Vice in the Horse

AND OTHER PAPERS ON

Horses and Riding

J/^ice in the Horse.

On the value of Books on Riding.

What Schooling will do for a Horse.

The Intelligence of the Horse.

Shoeing the Saddle-Horse.

The Test of Horsemanship.

How to Buy a Horse.

A Model Riding-School.

The Changes in the Gallop.

By E. L. ANDERSON.

JOHNA.SEAVERNS

TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

3 9090 014 548 511

Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine

Cummings Schc":! of Vcternary Medicine at

.__ _. ,. .,:zd

North Grafton. MA 01633

VICE IN THE HORSE

T15p tlK same autTjor.
MODERN HORSEMANSHIP:

A NEW METHOD OF TEACHING RIDING AND

TRAINING

By means of Instantaneous Photographs from the Life.

Nc'iO and Revised Edition, coHtainiiig some observations upon the
mode of Changing Lead in. the Gallop.

In I vol. dciiiy Zvo, J>ricc 2i.f.

' A master of the craft.' — Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic Ne^vs.

' A practical and very accomplished horseman. The fact is obvious
from his book.' — Saturday Revieiu.

'The book is liberally furnished with instantaneous photographs, which
illustrate and explain the author's text.' — St. James's Gazette.

' Every detail connected with saddle, bits, and bridles, with mounting
and leaping, is dealt with in the most thorough manner.' — Harper's
Magazine.

THE GALLOP.

Lately Published, in i vol. foolscap ^to, 2S. 6d.
Illustrated by Instantaneous Photography.

EDINBURGH : DAVID DOUGLAS.

Vice in the Horse

AND OTHER PAPERS ON

Horses and Riding

BY

EDWARD L. ANDERSON

AUTHOR OK ' IMODEKN HOKSEMANSHIl','
ETC. ETC.

EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS
MDCCCLXXXVI

All Rights rcserz'Cci.

CONTENTS

I'AGE

VICE IN THE HORSE, i

ON THE VALUE OF BOOKS ON RIDINCi, ... 12

WHAT SCHOOLING WILL DO FOR A HORSE, . 21

THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE HORSE, ... 30

SHOEING THE SADDLE-HORSE, • • ■ • 35

THE TEST OF HORSEMANSHIP, .... 40

HOW TO BUY A HORSE, 47

A MODEL RIDING-SCHOOL, • • • ■ . 55
THE CHANGES IN THE GALLOP, . .60

ILLUSTRATIONS.

ALIDOR AT FIVE YEARS OF AGE, . . to face page 21

THE CHANGES IN THE GALLOP, . . . .62

Vice in the Horse.

When we consider the rough and crude methods
that are usually employed in training and educat-
ing our horses, we should not be surprised that
every year thousands of these animals are ren-
dered dangerous to those who ride or drive them.
Doubtless many over-fed and under-worked horses
become difficult to manage In the hands of irreso-
lute or timid owners ; but such animals can readily
be brought back to a state of discipline by a strong
and determined rider. By far the greater number
of really dangerous horses have been made vicious
by the incompetency of those who have undertaken
to prepare them for usefulness, and It is the more
difficult to correct the faults of such horses, seeing
that there has never been any discipline which
might be re-established.

To one who has had experience in the training
of young horses, it is easy to imagine the steps by
which a generous and spirited colt is brought to a
condition of continuous and active mutiny. An
itching skin, a pinching saddle-tree, a tender mouth,
I

2 VICE IN THE HORSE.

may induce a young and undisciplined horse to rub
itself against a wall, to crouch, and even to lie down,
or to throw up its head, and perhaps to rear. The
breaker at once sees, in these ordinary actions of an
animal that has hitherto been permitted to follow
its own devices, signs of a vicious and headstrong
disposition, and he flogs the horse for doing that
which was, under the circumstances, natural and
without sinister motives. The next time that the
colt wishes to scratch its side, or feels the pinching
of the saddle, or is hurt by the bit, it will remember
the punishment that followed its previous effort
for relief, and, nervous, excited, and foreboding
evil, but still in ignorance of any real wrong on its
part, it will rush up to the wall, or throw itself
down, or rear higher than it intended. Another
whipping, and we have a dangerous habit fixed in
the animal's mind, a habit that cannot be eradicated
under the course of treatment by which it was in-
duced, and therefore in all probability the horse
becomes vicious.

Because certain of the movements that are em-
ployed in the schools for disciplining the horse are
used for show in the circus-ring, there is now
a prejudice against anything that savours of the
mandge. These movements are useful in prepar-
ing horses for any purpose, although not abso-

VICE IN THE HORSE. 3

lutely necessary in training well-disposed horses
for ordinary hack-work ; but the ' suppling ' and
* uniting ' that form the groundwork of the school
methods are of the highest importance, for by their
means the horse is most easily and quickly taught
to obey the bit and the heels, and to carry itself
gracefully and lightly. The few good horsemen
who do not follow the school method ride their
horses up to ' the union ' between gentle tension
upon the reins and cautious pressure of the spurs ;
but this takes much longer, and is more difficult to
accomplish than to bring about the union of the
extremities between hand and heels after the horse
has had the preparatory lessons on foot, by which
the meanings of the indication of the bit and spurs
are gradually taught.

There are few cases of vice in the saddle-horse
that cannot be prevented or cured by the school
method of training, for by easy lessons the horse
is so disciplined that obedience becomes a habit.

Nearly every horse finds certain forms of resist-
ance easier than others, and this is due in a great
measure to the conformation of the animal.^ Horses

^ A horse with a stiff, unyielding jaw, and a horse with a tender mouth,
will be apt to rear; the first, because it opposes the hand until the bit hurts
it, the second, because even a slight pressure of the bit is disagreeable. A
horse with a ' roach back ' is more likely to plunge than one that has a
depression between the withers and the croup. As a rule, the horse with
a ' dished ' face is nervous, the horse with a Roman nose is headstrong, and
the horse with a small [jrotuberant eye is suspicious and excitable.

4 VICE IN THE HORSE.

that are hiixh and stronor in the fore-hand are more
apt to rear or grow restive than horses which are
high and strong in the hind-quarters. The latter
will usually resist control by bolting or by kicking.
The reasons for these kinds of misconduct is that
in the horses first described the weights and forces
of the fore-hand are thrown back, and that part is
made lighter ; while, in the case of horses with high
and strong hind-quarters, the weights and forces
are thrown forward, and the fore-hand is hampered
while the croup is lightened. The disposition of
the horse will usually be influenced by its con-
formation, certainly its resistance will in most cases
be governed by its conformation.

A well-balanced horse, that can obey the demands
of its rider with more ease and comfort than an
ill-formed one, is less likely to show vice, and
generally has a better temper than the horse that
is ill-balanced. The first duty of the trainer, then,
should be to direct his work with reference to the
conformation of the animal he has in hand, and, by
changing the carriage of the horse, to correct in
effect its faults of form, so that it may not find
difficulty in obeying the hand and heel of its rider.

Whatever may be the form of a horse, it must be
suppled in the neck and jaw so that it will answer
to the bit at the lightest pressure upon the bars of

VICE IN THE HORSE. 5

the mouth, and will raise or depress the head at
the demands of the hand. It must also be tauofht
to answer the pressure of the rider's heels without
reluctance or struggling. The horse that is too
high in the fore-hand can then be taught to move
with its head so lowered, and its hind-quarters so
well brought up that the weights and forces may
be brought to a point of balance under the rider,
so that the movements of the animal can easily be
directed. As long as the jaw yields to the bit,
and the croup answers to the heels, the horse will
neither rear nor grow restive ; and it is a mere
question of time and patience to confirm the horse
in this obedience, for, as I shall show, the impulses
of the horse are cultivated in the direction of this
obedience, and it answers to bit and spur instinc-
tively.

The horse that is low in front and strong and
high in the hind-quarters will be made to move
with its head carried up, by which means the
weights and forces of the fore-hand are carried
back, while the hind-legfs will be brouofht under
the body to lower the croup, until the weights and
forces of the extremities are brought to a point of
union and balance under the rider, and the horse
will have no difficulty in answering the demands
of its rider. It would be impossible for a horse

6 VICE IN THE HORSE.

SO trained to bolt or to kick, for the rider can bring
the hind-legs of the horse under the mass, and with
the hand throw back the forces of the fore-hand, and
so bring it to an instantaneous halt from any pace.

I wish, in a few words, to explain what I mean
by cultivating the impulses of the horse in the
direction of obedience, for in that lies the whole
success of the school method. The first impulse
of the horse upon feeling the pressure of the bit
against the jaw is to yield ; the second is to oppose
the pressure. The first impulse of the horse on
feeling the touch of the spur is to draw forward
the hind-legs ; the second is to extend the flexed
hind-legs. By carefully-conducted lessons these
first impulses, the instinctive muscular actions of
the animal, are cultivated, until the hand controls
and directs the fore-hand, and measures the propul-
sion from the hind-quarters. In ordinary training,
as must occur to any reader, the second impulses
are unwittingly cultivated to the detriment of the
first impulses, for most horses wait for a more or
less forcible reminder from the bit, and spring
forward at the touch of the spurs.

Doubtless the greater number of horses that are
in daily work were trained without reference to
' the point of balance of the forces,' but all horses
that can be ridden, whether intentionally or not, are

VICE IN THE HORSE. 7

to a greater or less extent taught obedience through
their instinctive yielding to the aids ; and it cannot
be contended that those broken by rough and crude
modes are under the same control as that exhibited
by horses which are prepared by discipline and
an acquired equilibrium to instinctively obey every
demand of their riders.

One is often called upon to ride a difficult horse
before he has had an opportunity of training it
sufficiently to compel its obedience, and under such
circumstances I think the following suggestions
may be of value. It is of the first importance in
riding a vicious horse to keep it moving, never
permitting it, when showing signs of temper, to come
to a stop. If a 'fresh' horse makes a few curvets
or leaps, the rider should not at once confine the
head too closely, but, holding the reins so that the
animal cannot get its head down, make it advance,
and then gently bring it back to a quiet pace, and
afterwards increase the speed if it be desirable.
To check or to punish the horse at the moment it
is restless will induce the animal to rear or to
plunge. If a horse rear, the rider should release
the tension of the reins, and press his legs against
the animal's sides at the moment the fore-hand
comes down, to drive it forward ; but the spurs
should not be applied with severity, for that will

8 VICE IN THE HORSE.

not cure the horse of rearing, and may add plung-
ing to its vices. A horse can be cured of the vice
of rearing only by the suppling of the jaw. If a
young horse rears without malice, as many do in
their early lessons, a light tap on the neck and a
harsh word from its master will often prevent a
repetition of its action, but a horse should never be
punished for vice. For many years I have kept
my horses at riding-schools where the masters
undertook to break the horses of their patrons from
bad habits. I have seen all kinds of methods
employed, and I have myself tried all. and I never
knew severity to succeed ; but I have often seen
horses that were dangerous to ride made safe and
quiet by a kind and strict discipline. A really
vicious horse works itself up into a rage, and
punishment can do nothing more than to increase
the violence of its madness. If the horse cannot be
brought to know that the rider will not hurt it, the
animal must remain incurably vicious. If the rider
can obtain the confidence of his horse, he may then
cultivate its obedience, until to yield to bit and spur
becomes instinctive ; but I believe that there are
some horses which cannot be broken from bad
habits, and any of them are liable to relapse into
vice through injudicious treatment.

Most young horses plunge, more or less violently.

VICE IN THE HORSE. 9

for the first three or four times they are mounted.
If at this time the animal is not carefully ridden
plunging may become a vice. When a horse
plunges it must be driven forward in any pace or
action that it will take, the rider giving it a loose
rein, but taking care that it does not gfet its head
down, for the horse will then stop in spite of all the
man can do, and probably unseat him. I mean by
giving the horse a loose rein, that it should not feel
the restraint of the bit, but if the animal lowers its
head, the rider should give one or two sharp pulls
upward to elevate it. When the horse goes for-
ward for a few strides, the rider should take a light
tension upon the reins, and gently regulate the
pace and the direction. Many horses will plunge if
mounted immediately after being saddled, and it is
a good rule to have all horses saddled at least half
an hour before they are used. In winter the bit
should be warmed before being put on the horse,
and it would be an excellent plan to have all bits
covered with hard rubber or some other non-con-
ductor of cold. If a horse kick, its head should
be elevated by short, sharp pulls upon the rein,
from below upward, and the animal driven forward,
the rider correcting the fault by speaking harshly.
Whip blows will almost invariably confirm the horse
in the vice, and will teach the animal to cringe and

lO VICE IN THE HORSE.

to Start at any movement of the rider. A bolting
horse may be prevented from indulging in its
vice by the rider applying both spurs, leaning back
his body, and raising his bridle hand. I believe
that any horse may be brought from moderate
speed to a halt, without any previous special train-
ing, by this method. When a horse has broken
away from all control, and madly gallops on with
his unwilling rider, there is nothinof to be done but
to make occasional efforts to recover command of
the horse's mouth, for by a steady pull the rider
would too soon exhaust himself. If there be a
' rough-and-ready ' cure for a runaway horse, which
I doubt, it consists in riding it to a stand-still.
But a determined rider can prevent the horse
getting away with him by using the spurs as 1
have directed. If a horse ' shies ' at an object, the
most injudicious thing a rider can do is to make
the animal face it. By turning the horse's head
away from the object, and pressing in his opposite
heel, the rider can compel the horse to pass any-
thing, and the bent position in which the horse is
placed will prevent it going in the direction it
wishes, that is, away from that of which it is afraid.
After the animal has been made to go by the object,
the rider should calm it by caresses and kind words,
and in time it will lose all fear of strange sights,

VICE IN THE HORSE. I 1

for, having obtained confidence in respect to one
thing that has caused it fear, it will be less shy of
others that are strange and terrifying. A horse
may be taught in a few lessons to face flying
paper, banners, etc., if it be fed on carrots laid
upon a piece of paper, and be gradually accustomed
to have the paper afterwards flourished in its face,
and then placed upon the ground for it to walk
over. I may say here that an unwilling horse
may be led almost anywhere if the man will walk
quietly forward with his back to the animal.

I believe that the methods I have described are
the best that a rider can employ in controlling
difficult horses, but vice can be repressed or cured
only by suppling the horse, and teaching it to
instinctively obey the bit and the heels in the
manner I explained at the outset. There are very
few horses that cannot be made, by skill and
patience, perfectly obedient, and once the theor)- of
such a method is acquired there is neither difficulty
nor danger in following it.

On the Value of Books on Riding.

5>'

It has been said by some would-be authorities
on Horsemanship that books on riding are of no
value. But, admitting that every one can find a
master competent to instruct in the best methods,
it seems to me that works on the subject fulfil an
important part if they preserve and hand down the
traditions of the art. But written words convey
very much the same meaning as do the same words
when spoken, and there should be no difficulty in
any one, who can comprehend the instruction of a
master, understanding the precepts of a book. It
is more probable that the printed work is in accord-
ance with a good method than that the instructor
knows his duties. It is very easy to find a work
that is written upon sound principles, but it is a
difficult thing to choose a competent instructor. A
riding-master should certainly ride well enough to
make his horse change the lead in the gallop, at
stated intervals, in a straight line. For it is
important that his pupil should be able to make a

ON THE VALUE OF BOOKS ON RIDING. 1 3

horse take a desired lead preparatory to turning in
the gallop, and the tutor should have a practical
knowledge of what he is to teach. I repeat, that I
think it would be difficult to find such an instructor.
I contend that a pupil would learn more from a
thoroughly good book than from a teacher who is
ignorant of what he undertakes to teach, and I
deny that there is any insuperable difficulty in
acquiring a thorough knowledge of the art from a
book. The proper position to take upon the horse,
the mode of using the reins, the manner and objects
of applying the spurs, can be plainly told in printed
words, and as a test whether the combined effects of
the aids to produce certain results can be explained
in type, I will describe the method of demanding
the most difficult movement in horsemanship — the
change in the gallop, — and ask the reader if he could
not, after proper practice, carry the instructions
into effect.

First, it must be understood that in the gallop
the horse goes into air from a fore-foot — say the
right ; he then alights upon the left hind-foot ; then
he brings the right hind-foot and the left fore-foot
to the ground, and then the right fore-foot (from
which he again goes into air in a new stride).

Now, to the eye the horse has taken longer steps
with the legs of the right side, because they are

14 ON THE VALUE OF BOOKS ON RIDING.

advanced at each stride, while the left legs have
been used like wheel-spokes, and the horse is said
to lead with the right side.

The horse, in turning in the gallop, should lead
with the legs of the side to which he turns ; so that,
if he be leadino^ with the rio^ht leg's, and the rider
wishes to turn to the left, the lead must be changed.

At first the young rider will not have the skill to
apply the aids quickly enough to make the change
while in the gallop, so he will pull his horse into a
slow trot, hold him well together between his hands
and his heels, and then press in the right spttr, and
pull upwards on the left rein, when his horse will
resume the gallop with the left legs in the lead.

After some practice in this method he will try to
make the change without breaking the gallop, the
ripfht side beinor in the lead.

To do this he will collect the horse between hand
and heels in as slow a pace as the horse will keep
steadily, then, to catch the cadence of the pace, he
will count, ' one,' ' two ;' ' one,' ' two,' etc. ; the word
' two ' to be uttered as the fore-hand comes down in
each stride. At some moment when the rider
counts ' two ' he should press in the right spur and
raise the left rein, retiring at the same time the left
shoulder. If the aids be properly applied at the
right moment, the horse will change the lead of the

ON THE VALUE OF BOOKS ON RIDING. 1 5

hind-legs when they are free from the ground (at
the moment the weight has been taken by the right
fore-leg), and it will change the fore-legs when they
are free from the ground (as the horse goes into
air for the next stride). The horse will then have
made the change of lead, and be true in the gallop
with the left leo^s leading^.

The change from the left side to the right will
be made in exactly the same manner by the corre-
sponding aids ; that is, the left spur and the right
rein will be applied as the fore-hand comes down
in any stride.

I believe that I am the first writer on horseman-
ship who has undertaken to describe and explain
this method of changing the lead in the gallop, so
that I have not had the example of any prede-
cessor in making myself clear ; and if the reader
can understand the movement, he should be able
to grasp the meaning of any accepted method.

The pupil must not expect to be able to make
the horse perform the movement I have described at
the first trial, or before many trials. That is not the
question. Does he understand the principle ? and,
after sufficient practice, could he put it into effect?
If these are answered in the affirmative, then books
on riding may be of value. It must take a long time
before a beginner could use spur and rein with suffi-

1 6 ON THE VALUE OF BOOKS ON RIDING.

cient precision to make the horse change the lead in
the gallop, but, without a knowledge of some method,
he would never be able to do it. All that a riding-
master could do would be to make the pupil under-
stand how to use the aids ; he could not apply them
for the pupil ; he could not do anything beyond what
the book can do, — and there are very few riding-
masters who can do as much.

The value of a riding-master's example is small, if
it have any value. On the Continent the instructor
is often on foot. He is only of advantage as a
critic, to tell the pupil when he is wrong ; but if the
pupil knows what is right, as he may know from a
book, he can be his own critic. I do not say that
a book is as good an instructor as a practical teacher
would be, but I do say that it is better than no
teacher, better than an incompetent teacher. Cer-
tainly a pupil would not be able to ride from
reading a book, without getting upon a horse to
practise what he had learned ; neither would he
acquire any great proficiency by sitting in a chair
while a teacher expounded the rules of the art. I
have read nearly every important work on horse-
manship that has been written since Xenophon
thought fit to put into undying words all that he
knew of the art, and I am sure that I have learned
a great deal from them, and I would undertake to

ON THE VALUE OF BOOKS ON RIDING. I 7

teach a horse any movement for which the animal
was suited by the rules of any good modern work.

The art of horsemanship has grown slowly. A
man would never acquire any great skill in it by
his unaided efforts. But when he has learned all
that has been collected and handed down by those
who have written upon the subject, he may dis-
cover new and valuable effects of the bit and of
the spur. If it be necessary to prove that books
on riding have advanced the art, let us look at the
strides that have been made in it since the inven-
tion of printing. Let us compare the work of
Grisone, published in 1552, with that of Xenophon,
and then compare one of the best modern works
with that of the Italian. We shall see that Grisone's
method is little, if any, in advance of the work
written two thousand years before ; it is rough,
crude, severe, and difficult for horse and man.
Then if we trace the history of the art through
Pluvinel, Newcastle, De la Gueriniere, and Baucher,
we shall find in the almost perfect methods now in
use the great advance that has been made in the
past three hundred years, — an advance that is
certainly due in a great measure to the printing of
books upon the subject. Grisone's was the first
work that appeared in type. In a few years there
were works published in nearly every European
2

1 8 ON THE VALUE OF BOOKS ON RIDING.

language. Each new work stimulated public in-
terest in the subject ; each new work preserved
ali that was good in its predecessors, and made
known the discoveries that were due to this in-
creased interest in horsemanship. If it were not
for these books, the art would be in much the
same condition that it was in Grisone's time, when
sticks and stones played a prominent part in the
education of the horse. The prejudice against
works on riding has been fostered in England,
to the disadvantage of every one who rides, by
writers in the sporting papers who are ignorant
of the first principles of horsemanship. Although
but few men on the Continent, as compared
with those in England, turn their attention to
riding, there is hardly a country in Europe in
which there are not more really fine horsemen
than in England. Upon the Continent riding is
looked upon as an art ; in England every man
thinks that he is born a horseman, and scorns
instruction. Upon the Continent the test of horse-
manship lies in the control of the horse; in Eng-
land the test of horsemanship lies in the ability to
ride to hounds, a sport into which many condi-
tions other than that of mere skill in horsemanship
enters. The English are the boldest, and if they
understood and followed good methods they would

ON THE VALUE OF BOOKS ON RIDING. 1 9

be the best riders in Europe ; but, with very few
exceptions, they are awkward and unskilful in
the management of their horses, and the latter
are unbalanced, disunited, and badly controlled.
Should my opinion be questioned, I will ask how
many horses in Great Britain can be shown that
are perfectly trained to obey bit and spur, so that
their riders may demand the changes of lead in
the gallop on straight lines, the pirouettes, and the
other movements that any cavalry soldier might be
called upon to make in battle, and such as all who
pretend to be skilful in the management of a horse
should be able to produce. The methods by
which the horse and the rider may be brought to
such a state of training as that indicated above
can be formulated and preserved only in works
on horsemanship. Even though such methods
were now known by instructors, they could not
be handed down intact by tradition, and improve-
ments and discoveries could not be made public
and useful except through the press. If the
English are the best riders, what riders have
they produced in modern times who can be
named wnth Baucher, De Montigny, Hunersdorf,
Von Weyrother, Hamel, Seidler, Gebhard, and
others ? If they are not the best riders, it is
not for want of that * practical experience ' upon

20 ON THE VALUE OF BOOKS ON RIDING.

which so much is said to depend, but because the
practice is not properly guided ; and there can
be no improvement in the horsemanship of Great
Britain until riding is recognised as an art that
cannot be acquired empirically.

Alidor, at 5 years of age.

From a iihotograph Uy T. ^l .1. llolnnd. Harrogate.

Phototype from Martin Uoiniiicl it Co., Stuttgart.

What Schooline will do for a Horse.

^-)

At the time I was training Alidor, the horse that
furnished the photographs for my work on Modern
Horsemanship, I sent the following paper to The
Field. I did not offer my name for publication,
because I did not wish to take advantage of the
columns of that paper to puff my books on riding,
but the Editor was furnished with my name and
address, and the titles of my published works.

To my surprise and mortification the next issue
of The Field contained the following note in refer-
ence to my communication : —

' X. — Your statements are so incredible, that we
cannot insert your letter unless it is authenticated
by some well-known signature.'

The Editor afterwards explained to me that he
objected to my article, upon the ground that the
alleged results of my training differed from those of
his experience ; and he declined to investigate the
matter, or to retract his offensive remark.

I will say nothing of the taste displayed by an

2 2 WHAT SCHOOLING WILL DO FOR A HORSE.

Editor who invites correspondence, to insult the
writer whose contribution he decHnes. But when
he takes his stand upon a doiibtfitl experience, 1
feel privileged to investigate his pretensions, and
certainly it is incredible that the Editor of The Field
should have had the experience in training horses
in the thoroueh manner he intimates in his note to
me, and he therefore had no right to question the
results of my work.

The Editor of The Field is the author of a work
on horsemanship — Riding and Driving, by Stone-
henge, — which proves that his knowledge of riding
is of the crudest and most limited kind, for the
instructions it contains are about such that one
yokel would give another in taking a farm-horse
afield. In attempting to describe the passage on
two paths — which this experienced trainer misterms
passaging, as if the action indicated the side pro-
gress— he states, in his work on riding, page 49,
that it is a movement in which the horse advances
the two legs of the side towards which it is going,
and then brings the other two up to them. This
is absurd ; the passage is a trot, in which the
diagonally disposed legs move together, and the
author of Riding and Driving did not know the
action in one of the most important of the school
movements. He advises that the rider should

seize the ear of the horse to bring it to a trot
(page 33). Let us imagine the appearance of a
cavalry regiment, instructed according to the
theories of the Editor of The Field, when the
colonel should eive the order to advance at a trot !
Here we see that the author is not aware of the
simplest effects of the bit. To make the horse
take a certain lead in the gallop, this author recom-
mends that the rider should pull the animal's
head to the opposite side, so that the horse would
become habituated to lead with the left side when
turned to the right, and with the right side when
turned to the left, and so be insured to be false in
the lead at all the turns. On page 52 this experi-
enced horseman speaks of a good hack 'wholly
unable to canter, and so formed that he cannot be
tauorht.' There is no horse so formed that it can-
not be made to canter. The plan ' to check ' a
horse with the curb-rein for stumbling, is worthy of
the other precepts in this instructive work ; and
when he advises that ' the hand and foot are put
strongly out,' to prevent the horse crushing the
rider's knee against a wall, instead of suggesting
that the animal's head should be pulled into the
object, he further exposes his incompetence to give
instructions in riding. Is it possible that a writer
who recommends (page 48) that 'the bit may be

24 WHAT SCHOOLING WILL DO FOR A HORSE.

gently "sawed" from side to side' to make the
horse back, knows anything about collecting the
horse in the form that makes a retrograde move-
ment easy to the animal ?

It is not worth while to continue the investiea-
tion of a book on nearly every page of which the
author shows his complete ignorance of his subject,
a work that nowhere exhibits the sliorhtest know-
ledge of that ' union ' which made everything I
asserted regarding the horse I described in my
letter easy and credible. The instructions offered
in the columns of The Field, and for which its
Editor is responsible if he did not — which is in
most cases probable, from their nature — write them
himself, are no better than those I have extracted
from his book. In ' Answers to Correspondents,'
I found the following extraordinary piece of in-
formation : — ' If a horse's head is turned to the left,
he must of necessity advance his " off" fore-leg.
In cantering round a ring the same thing takes
place ; ' that is, in galloping in a circle, the horse
must lead with its outside legs, which would make
the animal false. In the same department I have
found other such absurdities ; for example — that if
the horse does not rear to a dangerous height, the
rider should do nothing; that the horse should
be struck upon the right shoulder to induce it to

WHAT SCHOOLING WILL DO FOR A HORSE. 25

take the lead in the gallop with that side ; that the
barbarous plan of placing a sharp spike in the
mouth-piece of the bit of a horse that pulls on one
side is advisable ; that the toes of the rider should
be turned out, which would take the flat of his
knees away from the saddle, etc. etc. The know-
ledge exhibited in the editorial columns of TJie
Field, and in the reviews of works on riding, is
often in keeping with the extracts I have already
made from its first page. One leading article,
I remember, spoke of horses that poked their noses
to the ground, ' like pigs hunting truffles,' or that
held up their noses like ' star-gazers,' as if it were
not bad riding that induced such carriage, for in a
state of nature no horses so bear themselves ;
and I have more than once seen pirouetting and
traversing decried as circus-tricks, while the im-
portance of changing the lead in the gallop was
admitted, when any horseman knows that to teach
the horse to bend the croup to make the changes
in the gallop, the animal must be trained in the
pirouettes and traversing. This paper has fre-
quently recommended that the martingale should
be put on the curb-reins, in which suggestion we
have proof of complete ignorance of the mechanical
action of the curb- bit, for the effect of the lever
would be destroyed by the interposition of the

26 WHAT SCHOOLING WILL DO FOR A HORSE.

martingale. This is the 'authority' who, relying
upon his experiences in training horses, stigmatises
my statements regarding the results of a thorough
system as 'incredible.'

Representatives of The Times, of Vanity Fair,
and of The I llustrated Sporting and Dramatic
Nezus, who saw me ride Alidor, all stated in their
papers that the horse was formed as I set forth,
and that at the time they saw it ridden, it was
remarkably light, easy, and graceful in its move-
ments ; and the Editor of the last-named paper,
who had read my letter to the Editor of The Field,
added that in that communication I had kept far
within the bounds of truth. I have certificates from
the vendor of the horse, and from the proprietor
and the head Qfroom of the ridingr-school where the
horse was trained, that the animal was at first in
the condition I described. Finally, the illustrations
in my book, taken when Alidor was six years old,
and had greatly improved in form by age and by
the exercises of the mandge, show that he has a
heavy jaw, a short neck, and is low at the shoulder,
and that he is remarkably well trained.

To one who knows anything about training all
of this will appear a ridiculous contention, for there
was nothing strange in the fact that a young horse
should be greatly improved in carriage and appear-

WHAT SCHOOLING WILL DO FOR A HOKSK. 27

ance by a careful mode of schooling ; and I wish to
say that the letter was written solely with a view of
reviving an interest in Baucher's system of training,
which I consider by far the best that has ever been
offered to the public.

A very good example of what training can do
towards makinof horses liofht and o-raceful in car-
riage was recently offered in the Circus Wulff in
Vienna, when several of the heavy Percheron
draught-horses were exhibited in the airs of the
high school. Their performances were highly ap-
plauded by the most critical audience in Europe, and
they were pronounced by the Sport- Zeitnng (of July
31, 1885) to have moved ' lightly' and 'brilliantly,'
notwithstanding the apparent heaviness of ' horses
of the heaviest kind.'

The following is the article alluded to, copied
from the carelessly written letter that was intended
only as a casual contribution to the unpaid columns
of a newspaper : —

' To the Editor of The Field.

' Sir, — About eight months since I purchased
a horse from Mr. M'Indoe, Davidson's Mains,
Cramond, for the sum of twenty-five pounds.

' The animal in question was a four- year-old
gelding, with a heavy jaw, a low shoulder, and bad

2 8 WHAT SCHOOLING WH.L DO FOR A HORSE.

action in the hind-quarters, and the vendor volun-
teered the information that it was very hard in the
mouth.

' I took the horse upon its appearance, without
trial or examination, beyond an inspection of its
legs and eyes at the stable-door. At first I found
it the most disagreeable mount I had ever tried. It
had no elasticity, no animation, and gave but little
response to the bit. Once, when I had coaxed a
sort of gallop out of the creature, it bolted into a
wall, to the damage of both rider and horse.

' But the rigid jaw soon became flexible under
Baitchers system ; and the whip and heels soon
brought the hind-legs under the body, and gave
good action to the croup. Then, for some weeks,
the horse was daily ridden at a slow pace, while
hand and legs worked to bring about united action
of the extremities.

' When this was accomplished the animal was
metamorphosed. From a dull, ungainly, and obsti-
nate brute, it became a light, active, and obedient
mount, ready and able to answer to every demand
of the rider.

' This horse, that a few months ago was hardly
fit to draw a plough, now moves with lightness and
grace in any direction, has fine action in all the
paces, will trot in a circle of less than two yards'

WHAT SCHOOLING WILL DO FOR A HORSE. 29

diameter, and changes the lead in the gallop with
precision. With the spurs pressing upon its flanks,
it would not break a thread against the bit, and it
has no will of its own.

' The suppling and united action of the extremi-
ties have made the horse sure and safe in leaping,
and I have never known it to refuse a leap, either
from a halt or a rapid pace.

' I selected this horse, and I have described my
experiences, to show the value of a systematic
method of training. I have done nothing that
would be impossible to any patient horseman, and
I have formed a horse that is perfect for any
purpose.

' The natural defects of the animal have not been
cured, although it has very greatly improved in ap-
pearance : the heavy jaw and the low shoulder remain,
without, however, being indicative of an obstinate
will or bad action. I should like very much to show
you the results of my labour, and it will give me
pleasure to ride the horse for any gentleman who
takes an interest in the training of horses, and who
would understand my objects. The horse is not
for sale. I do not sell horses. I desire to do what I
can towards introducing better and more systema-
tised methods of schooling horses than those usually
employed. X.'

The IntelHeence of the Horse.

^

In point of intelligence, the horse is undoubtedly
second among our domestic animals, although it
is very far below the dog in reasoning powers.
Most of the anecdotes that are related to show
the sagacity of the horse are really examples of
the rare instinct it possesses ; and while it is not
uncommon to find horses that exhibit marked
dislike for certain persons, I think that the animal
is incapable of any real attachment to persons,
while the preference it shows for places where it
has been well fed and sheltered is common to
beasts of a much lower order of intelligence. The
horse readily learns the meaning of words, but it
does not seem to anticipate the wishes of its master
in anything like the degree that the dog does, and the
tricks taught to the horse by patiently persisting in
certain routines are always perfunctorily performed.
But the memory of the horse is one of its most
striking attributes, for it hardly ever forgets persons,
places, or incidents, particularly those of an alarm-

THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE HORSE. 3 I

ing kind. A nervous timidity renders the horse
untrustworthy, and this characteristic is more
strongly marked in animals of the highest breed,
for, contrary to the generally accepted opinion, I
think that the more ' spirited ' the horse the more
apt it is to give way to panics. It has always
appeared to me that the coarser-bred horses show
more intelligence than those of higher lineage, and
I have never seen thoroughbred animals that com-
pared, in what we may term reasoning powers, with
those used for heavy draught. I have asked the
opinions of some of the first trainers in Europe
upon this question of the relative intelligence of
the different breeds, and found them about equally
divided ; those who pronounced in favour of the
thoroughbred horses were influenced, I think, by
their belief that such animals were more readily
taught tricks, by reason of their more sprightly
dispositions, than those more coarsely bred. This
effort, on my part, to obtain some authoritative ex-
pression of opinion leaves the question in stahi
quo, and in support of the belief I hold I can
only relate certain cases that have come under my
observation. A year or so ago I had a coarsely
bred horse in training as a school horse, which I
taught to shut the door of the 7nandgc. This was
simple enough, as it might have been a mere

32 THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE HORSE.

matter of routine, but I was surprised to find that,
on being taken to new places, the animal would,
merely at the word of command, go and shut any
door that happened to be open. Simple as was
this performance, it showed a higher intelligence
than any incident that I can at present recall, for it
proved that the horse understood the words of com-
mand, and by a mental operation obeyed the direc-
tions with regard to unaccustomed things. A
remarkable case of instinct, as differing from reason-
Ine, is that of a thorouorhbred horse belonmnor to
Mr. James Hunter, riding-master in Edinburgh,
which could select from a long row of similarly
built houses one that had no distinctive marks, in
which lived a lady who fed it on sugar. Now this
horse had either the reasoning powers of being able
to count from the beginning of the row, which is an
absurd proposition, or by some instinctive feeling
was led directly to the place. The intelligence
that directs horses to a desired point over an un-
known country is of the same kind as that which
governed Mr. Hunter's animal, and, like the same
quality that more particularly distinguishes the
homing pigeon, cannot be satisfactorily explained.
If the actions of one of the large horses of a
brewer's team be observed as it lets down the full
barrels into a cellar and draws up the empty

THK INTELLKiKNCK OK TIIK IIORSK. ^^

barrels, we must be struck with the intelligent
manner in which the animal performs its duties ;
and it is among horses of this class that I have
always noticed the things which seemed to me to
show certain reasoning powers ; but even these
were never of a kind that would suoro-est that the
animals could be depended upon when beyond the
disciplining influence of the reins. The tricks of
performing horses, directed by indications of the
trainer's whip, exhibit careful training, but do not
prove superior intelligence, and even Signor Cor-
radini's horse Blottdin was a mere machine that
moved only under the direction of its master.

To obtain unfailing control over the horse, we
cannot depend upon its voluntary obedience, and
we must cultivate its involuntary muscular actions,
by which its movements are placed under our will.
The ' liberty-horse ' that is outside of the range of
the trainer's whip follows its own inclinations, but
the animal that has been drilled to yield to the bit
and answer to the spur obeys the indications of
the aids without reasoninof and without resistino-.
This control over the horse can be established only
by long, patient, and carefully-directed work, and it
is foolish to suppose that any horse-taming methods
— some of which are effective enough in proving to
a wilful colt the inutility of struggling against its

34 'I'HE INTELLIGENCE OF THE HORSE.

master — can in a few hours teach the animal the
authority of the bit and the power of the spur, for
the • tamed ' horse is as ignorant of everything con-
nected with usefulness after it has been treated as
it was before.

Shoeing the Saddle- Horse.

No horse should be sent to the forofe unless at-
tended by some one who knows how it should be
shod, for even if the smith understands his business
— a violent presumption, it is not likely that he will
take the trouble that must be required for properly
doing his work, if left to his own devices.

In the first place, all of the hoofs should be pre-
pared for the shoes, so that the horse has a perfectly
level bearing. The toes of the horse should point
forward, and the slope of the hoof over the toe
should conform to the slope of the pastern. In
order that the horse may have safe action, it is
imperatively necessary that the hoofs should be
properly prepared, for any defect that is in the
bare foot will be magnified in effect when the
shoe is applied. If the horse turns out a toe,
the wall of the hoof is too high on the outside ;
if the toe is turned in, the wall of the inside of the
hoof is too high. It is almost impossible to trim
the hoof by the eye so that the bearing will be per-

36 SHOEING THE SADDLE-HORSE.

fectly level, and Mr. S. T. Harris of Cincinnati, a
gentleman who has devoted years of intelligently
directed study and experiment in shoeing the
horse, suggests the following plan. With a pair of
compasses the distance is measured from the middle
of the outside heel, at the ground, to a point on the
outside quarter of the lower edge of the hoof, and
this point is then marked with a pencil. From
the middle of the inner heel, where it touches
the ground, the same distance is measured upon
the inner quarter of the lower edge of the hoof,
and this point is marked by a pencil. From
the first-made point on the outside quarter of
the hoof, the distance, in a perpendicular line, is
measured to where the hair and hoof join, and the
length of this line, compared with the perpendicular
line measured from the second-made point to where
the hair and hoof join on the inner side, will give
the exact difference of the heights of the walls of
the hoof at those corresponding points. A point
on the front of the hoof at the ground, equidistant
from the two points first marked on the quarters,
will give the position of the toe, and from these
points the measurements can be made that will
show exactly what shall be taken from the hoof
to give the horse a level bearing.

When the hoofs have been prepared, the shoes

SHOEING THE SADDLE-HORSE. 2)7

of unvarying thickness throughout, and having the
groove in which the nail-heads are to lie carried
from heel-point to heel-point, should be fitted and
fastened on with no more than five nails each. The
horse will then be properly shod, particularly if the
smith be prevented from rasping the hoofs when
the nails have been clenched.

If the toes are so short that the angle made by
the front surface of the hoof with the ofround is less
than that made by the front of the pastern, the
shoe must be thickened at the toe and gradually
diminished towards the heels. If the angle made
by the front surface of the hoof and the ground is
greater than that made by the front of the pastern,
the hoof at the toe is too long, and, if no horn can
safely be taken from the hoof, the shoe should be
thicker at the heels until the hoof o^rows out.

Where the deformities of turned-out or turned-in
toes are very great, they should be very gradually
corrected at each shoeing of the horse ; and, in the
case of old horses, it is perhaps better to be satisfied
with partially curing the defects, going far enough,
however, to prevent blows upon the pasterns and
insecure treading. If horse-breeders would look
after their foals, and make occasional use of the
rasp upon their hoofs, we should not often find
' pigeon-toes ' or splay-feet in horses.

38 SHOEING THE SADDLE-HORSE.

If a horse that has always gone safely takes to
tripping, it is, unless due to weakness, because the
toes of the hoofs are too long or too short, for it
must be remembered that a horse that is thrown
upon its toes by being too high at the heels is
just as apt to trip as the horse that has the toes
too long.

If a horse strikes a leg with the corresponding
hoof of the opposite side, it is because the hoofs
are not level in their bearings.

If the horse strikes a fore-leg with one of the
hind hoofs, it has been badly ridden, and the animal
should be made to go in a collected manner between
hand and spurs, which will induce higher action in
front, and shorten the strides.

If small calks are used on the heels of the hind
shoes, the toes of those shoes should be thickened
so that the feet will have a level bearing.

The horse should be shod at least every three
weeks, and oftener if the shoes are much worn. If
the shoes are permitted to remain too long, the
hoofs cannot spread as they grow% and there is not
only danger of producing disease, but the most
sure-footed horse may fall from soreness in the
feet caused by pinching shoes. I have known a
horse, fourteen years old, that had never made a
mis-step of any consequence, to fall when walking

SHOEING THE SADDLE-HORSE. 39

on a perfectly smooth road, and an examination of
its feet showed that inflammation had been caused
by shoes that had not been removed for a lony;
time.

It is better to use the rasp in preparing the hoofs,
as there is less danger then of taking away more
horn than is required, as sometimes happens in
using the knife, and the bars at the heels should
never be cut away.

It must be understood that what I have said
regarding the cure or the correction of such defects
as toes turned in or turned out, have reference to
horses naturally well-formed, whose hoofs have
been neglected. But where these defects are due
to malformations they can be remedied to a greater
or less extent in the same manner.

The Test of Horsemanship.

An Englishman usually has a contempt for the
horsemanship of any other country, because it is
popularly supposed that it is only the men of
Great Britain who can ride to hounds, and the
ability to keep in the first flight is taken as the
test of skill in ridino-. But to shine in the huntino-
field requires other conditions than mere skill in
riding, such as strong nerves and muscles, a know-
ledge of the country, and long practice in the sport,
and these are so essential that there are many in
stances where men have excelled in riding across
country who had neither good hands nor good
seats, and some even where riders who never
took a jump were enabled, by their acquaintance
with the face of the country and the nature of the
chase, to be in at the death with the regularity of
the ' bruisers."

To ride a horse in the gallop or to sit it over an
obstacle does not imply the highest form of horse-
manship ; and even were these tests of good riding,

THE TEST OF HORSEMANSHIP. 4I

there have been visitors from nearly every country
of Europe, who have ridden well and boldly in the
huntinor-fields of Ensfland.

The man who ' takes his horse by the head,' and
pushes it boldly at a six-foot wall, finds himself ' at
sea' when mounted upon a well-bitted hack, and
I have heard of more than one fox-hunter who
could not ride the light-mouthed Spanish-American
horses. If the cross-country rider has a seat that
will permit him to ride over obstacles without the
support of the reins, he has one of the attributes of
a good horseman, that is, a firm seat. But he must
still prove that he has , the knowledge of how to
control the movements of the horse before he can
be held accomplished in the art. If it be admitted
that a man can ride well across country without
possessing good hands and an unexceptionable seat
— leaving out of the question an accurate know-
ledge of the use of the aids — it follows that a good
horseman may be a good man to hounds, but not
that a good man to hounds is necessarily a good
horseman. So prejudiced are some minds against
anything that looks like art in horsemanship, that I
have known accepted authorities upon the subject
to say that a schooled rider would not be able to
ride to hounds as well as one who has learned
riding through his unaided efforts ; as if a man who

42 THE TEST OF HORSEMANSHIP.

had the nerve and experience necessary to excel
in a sport would be any the worse for a better
acquaintance with one of its conditions.

The vulgar idea of a school-rider is that of a
public performer in the circus-ring, or of one who
limits his equestrian exercises to the covered
manage. The true meaning of the phrase is, one
that controls his horse by a certain method, in which
nothing^ is done without reason. The trouble that
it takes to acquire any art has deterred the many
from practising riding according to the best
methods, and they have formed the prevalent
opinion that such methods are useless. The fact
is that all soldiers are schooled riders, and all
cavalry horses are schooled horses, and there is
no class in England who manage horses so well as
the military, even tested by the hunting-field.

A man might be a school-rider, and yet not
ride so well or so strongly as one who has never
received instruction in the art, for if the former had
no aptitude for the exercise, all his theory would
not make him a practical horseman. But of two
men with equal aptitude and equal practice, there
can be no doubt that the one who received proper
instruction in any art must be superior to the other.
And yet this is what those who disparage schooling
really deny.

THE TEST OF HORSEMANSHIP. 43

No Sport or mode of riding in which any other
element than the mere management of the horse
enters can properly be the test of horsemanship.
It would be as fair to say that ostrich-chasing,
kangaroo-hunting, or cow-herding — in each of
which special knowledge is required — should be
the test, as to fix upon cross-country riding. Nor
would I suororest the airs of the niands^e as the
measure of a man's skill in riding. If the object
in riding is to control the horse, that control is the
true test. This would require the best possible
seat, so that under all circumstances the rider could
employ the proper aids, and to give the aids pro-
perly would imply a thorough knowledge of the
art.

In Austria, in Prussia, in France, and in Italy,
nearly every one who rides practises the exercise
according to some good method, and it is an error,
into which the majority of Englishmen fall, to
believe that there are not many very accomplished
horsemen in those countries, horsemen who, as far
as seat, hands, and the control over the hor.se are
concerned, would compare favourably with the best
riders in England. It is folly to underrate the
cavalry of the Continent, although it is not gathered
from the hunting-field ; and, from what I have seen
of its influence upon the riding in England, I am

44 ^i'HE TEST OF HORSEMANSHIP.

disposed to think that the less the influence of the
hunting-field is felt, the better it is for the art of
horsemanship. Not, be it understood, that I think
there is anything in cross-countr)- riding per se (a
manly and an invigorating sport) that is incom-
patible with the best horsemanship, but because as
soon as a man can ride a horse in a gallop over a
h(;dge, he thinks that there is nothing left in the
art for him to learn, and so, through the hunting-
field, manaoringr a horse is fallino- into neglect.

Leaping is practised much more upon the Con-
tinent than is usually admitted in England, not
only in steeple-chases and in hunting, but the
cavalry soldiers are trained to ride across country,
and to take such obstacles as present themselves ;
but these riders are first taught to manage their
horses properly, and jumping is but an incident in,
not the whole end of, horsemanship.

It is the common remark of foreigners that the
women of England ride much better than the men,
and this is, without doubt, owing: to the fact that
women as a rule are instructed in riding. With
such teachers as Mr. Fred. Allen and Mr. Edwin
Axtens, who have no superiors in Europe in impart-
ing the proper method of obtaining a seat in the side-
saddle, it is not surprising that in the Row may be
seen women who ride marvellously well. But their

THE TEST OF HORSEMANSHIP. 45

cavaliers do not always show to advantage, for,
though they may be firm enough in the saddle,
which is not always apparent, a really graceful
horseman is the exception even in the height of
' the season,' when the best riders as well as the
worst may be supposed to be in the Park.

I do not wish to have it understood that I am of
the belief that there are no good horsemen in
England, for such is not the case. I mean to say
that thoroughly good riders are rare, and are not
confined to any country, and that it is not every one
who rides to hounds or airs himself in the Park that
can be considered a fine horseman. I may be
asked, if such is my opinion of the horsemanship of
England, how it is that this country furnishes the
best jockeys in the world ; and I shall answer that
I do not consider the performances of those men
to be riding in any sense of the word. The very
slightest knowledge of the bit is required, and none
at all of the spur, to put any one with a small appe-
tite and a knowledge of pace upon an equality with
the most successful jockey.

Although I have been bold enough to say that
there are riders in other countries who can equal
those of England, I draw the line there ; for in
everything else connected with horses, in their
breeding, their rearing, and their care, I believe

46 THE TEST OF HORSEMANSHIP.

that Enjjlishmen stand unrivalled. No one can
yoke horses together, or drive them, as well as an
Englishman ; and in England one may get the best
saddle, or any other thing belonging to the furni-
ture of a horse that is best.

How to Buy a Horse.

The only way to g-uard against disappointment in
the purchase of a horse is to have a fair trial while
the animal is kept In the stable of the buyer. This
precaution will be well worth the extra price that
must be paid for the animal, and if the vendor is
unwilling to agree to it, the probability is that the
horse has some fault which he wishes to conceal.
There are some dealers who object to sending out a
horse on trial, because, if it becomes known that
the animal has been returned, its marketable value
is thereby decreased. But if the horse has been
returned, it was because it did not suit the intend-
ing purchaser, and the dealers must not expect to
have every advantage on their side. Warranty
is no real safeguard, for the majority of dealers
will not hesitate to give a good character to the
most worthless horse, in the hope that the expense
and annoyance of a suit at law will deter the victim
from bringing an action ; and the proverbial ' diffi-
culty of suiting a gentleman with a horse ' excuses

48 HOW TO BUY A HORSE.

these men in the eyes of the pubHc if any complaint
is made against them. It is foolish to hope that, by
going to a ' respectable ' dealer, one may be certain
of getting a good horse for a good price. If a dealer
can sell an inferior horse for a long price he will do
so ; and there is no dealer who does not occasion-
ally find that he has worthless horses on his hands.
I have bought experience of dealers in purchasing
horses in England, America, France, and some
other countries, and I have never found a man
who had horses to sell feel bound to protect the
interests of the buyer. If a man trades in horses
to obtain a livelihood, he would bring himself into
a state of bankruptcy if he exposed or admitted
the defects of his horses. The plan, then, of
demanding a trial would apparently bring ruin
upon those who are engaged in horse-dealing,
for they would be unable to dispose of their bad
bargains ; but the increased prices that good horses
would bring in might, in a measure, balance such
losses, and, besides, we are considering the subject
from the purchaser's point of view. There is no
one so expert in judging the value of horses that
he can decide without trial upon the usefulness of
an animal. Of course there are visible defects that
may prove at the first glance that the horse is
incapable of doing work, but there are many horses

HOW TCJ BUY A HORSE. 49

that are worthless in which their defects are not
easily discovered. A horse with apparently fair
action, and without bearing any marks upon its
knees, may stumble in a manner that must in time
bring it down. A horse may be quiet to ride, and
yet have stable vices that render it dangerous, or
that will produce incurable disease.

If the horse is in every way satisfactory after a
trial of two weeks, and is passed practically sound
by a competent veterinary surgeon, its purchaser
will probably have a very useful, perhaps a very
valuable, animal, particularly if by regular work it
is kept from acquiring faults through idleness.

If the buyer is not able to pay the dealer the
extra price that would be required for the trial of
a horse, he may go to the breeder or to the auction-
mart for what he requires. From the former he
can obtain a sound young horse for a comparatively
small sum, and he can either train it according to
his own ideas, or place it in the hands of some
experienced and careful man until its education is
completed. If he elect to follow the latter course,
he could not do better than to obtain the aid of
Mr. E. J. Axtens of London, or of Mr. Charles
Toop of Bournemouth, or of Mr. William Brien of
Edinburgh, or of the Messrs. Burgess of Harrogate.
I believe that any one of these would, if he under-
4

so HOW TO BUY A HORSE.

took to do SO, ' make ' a young horse pleasant and
safe to ride, and the owner may trust implicitly in
all that is told him regarding the animal. I do not
say that there are not many others who are perfectly
competent to school young horses, but I can recom-
mend those I have named, from a knowledge of
their methods.

To buy a horse at an auction sale is to take a
chance in a lottery. Many excellent horses are
sold in those places, but to them are also sent most
of the vicious, worthless brutes that cannot be dis-
posed of in any other way. The price is often an
indication of the value of a horse sold by auction,
for it is seldom that a really good animal is friend-
less ; but occasionally a very fair horse may be
picked up for a sum far below its worth. It is
not usual to give any warranty to horses sold by
auction, and some of those that are described as
fine ' performers across country,' ' quiet to ride
and drive,' or ' well known ' with this or that pack
of hounds, may answer those descriptions as far as
they go, and yet be vicious in the stable, difficult
to mount, or otherwise dangerous.

It is a common error to believe that horses which
are quick and clever upon their feet may trip with-
out danger of falling, and many men select horses
with low action as being less liable to tire than

HOW TO UUY A HORSE. 5 1

those which raise their feet high from the ground.
No horse that trips is safe to ride, and while horses
of extravagant action soon become leg-weary, there
is a medium between these classes in which safety
lies. In all of its paces the horse should raise each
foot clear of the ground, and plant it fiat and firmly ;
the action should be true, even, and free. The
opinion of a veterinary surgeon should be taken
upon the condition of the animal, and he should be
asked specifically whether the horse has corns, con-
tractions, or any defects in the feet, and whether
the back tendons are in any way affected, for horses
are often pronounced ' sound ' when they are really
unsafe to ride, by reason of weakness in the fore-
legs or of some faults in the feet that may not
render them technically unsound. It is a severe test
of the manners of a young horse to ride it when
' fresh ' after a rest of two or three days, and if it
have any vice, tricks, or bad habits, they will pro-
bably be shown under such circumstances. A
spirited animal will almost invariably jump about
and make a few curvets, perhaps make a pretence
of being shy ; but if it be not violent, and after a
short time becomes steady, it may be presumed to
be of a good disposition. Riding a horse with a
loose rein over rough ground is not always a test
of its sureness of foot, for some horses will take

52 HOW TO BUY A HORSE.

care of themselves under such circumstances, and
stumble on perfectly level roads. A timid or an
inexperienced rider should not mount a young
horse, for horses that have not been thoroughly
disciplined are always ready to take any advantage
of such a master, and an animal that would become
perfectly quiet in the hands of a determined man
may acquire dangerous tricks with one who is
irresolute. As I have before said, the form of the
horse frequently indicates the animal's disposition,
and I may add that its temper is often shown
in the expression of its face. The purchaser
should therefore avoid horses with roach-backs,
ewe-necks, disproportionate height at the withers
or the croup, faces that are either too concave or
too convex in profile, as well as those which look
about them in a restless and suspicious manner.
There may be horses with any or several of these
defects that are safe and pleasant to ride, but they
are the exceptions. If one rides for health or
amusement, it is hardly wise to mount a vicious or
unruly horse, and although a young man who has
a firm seat, a skilful hand, and perfect confidence in
his nerve may find satisfaction in obtaining control
over a difficult horse, it is better, as a rule, to leave
such work to those who make it a profession. It is
much easier and safer to break and train a colt than

HOW TO BUY A IIORSK. 53

tu correct the faults of a horse that has been spoiled
by a former rider, and my advice to the amateur is
not to attempt the latter, nor do I think it prudent
to purchase a horse, no matter how quietly it may
g"0 during its trial, that has ever been really vicious.
One may often hear men of small experience in
riding boast that they are able to manage any horse,
but the best horsemen I have ever seen did not
have such confidence in their powers, nor do I
believe that any man can sit an active horse, in
an ordinary saddle, if the animal understands how
to exert itself. Fortunately, most horses are im
pressed with the idea that plunging, kicking, and
rearing are the best methods of getting rid of a
rider, and, when these fail, they accept their defeat
and go quietly until they feel that they are in the
hands of some one less experienced, when they may
repeat the same tactics. But when it occurs to
the mind of a wily horse to put its head between
its fore-legs, to arch its back, and then, after coming
to a stand-still, to ' buck ' violently, the rider must
ofo off, and the saddle, with orirths still buckled and
intact, may follow him. Buck-jumping horses are
rare in Europe, but I have seen such in England
and in Germany. In buying a horse, one should
not mistake nervousness for mettle, dulness for
docility. The horse of mettle has such courage —

54 TIOW TO BUY A HORSE.

always of a limited kind — as those of its race
may possess ; the nervous horse is a coward, and
is given to panics. The docile horse accepts cor-
rection without resentment ; the dull horse is wilful
and headstrong. It can readily be understood that
a horse that is good in every respect may be diffi-
cult to find ; but if young horses were properly
broken, those that turn out badly would be com-
paratively few ; and if men who breed extensively
would take the trouble to have their horses well
disciplined before they are offered for sale, they
might expect, and would deserve, highly remunera-
tive prices for all the animals they could bring into
the market.

A Model Riding-School.

The tedium of ridino- about in the ' dull round '
that is the custom in most riding academies has
deterred many who would like to receive instruc-
tion in horsemanship from taking lessons, and, while
the usual charges are low enough if the pupil could
really learn ' the whole art of managing the horse
in twelve easy lessons,' they are much too high for
the kind of instruction that is usually offered. If I
should write a description of all that I think a
ridino^-school should be, it would be said that I sug"-
gested something that was impracticable. I will,
therefore, give an account of the manner in which
the school of Stallmeister Fritz, of Stuttgart, is
carried on, as an example of what may be done in
the way of interesting pupils, as well as of improving
them in the art of horsemanship.

In the first place, Herr Fritz is a thorough horse-
man, having been graduated from the celebrated
Royal Hanoverian School as a Master of Riding ;

56 A MODEL RIDING -SCHOOL.

and for twenty-five years he has followed his pro-
fession in the mando^e that his father had conducted
for a like term before him, Herr Fritz has a
theoretical and a practical knowledge of all kinds
of riding, is equally good in demanding the ' high
airs ' from a schooled horse, or in teaching a young-
animal the discipline of hand and heel, and he is
quick in learning the tempers of the horses he
rides.

The horses of the school I mention are good
enough for the purpose for which they are intended,
and — what should be the rule in all schools, but
one which is more honoured in the breach than in
the observance — they are taught to go equally well
to either hand, in the walk, in the trot, and in the
gallop.

The price of a single lesson is but half-a-crown,
and that for a course of twenty lessons is two
pounds, about one-third of the tariff usual in Great
Britain, and this in a country where many — if not
most — of the saddle-horses are imported, and where
the cost of keep cannot be particularly cheap.
That these prices are remunerative is proved by the
fact that the school has been in a flourishing con-
dition for about half a century, in a city that at
present numbers but little more than one hundred
thousand inhabitants.

A MODEL RIDING-SCHOOL. 57

The school is open from an early hour in the
morning until nine o'clock in the evening, the hour
from eleven to twelve being reserved for ladies, but
ladies can and do ride at any time.

As far as is possible, the pupils are kept in the
classes best suited to their proficiency, for as soon
as the beginner has acquired the rudiments of the
art. he or she is put to ' figure-riding ' as the best
means of giving a knowledge of the use of the
aids. In the junior classes these figures are easy
and simple, but they prevent the lesson becoming-
monotonous. As the pupils advance in skill, the
figures become more complex, and many of them
— demanding the ' travers,' the ' voltes,' and other
school movements — are performed at the gallop.
I have seen a class of twelve ladies go through a
complicated quadrille, in the trot and in the gallop,
with a precision that proved great skill in each
rider.

The advanced ' classes,' and the clubs that are
formed in the school, often ride their quadrilles to
the music of a band, the airs being selected to be
in cadence with the pace in which each figure is
performed. These musical rides are very effective,
and give much pleasure to the pupils and to their
friends who come to look on. The principal asso-
ciation that has had its origin in the manage of Herr

58 A MODEL RIDING-SCHOOL.

Fritz is the ' Stuttgart Reit-club,' which has the
honour to form the civil escort of the King of
Wiirtemberg on state occasions. This club, now
about to celebrate its tenth anniversary, has a weekly
reunion at the school, and on parades it appears in
a modest and appropriate uniform.

The step from figure-riding to the movements of
the high school is but a short one ; indeed, many of
the latter are required in the quadrilles, but those
pupils who wish to carry their education into the
hicrhest branches of horsemanship find a most

O i.

competent instructor in Herr Fritz.

Horse gymnastics form another course of this
school, and Herr Oscar Fritz, a bold and very
accomplished rider, gives practical lessons in la
voltige and those exercises that make the pupil
ready and active in mounting the horse and in
maintaininor his seat.

Instruction and amusement are also combined in
tilting, or taking a suspended ring upon the point
of a sword or a lance while in full career ; in casting
darts from the back of a galloping horse against a
wooden target that is placed in the manage, and
in other games that teach the rider to be master of
his own movements and those of his horse.

On the whole, I think that a pupil might, with
pleasure and profit, take a long course of lessons in

A xMODEL RIDING-SCHOOL. 59

such a school as I have described ; and it might
be advisable for the riding-masters of Great Britain
and of the United States to make their schools
more attractive by following the example set by
Stallmeister Fritz.

The Changes in the Gallop.

Although every work on Horsemanship gives
instructions for inducing the horse to make the
changes in the gallop, if anything is known of how
and when these changes take place, there is no
record of it in the books. The only writer who
has, to my knowledge, made any original remarks
upon the manner in which the horse changes in the
gallop, is the author of The Horse in Motion, who
suggests that there is but one mode of changing,
and that it takes place when the horse is in air.
But there can be no doubt that there are two modes
by which the horse changes lead, and I think that
I can show that neither of them takes place wholly
while the horse is free from the ground.

That the horse can change by beginning with the
fore-legs is proved by the fact that the animal
frequently makes the change in the fore-hand while
the hind-legs keep in the old order. That it can
change by beginning with the hind-legs is proved
by the fact that the changes can be made truly at

THE CHANGES IN TIHC GALLOP. 6 I

every stride, which would be impossible if the
change began in the fore-legs, for by the time the
fore-legs are ready to make the change, the hlnd-
legs must be committed to a certain order so that
they may receive the weight.

The horse cannot make the changes wholly
when in air, because that position is kept for too
short a time, and because the hind-legs must be
prepared to receive the weight in one or another
order of precedence before the animal leaves the
ofround from the leadincr fore-legr.

In all forms of the galloping pace (except in
the canter), the horse is ready, at the moment it
goes into air, or when it plants the fore-foot
from which it goes into air^ to make the change
of lead,' — in the latter case completing the change
in one stride, in the cadence of the pace ; in the
former, taking two or more strides in which to
change, by which the cadence is more or less in-
terrupted. In the canter, by reason of the outer
fore-foot being planted before the inner hind-foot,
the change can be made in the cadence of the gait
only by beginning with the hind-legs ; but if the
fore-hand is sustained when the weig^ht is first
taken in the stride by a hind-leg, the change can
be made by the other mode, in which two or more
strides are required.

62 THE CHANGES IN THE GALLOP.

I will, by referring to the numbered figures^
of the horse, explain more fully the two modes by
which the horse changes lead. First, when the
horse begins to change with the hind-legs (I am
describing more particularly the gallop of three
beats, but the analogy holds good in all forms of
the gallop), the intention must be formed (Fig. 6)
before the centre of gravity has passed over the
fore-leg from which the animal is going into air.
When that fore-leg has taken the weight, the hind-
legs are changing (see Fig. i) ; and when the
horse is in air the hind-legs are committed to a
certain order (see Fig. 2). The fore-legs begin to
change either when the horse goes into air, or after
a hind-leg has received the weight, depending upon
the state of poise in which the mass is carried
along ; the more languid the pace, the sooner the
chanee must be beo-un in the fore-hand. The feet
will thus be brought to the ground in the regular
order (see Fig. 3), and the change will have been
made in one stride without a false step. This is,
I think, the mode that horses usually follow when
at liberty, for instinct would lead the animal to
adopt the manner of changing which is in accord-

1 Figures i, 2, and 3 represent the horse in the change beginning with
the hind-legs. Figures 4, 5, and 6 represent the horse in the change
beginning with the fore-legs. It must be borne in mind that the horse is
false behind in Figures 5 and 6.

Fi^. A CTiau^e "bep^un in FoTe]ia.Tid

Fig. F CFaTL^e Fe^uTL in Hm.dg^iiaTteTS

CO

"O

«M

si iTs

i -^

THE CHANGES IN THE GALLOP. 63

ance with the action of the pace, and by which the
bearers are best prepared to support the centre of
gravity, but that it is not always the case I am
assured. It is also the better mode of demanding
the chancres from the trained horse, for the same
reason, and because it does not break the cadence,
because it does not give a false stride, and because
it keeps the animal true to the line of direction.

Figures 4, 5, and 6 illustrate the secofid mode
of changing, when the change begins with the fore-
legs. In this case the fore-legs may begin to
change at the moment they are free, and the horse
has gone into air, but not much can be effected
before a hind-leg has taken the weight (see Figs.
6, I , and 4). When the fore-hand comes down, the
fore-legs have -been changed, but the hind-legs
follow the old order, and the horse is false behind
(see Fig. 5), When the centre of gravity is about
to pass over the fore-leg from which the horse will
go into air, the hind-legs begin to change, and the
horse will be true in the new lead in the stride that
is thus entered upon.

Schooled horses usually make the changes at first
by the latter method, and, as they learn to obey the
aids with readiness, they fall into the first-described
and better mode ; and it is only by beginning with
the hind-legs that the changes at each stride can be

64 THE CHANGES IN THE GALLOP.

made. But I am not aware that any writer has
observed that there were really two modes of
changing, or that either of them has ever been
described before I attempted it, — here, in my book
on 'The Gallop,' and in my letters to the Illustrated
Sporting and Dramatic Nezus.

I have formed my theories of the changes in the
o-allop from my experiments in photographing the
moving horse, from riding horses in the changes,
and from watching the training of school horses,
and from all these tests I feel confident that they
are correct in every particular.

Although the books do not mention that there
are two distinct modes of changing, I think that
some riders are aware of it. After I had satisfied
myself that there were two, I asked a number of
professional riders in how many ways a horse could
change, and I found one, Herr Wilhelm Jetter, of
Stuttgart, who told me that when he felt that in
changing his horse was false in the second beat
(Fig. 5), he knew that the change had been begun
in the fore-hand, and that when the change was
smooth he knew it had been begun by the hind-
legs ; but he did not profess to know, what the
camera alone could disclose, how the horse moved
its legs in changing, and exactly when the change
began.

THE CHANGES IN THE GALLOP. 65

It is important that the rider should be aware of
the moment the change should be begun, and, from
the little that is known upon the subject, horsemen
must be largely directed by practice in finding the
best way of giving the prescribed aids ; and that
this is true is shown by the fact that school horses
in their early training usually begin to make the
changes with the fore-legs, and after the rider and
the horse come into better accord the changes are
begun by the hind-legs. And I have often seen a
horse, when the changes were made a number of
times, use first one mode and then the other.
After the reader fixes in his mind the differences of
the two modes, his eye will plainly show him by
which a passing horse is changing.

To procure the change of lead beginning with
the hind-legs, the opposite spur should be applied as
the leading fore-leg comes to the ground, so that
the hind-legs will begin to change as they are freed
from the ground (Figs. 6 and i). The direct rein
should make play as the centre of gravity passes
over the leading fore-leg (Fig. i). The lower the
action of the horse the more closely together must
be the effects of the aids ; in the canter they must
be used together ; in a well-united gallop of three
beats, and in the school-gallop, the hand should act
after the spur has had its effect.

66 THE CHANGES IN THE GALLOP.

Before teaching the horse this mode, the animal
must be taught to gallop with either side in the
lead at a very slow pace, and at first the denii-
arret (or half halt) may be observed as the fore-
hand comes down in the stride, but the horse will
soon learn to make the change without interrupting
the cadence of the pace. Whenever the opposite
spur and the direct rein are used, the other spur
and the other rein should measure their effects so
that the horse will not be too much bent or have
too much liberty of action.

Postscript.

Since the first issue of this book I have succeeded
in taking a number of photographs of the horse
while in the act of changing lead in the gallop, and
my theories, set forth in the preceding chapter,
prove to be correct in every particular. In figures
' A ' and ' B,' copied from two of these photographs,
both modes of changing lead are shown.

In figure ' A ' the horse has changed the order of
the fore-legs, and the order of the hind-legs will be
changed when the weight is again taken by the
fore-hand. This manner of changing is the result
of demanding the change after the hind-legs have

THE CHANGES IN THE GALLOP. 67

been committed to the old order, and it usually
takes place when the hand acts before the heel, or
where the horse is taught to change by being
turned from circles on one hand to circles on the
other.

In figure ' B' the horse has been in the school-
gallop right, the right fore-leg has just left the
ground, the right hind-leg was then planted, then
the left hind-leg. The fore-legs have not yet
changed the order, but the right fore-leg is about to
pass the left fore-leg to be planted, then the left
fore-leg will be advanced and brought to the
ground, and the horse will have made the change
in one stride.

In these two pictures the horse is shown very
closely united in the school-gallop of four beats ;
but in all the forms of the gallop the horse will
make the changes of lead in exactly the same
man7ier ; at higher rates of speed, and with more
vigorous action, or where the nature of the pace
demands it, the changes of the extremities will
follow one another more quickly. For instance, in
the 3 tempo gallop (if the cadence is observed), the
fore-legs must be changed before the second hind-
leg has been planted, and sometimes, as in the
canter, the fore-legs will be changed while the horse
is in air ; but the hind-legs are always changed

68 THE CHANGES IN THE GALLOP.

when the fore-leg is on the ground. The prin-
ciples are always the same.

I employed two horses in catching the positions
in the gallop changes, one an Arab, trained and
ridden by Herr Oscar Fritz of Stuttgart, the other
a mare I had schooled for the purpose of photo-
graphing in action. I obtained examples of the
changes in the school-gallop and in the 3 tempo
gallop, and some of these I intend to have repro-
duced by the autotype process for a future edition
of Modern Horsemanship.

During the experiments I made to obtain these
pictures I was enabled to formulate the rules by
which horses take the galloping pace. From the
halt, the walk, or the slow trot, the horse goes into
the gallop by taking the weight upon either of the
fore-legs, and by then carrying under the centre of
gravity the hind-leg opposite to the side with which
the lead is to be made. From the moment the
hind-leg is thus brought under the mass and planted,
the horse is in the gallop, and the other legs come
to the ground in their proper order.

From the rapid trot, the horse goes into the
gallop by throwing the weight upon a fore-leg
(which will be the leading fore-leg when the gallop
is taken), then the opposite hind-leg is brought
under the centre of gravity and planted, and the

THE CHANGES IN THE GALLOP. 69

horse is then in some form of the gallop, and the
other legs will be planted in their order.

In the various gallops there are but three different
modes of bringing the feet to the ground. In the
closely united pace known as the school-gallop, and
in the extended gallops, the horse goes into air
from the leading fore-leg, it then brings the opposite
hind-leg to the ground, then the other hind-leg
which is followed by the fore-leg opposite, and then
the leading fore-leg. In the 3 tempo gallop, the
second hind-leg and the fore-leg opposite come to
the ground at or about the same time, so that the
pace has but three beats. In the disunited pace
commonly called the * canter,' the first planted
hind-leg comes to the ground, together with, or just
before, the fore-leg of the same side, then the other
hind-leg is brought to the ground, and then the
leadinof fore-lee.

In the school-gallop, the 3 tempo gallop, and the
canter, there are two positions in every stride, in
which three feet are touching the ground ; but in
the extended gallops not more than two feet touch
the ground at the same time.

All of these differences in the gallops are, of
course, due to the states of union in which the
horse is ridden (so far as the order in which the
feet reach the ground is concerned), and to the

70 THE CHANGES IN THE GALLOP.

' momentum ' (as well as to the extension), so far as
the order In which the feet leave the ground is con-
cerned. For instance, in illustration of the latter
proposition, in the slow gallops a hind-leg must
remain long enough upon the ground to drive the
mass over the planted leading fore-leg (and so we
get one of the positions In which three legs have
touched the ground at the same time), whereas In
the extended gallops the momentum Is so great
that this continued impulse from the hind-quarters
Is not required, and the horse is so extended that it
could not be given.

T'RINTED liY T. AND A. CONSTABLE, PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY,
AT THE EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS,

Webster Family Librsr' '^e

Cummings Schoo; -" '- ^^

Tufe^.. - ,

200 Westboro Road
North Grafton, MA 01536