection
to the whole or part of the wall, which is the real con-
tinuous weight-sustaining surface.

The thickness of the wall varies according to the size and
breeding of the animal, and the treatment it has been sub-
jected to. It will be found thickest and strongest in the

1 88 HORSEMANSHIP.

fore feet towards the toe, the inner side or quarter bemg
the weaker, and usually the higher. In the case of the
hind feet the quarters are the strongest points of the crust.
From this formation of the fore feet it is evident that the
toe is the point intended to and best constructed to with-
stand constant battering and friction. The fore toes of
horses working without shoes or enlarged on runs are in-
variably much worn, especially if the ground be hard. It
seems appropriate, therefore, that at this point, above all
others, the foot should be armed so as to minimise the wear
and tear, and especially so in that it offers the best nail-hold.
With this formation in view, when the foot is of good flinty
material we strongly recommend shoeing with *' tips," or
at the most three-quarter shoes on the Charher principle.
The Charlier system, though it has many detractors,
appears to be as near perfection as possible, for the simple
reason that it comes nearest to nature, and permits the
sole of the foot to come in full contact with the ground.
This invention consists of a narrow rim of pure steel let
into the wall of the foot for a certain space round the toe
and quarters, leaving the whole of the bottom of the foot
in its natural position resting on whatever surface the
ground presents. It is contended by some that the paring
away of the wall, in order to form the channel or groove for
the reception of the shoe, weakens the encasement of the
foot, but seeing that such a material as steel, carefully and
exactly fitted, is substituted for horn this argument falls to
the ground. The rim of metal protects the crust from
injury, whilst the sole, frogs, and bars remain in an unshod
condition. The advantages claimed for the system are : —
' (i) It lessens the animal's muscular exertion, rendering
him less liable to tire.

(2) It gives great security for travelling over the most

SHOEING. 189

slippery roads, granite, wood, and asphalte pavements, and
in frosty weather, no roughing being necessary.

(3) It is the only shoe which gives the foot the natural
support of the crust, sole, bars, and frog, which latter, in
ordinary shoeing, are invariably cut away.

(4) All the parts of this essential organ being brought by
its use to perform their natural functions, they are kept in
a healthy state of expansion and development, thereby pre-
venting corns, sand-cracks, contraction of the heels, mus-
cular diseases, tendency to hoof-bound, and numerous other
affections.

(5) The lightness and conformity to the wall of the foot
(of which it resembles a continuation) make it the most
humane method for the animal.

The mode of application will best be ascertained by a
visit to the establishment of Mr. Henry W. Stevens,
M.R.C.V.S.L., 9, Park Lane, Piccadilly, London. The
following notes may, however, explain the mode of appli-
cation. The only instrument differing from those employed
by every shoeing-smith is a drawing-knife, with moveable
guide to regulate the depth of the groove. The nails are
the ordinary English countersunk pattern, the heads flattened
to fit the groove in the shoe. Much smaller sizes are used
than with ordinary shoes.

In preparing the foot to receive the shoe the lower edge
of the hoof is boldly but evenly rasped off at an angle,
forming thereby a sloping surface on which it is more easy
to employ the drawing-knife.

On this sloping surface the drawing-knife cuts a groove,
as depicted in the following wood-cut, in the wall or crust
for the reception of the shoe. A properly trained smith can
so cut this channel that it shall have the exact room for the
reception of the shoe and can insure a perfect fit. Care

I90

HORSEMANSHIP.

must be taken, especially on the first occasion of shoeing on
this system, that the groove is made a trifle shallower than
the thickness of the shoe. The web of the shoe also must
be slightly narrower than the thickness of the wall of the
crust, which varies from half an inch to less, stopping short
at that light coloured band of softer horn passing round

between the sole and
the wall, and which
marks their junction.
My firm opinion is
that no part of the
sole of the foot
should be in con-
tinuous contact with
the shoe, its natural
slight concavity and
elasticity forbid any
such permanent
pressure. Many argue to the contrary, and point to the
flat plate of the Arab, covering and bringing equal pres-
sure to bear on the whole of the ground surface of the
foot — in fact, a thin sheet of iron interposed between the
bottom of the foot and the ground — as supporting this con-
tention. But, tough and sound as the foot of the Arab's
horse, I decline, save in respect of his system of nailing, to
accept the Bedaween's teaching. The foot, when prepared
to receive the shoe, presents the appearance given below.

The necessary form is given to the shoe that it may exactly
follow the outer edge of the hoof as far as the beginning of
the bars, where it is thinned or sloped off in order that the
heel and broadest part of the frog may come well on to the
ground. If the sole be strong and concave, the heels high,
and the crust thick, the shoe is buried entirely in the channel

SHOEING.

191

SO that the ground rim of the metal is level with the horny
sole. If, however, these desirable conditions be not present
then it is better, at first, to cut the channel so shallow that
half the thickness of the shoe protrudes below the ground
surface of the foot.
The shoe is shorter
than the foot to pre-
vent the possibility of
its being wrenched
off.

To insure a perfect
fit and level bearing
the shoe must, in
the first instance, be
placed in the groove
hot. The application

of a hot burning shoe is, I am aware, strongly condemned
by many whose opinions are entitled to respect, but my
experience is that, provided the hot metal be kept in con-
tact with the horn for a few seco?ids only, no more harm is
done than by the process of singeing to the horse's coat or
to the human hair. And here a word of warning will be in
place. If the shoe be plunged into cold water and cooled
too rapidly when hot, the nature of the metal is changed ;
it becomes brittle, and is liable to fracture. When shoeing
cold a small rasp may be used to secure for the shoes that
perfectly level bearing which is essential. The foot, when
shod, presents the following appearance, the diagram No. 2
representing the Charlier tip.

On large, flat, platter-shaped feet, with low heels and high
frogs, it is necessary to put on shoes thicker at the quarters,
allowing them to come down, as in the case of the ordinary
racing plate, below the surface of the sole, and this will be

192

HORSEMANSHIP.

found effective in the case of convex-soled or " foundered"
feet. In cases where the heels are turned in and predisposed

to corns (bruises of the sensitive sole, between the frog and
the wall on the inside quarter of the foot, caused by too

tight shoeing at the heels, or by the shoe pressing on the
horny sole) the shoes must be lighter in substance, narrower

SHOEING. 193

in web at the heels, and well sunk into the groove in the
wall. On feet with high contracted heels and weak frogs,
the shoes must be very narrow in the web, and sunk fully
into the groove. When adopting the Charlier system for
the first time, in lieu of ordinary shoeing, it is advisable to
let the old shoes remain on for some time so as to be well
worn down ; by this delay the sole may have recovered from
the smith's paring and rasping, and has regained its normal
thickness and power of resistance and support. The
Charlier shoe may be modified, like all other shoes, and
is suitable for every degree of foot. '' In a well-formed
limb a plummet line dropped from the middle of the
knee should fall exactly through the centre of the toe "
(Fleming).

The hind hoof is, in comparison with the fore, smaller, and
more elongated, has a more perpendicular steep wall, and
its sole is naturally more concave, with a smaller develop-
ment of frog. Differing from the front foot, the quarters
are the strongest part of the encasement in the hind. Feet
are of all shapes and sizes, and it is not uncommon to meet
with front feet that are " odd-sized," an inequality which
does not predispose to unsoundness, though decidedly un-
sightly. Black hoofs are generally built up of tougher
material than white ones, and are seldom so low in the heel.
The exterior horn of the wall is much harder than the inner
crust, and should, therefore, never be rasped.

A great deal of ingenuity has been expended in endeavour-
ing to devise some method of attaching the shoe to the
horse's foot by which nailing may be done away with. I
was sceptical as to the possibility of any such contrivance
being effective till my attention was directed to what is
termed the " Humane " shoe, the invention of Mr. Benfield,
a practical shoeing smith of Walsall. The following sketches

o

194

HORSEMANSHIP.

will aid in explaining the salient points of the clever in-
vention.

The materials of which this shoe is composed are the best
soft steel and indiarubber. Flat pieces of steel are worked
into a shell of the ordinary horse-shoe shape, by means of
powerful presses, the open portion of the shell being that
touching the ground. Out of the top surface (B), that meet-
ing the wall of the hoof, are punched five or any other
number of clips (C) which, when the shoe is finished, serve
by means of two small claws on each, to attach the shoe to
the foot. Objection having been taken to this punching.

as tending to weaken the web of the shoe, this process has
been discontinued and another still more effective means of
furnishing the clips devised. Into the hollow of the shell
is forced a pad of indiarubber, the pressure being so great
that the whole becomes practically a homogeneous mass of
soft steel and indiarubber, the pad projecting slightly beyond
the ground surface of the shoe so as to minimise concussion
and jar, and to aid the frog in gripping a firm foothold on
slippery pavements. As the shoe can be bent with vice and
hammer without in any way disturbing the pad, there is no
difficulty in fitting the shoe to any foot, a strictly level bearing

SHOEING. 195

being secured by means of the rasp. When the shoe is fitted,
a by no means difficult task to the unskilled shoer, or even
to the amateur, a few taps of the hammer bend the clips on
to the outward surface of the wall of the hoof, causing the
points on the clips to enter the
horn as at (C). It will be ob-
vious that by this arrangement
the natural growth is not inter-
fered with in the slightest de-
gree. The metal shoe being
a mere shell, is of course much
lighter than the ordinary run of
solid shoe, and, as the pad pre-
vents slipping of the foot in action, the wear is materially
reduced, both points of highest importance. It appears to
me that shoes constructed on this principle and fitted in
grooves to the foot on the Charlier principle have very
decided claims to general adoption. In the case of brittle
feet, such as will not carry a nail, they cannot fail to be a
boon. Who has not heard of the "Peril of the nail?"
At first I was sceptical as to the holding power of the claws
when tested by severe and continuous work, but all doubts
on this head have been set at rest by the testimony of
medical men and others who have been constantly using
them during the past severe winter, driving their horses
in them over hard macadam, granite, and wood pavements,
frozen hard and smooth as ice, as well as over stone setts,
without slipping or working loose. Many of the owners
find a vast improvement in their horses' feet.

Some feet wear quicker and grow quicker than others,
some grow more sole than others. As a rule, shoes ought not
to be left on, without at least a remove, over three weeks.
Horses should, as a rule, be re-shod every five or six weeks.

196 HORSEMANSHIP.

The following few rules may be observed with advantage :

Stopping the feet previous to a horse being shod or re-
moved is unnecessary. The object of such softening of the
hoofs is to enable the farrier to use his drawing-knife freely,
which implement, if used at all, should be confined to paring
away jagged parts of the frogs or detached flakes of the sole.

If a horse be awkward at and object to shoeing, before
resorting to Galvayning, or the twitch, let him be bridled and
saddled and ridden by the groom who usually exercises him
to the forge, and let him be shod with the man on his back.
Many horses will not yield their feet up without some force.
An impromptu and effective method of securing the hind legs
so that the smith can work with safety, is to put on an old
and strong cart collar with hames. Get a good pliant stirrup
leather, and taking two turns with it round one of the hind
pasterns, stop it with a piece of cord or spun yarn close to
the joint. Then buckle it in front so as to form a loop. To
this loop attach a stout smooth twelve foot length of half-
inch rope, or better still, a strong strap. Bring the rope
of strap forward between the fore legs through the bottom
of the collar, round which take a double turn. Haul
steadily on this, gathering in the slack, till the foot to be
shod is raised well off the ground and brought forward in
a position convenient for the smith to work on it. When
in position secure it there by taking a turn round the pastern
with another stirrup leather, which buckle tight over the
hamstring some inches above the hock. Care must be
taken that the horse is not kept too long in this constrained
position, or he may fall from fatigue.

When the shoe is being removed it must hot be wrenched
off. See that the clenches are first turned back and the
shoe only just sufficiently released from the foot by the
pinchers for them to seize the heads of the nails, which

SHOEING. 197

must be withdrawn one at a time. The too common
method is to draw out the nails on one side only and then
to tear the shoe from the foot by main force, frequently
carrying a bit of hoof with it.

Rasp the bottom of the circular walls of the hoof until
a perfectly level flat surface is obtained. On no account let
the drawing-knife touch the bars or returns of the foot. All
that has to be done is to reduce the foot to the size it would
have been if not guarded from attrition by the rim of steel,
and that can best be effected by attrition — by the rasp.
The toe, if too long, must be reduced from below, not by
vertical chopping or shortening j the line of outward hoof
or wall from the coronet to its junction with the shoe must
be perfectly straight. The shorter the horse's toe is the less
likely is he to trip or to bring his toe on the ground before
the heel.

See that the shoe is hammered to exactly fit the foot, not,
as usually is the case, the foot pared and rasped to fit the
shoe. The surface of the shoe, that coming in contact with
the foot, must be perfectly level.

The nail holes must be bevelled throughout the whole
thickness of the shoe, and made exactly to hold the nail
heads, so that they may retain their hold to the very last.
When the nail holes are cleared with the pritchel over too
large an opening, the shoe is liable to be bent; this, on
being remedied by using the hammer, very frequently
causes an imperceptible fracture in the shoe. They should
be cleared over as small an aperture as possible.

Only chisel-pointed and bright (not rusty) nails should be
used. They should be driven so as to take a short and
wide hold of the crust, and should come out within half an
inch of the shoe. Being driven thus at an angle across the
fibres of the wall, they retain a better hold than those

igS HORSEMANSHIP.

driven in as far as possible with the run of this structure.
Another advantage of this short cross-nailing is that when
the shoe is taken off, the holes will be rasped out, and the
fresh nails will have sound tough horn to take hold of.
Rusty nails drive badly.

The fewer the nails driven into the foot the better, and
this is especially the case with the forefoot. If farriers are
not supervised, they will drive as many nails round the
inside quarter as the outside. By the examination of a
freshly removed well-worn shoe, it will be observed that the
web on which the inside quarter has been resting, shows
signs of having done extra duty ; in some cases a cavity will
be noticed, the result of extra wear and tear at this particular
point ; whereas that part of the shoe which has been bear-
ing the outside quarter presents comparatively little evidence
of friction. The extra wear at this part of the wall may
be accounted for in two ways : first, that it is more under
the centre of gravity ; secondly, by the fact that the shoeing
smith will persist in leaving the inside wall higher than the
outside, throwing the limb out of balance, and thereby
causing abnormal strain on the ligaments of the joints,
lameness, and premature wearing out. In British cavalry
six nails is the regulation number, but five are sufficient,
three being driven round the outside quarter, and two on
the inside from the toe. As the quarters are the thickest
and strongest part of the walls of the hind foot, it is appro-
priate that they should carry the nails.

When the nails, which should exactly fit the holes, have
been driven, a slight groove or notch may be filed out in
the wall of the hoof immediately below the point at which
the nails come out, in which to clench the points. Having
twisted off the points, what remains must be turned down
and in with the hammer, the usual polishing up with rasp
^ud file being dispensed with.

SHOEING. 199

Be careful that the shoe does not project beyond the wall
and vice versa. If the shoe be too small, it must be opened
by the smith, or a larger one substituted. On no account
must the bottom of the wall be rasped down to make it
correspond in periphery with the outside rim of the shoe.

Calkifigs, in my opinion, are analogous with high-heeled
boots and shoes so fraught with injury to the human foot
and spine. In the case of the hunter, however, they are
advantageous in so far that in taking off from slippery
ground, they give him a better foothold and consequent
purchase. In the front feet they are not to be thought of,
and those applied to the hind should be moderate in height,
and applied to the outside quarter only.

Tips^ to which in describing the Charlier system I have
already referred, will be found admirably adapted to every
description of work when the frog is on the ground and
the foot in its normal condition. In cases where the heels
are contracted, they will be found especially useful. They
must taper off in thickness, not in width of web, towards
the ends, and as in the case of the Charlier shoe, a groove
should be cut in the wall of the hoof to receive these thin
ends, so that they may be flush with the posterior portion
of the ground surface of the hoof.

Brushing, Cutting, or Literferiiig, whether before or
behind, is not only annoying in that it produces lameness,
but is positively dangerous. This faulty, hitting action is
caused by the inside quarter of the hoof brushing or striking
the ankle of the opposite leg. At first, when discovered,
the evil must be mitigated by placing an india-rubber ring,
or a rounded bit of leather with an elastic strap or joint,
round the pastern, which acts as a buffer or guard. With-
out some such protection, a deep wound, with consequent
inflammation and enlargement, will ensue. Permanent

200 HORSEMANSHIP.

remedy, however, must be sought in the forge. The
farrier's usual practice is to rasp away the inside-quarter of
the interfering foot, and to raise it by placing under it an
extra, to double, thickness of shoe. He thus weakens the
already not too thick quarter, and elongates the toe.
Temporary benefit, no doubt, results, but at the expense
of giving the horse a one-sided tread, and of wear and tear
of joints, ligaments, and cartilage. I do not advocate any
such treatment. The inside quarter must have the full
width of web to rest and bear upon, but the shoe might
advantageously be filed off at an angle, rough edges at its
junction with the horn being rasped off. A strong clip
should be thrown up on the outside quarter to prevent any
shifting of the shoe inwards, and so obviate the necessity
of more than one nail on the inside, and that well forward.
Shoeing with tips has been found to effect a cure. Horses
addicted to this defect in action are generally pleasant
straight goers, and seldom or never roll ; it is worth while,
therefore, to remedy the evil, which is a consequence of
some defective formation. It is less dangerous and trouble-
some behind than before. The American trotter is especi-
ally prone to this interfering gait, so, in consequence, our
cousins on the other side of the Atlantic are ever busy in
bringing out some new boot, each more hideous than its
predecessor.

In hard frosty weather, when snow lies on the ground,
try the effect of no shoes, of bare hoofs.

In the stable the horse should not stand any part of the
day on his bedding. His foot should rest on hard, dry,
even ground.

( 201 )

CHAPTER XII.

SOME RANDOM WRINKLES.
'' Full of wise saws and modern instances."

Feeding.

Phick, or courage^ is derived from breeding; strength is
the outcome of food and a good digestion.

Regular feeding is essential ; long fasts weaken the diges-
tive organs.

The horse's digestion, when properly carried on, is
marvellously rapid and effective, therefore he should have
little food at a time. He does not ruminate like the cow.
Properly speaking, four hours is the outside time that a
horse should' work without feeding, though, of course,
numerous occasions present themselves when he must go
foodless for much longer periods. The horse, it will be
noticed, never sleeps long together, and during the night
is frequently up and feeding. His last feed at night, there-
fore, should be the largest over which he may dwell. After
all other feeds there should be " a clean manger."

A hard-worked horse should have every facility offered
him to feed during the night.

Cooked food should never be given to riding-horses,
except in the shape of an occasional mash. It is swallowed
rapidly, little or no insalivation takes place, the stomach is
distended and weakened, and colic results. Insalivation,
or the secretion of saliva, is absolutely necessary, owing to
its solvent powers by which the masticated food is chemi-
cally altered and assimilated.

8Q2 HORSEMANSHIP.

Under ordinary circumstances the best mill for crushing
dry corn is the horse's teeth, but many are such greedy,
hurried feeders that they bolt a large quantity of grain
whole. All oats, beans, peas, or maize should be given
cracked or crushed, mixed with fresh chopped or cut hay
or oat straw, so as to ensure thorough mastication and the
admixture of the food with saliva.

This manger system of feeding requires wide and deep
mangers, with iron cross-bars, otherwise much corn will be
wasted by the horse's throwing out the corn in search of
" tit-bits." No more oats than the quantity just sufficient
for the day's use should be bruised at a time ; for, in a
crushed state they are liable to turn sour, are refused, and
are injurious. All oats, before being bruised, should be
carefully sifted to get rid of gravel, grit, and dust.

A horse, fifteen to fifteen and a half hands high, not a
greedy feeder, and doing ordinary light work, or merely
exercise, will need about ten pounds of oats a day ; this is
the allowance for cavalry horses, and they have to get
through a great deal more of heavy and prolonged work
than is generally supposed. But oats^ by custom the most
generally selected staple grain food of the horse, are not,
when the wear and tear of muscular power are excessive,
the most suitable diet when given entirely by themselves.
The method in economizing food, and in obtaining the
best results from the varieties at our disposal, is to give a
mixture in which due consideration is given in apportion-
ment of each ingredient, having regard to the nutritious
matter contained in it, and the amount and nature of the
work to be exacted from the consumer. Should the reader
care to get up this important subject, I can strongly recom-
mend the perusal of an able and compact little work,
entitled " How to Feed the Horse," by Mr. George Armi-

FEEDING.

tage, formerly lecturer in Veterinary Science in the Albert
and Glasgow Veterinary Colleges.

The owner or stud-groom (if this dignitary be trustworthy)
should keep the granary door under lock and key. The
granary floor should be of large area to' admit of constant
turning out and spreading. Musty oats are comparatively
worthless as food, and frequently cause indigestion, dia-
betes, and other disorders. The corn-bin should not be
in the stable, where it is very much in the way ; moreover,
the horses, having an eye on it, get anxious and uneasy
whenever the groom goes near the receptacle. It forms
a handy seat no doubt, but if a seat be required it should
be one of the sort that falls down flat against the wall.

If happily possessed of a large stud, watch the markets
and, if there be ample, airy, stowage room, take advantage
of them and buy for ready money.

For feeding purposes corn should be quite dry. When
purchasing from corn-chandlers or contractors insist upon
guaranteed weight and measure. Good oats ought to weigh
forty pounds a bushel. The late Mr. Hannington, of
Brighton and Portslade, once showed me some marvellously
neat, short, and almost round New Zealand oats weighing
forty-eight pounds to the bushel, which in a very short
space of time wrought wonders on a couple of scarecrow
two-year-olds he had received from the then most fashionable
and successful training-stable at Newmarket. Horses are
fed by measure, not by weight. Inferior oats have a
ponderance of husk of no greater feeding value than straw.
Good Scotch qualities yield much less of husk than the
foreign varieties. Some persons object to black oats, but
except that they, the Tartarians especially, are apt to be
taily I find them to be quite as good as the white, and fre-
quently thinner in the skin. They seldom weigh quite so

204 HORSEMANSHIP.

well as the white varieties. Irish oats being generally kiln-
dried are, therefore, not so much in favour, oth erwise those
grown on the extensive lime-stone central plain of the
island are excellent.

New oats produce flatulency. Horses fed on them do
not stay well. Oats for fast, hard work should be two
years old ; after that age they begin to shrink.

Bea?ts, of which grooms are far too fond, must be given
with great caution, and seldom or never to young horses,
unless called upon for duty on the racecourse, for steeple-
chasing, or for the hunting-field. Horses doing ordinary
hack work, unless very old, do not require them, and great
care must be exercised in feeding them to any horse un-
accustomed to this powerful tissue-forming and heat-pro-
ducing food ; otherwise cracked heels, affections of the
eyes, acute diseases of the foot, skin diseases, and general
predisposition to inflammatory attacks of various sorts may
be caused. New beans are absolute poison. Those im-
ported from Egypt should never be used, being full of the
eggs of various insects, which when hatched out in the
horse's stomach produce irritation, loss of health, condition,
and general unthriftiness. The Lincolnshire tic is the best
variety, being small, thin in the husk, and heavy in the
kernel. Whatever variety be used see that it be old, dry,
and free from perforations by grubs. They should be spHt
or bruised, not ground, and if given immediately before a
horse starts on quick work are pretty certain to produce
colic.

Horses on long journeys require the stimulus of beans ;
those that have been accustomed to them cannot work
without them ; they are decidedly beneficial in the case of
delicate constitutioned animals that pass off" their food
rapidly, and to old horses wanting, as most do, a " pick-me-

FEEDING. 205

up." Late in the day and in the last feed at night is the
best time to feed beans.

Peas are quite as nutritious as beans, and not being so
constipating may be used with greater freedom. Both
beans and peas may be considered the roast beef, Burton
Stingo, and crusty old Port, or full-bodied Burgundy, of the
stable nihiu.

Barley is too seldom seen inside our home stables.
The Arabs have a saying, " Had we not seen that horses
come from horses, we should have said that it is barley that
produces them." All the great feats of endurance of the
untiring steed of the desert are performed on barley and
chopped straw. My Eastern experience has taught me to
value this corn. I have known horses thrive on barley that
went " all-to-pieces " on oats, probably owing to the former
being so easy of digestion. Given dry, in moderation, mixed
with oats, it suits many horses. In tropical climates, where
horses sweat profusely, and so carry off, through the pores
of the skin, its heating qualities, barley may, in some
instances, be the sole corn diet ; but in our temperate clime
it does not answer unless given as an admixture. I have
given it, bruised, to horses with weak digestion, and to those
of nervous temperament, with most satisfactory results.
Scalded, it suits and fattens washy nervous horses, and
soaked in water and left to sprout it acts as an elixir on
those that have become stale and worn from excessive work.
The oldest race-horse I ever had to deal with was an
Arabian, well known on the Bombay side of India as
''Cronsdat." His last race, one crowned by victory, was
the Welter, a mile and half over the Byculla course. I fed
this game old campaigner on a mixture of a pulse known as
gram^ scalded barley, a sprinkling of oats, some ground nut,
and, as a salad, a handful or two of lucerne with a few

2o6 HORSEMANSHIP.

carrots. To win such a race at the age of twenty-two,
towards the close of a laborious career, carrying eleven
stone, was no little testimony to the virtue of a mixed diet,
in which barley formed the main element.

Indian-corn or maize. This corn, unless mixed with beans
or peas, is of little use where horses are doing fast work.
It is too fattening and, as it imparts an unpleasant smell to
horses eating it, is not to be recommended. Horses fed on
maize may look " full of flesh," but it is not solid hard-
working flesh and muscle, but " stall-fed" blubber. Those
of the General and other omnibus companies are mainly
fed on this great fat or heat-producer, but they work at a
slow pace, eased by frequent stoppages.

Bran. When not given indiscriminately, bran, in the
form of a mash, at the temperature of new milk, is one of
the safest, most natural, and acceptable adjuncts to the
horse's diet. Given in a judicious manner it acts as a
laxative. The impression with many is that it is non-
nutritious, whereas, were the flesh-forming principles it
contains liberated in the process of digestion, it would be
found the equal of either oats or barley. If fresh and
perfectly sweet, nothing is more grateful to the horse after
a severe day of violent muscular exertion, an over-excite-
ment of the circulation of the blood, and debility of the
whole system, caused by prolonged effort and abstinence
from food. Nothing, in short, is more appetising and
soothing when suffering from languor or depression, rest-
lessness and fever, no better safeguard against inflammation
of the lungs and stomach. It is a sedative and a cooler of
the whole system. A bran mash given for two days before
physic prepares the horse for its reception, and, if the aloes
be good, prevents griping. The usual custom is to give
only one mash twelve hours before administering the ball,

FEEDING, 207

but this is not sufficient ; it should be continued for forty-
eight hours to have its laxative effect, some corn, bruised,
being mixed with it on the first day, but given quite plain
on the last. As the mash is invariably bolted, not masti-
cated, the oats must be crushed. Some horses will not
touch a mash unless it has some oats sprinkled on the top
or mixed through it. A horse well prepared with mashes
requires fewer drachms of the aloes. A very common
practice with some lazy grooms is to leave the bran mash
for days before the animal. The mixture should invariably
be given fresh as prepared, for if allowed to stand it fer-
ments, fouls the woodwork of the manger or bucket, and
nauseates the patient, who will plainly exhibit his disgust
at the unsavoury mess by standing back away from it as far
as possible.

The following is a good mash for horses in ordinary work
which, on the supposition that they rest on Sundays, as they
ought to do, may be given with great advantage for the last
feed on Saturday night. Place half a pint of well-cleaned
linseed in a porcelain-lined or enamelled saucepan, pour on
it one quart of boiling water, cover up closely, and leave to
soak for three or four hours. At the same time pour boil-
ing water on a very clean, sweet, bucket, half full of fresh
bran, till well saturated, then closely cover up. When
reduced to milk heat, make a hole in the middle of the
mash to receive the linseed jelly, and thoroughly mix the
whole mass.

Some horses shy of bran will greedily devour a mash
made of malt ; this mixture may be substituted, and will
be found grateful, after a long tiring day, a chill, or when
recovering from illness.

Of all roots those most relished by horses are carrots.
Parsnips are too fattening. Swedes, excellent for farm

2o8 HORSEMANSHIP.

teams, are the best when given in large quantities. Man-
golds are good in spring-time, when other roots deteriorate.
Kohl-rabi, excellent for brood mares as a milk-producer,
should have no place in the riding-stable, and potatoes are
not to be thought of. For horses doing fast work the
quantity given should never be large. I have heard carrots
objected to as producing eruption on the skin. Such is not
my experience. If they produce any blotches, then that
eruption is better out than in. Moderately used they are
serviceable, are much relished by both well and ailing
horses, and are nutritious and appetizing. If given too
freely they interrupt the formation and maintenance of
muscle, and lower condition. London coachmen and
grooms are very fond of getting the permission of their
employers to purchase carrots largely, but it is more than
suspected that the succulent root finds its way into the
family all-a-blaze pan, and not into the manger. Not a few
give carrots, cut into fingers, along with the corn, thinking
to tempt shy feeders, but the carrots are picked out by the
horse, and the oats rejected ; to avoid this the roots should
be pulped. Carrots, if stored in dry sand in a dry cool
place, will keep a long time. My experience of this green
food is that a small daily allowance, in summer especially,
acts much in the same manner as a salad does with us, and
that it keeps horses from getting stale, stiff, husky, and hide-
bound, also that it helps to keep the wind right. That it
keeps the system cool and open cannot be doubted.

We now come to that important portion of the horse's
dietary, hay. The quantity required per diem varies with
many circumstances, and must be governed by the size of
the animal, the quantity of other food he is getting, the
nature of the work, and the quality of the hay. The
nutritious materials found in hay vary from six to fourteen

FEEDING. 209

per cent. It should, for every description of horse, invari-
ably be of the very best quality, nothing should induce the
owner to let even a pound of anything but old, fragrant,
sweet hay of good colour enter the stable. Such as has got
wet in the making, and has heated or moulded in the stack
— " mow-burnt," as it is termed — is pernicious, and the pro-
lific cause of broken wind, coughs, indigestion, and diabetes.
Too soft hay is generally that made from the second cut, or
aftermath, and is, therefore, devoid of nutrition. The best
hay is that grown on upland well-drained strong clay ; the
worst that from water meadows. Good sound chopped oat
straw is preferable to second-class hay. In order to insure
the proper portion of hay going with each feed of corn,
it should be chaffed and mixed with the bruised oats,
etc. ; if fed from the rack, a proceeding often endanger-
ing the horse's eyes from falling seeds and dust, then not
more than three pounds should be placed in the rack at
one time.

Clover hay, when well made and leafy, is much liked,
nutritious, and fattening. It is easily spoiled by rain.
Better still is that made from sai?ifoi?i, and lucerne^ very
much appreciated by horses when green and in flower, is
the best of the three. In India I have made superlatively
good hay from lucerne, cutting five crops, annually, to the
acre.

Linseed contains a large quantity of heat-producing
matter, and is usually given, as suggested, in conjunction
with scalded bran, mixed with other substances. It is very
fattening, keeps the bowels open, and greatly improves the
coat. A mixture of oatmeal and linseed gruels is much
relished by horses suffering from debility or convalescing
from acute disease.

For putting an extra-polish on the coat there is nothing

210 HORSEMANSHIP.

next to health and careful grooming, like bruised sunflower
seed. The locust^ or cai'oh lean, has a modified, though
similar, effect, and is largely used in the preparation of
horse condiments, being full of saccharine matter. Both
these seeds must be split or ground, and not more than half
a pint given in a feed.

Le7ttils, or tares, are both nutritious and digestible, though
slightly bitter in taste. When ripe, and given sparingly in
conjunction with oats or barley, they answer admirably with
some light-hearted horses. Excessively nervous animals
derive much benefit from bulky succulent food.

When a horse is being "summered," i.e. laid up in
summer for temporary rest, lameness, or other causes, green
food is absolutely necessary. He wants " letting down,"
and a radical change of diet, something that will clear the
whole system, yet nourish him.

Lastly, when writing of greeji foods, hay, or that more
modern preparation known as silage, I must put in a strong
word or two for the new forage plant, Lathyrus Sylvestris,
which, in the opinion of Professor Chas. F. Hope, of the
Yorkshire Philosophical Society, — an opinion based on
careful analysis of plants grown by the society — shows that
in the green condition, weight for weight, it is in feeding
quality worth double that of any other fodder plant, " twice
as concentrated as any green food known T To those of
my readers who are landed proprietors I strongly recom-
mend the cultivation of this most valuable addition to our
stock of fodder plants, which is of vigorous, though at first
slow, growth, robust, and a very heavy cropper, producing
seventeen tons to the acre. The hay reminds one of the
composition of cotton-cake, with the attraction of a delicious
aroma, and the sweet silage has " a nose " on it quite equal
to the esse bouquet of prime clover. It may safely be

FEEDIXG. 211

predicted for Lathynis that, at no distant date, it will prove
the sheet-anchor of the horse-breeder and horse-owner.

Having hurriedly glanced at the various foods at our
disposal, we would now call attention to water and watering.
In a state of nature, when water is within reach, horses
never want such an immoderate quantity as to unfit them
for active work at any moment. Epicures as to their food,
they are doubly so on the question of water. An Arab
horse of the highest caste — a Seglawiah Jedran, Manhagy
Hudree, or other patrician of Nejd or Mesopotamia —
always, it is said, troubles the water with his fore-feet before
slaking his burning thirst. The mobs of Australia have
their favourite water-holes. Here in our more favoured
pastures our fenced-in horses have their favourite spring
or rivulet, the effect of which on their condition is dis-
tinctly noticeable, and which they will drink copiously
or almost reject. The cold chalky water of Epsom has
militated against the prowess of many an aspirant for Derby
honours, has robbed many a sterling good racer of "the
blue riband of the turf." The groom's common practice
is to water twice a day — at each time a copious draught.
When being fed on dry corn and dry hay, the horse, un-
doubtedly, should have clean, and, if possible, soft or river
water always within his reach. Like ourselves, he is liable
to derangements of the stomach, and seeks a remedy in
copious draughts of water; the means to slake his thirst
should therefore be permanently at hand. If an arrange-
ment for continual access to water be inconvenient, then
offer it to the horse three or four times a day. The
quantity cannot be stated, it is best to let him drink what
he fancies, giving it an hour before feeding, commencing
early in the morning.

The following rules should be observed : —

212 HORSEMANSHIP.

Never water when the horse is heated, or on the point of
any extraordinary exertion.

Much water before severe work is obviously injurious.
Horses going out hunting should have, contrary to general
rule, a drink, but a limited one, at their usual hour ; they
generally have some miles to go quietly to cover.

After heavy work, or hard galloping, the chill should be
taken off the water, and a handful or two of oatmeal
thrown in.

Cold water should be sparingly given to horses liable to
colic or gripes, and never to those recovering from physic.
Very cold water is liable to disagree with any stable-fed

horse.

If a horse has fasted long, give him water in very small
quantities, and frequently.

Hard spring water may be softened with bran.

When on a journey, at all seasons of the year, let the
horse have half a dozen swallows occasionally, giving him a
good long drink whci within a mile or so of home ; the last
half-mile should be [ erformed at a walk.

Be very careful never to water at public drinking troughs,
to which every description of road horse has access.
Many infectious diseases, such as ozoena, epizootic catarrh,
farcy, and that fell disease glanders, are easily contracted
this way.

When a horse is found to be "off his feed," have a look
into his manger. Many grooms are culpably negligent in
cleaning out this food receptacle. Probably it will be
found to contain the remains of the last mash in a sour, vile-
smelling condition, quantities of half masticated " quidded "
food, dust, and gravel ; or the oats and hay may be musty.
Corn contractors want a vast deal of looking after. When

FEEDING. 213

no palpable reason for refusing food exists, the horse's
mouth should be examined for decayed teeth. Horses
suffer from toothache, swelled, inflamed, and painful gums,
in much the same way as we do. I have seen the eye blood-
shot and watery in sympathy with a decayed upper molar.
A swelling of the bars of the mouth behind the front teeth,
called lampas, is common with young horses shedding their
teeth; with old ones it is a sign of disordered stomach.
This complaint, more or less painful, interferes with feeding
and chewing, frequently producing feverishness. Some
grooms recommend burning, others lance the swellings
freely, many rub salt well in, barbarous treatment worthy
the ordinary run of stablemen. In such a case, gruel,
mashes, linseed, boiled oats, etc., must be substituted for
the ordinary hard feed, and a little cooling medicine will
soon bring the sufferer back to his feed. If no such causes
for the horse refusing his food can be traced, then a qualified
A^eterinary surgeon must be called in ; in any case of dental
surgery his services would be necessary. The horse's teeth
often want looking to. Sometimes a supernumerary tooth
— known as a "wolfs tooth" — makes its appearance in
front of the molars on either jaw, interferes with chewing,
and must be extracted. The molars are often irregular,
with long, sharp and jagged edges, causing wounds on the
inside of the cheeks, and cutting the tongue. These painful
protrusions require to be rasped down. The instruments
used in the removal of these irregularities should be handled
by the veterinary surgeon alone.

The best beddi?ig, in my opinion, is a reddish-yellow,
springy, fibrous description oi peat moss well teased and
carefully freed from dust. It may not be so sightly and
attractive as bright straw, but it lasts longer, is cheaper, if
kept dry is better for the feet, and the horse rests longer

214 HORSEMANSHIP.

on it. Much of the dark sepia-coloured moss Utter now
sold of German and Dutch manufacture is taken too low
down from the surface of the bog, has lost all its elasticity,
most of its powers of absorption, and is quite unfit for
bedding. That from some of the Irish bogs, when properly
prepared, is of superlative quality, and fully answers all the
requirements of a thoroughly good litter. Horses will not
eat it, and that is one point of importance. By selling the
used bedding as manure one omnibus company bedded their
horses for nothing, and made, moreover, a profit on the
transaction. No drains are required when moss litter is
used.

Always keep a lump of rock salt, and one of chalk, in the
manger.

On a journey the horse's feed may be increased from
one-third to one-half.

Never let a horse be groomed when feeding.

Avoid artificial physic as much as possible. Many
grooms are constantly doctoring their horses, giving con-
dition balls, powders, and such like poisonous rubbish.
Especially partial are they to diuretic balls, a frequent
cause of inflammation of the kidneys. Arsenic, judiciously
administered, is very valuable in improving and '' satinizing "
the horse's skin ; it improves the appetite, and helps to get
any unthrifty horse into condition, so these groom-doctors
give it constantly, and in dangerous quantities, not un-
frequently — vide police-court reports — causing death.

Of white oils, black drinks, alterative powders, and the
numerous drinks of the wholesale or retail farm and stable
drug vendor, I have a horror. Some owners are constantly
using these much puffed " sovereign remedies," external and
internal, doing incalculable mischief. Many of the quack
liniments and embrocations are worthless, others the stable-

FEEDING. iv

man can compound for himself. A widely-advertised
remedy for sprains, curbs, sore throats, rheumatism, and a
score of other ills is nothing more than turpentine, acetic
acid, and white of ^gg^ and can be made up for a tithe of
what is charged for it. Sequah's embrocation is said to be
a mixture of turpentine and fish oil, and the main in-
gredient in Jacob's oil is turpentine.

All spiced foods I abhor. Mellin's food is excellent for
horses recovering from serious illness, and especially so in
the case of foals.

The importance of ^d?^;;//;;^ cannot be overrated. There
is an old maxim, " a good cleaning is equal to a feed of
corn." There is a close connection between the skin and
the digestive organs. Mr. Armitage mentions the good
produced on fourteen colliery horses and ponies cared for
by an infirm horse-keeper, dressing them with a coarse
brush morning and evening. *' His horses and ponies,"
wrote that able veterinary, " would have caused many owners
of animals above ground to blush with shame at their
superior condition and shining skins. They were always
doing equal work with the animals of other collieries, but
suffered least of all ^ and consumed the least corn»^ The proof
of the dirt and perspiration having been properly removed,
and of the due application of " elbow grease," will be found
in the shining coat, which, when stroked down, will not soil
the most delicate tinted kid glove. Grooms are very fond
of using water in cleaning, not in thoroughly washing, the
horse \ it saves trouble as compared with wisp or brush.
All cleaning out of doors should be strictly forbidden.
When the legs are dirty, instead of turning on a stream of
cold water, whilst the horse is standing wearied and perhaps
shivering, the best plan is to use a brush and cold water up
to the knees in summer, lukewarm in winter, with a little

2 1 6 HORSEMANSHIP.

soap ; then thoroughly dry with a sponge and coarse cloth,
putting on warm woollen bandages to prevent chill. I
prefer cloths and bandages made of peat-wool, a new
manufacture, the fabric being so very absorbent. The
saddle should not be removed, only the girths loosened, till
the back be cool and dry. If, on the saddle being taken
off, the part of the back on which it has rested be quite dry,
save on one or two distinct isolated spots, the numnah, or,
in the absence of that saddle-cloth, the stuffing of the saddle
should be carefully examined, for these patches indicate
galls. After a hard day's work, the main object is to get
the horse dry and comfortable, with the least possible fuss
and delay, so that he may rest. The coat, when saturated
with rain or persi^iration, should first be scraped and
thoroughly rubbed dry with relays of large soft straw wisps ;
that done, the horse should be clothed and left to himself.

In " dressing " a horse a stiff body-brush is generally em-
ployed, but the hardness of this brush makes all the dif-
ference to the animal. Many high bred horses having very
thin and highly sensitive skins, are ticklish in parts, and are
unable to bear a sharp penetrating bristle. This is very
generally the case with high caste Arabs, who are pro-
verbially " thin-skinned." Many a horse is often made
vicious by the application of a too hard brush. I approve
highly of the glove, much used in India, made of cocoa-nut
fibre, which has an excellent effect on the skin.

A strong strapper should work at least an hour a day on
each horse as soon as possible after the usual exercise and
work.

Should a horse be given to biting during the process of
cleaning, put in his mouth a large wooden bit, or a chain
bit covered over with rubber. It must be of such diameter
that he cannot close his mouth on it.

FEEDING. 217

A tired animal will be greatly refreshed by having the
channel between the buttocks and the inside of the thighs
well sponged out.

If a horse is very awkward to dress, put on knee caps,
and strap up one of his fore legs. Do not keep one leg
strapped up more than ten minutes \ release that leg and go
round to the other side. Many horses make a show of vice
when being cleaned, lay their ears back, lift a hind leg, and
make pretence of playing the tiger, whereas it is mere
" kittleness," or play. A really dangerous brute bites and
kicks without warning.

Thoroughly washing horses when home from hunting or
in the summer is to be recommended. Nothing, moreover,
brings a long-neglected skin more quickly into good order.
More than one man is required to carry out this operation
as thoroughly and speedily as is necessary, and it should
always be performed with warm water, in a loose box
guarded against draughts. Very warm water will deprive
the coat of its gloss. I always use a lather of good soap,
as free as possible from alkalies, and lukewarm rain water,
rubbing the lather well in, especially along the roots of the
mane and tail, with the cocoanut-fibre glove already men-
tioned. If no soft water be obtainable, a big spoonful of
Californian borax may be thrown into the bucket. The
lather is scraped off with a piece of flat bamboo, or with a
blunted toothless, spring-curry-comb (Spratt's patent), and
the horse well washed down with a large sponge so that no
suds remain. He is then dried as speedily as possible and,
weather permitting, is walked smartly about in the sun. In
the case of a long-neglected skin, the horse should be
freely sweated before being washed, and hotter water used.
Hunters must, of course, be dried in the loose box and at
once clothed.

21 8 HORSEMANSHIP.

The quantity of clothing depends on circumstances. My
opinion is that in order to keep up a good coat, one with
" the Pigburn polish " on it, the stable being, as it ought to
be, cool and thoroughly ventilated, to a certain extent horses
must be kept warm with clothing. Nature provides them
with a long and thick winter coat, according to their breeds,
and this we clip or singe off, leaving the animals as bare as
a freshly scalded porker. Thus denuded of their coats.
I am not raiUng at the very necessary practice — we must
restore the covering in some form or another, but there is no
occasion to do so with compound interest in the form of
super-heated stuffy stables and piles of heavy blankets. The
circulation of the blood of any horse, and especially of one
consuming large quantities of flesh-forming and heat produc-
ing food, enables him to withstand transitions from heat to
cold, and degrees of cold without injury or suffering, such as
may make us shiver to think of. Comfort is all that is
necessary ; in all cases the golden mean between too much
and too little should be the hit, and that mean will best be in-
dicated by the sheen of the coat and the warmth apparent to
the hand when thrust between the rug and the coat. A
horse's warmth ought, to a great extent, to proceed from his
" body lining " — his food. I do not advocate a cold stable,
and stipulate for a comfortable^ and above all, a thoroughly
dry One. We must bear in mind that gentlemen's and
ladies' horses are in their stables, taking one day with
another, possibly twenty hours out of the twenty-four, and
that when breathing the open air they are at work. Conse-
quently, the proper warmth and purity of the air they breathe
in the stable is a matter of vital importance. In these days
of sanitary engineering there can be no difficulty in securing
a system of ventilation which, without creating draughts,
will let impure air out and pure air in. The warmth of an

FEEDING. 219

air fouled by repeated breathing is a blood poison. Burn-
ing gas unduly heats the air and contaminates it. "Scruta-
tor," whose opinions are always worthy of being taken to
heart, wrote, " I had much rather keep a horse in a barn
during the winter months, with good warm clothing, than
in such a place as our common stables ; and I am quite
satisfied he would enjoy better health, and be less liable to
catch cold, or subject to diseases of any kind, and would do
much more work, than any hot-house plant."

There is a great deal too much bandaging in our stables.
In the case of cold damp legs broad flannel bandages, four
to five yards long, may be rolled on loosely and evenly, but
should never remain on longer than four or five hours.
When removed the legs must be rapidly but lightly hand-
rubbed. During continuous wet weather, when the roads
are muddy, or in the hunting season, what is termed " clay
fever," an affection of the skin of the legs, may to some
extent be warded off by, in lieu of washing the legs, on the
horse's return to the stable, putting on rough thick woollen
bandages, or those of peat-wool, and letting them remain
on whilst he is being cleaned. The mud will thus harden
and peel off, any remaining being brushed off. Wet linen
bandages, soaked in arnica lotion (mix one fluid ounce of
tincture of arnica with fifteen of water), are of great use
in averting a tendency to enlargement of, or heat in the
back tendons, so common after hard work : they must be
kept constantly saturated.

Dark stables injuriously affect the eyesight. White
glazed wall tiles over the manger have a similar tendency.

Never allow the groom to cut or pull the long hairs out
of the horse's ears.

If a horse comes home very tired rub, pufl, and dry his
ears well. Should he when once dry break out again into

:i2o HORSEMANSHIP.

a perspiration — "break out" as it is termed — walk him
about a bit briskly, and set the groom again to work on
him with the straw wisp.

Never permit the grooms to speak harshly or sharply to
their charges, and see that the words of command, " come
over," or " come round," are given quietly and unac-
companied with any flick of the leather or towel.

Visit the stables frequently when the horses are out at
exercise, examine them carefully generally and see that the
drains are in good order. Some of McDougall's, Condy's,
or other disinfectant, should be sprinkled on the surface
runs daily, and subsequently washed into the reservoir. If
peat litter be used make the helper rake away all damp
portions to be dried in the air.

If any man be found striking a horse with a fork or
broom-handle, dismiss him on the spot.

Constantly overhaul saddlery and stable gear. Do not
let old clothing be thrown away ; it will come in handy for
sick horses. Never buy second-hand clothing unless you
know who its former owner was. I once invested in a lot,
and every animal in the stable got ring-worm. Clothing
not in use should be well brushed, folded, and put away in
a press ; that in use should be well beaten and shaken out-
side the stable and aired once a week. Muzzles should
always have a throat-latch attached to them. Do not
permit "dressing muzzles" in the stable. Note that the
beds of the rollers, where they pass over the spine, are so
stuffed that there is a clear channel, and that they do not
rest on the ridge.

A groom's absolute requisites — he will indent for every-
thing in the saddler's shop if allowed to have his own way —
are : bucket, body-brush, burnisher, a broom, bandages,
curry-comb (Spratt's patent is the best), chamois leather,

FEEDING. 221

corn-sieve, dandriff or dander brush, dusters, manure
basket, measures for corn, mane comb, picker, pitchfork,
sponges, and shovel. He should also be supplied with a
small supply of tow and Stockholm tar; rock salt to re-
plenish that in the mangers ; saddle soap ; chalk in the
lump, which, being an antacid, it is good for horses to lick;
also a jar of the following hoof-ointment which will be
found invaluable in preventing the far too common disease
called thrush.

Beeswax . . ,
Burgundy Pitch .
Venice Turpentine
Whale Oil . . .
Verdigris
Resin ....

!Mix all the ingredients well
together. Rub well in all
round the hoofs and soles, also
work into the clefts of the
frogs.

A subject of equal importance with feeding is Exe7'cise
and Work. No horse can be in good health or condition
without at least two hours a day exercise unless he be at
regular work. As a rule the horses of " the upper ten
thousand" get far too little work. Provided he be not
over-taxed as to pace and effort, the more a well-fed horse
is out in the open air at a brisk walk, with an occasional
trot, the better. What work is done by a large majority of
ladies' and gentlemen's hacks amounts actually to mere
exercise: no wonder then that they become overloaded
with fat and a burden to themselves. A corn-fed horse is
capable of doing long and continuous work for years and
of keeping his condition on it. Mr. Armitage mentions
the case of a Scotch mare, "Maggie Lauder." When the
fly-boats plied between Glasgow and Edinburgh on the
Forth and Clyde Canal, this old mare was stationed to run
between Port Dundas and Glasgow Bridge, a distance of
eight miles, the time allowed being one hour. After a rest
of one hour, the return journey to Port Dundas was made.

222 HORSEMANSHIP.

and in the afternoon she performed the whole distance
over again, thus travelling and drawing the boat thirty-two
miles per diem. The person from whom this information
was obtained rode the mare daily, during the time she per-
formed the work alluded to six days in the week, and stated
that Maggie was never sick nor sorry a single day, nor ever
had a day's rest in addition to the usual Sunday. When the
boats were superseded by the "iron horse" the game old
lady was sold at the age of twenty-iii?ie years. Were our
pampered, coddled nags subjected to Maggie Lauder's
daily round there would be less colic, less acute founder,
less weed, and fewer ailing horses. The Duke of AVest-
minster insists on '* Bend Or " travelling one hundred miles
every week of his life, the consequence is that this almost
faultless sire can be seen enjoying himself in the famous
Eaton paddocks, the picture of health and condition, as
playful as a colt.

When practicable the exercise ground should be under
the owner's eye. Orders on the subject of exercising
should be strict and enforced. Unless under the eye of
the master or trusty stud groom, servants are not to be
implicitly trusted, and have a decided leaning to selecting
roads garnished with public-houses. A piece of sound
well-drained turf is preferable to the hard high road.

RIDING FOR LADIES

W. A. KERR, V.C.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Introductory ... ... ... ... ... i

11. Tpie Lady's Horse ... ... ... .,. 6

III. Practical Hints : How to Mount, 14— The Seat, 22

— The Walk, 27— The Trot, 33— The Canter, 39—
The Hand-Gallop and Gallop, 44— Leaping, 46—
Dismounting, 51

IV. The Side Saddle ... ... ... ... 52

V. Hints upon Costume ... ... ... ... 63

VI. A la Cavali£:re ... ... ... ... ... 73

VII. Appendix I. — The Training of Ponies for Children 81
Appendix II. — Extension and Balance Motions 89

THE ALL-ENGLAND SERIES.

Numerous Illustrations. IjO-cxIWCjT. Price is

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T.

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