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Copyright
COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT:
First-Hand Bits of Stable Lore
rs ae
Tia oan
‘ASIOWIXY LY
First-Hand Bits of
Stable Lore
By
Francis M. Ware
Illustrated from Photographs
Boston
Little, Brown, and Company
1903
Le ae eb!
ald WR OS orety
THE LISRARY OF
CONGRESS,
Two Gori ce Rosie:
DEC. T¢ 199
Crneveiaur extay
Copyright, 1902,
By LirrLe, Brown, anp Company.
All rights reserved
Published December, 1902
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UNIVERSITY PRESS - JOHN WILSON
AND SON + CAMBRIDGE, U.S. A.
ee
PR hres
? \HESE chapters, except that on “Man-
agement of a Pack of Hounds,” appeared
originally in the “Boston Transcript ;”’
the chapter named, in the magazine Coach and
Saddle, Chicago, Ill., of which the author is the
editor. The pictures are from photographs taken
by Messrs. W. P. Robertson, 738 Eighth Avenue,
New York, and Messrs. Schreiber & Son, Phila-
delphia, Pa.
The chapters epitomize thirty years’ active per-
sonal experience with every kind of horse for
every conceivable purpose, and the deductions
drawn are in no sense theoretical. Such a book
would have greatly helped the author when he
began as a youngster, and it is his earnest hope
that it may prove of use to others.
FRANCIS M. WARE.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Horse Buyinc anp Horse Trying . .. . I
Wi wAG CRO SSISOUNDNESS: © Jo. dc hhes werd eee hes Se ey 1 2S
RU OSTABEINGH AND STABLES. a2 leg sips) sae, | Bg
VEC eSTapim MANAGEMENT 2 fs eg Ve) 4 cose pe AZ,
V Conpirion. ann’ ConpirionInG 2.9. .°.-.' . 60
VI. Tue ‘*Green’’? on UnaccuimaTep Horse anp
Ris iG emiey e | tae: cig al teVh vecree ear ata Gas
Wik Pap Elorse’s. EpucATION, 2.005 [ess «8a
Reve WlowrHs: AND. NMEANNERS: ca ix 5806? oo ee OM
Petar Foor anpiirs TREATMENT 22). .0 a) eo (ENS
Per HEGAPFOINTMENT PAD "ss! a! cde) | Mn mS
DOE GLE, SADDLE-LIORSEY. seh SVs isc snes osha SR hEO
XIE.) “Tne Hounrer ano: His: Epveation +. 3). 3. 159
XIII. THe Sreeprecnasrr anD His ScHootinc . . 180
XIV. Ripinc ror Women anD CHILDREN . . . . 197
DOVin EE OUR-IN-LLAND: ORIVING | ),/.0\4e) Gy epnies os | eon SUE
Vil
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
XVI. CoacHinc anD 1Trs AcCOMPANIMENTS
XVII. Manacement or a Pack or Howunps .
XVIII. SHowinc Horses
Vili
PAGE
230
251
288
TLEOSTRALLO NS
AeseEmercisese yas). V5)! hc | ge he. eee Ram eaep hacen
Romiande Work.) 004) 1 3 Oem Rely gael oun
Mr. Reginald Vanderbilt and his runabout pair.
AMmomooth) Pebble cs... 35 ies tar) ye ME ie ke no
om wvown ors Park? 95 30. )s fer Geni ames. Ve. ek iia | Fae
Mr. A. A. Hausman’s Royal Swell.
AD Capital Phaeton bain "lcs 2) seks SOS Uae
Mrs. John Gerken driving Brandon and Belmar.
Worth Schooling’ 4. 8s (ete) Site ee as ee moe
tsentromy the: Country.) <astce SN con ereintc Nie hak re
EyeniwAll-round Action |... 2) alr caer ae) pel egake ez
Mr. G. B. Hulme and his prize winner.
emecteWianners: 1.) 040) x ales Selene oo! Ss ball ears. OIG
Mr. R. F. Carman and a prize winner.
My Daupbter’s Saddle-Elorse- 2. ss.) (ee eo st iis, Ps.) s5 Slee
Mrs. John Gerken’s My Lady Dainty.
Neatly Appointed . . . . Lib his fame ust
Mr. Herbert Coppell’s carriage and pair.
Eyavmoicht sCamriens ci ar use 4 ke Teo lise en fats al ing LO.
H. L. de Bussigny riding.
1X
ILLUSTRATIONS
Good VRorm soe ye a eee ne
Mr. J. Trowbridge Martin jumping Samoset.
A Steeplechase Type .
On Goodialenns: jie nso Ae pipes
Mrs. H. H. Good riding Thyra.
Fourteen Miles an Hour. a4
Mr. Alfred G. Vanderbilt and his four.
«(Coach,, (Gentlemen !?? ~..22 ja) 5
The Good Times Coach.
capackyupyyall abs yerl 74!) e la. us
Pennbrook Hounds.
Good lingpesiie) i Nusa. 2 abba), Se iaeatiaties
The Gig Class at Bay $I Shore Horse Show.
>>
3)
bed
+3
>>
39
Page 160
180
198
212
230
252
288
WIRST HAND BIES
OF STABLE LORE
Chapter I
HORSE BUYING AND HORSE TRYING
OONER or later there awakens in the
breast of every wholesome and normal
man the desire to own a horse, and, that
flame once kindled, there is nothing which
will assuage it, should Fortune prove ordinarily
urbane, but the delights — and the disasters — of
ownership. To “witch the world with noble
horsemanship” has been the ambition of many an
unsung hero, even as in the days of Jehu, the son
of Nimshi, and of Alexander; and the agility, the
decision of character, the patience, and the courage
such pursuits develop are invariably the strongest
arguments in their favor. As we teach our chil-
dren to read and to write, so should we thoroughly
instruct them in the best methods of equestrianism,
watermanship, marksmanship, etc.; and better far
. I
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
is he equipped who 1s au fait in such accomplish-
ments — with some thoroughly comprehended
trade to fall back upon if necessary —than the
young men who are annually turned forth in
thousands from our colleges with nothing but a
“sheepskin” to cover their nakedness, and left
trembling upon the threshold of a destiny with
which their average collegiate acquirements have
but illy fitted them to cope. That courses in
such matters are not open to the pupils of our
universities is matter for comment and reflection,
as is the fact that modern languages have, in com-
parison with the ancient, until recently formed but
an insignificant portion of the preliminary require-
ments and regular curriculum.
Given the ambition to own a horse, and the
question of “‘means”’ affirmatively answered, the
obstacle of “ways”? remains; and many a Mr.
Neophyte has found, or fancied, this an insur-
mountable obstacle. Generally recourse is had to
Uncle John, whom family tradition has handed
down as a combination of the serpent and the
hawk in matters equine ; Cousin Will also knows
a man who is on terms of friendship with another
man who keeps several horses, and is therefore an
expert; grandma, according to the fairy-tales
2
“AYO AA avoy woy
HORSE, BUYING AND) ‘TRYING
recited at family reunions on Thanksgiving and
Christmas, was a regular daredevil in her salad
days, and still has fancies for the flowing tails and
arching necks that used to look so well on sofa
cushion and sampler; the news spreads through-
out the family that Henry is about to buy a horse,
and accordingly Henry, after much reflection as
to how that act will affect him with regard to his
business associates and social intimates, prepares
for the fatal plunge.
Right here is where Mr. Neophyte accumulates
a cargo of trouble that would stagger a dromedary
if he does not, once and forever, cast grandmas,
aunts, cousins, friends and all, into the outer dark-
ness. A man’s wifeand his horseare two acquisitions
which he must choose for himself; and he who tries
to please every one will end by displeasing them as
well as himself. He will have been told blood-
curdling tales of the duplicity and chicanery of horse-
dealers, and of the treacherous and evil disposition
of horses; and he enters upon his quest with
much the same feeling that surges in the breast
of a twentieth-century society girl on her first
slumming expedition, — prepared to be dreadfully
shocked, and finally disappointed that the incidents
and surroundings are common-place after all.
3
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
The process of buying a satisfactory horse is so
very simple that it 1s most extraordinary that no
one, or practically no one, follows it. If you
want a set of furniture you go to a store; look
over the goods, ask the prices, select your arti-
cles, and pay for them; you do the same thing
with all the necessaries and luxuries of life, save
and except when it comes to the purchase of a
horse. Youdo not insult the furniture dealer by
asking idiotic questions about things of which you
know nothing and he knows you know nothing; if —
he says that this wood is mahogany,and that bruise
came from an accident in unpacking, you accept
his statement; you do not look at him with the
“icy eye of suspicion,” as one who would say,
“Great Scott! what a monumental liar is this!”
nor, when he has named his price, do you offer
him fifty per cent thereof, and insinuate that he
is a scoundrel and a pirate for not jumping at it.
In short you “go shopping”’ for horses as you
do for no other commodity, and if you “get
stuck’ you are, in nine cases out of ten, obtain-
ing your just deserts.
If you want to buy a horse go to any dealer —
you can’t go wrong, general opinions to the con-
trary — treat him like a man, and be sure he will
4
HORSE BUYING AND TRYING
reciprocate, be’ he’ Jew or Gentile, “Gyp”: or
genuine. Say to him, “I want a horse for such
and such purposes, and place myself absolutely
in your hands, save that I shall have a veteri-
narian to decide whether the animal is practically
sound, and reasonably likely to remain so in the
work for which I intend him. I know absolutely
nothing about horses” (it will cost you a struggle
to acknowledge this, but never mind, it’s no secret,
for the dealer knew it the moment you walked
into the yard, and he will think a lot of you for
being man enough to acknowledge what to him
was perfectly plain), “‘ and shall be guided by you
not only in the selection, but in the subsequent
treatment of my purchase. I expect a frank
description of all my acquisition’s shortcomings,
that I may allow for them.” Now, if that dealer
can fit you out, be sure he will do it to the very
best of his ability, and take pride in so doing.
On the other hand, if you take Uncle John along,
that worthy old gentleman hops around the beast
produced for his inspection, like an old crow
around a bone, and makes occasional verbal pecks
in this fashion: “ Six years, hey? Had his mouth
fixed, likely. Ill bet he won’t see ten again.
What’s that on his off hock? Nothing! D’ye
5
FIRST-HAND BITS: OF STABLE LORE
call that hock smooth? Isn’t he over a little
mite on that knee? Eyes look kinder blinky.
Sure he ain’t moon-eyed, hey? Don’t kick, does
he? Looks kinder mean. Well, hitch him up,
and if he don’t balk, and ain’t much scared of
’lectrics, why, Henry, we’ll drive him up to the
house and see what grandma and Mr. Brown
and the folks think.” Now what is a dealer to
do with people like that? What would you do
yourself to a man who thus maligned a horse you
knew to be absolutely all right; a man who, you ~
could tell the moment you saw him, didn’t know
a horse-car from a car-horse, and was simply
handing out a lot of drivel which he had acquired
at second-hand, and with which he was trying to
impress you. Every word was a covert insult;
every look a slap in the face; and as human nature
is weak and prone to err, we must not blame the
dealer if he occasionally is tried too far, and hands
back to the Uncle Johns (who are so prevalent)
“what is coming to him, and good and plenty,”
as Westerners would say.
Remember that, as a class, horse-dealers are as
reputable as any business men. Investigation
will prove that while there are in our penal insti-
tutions numerous black sheep of all trades, busi-
6
HORSE BUYING AND TRYING
nesses, and - professions, there are precious few
horsemen. Respect decent men, and let them
see that you do. You will, perhaps, afford them
an agreeable and a novel sensation. Once you
have taken the dealer’s word and completed the
transaction, do not expect that, because of the
wisdom of your adviser, or through your own
preternatural sagacity, your $250 horse is worth
at least $500. One’s geese may be swans, but
whatever price you paid, it was full value, and
the dealer would tell you so if you asked him.
He is no Santa Claus, nor is he in business for
health any more than you pursue your own avo-
cation for the ozone that may be in it. He got
full value, or you wouldn’t have got the horse,
and upon his always doing so depends his ability
to eat porter-house steak whenever his appetite
impels. You got fair value for your money, and
that, reader mine, is about all we can ever expect,
in this vale of tears, from anybody.
One thing more and we will be moving. When
you get ready to sell, don’t, for pity’s sake, be
you novice or expert, imagine that you can use a
horse from three to'ten years, and then get for
him more than you paid originally. A $60 suit
of clothes sells for $2 after one year’s wear, Why
7
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
must a horse that cost $250 stand five years’ hard
usage and then bring $300, or the man that you
bought him of be held up as a rogue forever more?
When you do get ready to sell him, never under-
take to give warranty, which perhaps you do with
the best intentions, and then take refuge behind
your ignorance, which then (and only then) you
are willing to frankly acknowledge. If you could
see the debit accounts on the books of every
dealer in the business chargeable to the screws he
has bought or “traded for” (unseen) from his
customers, whose representations (generally most
flowery) are rarely anywhere near accurate !
The horse to buy is the animal that fills the
eye; in other words, if you like a horse and his
qualities seem satisfactory, buy him, and results
will almost certainly prove likewise. We have
several good show ring judges who select their
winners practically on these lines, and to general
satisfaction. Distrust the sunken eye, and the
head narrow and prominent between the eyes— |
that horse may not be vicious, but he is peculiar
and probably crochetty — perhaps “a good ’un
wen yer knows ‘im, but yer got ter know im
fust.” Lop ears are a disfigurement; jaws that
seem narrow, and necks that are thick area likely
8
HORSE. BUYING AND: TRYING
combination, after some sickness, to afford you a
thick-winded horse. Buy a horse largely “on
?
his face,” as you trust a man,—his character is
there if you can read it, as you may if you will
try. A thick and heavy shoulder is rather “ har-
nessy,” yet excellent saddle horses and hunters
are that way built —in fact, for saddle and jump-
ing purposes we have for generations been con-
sidering the wrong end of the horse. Well-
developed withers are desirable, especially for a
lady’s hack, but never forget that your ride, your
ease and comfort, come from the other end, as
we shall see later. As to legs and feet, never
mind measurements below the knee and around
the arm, for horses work on for years on legs that
are all out of proportion, and the best looking
limbs and feet go wrong in no time. Therefore,
if you like the looks of him, go ahead, no matter
what anybody says; buy him, if he’s reasonably
sound, but don’t let the veterinary, as he is prone
to do, attempt to predict what may happen after
you have owned him six years. You’llall be in
luck if any of you are alive then. Walk him and
trot him (in hand) to and from you; if he doesn’t
stand straight and move straight, if he “ wings”
or “dishes,” as he certainly will if he is not
9
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
true on his joints, don’t have him, and give the
dealer the reason, —that is one thing you can
see and judge for yourself. Of course the only
probable result is that he may have to wear boots
somewhere, but moderate-priced horses are too
plenty to make it necessary to bother with
the crooked-legged sort. At “ bargain-counter ”
rates the aspect changes, but the $3.98 horse
(marked up from $2.37) is better left to the expert
(if there are any such individuals). ‘Real old
English” prints give us short back, rare loins, deep -
ribs, long quarters, great stifles, and second thighs,
and all that; English sporting prose and verse
record their virtues and extol their necessity, and
the result would be as vastly edifying as desirable
were it not for the fact that, so far as actual im-
portance goes, every one of these much-lauded
points is not only non-essential, but practically of
little value! A short back is becoming, is grace-
ful, is acceptable, but many of our best horses —
racing, chasing, saddling, trotting, driving, and
weight-carrying — have been as long as a street
in the back, as slack as a hammock in the loin,
as shallow in back-rib (not front, or round chest)
as a soup-plate, as short in the quarters as a
Jersey yearling, and as narrow and undeveloped
10
HORSE ;/BUYING, AND: TRYING
in second thighs as a hound pup; in fact not a
few breeders of thoroughbreds maintain that this
latter characteristic is essential to the race horse,
and Hanover and imported Meddler were both
entirely wanting in any development there. A
tail, well set and gaily carried, is attractive and
generally evidence of good courage, yet beware
the tail that is carried to one side, for it is almost
an infallible signal of an existing weakness of
structure somewhere in the anatomy of that side,
which may have developed, may be developing,
or may never develop, but probably will. The
drooping quarter and low-set tail are generally
indications that a horse is quick on his feet, and
will jump well, so that, in race horse or hunter,
this formation is rather desirable. The horse
whose hocks are set in will not improbably inter-
fere, over-reach, or “‘ cross-fire;”’ that is, overreach
on to the opposite forefoot. Your veterinary will
tell you if he has done any or all of these things,
or if he is shod to correct or prevent them; as
also whether his teeth show marks of cribbing, his
jugular vein has been interfered with by bleeding,
etc. On all such matters be guided by him.
Above all things get the bugbear of actual
soundness out of your head, and be satisfied with
vig
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
the practical, for that’s all you can get, anyway.
No horse is absolutely sound, so why bother?
And if he could be, and you used him hard
enough and long enough, he would not remain
so. The fact that your bookkeeper has a “ base-
ball’ finger does n’t worry you; why need the
fact that your beast exhibits an odd splint, spavin,
bog, etc., so long as they cause no lameness, in-
convenience you more than him? An owner
may have “spavin on the brain,” and it will
affect him far more, nine times out of ten, than
it does his family slave, who cheerfully carries it
about for years. Nothing is so certain as the
fact that, if a blemish or unsoundness exists, there
can hardly be another in the same place and of
the same sort, and the man who buys his blem-
ishes with his horse is relieved of a vast amount
of anxiety as to whether they may come, by the
fact that they already exist. You may say that
this is the philosophical view to take of it, but
what more important and generally satisfactory
view can one take of anything? And what is
life, anyway, without the ability to so view mat-
ters generally? Remember, this is not written
for the “ expert” (?) owner, the rich buyer, the
wholesale user of horseflesh, but for the “ little
12
HORSE, BUYING AND TRYING
men,’ who are in a state of transition between
steering a baby-carriage and a horse, and who, if
they find actual experience satisfactory and econo-
mical, may develop later into leviathan purchasers,
and can then gratify unhindered personal whims
and the caprice of family or friends.
A horse of five or six or seven years is not as
generally sought and as urgently demanded as
was the case some years ago. ‘This is for practi-
cal reasons. The animal of eight to twelve is in
his prime; he has passed, more or less success-
fully, through the trials and the accidents of youth,
and, as he is now, so will he probably remain,
for as many years as any horse ought. Practical
soundness in a horse of this age means a lot, and
it is for that reason, among others, that he is so
much more desirable than a younger beast to
whose condition it may not continue, for long, to
apply. Invariably, however, go to one expense
with such a horse, and never omit it; geta first-
class horse dentist, and be sure that his teeth are,
or are placed, in thorough order — the outlay will
repay you a hundredfold.
Having looked him over, liked him, “ vet ’’ ed
him, etc., we will proceed to try him. Right
here, and generally through a most natural and
13
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
over-looked cause, is where so many troubles and
so much dissatisfaction arise in horse buying: A
dealer drives all day, and every day, all sorts of
rough, half-schooled and timid horses, in the pro-
cess of “ city-breaking ” them ; going past, and up
to all sorts of objects with perfect safety, and as
a matter of course with horses which, until they
learn their way about, would climb trees and
church-steeples with the average driver. Conse-
quently, he is wtterly unable to answer intelli-
gently the question whether any horse is quiet and
“family broken.” He is, with the dealer, a per-
fect lamb, and that gentleman honestly considers
him so. With you he proves a regular “ limb,”
and dire is your consequent wrath, and great the
possible destruction of your property. Yet the
horse is again, in the dealer’s hands, as you are
much mortified to find, a patent-safety convey-
ance. Both parties are honest in such transactions,
and both right according to their lights, but the
dealer invariably gets the worst of it. Yet it was
all your own fault, every bit of it. The dealer
knew you were not a horseman the moment he
saw you. The horse realized it the moment you
laid hands on reins, and _ he took liberties accord-
ingly. The dealer could not possibly know what
14
HORSE BUYING AND TRYING
a duffer you would prove, and was absolutely
honest in his representations. Yet trouble en-
sues, and nothing will convince you that heis not
a scamp, and him that you are not a hopeless
imbecile. To prevent any such misunderstand-
ings Insist upon driving yourself from the time
you leave the stable door —and out of the door
also. If the horse is too much for you in any
way, say so frankly, and try another, nor let false
pride prevent. The dealer is trying to suit ; give
him a fair chance and prevent all afterclaps.
Drive the horse to the objects you want him to
see, and allow no argument against it. Explain
this to the owner before you start, and don’t let
him harness the horse unless the understanding
to that effect is clear. His time is worth as
much as yours. Don’t be satisfied with a trial at
electric cars, for instance, in the city streets. No
horse minds them there unless he is a regular
Indian. Find things to suit you, and take no
one’s “‘sayso” for any such particulars. If the
dealer will not agree to this, which is absolutely a
fair trial, tell him to “ keep his old horse.’ There
are others ; and you are well within your rights.
The qualities of a horse must absolutely suit, or
you are foolish to take him, and many a cut of
_
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
the whip, and “jab” in the mouth will be his
luckless portion because he does some little thing,
or has some little trick, which you don’t like.
Be sure the animal backs freely (many of them
do not), and that up hill. Let him get his tail
over the reins ; he’d better kick then, if he’s that
way inclined, than after you own him. Hit him
sharply near the root of the tail for the same
reason; pull him up sharp, and start him quickly
to see if he is balky or inclined to get mad, and
to be hot about it; in short, put him through any
“stunts”? you consider necessary or advisable, but
invariably have a distinct understanding with the
dealer first.
Now that your Bucephalus is tried, and we
hope bought and taken home, there are two things
to be especially insisted upon. First, use him,
and keep using him. Don’t think because he is
new to you that he is too precious to work. The
reason for his demure behavior is because he has
labored regularly and steadily for somebody, so
keep him going.
«« Mark that day lost which sees the setting sun
Descend upon at least ten miles undone ”’
may be pasted over Charlie’s box-stall door (let’s
hope you will give him a box). So use him
16
HORSE BUYING AND: TRYING
regularly and plentifully, that’s what he is for;
nor, if you and the groom and the children and
grandma and the entire outfit will all persist in feed-
ing him and in driving him, perhaps only to the
post-officeand back, can you blame either Charlie or
his former master if some day, in sheer lightness of
heart, he sends the dasher flying about your ears.
Secondly, never believe the ghost story that
Charlie or any other horse is, was, or will be
“safe for women to drive,’ for that means
safe under every and all possible (and impossible)
conditions; no such horse was ever foaled, and
putting women aside, no horse is “absolutely
sate for any man ‘to. drive... There are three
very excellent reasons why no woman, unaccom-
panied by a man, should drive any horse; that is,
the average woman who “sometimes used to
drive old Nellie and the carryall when a girl,”
and who, now that Henry is able to afford a turn-
out, wants to take the family out behind the new
horse because the dealer said ““a woman could
drive him.’”” A woman has never been taught to
shut her hands (and has no strength when they
are shut); she wears gloves generally much too
small for her, or, if large enough, they button tight
around the wrist, which is as bad, so far as cramp-
2 a7,
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
ing the muscles goes, and she does not “make
allowances ;” everything the new horse does must
be the identical thing that old Nellie did, and that
respected and defunct family treasure is the coat
which the cloth of the new horse must fit, or
woe to his former possessor—the dealer. A
horse is a fool, and he is a coward; his mind is
one-ideaed ; and what he has done is no criterion
of what he may do at the next moment. Nature
constructed him thus, and he is not to be blamed
for his limitations, but. they must be recognized
and allowed for. The man who unreservedly
places his family at the mercy of any horse under
feminine guidance courts disaster, which is almost
certain sooner or later to arrive; and the dealer
who sells a horse with a warranty that it is safe
for a woman to use, does a most reprehensible
thing, and carelessly exposes to danger thousands
of innocent lives. A horse fears nothing familiar,
nearly everything that is strange; a woman’s
skirts fluttering in the wind will stampede a herd
of plains horses, who will, any of them, allow one
to shoot from their backs; and some day the one
dreadful object heaves in view ; foolishness prompts
fear, fear flight; weak arms, slender hands, and
tight gloves play their useless parts, and Mary
18
HORSE BUYING AND TRYING
and the children are sprinkled over the country-
side as victims to man’s folly.
Perhaps all this may sound very discouraging,
but be that as it may, isn’t it true, and aren’t we,
lots of us, “ monkeying” with an equine “ buzz-
saw” that needs proper attention and fairly capa-
ble engineers to handle it? A danger that is
appreciated is half prevented, and if those who
realize their own shortcomings in such matters will
but see to it that their boys and girls are from
childhood accustomed to, and properly instructed
in, the methods of managing successfully horses
and other animals, they will endow their children
with a most valuable mental, moral, physical, and
(possibly) pecuniary asset; they will add incalcu-
lably to the safety of traffic in all thoroughfares in
town and country ; they will open up wide fields of
pleasure to their offspring, and they will further
by leaps and bounds the proper appreciation, the
humane and common-sense management of horses,
and, through that, of all kinds of dumb animals.
The S. P. C. A. has most signally and
singularly missed the point at which it has aimed
because of the neglect of this very matter of teach-
ing the children the proper management of
animals, and making it a part of their up-bring-
19
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
ing. What matters it that an occasional brute of
a man is imprisoned or fined? He knows no
better, nor will his descendants learn from his
punishment. Show them the why and wherefore
of such matters by actual demonstration, talks,
lectures, pictures, living examples, and teach them
not only the proper treatment of birds, cats, dogs,
horses, etc., but explain to them in a practical
way how and why things are right and wrong.
Text-books and pamphlets are all very well, but
they are not practical, and no one knows that
more quickly than the children for whom they
are intended. Such matters should be part of
the curriculum of every school (public or private)
and college; not the dilettante end of it, but the
hard, old business end that has, after all, so much
in it of sentiment, of sympathy, of romance to
those who really love dumb animals and appre-
ciate their needs and their neglect.
Prices, of course, vary as widely as do the merits
of the animals sought. A good, plain, family
horse will cost all the way from $100 to $250,
the first figure, or perhaps a trifle less, being
sufficient to secure a practically sound, ‘‘ second-
hand” animal, displaying probably the scars and
effects of honorable toil, but none the worse for
20
HORSE BUYING AND TRYING
them so far as utility goes. The last-named figure
‘will secure as good a horse as any one needs for
family purposes, — sound, rugged, free, powerful
and clever. The family horse may be called the
staple of the carriage-horse trade, and from him up-
ward prices increase by leaps and bounds in propor-
tion to the possession of the “Seven Royal S’s,” —
Symmetry, Speed, Style, Size, Shape, Substance and
Safety. Such figures as $500 to $2,500, for single
horses, $1,000 to $5,000 for pairs, etc., are prices
paid every day, and exciting no special comment.
Never buy a horse in the spring, for the reason
that the active market puts prices up 407%: nor
sell in the fall, since opposite conditions cause the
same ratio of depreciation. The winter or the
summer are also appropriate times to invest, but
you are apt to find then only the Jeavings of the
active seasons. As every one else sells in the
fall, do you buy then, even if you have to board
out your purchase until wanted. It is the cheap-
est plan, and there are hundreds of excellent
animals on sale which, fresh from the country in
the previous spring, have been used just enough
to thoroughly season, city-break, and way-wise
them. These are your choicest bargains.
Dy)
Chapter II
AS TO «SOUNDNESS”?
N view of the increasing difficulty in obtaining
strictly high-class horses for any purpose, it
would appear inevitable that the consumer
must make up his mind to accept fair-class
horses that are not quite sound, or to put up with
sound animals of moderate individual merits. It
is becoming impossible for dealers to find sound
horses of the highest class. In no country are
the buyers’ exactions as to soundness as severe as
they are in America, and in no country are they
so unreasonably and unwisely strict, — “ unreas-
onably ” because perfection is insisted upon when
certain departures from it do not affect usefulness,
and “unwisely”’ because the presence of these
defects will often result in the rejection of an
animal otherwise exactly suitable to the buyer
and his purposes. To the average purchaser,
absolute soundness is a “bugaboo” which he,
parrot-like, insists upon; fearing to invest in
22
“ATHHAq HLOOWS VY
AS LO “SOUND NESS”
anything to which the adjective may not properly
apply. Of course the majority of buyers are
unable to decide for themselves as to what defects
are really injurious, or likely to become so; or
even to determine whether blemishes exist at all.
In this emergency the veterinarian is called in,
and the matter is blindly left to his verdict, which
is competent so far as concerns physical merit,
but generally weak when it includes an opinion as
to the fitness of the animal for the purpose
intended. It will thus be seen that the veter-
inary is generally (in private dealing at least)
the arbiter who decides the points at issue, and
that, so far as a “‘deal” is concerned, he is the
power behind the throne.
Not only by private buyers, but by the dealers
themselves, is the veterinarian consulted more and
more every day; his opinions are more carefully
weighed, and his place in the horse-world more
generally appreciated and properly recognized.
He has it in his power, therefore, by timely word
and proper demonstration, largely to modify the
exactions of a public which does not at all realize
that it is demanding impossibilities when it insists
upon having a sound horse, — such a creature hav-
ing never been seen—and to cause it to realize
23
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
that the practically sound animal, varying only in
degree and amount of physical imperfections, is
the best to be expected.
The veterinary surgeons should agree (as they
have it so easily in their power, through their
different associations, to do) upon some line of
action in this matter, which they will universally
adopt, and upon distinct modifications of the
requirements of the public, which they will rec-
ommend, publishing to the world exactly what
these are, and standing by them. The younger
members of the fraternity would be especially
helped by such action, for while they have, one
and all, the technical part of the profession at
their fingers’ and tongues’ end, they are neces-
sarily lacking in that practical application which
is so absolutely a matter of observation and ex-
perience. Carried away by enthusiasm for their
calling, and filled with lofty resolutions of never
passing an animal not perfectly sound; rigor-
ously applying in all points the precepts of their
instructors, these young men unwittingly work a
lot of injustice fo sellers, and prevent many buyers
from investing in horses perfectly suited to their
needs, and physically able for service of many
years’ duration, simply because the animals are un-
a4
as LO “SOUNDNESS*
fortunate enough to fall short of the high physical
standard arbitrarily imposed. For another thing,
there are numerous veterinarians, who — whisper !
—are not horsemen ; that is, in the broad sense of
being “born horsemen.” They know technique,
they have an eagle eye and velvet touch and all
the other qualifications for the job, but they are
not horsemen. ‘They have been taught the busi-
ness all right enough, but they lack the intuitive
appreciation of the “ born horseman.”’ to apply it
fairly for the best interests of all.
Many angry mutterings are heard at our horse-
shows every year through this lack of any recog-
nized system. The show-ring legend, “ Horses
must be practically sound,’ means what? And
the occasional stipulation, “ Horses must be
sound” (no “if” or “ perhaps ”’ about it), is to be
construed how? And how many of the horses,
exhibited in any class, would receive a clean bill
of health? A splint is a splint, a filled tendon is
nothing else, a coarse hock is not smooth, a “ bit
of a cold” is not good wind. Where shall the
line be drawn, and who shall draw it?
The foreign buyers, especially the English-
men, have “wiped our eye”’ significantly over
this soundness matter. Bumpy or smooth, if the
=»
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
horses ‘‘ look the part” and fill the eye, they will
not be denied, and insist upon but two points
—a horse’s wind and eyes must be good. The
heavy English climate and the fondness for horse- °
beans and other concentrated food over there,
work havoc with lungs, throat, and eyes, and for-
eign talent is therefore naturally suspicious of
‘“/roarers,. ’ ‘* whistlers,’: “gerunters,’” “i wheezerses
and ‘‘ blinky ’uns,” as a dealer put it. For other
bodily infirmities, however, they have a large
toleration, and will put up with all sorts of
“ornaments ” if considered in the price. In no
particular have they so taught us a lesson as in the
matter of purchasing cavalry and artillery horses.
Our idiotic governmental requirements compel
inspectors to condemn quantities of capital animals,
merely on the ground of slight physical defects
that amount to nothing, resulting in the accumu-
lation of a lot of brutes for our army use that
have no merit whatever but that of freedom from
blemish, and are in many cases utterly unfit for
the purposes intended. The foreigner, on the
contrary, fills his hand from our discards, with the
result that he accumulates from the leavings of
our inspectors a cracking lot of horses, a credit
to any army, but many of them blemished in
26
AS TO: “SOUNDNESS-’
unimportant ways, practical soundness being
good enough.
When does a “ coarse” hock become a “ spav-
ined” hock? What constitutes a “ well-placed”
splint? Shall a horse always be “turned down”
for side-bones when his work is to be on soft
ground, if he is not lame at the time and is eight
or ten years old; bearing in mind that many a
horse is, although thus afflicted, working on city
”?
“rocks” and going sound? Shall a “ properly
placed’ (!) ringbone always disqualify? Shall
curbs condemn, without regard to age, the shape
of the leg and the manner of shoeing? Shall
“wire cuts’’ be considered as to possible future
effect, etc.? These and dozens of other matters
might well be settled officially by our veterinary
societies, and a full and free discussion of them
courted both from the professional and the
amateur, the buyer’s and the seller’s stand-
point.
Considering the most common forms of un-
soundness, fromthe practical standpoint of the
consumer, not from the technical position of
the veterinarian, the matter of splints occupies
the first place. The following points must be
considered in deciding as to the practical useful-
2}
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE I.ORE
ness of an animal so afflicted, — his age, the size
and location of the deposit, the work required,
his action and the peculiarities of his gait. Situ-
ated close under the knee, or in the form called
“pegged,” splints almost invariably cause trouble,
interfering with articulation (possibly) in the one
case, and with the tendons in the other. The
very low placed splint is suspicious for the same
reason. Any splints on horses under five years
old are likely, owing to immaturity of the subject,
to cause trouble. A very large splint, wherever
situated, is also open to condemnation ; of course
for draught purposes, concussion being less, all
risks are smaller. High action not only produces
but often largely increases any deposit. Many
animals that “wind,” “ paddle,” or “dish,” will
brush a splint so lightly as not to cause a blemish,
but will produce an irritation and soreness which
results in lameness. Imperfect action is always
to be regarded with distrust.
The presence of spavin — qualified frequently
under the complimentary title of “coarse hock”’
—jis becoming astonishingly common, and the
number of horses so afflicted which are in daily hard
work, and free from conspicuous or troublesome
lameness, is remarkable. The true “ coarse hock ”
28
AS: TO: “SOUNDNESS*’
is as durable as the smooth joint, if not more so,
and its very roughness and prominence about the
articulation seems to proclaim its rugged quality.
This roughness of the hock-joint, however, will
generally be found to be accompanied by the
same general characteristics in a// the articulations
of the individual, and a truly “coarse hock” is
seldom or never present in an animal of otherwise
fine-grained quality; nor is an animal likely to
have one coarse hock, and one smooth one; in
either of these cases any deviation from smooth-
ness must logically be classed as true spavin.
Suspicion in any case may be made certainty by
driving the suspect until thoroughly warmed up,
leaving him in his stall for an hour or two, and
then re-examining him (watching especially how
he backs out of the stall) , and turning him sharply
both ways before trotting him, slowly, to halter,
and with his head loose. You may also hold his
foot well up against the stomach for a few
moments to cramp the hock-joint, and then trot
him again. If afflicted he will surely go lame,
although a sound horse will generally do the same
for a few steps, if you cramp the joint long enough.
Curb never matters provided the horse be
eight years old or more, has a naturally good and
29
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
true-shaped hind leg, and shows no lameness
after cooling out. The sickle-hocked, round-
boned sort should be left alone, even if smooth;
for any strain or wrench may “spring” the
blemish. Many horses havea natural prominence
at the curb-place caused by the extension of the
cuboid bones; but if there is no enlargement of
the sheath of the tendon there, the horse is sound.
Any fresh curb causes inflammation, pain and
ensuing lameness, temporary in nature only. As
a precautionary measure, all horses with curb, or
curby hocks, should be shod with shoes raised at
the heels.
Sound wind is usual in the East, almost uni-
versal in the altitudes of the far West. Practi-
cally we are troubled only with “roarers’”’ and
“whistlers.” The “ grunter”’ (which may develop
something more) 1s carefully rejected by English-
men, because of their heavier home climate, but
we are never troubled by him, as the infirmity is
only rarely noticeable. Nearly all such horses
may be greatly helped by keeping the neck and
jowl well sweated out; and occasionally artificial
means will almost entirely prevent the noise.
Osselets —small bony deposits on the front
ankles — are very common in the race-horse, and
30
AS FO. <“SOUNDNESS”
not unusual in other varieties which are, when
immature, put to severe work. They cause per-
manent blemishes of various sizes, but are rarely,
after growth is attained and inflammation allayed,
the cause of permanent lameness.
Ring-bones and side-bones are serious blemishes
at times, but do not necessarily interfere with
work. Side-bone—a thickening and hardening
of the cartilages contiguous to the coronet —
causes severe lameness, generally permanent, espe-
cially where fast work is done, and can be relieved
only by the generally misunderstood and improp-
erly condemned process of “nerving.”’ But the
ring-boned animal may work on for years.
An animal burdened with any or all of the above-
mentioned ailments may outwork and outlast the
stable-mate with a clear bill of health, and, through
necessity, the buying public will soon acquire a
toleration in the matter of absolute soundness
which at present it does not evince. As Pooh
Bah says in the “ Mikado,” “ Bless you, it all
depends,” and in the next few years we shall see
many a blemished and technically unsound horse
filling his place in the owner’s affections, and his
position as a useful slave as honorably as capably.
When, then, is a horse “usefully sound”? He
oa
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
is so when his infirmities do not interfere with the
work at which you intend to use him. ‘Thus an
animal which is quite lame is “usefully sound”
for slow work ; a hunter may be crippled in any
ways that do not affect his galloping and jumping.
But his eyes and wind must de sound. A carriage-
horse must trot sound, and be sound of wind and
eyes (although if one eye has by an accident been
destroyed, it rarely affects usefulness). A saddle-
horse must be useable as such. Sprung knees
in all these cases are in the nature of blemishes
only, and, opinion to the contrary, the strongest
knee is the natural “ buck-knee.” Such animals
are generally particularly sure-footed and safe on
their feet.
A horse with navicular disease, quarter-crack,
corns, quittor, etc., is usefully sound for certain
work. The opinion of the veterinary is the safest
guide in all such matters, and is what you pay
him to express.
32
Chapter iwi!
STABLING AND STABLES
T is unfortunate for the horses and servants
who have to occupy them that so few stables
are built by practical men; or perhaps it
is because architects and builders com-
prise few horsemen in their ranks. Externally
these structures are usually highly ornamental,
and frequently extremely attractive; internally,
while appearing to the owner and his friends all
that ingenuity can devise and convenience de-
mand, they fall short in many of the real es-
sentials, and prove inconvenient, unhealthy, and
far from satisfactory. Architecturally they are
triumphs ; practically they are failures, presenting
wrong exposures, and providing scientific drainage
and ventilation which ought to be satisfactory, as
being of the most expert and newly approved
patterns, but which do not prove so. Horses
ought to do well in them, but are always ailing.
Varnish should keep bright; panels whole; linings
; 33
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
dry; and harness in good order, but somehow
they don’t.
In the same way, by all the accepted laws re-
lating to building materials, cement or stone floors
should be the best, and brick buildings the warmest
or coolest according to the season; but none of
these results necessarily obtain, and the scientific
erection is a dismal failure from every useful point.
Probably the most expensive and extensive
stable ever built in America, containing the most
costly collection of horses in the world, has
proved so absolutely worthless and unwholesome
that nearly every one of its valuable inmates
was taken sick with lung fever, many of them
dying, and those which recovered being rendered
valueless for racing purposes. Another enor-
mously costly set of farm-buildings, erected for
one of our millionaires had, when completed, no
place to store away hay, so that another building
had to be put up for the purpose. Many other
similar cases could be mentioned.
What, then, are the essentials of a stable, and
how may they best be secured? Convenience
for all work comes first, then ventilation, next
drainage, and then proper exposure and situation.
Convenience (for man and horse) 1s vitally neces-
on
"MUVg YO NMOT, AO
i
iets Weeidhi:
STABLING AND STABLES
sary to secure comfort and the saving of time.
Good ventilation will do away with many of the
evils of bad drainage, and if both of these are per-
fect, the defects of exposure may be counter-
acted by verandas or awnings, and thickly lined
walls. Situation is unimportant if all the other
details are first class, and high land or low, wet
or dry, the building may be perfectly wholesome.
Horses should always be stalled on the north
or west sides of a stable in order to escape the
effects of the sun which causes, by its heat, violent
and extreme variations in temperature during
each twenty-four hours, throughout all seasons of
the year. The animal will bear perfectly almost
any extremes of heat or cold providing it is
equable ; but neither his constitution, his clothing,
nor his attendance and environment can adapt
themselves to the rapid changes which our climate
assures from a southern or eastern exposure.
No stable should ever accommodate in one
apartment more than twelve to twenty horses, for
the reason that if many of them in cold weather,
go out at the same time, the removal of so much
animal heat causes an immediate drop in temper-
ature, which the opening of various doors aug-
ments; just as, in the heated term, the return of
Sie)
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
these horses may raise the thermometer to a dis-
tressing point, and if the stable is then closed, as
at night, may seriously affect the inmates. More
illness is caused in such ways than people at all
realize or provide for. It is very easy to sub-
divide all large stables in some way so that all
the animals are not kept in one lot. Every large
building must be draughty, and nothing will pre-
vent this but apartments of reasonable size, and
careful attention to doors and windows.
All stables must be arranged so that the opera-
tions of cleaning, harnessing, etc., can be consec-
utive, since this means an enormous saving of
time and labor. Backed from his stall, the horse
should proceed by direct progress from brushing
over to harness; from harness to vehicle; and
thence out of the door, reversing this proceeding
on his return, and arriving in his living-room
clean, and ready for food and rest, his equipments
left at their appropriate place along the way from
the entrance. There must be no running here
for tools, there for harness, yonder for vehicle,
but all should be consecutive, convenient, and
arranged in every detail with that idea. Every-
thing must be large enough, yet not too big;
snug, compact, and “ get-at-able.”
36
STABLING AND STABLES
Coach-houses should be arranged to comfort-
ably accommodate the number and sort of vehicles
intended to be kept there, allowing room to move
about them easily. Nota few such buildings are
just too large or too small,— too big for three,
too small for four; and in the same way many
washstands are built too short and narrow.
Stone or brick stables need plastering or sheath-
ing to guard against damp, and both walls and
ceilings must be covered for this reason; in our
climate nothing equals a wooden stable, and it is
always drier, cooler, and warmer than the others,
if double-boarded, sheathed, and clapboarded.
Brick or cement floors may answer in the coach-
house, where there is generally a fire in winter,
but they are always dangerous as likely to be
slippery. Horses often plunge at starting, and
they fall on such floors.
The coach-house exposure should always be
southern or western, as insuring ample heat from
the sun, and insuring rapid drying of vehicles and
linings.
All modern forms of drainage and ventilation
are good, if they are attended to properly by the
stablemen. This is however rarely the case, and
it has proved in practice that the more scientific
37
FIRST-HAND BITS OR STABEE LORE
were such arrangements, the more they were neg-
lected by the men in charge. No traps, drains,
or windows, etc., will keep clean, or work them-
selves for any length of time, and as this is so
absolutely true, it has always seemed the height
of folly to expend money upon elaborate sys-
tems which would forthwith, through neglect,
be reduced to absolute or comparative ineffi-
ciency. If the master sees for himself that all
such details are properly administered, well and
good — but he never does. If he did, the same
argument would hold good, for then the most
crude arrangements would answer perfectly. So
far as absolute satisfaction and inexpensiveness
goes, the writer has found best results from lead-
ing all stall drains into a receptacle built in the
floor, and containing a galvanized iron bucket or
tub large enough to hold the probable fluids of
twenty-four hours; that is, according to the num-
ber of horses. No neglect was possible for this
arrangement since it simply ran over, if not regu-
larly and daily emptied, either into a sewer, cess-
pool, or elsewhere ; and its operation was attended
with excellent results, while the cost, as com-
pared to the usual systems, was a bagatelle. Ifthis
is not done, then the washstand and harness-room
38
SLTABLING; AND: STABLES
drains should be arranged to flush the stall-gut-
ters, for carriages, etc., must be washed, and the
water used will daily effect what careless grooms
neglect. All details about stables should be ar-
ranged not as if the dest sort of help was to be in
charge, but so that the worst cannot do harm.
Stall floors are best made of cement, laid with
the proper slope, covered with plank or slats so ar-
ranged as to afford a level footing, bevelled to re-
quirements upon the under side. The two middle
planks — or the four middle slats, if these are
used — should be movable, either by hinges, or
may be left loose. They can thus be daily swung
up, and the cement beneath disinfected very easily
and quickly. All moisture falls on about the
middle of the stall, and thence it easily percolates
to the gutter at the heel-posts; nor is there any
chance for the accumulation of filth as in the
ordinary stall. Of course whether planks or
slats are used, the ordinary separations between
them will be observed.
This arrangement is advised, provided earth
floors cannot be arranged, than which nothing is
better, cheaper, or more easily renewed. Six inches
of large stone, six of gravel or ashes, and four to
six of earth, make an ideal floor, self-draining,
39
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
comfortable, healthy, and natural to the horse
and his feet and eyes.
All hay should be fed from the floor, and no
hay-racks ever provided. The feed-boxes should
be movable, whether wood or iron, that they
may be scoured and sunned to keep them sweet.
A place should be provided in every stall to set
a water-bucket.
Stall partitions should never be solid, at all
events near the floor. This construction is ab-
solutely inappropriate to our climate, and it is
marvellous that neither owners, stablemen, nor
builders have considered this most essential de-
tail. If any of them would spend a hot summer’s
night in one of the stalls to which they condemn
their horses, they would know the reason. An
inch or two between planks allows air to circulate
at the bottom of the apartment, and to carry the
foul odors up and away. The partitions should
always be of open work, at least above five feet, in
order that horses may see each other, be sociable,
eat better, and do better. Imagine the solitary
confinement of the average equine, staring at a
blank wall, another behind him, and one on each
side !
If possible the apartment for horses should
40
SPABLING AND SPABLES
reach clear to the roof of the building, and no
loft should be imposed; or if it 1s, the men’s
rooms should never be over, or so situated that
they must walk over, the horses, which are entitled
to undisturbed rest. If anything must be crowded
and skimped for room and air, let it be the carriages
and the human, and not the equine occupants.
Air, air, air; none of our stables get half enough.
That builder would do well who would leave an
aperture of a few inches all around the top of the
horse apartments, which could not be caulked by
any ingenuity of stablemen, who superheat and ill-
ventilate all stables in order that they may them-
selves be kept warm and enjoy the vitiated air to
which they are accustomed. Even direct draught
is better than too little air. Any arrangement for
ventilation is good, provided there is just twice
as much of it as the owner and architect have
agreed to be necessary. A lofty stable ventilates
itself somehow; a low one is never really well
aired, for we must remember that for ten or
twelve hours of the twenty-four it is shut tight.
No matter ow you get air — only get lots of it.
Light should never come from directly in front
or directly behind, but if it must, the glass should
be white- (or rather gray-) washed. More defec-
41
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
tive vision is caused by badly and improperly
lighted stables than from any other cause. Lots
of light means plenty of windows, and numerous
windows insure plenty of air, if only by way of
ill-fitting casements. Windows hinged at the
bottom prevent direct draught.
Hay and grain should be stored on the ground
floor if possible, and if upstairs, over carriages
and not over horses, being thrown down a chute
or trap-door at one end, or in the middle of the
gangway, and thence fed out. If this trap has no
door provided, it greatly assists the matter of
ventilation.
Watering should always be done by buckets.
Troughs get filthy, and a sick horse will infect a
whole stable in this way. These drinking buckets
should never, under any pretext, be used for other
purposes.
Harness rooms need good light, and space
enough to carry things in and out without knock-
ing other articles off their hooks. Hot water in
quantity should always be obtainable, and the
room should be large enough to allow lounging
space for the men. The owner will find it to his
interest to make this room attractive to the men,
unless they have other sitting rooms as in large
42
STABLING AND STABLES
stables. Half the problem of satisfactorily hand-
ling servants is solved if you make their quarters
attractive enough to encourage them to stay at
home and about the premises.
There is no reason whatever why the internal
arrangement of any stable should be permanent,
and all partitions may just as economically be
movable. If space allows, the restricting of the
building to one story will prove economical in
that it will allow very light framing.
The “bail” as a separation between horses
presents all the desirable features of cheapness,
simplicity, airiness, and movability, and has been
used regularly by the writer with the utmost satis-
faction. He has kept many hundreds, — yes,
thousands, — of horses, utter strangers to each
other generally, and sometimes shod with sharp
shoes, in these arrangements, and has yet to
record the first accident. These “bails” expe-
dite stable work vastly by simplifying the labor
”»
of bedding down, “ mucking out,” and “setting
fair;”’ they may be instantly removed or swung
up out of the way, and no horse can get cast in
them. A “bail” consists simply of two planks,
or boards (one will answer fairly well), tongued
and grooved together, and stiffened by two braces
43
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
on each end. They may be painted, stained,
brass-mounted, or straw-decorated, and are sus-
pended at the head by a hook fastening into a
ring in the wall, and at the heel by a rope, brass
chain, or pipe-clayed cord, hanging either directly
from a ring in the ceiling, or running through a
pulley there which allows hoisting out of the way,
—a needless provision, since, by merely unhook-
ing it “fore and aft,” it may be put away anywhere.
Its lower side is about eighteen inches from the
floor, and its top about four feet, six inches,
from the same point, and the partitions are
hung about four feet apart, — although horses
do well in even three feet, six inches space, so
elastic is this accommodation from its freedom to
swing aside. A kicker will abandon his attempts
at mischief when he finds that his efforts produce
no other effect than to swing the obstacle gently
to and fro.
The animals were tethered by ropes about
eighteen inches long, spliced into a ring running
upon a “traveller”? which runs up and down the
wall from about twenty inches above the ground
surface, to about four feet, six inches ; the free end
being provided with a hook which snaps into the
head-stall ring, the regular halter-shank (also pro-
44,
STABLING AND STABLES
vided with a strap) being detached and hung over
the bail-heel ready for use. Thus the horse can
eat and lie down in comfort, but can neither get
cast nor assail his neighbor. The divisions should
not be too wide, or the occupants may stand cross-
wise of them. All boxes are framed on the
ground surface, and about eight feet above it by
scantlings which pin together; the uprights at
the corners being mortised at top and bottom,
and readily slipping into place; the partitions
(slatted from the ground up) fitting into braces in
these uprights and being secured by hooks; the
doors hanging on pintles fastened in the proper
uprights, and the front of the box consisting
wholly of two doors which both swing open and
allow easy access to it. Everything is light. Two
men will set one up in twenty minutes, while so
great is the elasticity that no horse can kick or
break it down. The writer has eighty-six of these
boxes, made in 1894, and they are to-day (1902) all
perfect, although they have been put up and taken
down dozens of times, and shipped all about by
freight as well—not one penny having as yet
been spent in repairs—and they cost complete,
$5.00 each! ‘Further particulars, specifications,
etc., are at the service of any one interested.
45
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
These random notes have nothing of the scien-
tific and probably less of the interesting to them.
The writer has constructed and arranged many
stables, some to hold four hundred horses, and
has always followed the plans outlined here, and
always with success. The last things any builder
need bother himself about in constructing stables,
are drainage, light, and air, provided he will cast
science to the winds and simply provide amply
for the last two details (and then double his allow-
ance), and arrange the first, so far as the stable
goes, as recommended here. Genuine disinfec-
tants are too cheap and plentiful nowadays to
make it necessary or worth while to scientifically
arrange drainage which is sure to be neglected.
46
Chapter lV
STABLE MANAGEMENT
HE question of economical stable man-
agement is a matter that sooner or
later comes closely home to both the
heart and the pocket of the amateur
who invests in horseflesh, and who is, as a rule,
heavily handicapped by the fact that he is igno-
rant of proper methods, and of the point where
wise liberality should cease and true economy
begin. Primarily, difficulty arises from the fact
that the first economy the novice practises is
almost invariably a most unwise one. This is
an unwillingness to pay first-class men first-class
wages ; the trying to make a born “ hewer of
wood and drawer of water” successfully fill the
place of a capable servant ; the putting of a man
in charge of a stud or stable whose only previous
“four-in-hand”’ experience has been gained by
looking after three cows and a horse; the in-
trusting of the family to the steerage of a deck-
47
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
hand whose experience not improbably, has been
acquired upon the quarter-deck of a dump-cart ;
the employment of a groom to “do” horses
whose most energetic efforts are directed toward
“doing”’ his employer. A man will cheerfully
expend large sums in the purchase of expensive
horses, carriages, and harness, lease a costly stable,
and go liberally into other details, but, when the
matter of employing servants comes up, he begins
to retrench, and not improbably winds up by
engaging some incompetent, who has no real
knowledge of, or fitness for, his business. Forth-
with, horses go lame and grow thin, paint and
varnish tarnish, harness grows shabby, and gene-
ral family complaint and dissatisfaction brings the
whole outfit ultimately,in a more or less dilapida-
ted condition, to the auction block, and to the loss
side of the ledger. Better far a first-class man
and poor horses, etc., than the best that money
can buy and an incompetent in charge. The
good man, who is liberally paid, has his em-
ployer’s interest vitally at heart, and the matter of
perquisites will receive much less attention from
him than from the employee, who, knowing his
own worth, is forced by circumstances to accept a
wage which is not really a fair return for the
48
“WIV NOLIVH| TVWLIdV7) Wi
STABLE MANAGEMENT
ability he possesses. A coachman or stud-groom
should receive some reward for the economies he
practises; should be, in a way, sharer in the
results of any retrenchment which, while main-
taining the efficiency of the service, he is able to
effect.
An employer may well say to such a man, “ I
am prepared to spend so much per month per
horse for feed, so much for repairs, so much for
fresh horses, etc. Upon any diminution of
these expenses which you are able to effect still
affording me the first-class service I require, I
am ready to pay you a certain percentage”
(twenty-five per cent or fifty per cent, according
to circumstances). ‘“ If, however, your manage-
ment causes this outlay, which I find from in-
quiry is reasonable, to be exceeded, you must
go.” If, in addition to this, the head man is
always allowed to engage his own subordinates,
which promotes harmony and general efficiency,
it will be found that he is quite certain to work
with an eye single to his employer’s interests.
Upon the invariably usable condition of one’s
horses depends the satisfaction in keeping them,
and many of our current stable methods are cal-
culated to rejoice the heart of horse dealer and
: 49
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
veterinarian alike. We have adopted wholesale,
the systems prevalent in England with but little
Inquiry into their necessity or appropriateness
to this country and climate, and have accepted
the dictum of ignorant and non-practical men
without comment or personal experiment, making
our animals fit the treatment instead of suiting
the methods to them. It is really astounding
that intelligent and wide-awake men will gravely
consult an employee in such matters and be ex-
actly guided by his opinion, when in their own
business affairs they neither request nor accept
the advice of their subordinates — men frequently
really able to competently advise. If John saysa
horse needs physic, forthwith he gets it ; if James
— who does n’t knowa splint from a spavin— con-
demns a horse as unsound, so it must be; if
Charles decides that the horses had better not
go out, they generally stay in. One does not
consult the cook about the china, or the maid
about the linen — where does the other servant
come in that he must necessarily be an authority ?
In the first place we keep our horses too warm,
stables too close, and use clothing too heavy. The
race-horse people have the right idea about this
matter, and one never sees more healthy, bloom-
Lie)
STABLE MANAGEMENT
ing coats on any horses. heir charges are kept
stripped in all weathers, and, provided a horse is
thoroughly cooled out, externally and internally,
everything is left open on him, and the $30,000
stake horse thrives under an exposure that would
put most of our coddled harness-horses in the
bone-yard inside of twenty-four hours. A horse
well fed and healthy will stand a vast amount of
exposure, and will be all the better for it. Blankets
as generally used are a delusion anda snare. “A
full grain-bin is the best body-brush,” and ex-
perimentwill prove that medicine-chestand doctor’s
bills are quite unnecessary if the horse is habitu-
ated to an exposure as stimulating as it is sanitary,
—one which may keep a stableman moving to
keep warm, but the more useful perhaps on that
account. Open up the stables, pack away the
blankets, and realize that a horse is healthy in
proportion as he approaches his natural state, and
that a hard working horse, as our cabbers and
other general-purpose animals prove, will thrive
under an amount of exposure that, according to
popular belief, ought to kill him off-hand.
Our accepted idea of condition in carriage
horses is wrong, anyway, and our eye has been
accustomed, by the over-fattened condition of
SI
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
show and sale horses, to accept a wholly false idea
of fitness for actual use. What we call suitable
?
“condition”’ is generally secured by the presence
of soft and useless flesh, clogging to the vital as
hampering to the external parts, and ready to
produce and augment a feverish condition at any
slight over-exertion, or sudden change of temper-
ature. Private stablemen do not know how to
‘cool out”’ a horse properly, or if they do, don’t
take the trouble. External coolness is not enough
for safety. Heart and circulation must be regu-
lar and tranquil, and the temperature throughout
normal, before the animal can be safely put away.
This insured, one can disregard open windows,
draughts, and anything else.
Odd as it may sound, many stablemen overdo
the grooming act, and beat and hammer a nervous
horse with wisp and cloth until he is sore all over,
and ready to go mad if you rasp a brush with a
currycomb. This slam-bang business ts all wrong,
and will not do for the modern, thin-skinned, ner-
vous creature, which is replacing the old dung-hill
that would enjoy combing over with a garden
rake. Make your horse’s toilet as you make
your own: plenty of water and plenty of fric-
tion; but as you carefully dry yourself, so dry
§2
STABLE MANAGEMENT
him, not by brute strength, but with soft towels
or rub-cloths which absorb as they shampoo.
When a horse comes in wet, tired, and dirty,
don’t allow him to be dressed and hissed at for
hours. Would you like to come in from a long
walk and be fussed around for an hour after?
Scrape him, straighten his hair, roll thick band-
ages on legs, either after washing or over the
dirt; cover him up warm to let him steam out,
and leave him. When dry, simply remove band-
ages, take off blankets, and let alone until next
morning. Never be afraid to wash a horse, legs,
body and all; what is there about soap and
water that is poison to him, and good for you?
But dry him thoroughly from ear to toe as you
would yourself, and never fear scratches, colds,
nor other ill-results.
Oats, hay and bran; hay, bran and oats; the
poor equine in the average stable hardly knows
the taste of any other food; while condiments of
all sorts are regarded with holy horror by the
master, and used secretly, if at all, by the man.
Vary the food daily if possible, each meal if you
can. There are lots of excellent materials which
are disregarded, and which afford a most whole-
some change. Slightly damaged grain can be
a3
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
cheaply procured, cooked or steamed, and com-
bined in varying quantities and flavors. Stale
bread and cake can often be bought of the bakeries
at very low prices per barrel. Numberless food-
stuffs are perfectly appropriate for equine use;
sugar, molasses, salt, etc., dissolved and sprinkled
on hay, etc., will insure the greedy consumption
of even the poorer qualities. Don’t think horses
must always have choicest Timothy hay, best oats,,
etc., for other grades properly treated are just as
appetizing, wholesome, and nourishing. You’ve
eaten hash yourself; if you take such chances
and do well, why not your animals?
The watering question is another “ bugaboo.”
Why cannot a horse even after active exertion,
provided heart action and circulation have reached
the normal point, have all the water he wants, if
its temperature is nearly that of the body? Of
course he can. Don’t you drink ice-water your-
self when hot? and if the fool-killer does n’t get
you there and then, what harm is coming to him
if he swallows a few quarts of tepid fluid? If
water is always left where horses can get at it,
they will never over-indulge, and, somehow, this
should always be arranged. You are not always
thirsty at six, twelve, and six o’clock yourself, yet
54
STABLE MANAGEMENT
very much in need of refreshment at odd times,
and your horse has the same desires. In fact, if
there is one hour in the day when an animal
really needs water—and never gets it—it is
about ten o ’clock at night, when he has consumed
and digested an immense amount of dry prov-
ender, and when nature demands that he flush
his system copiously. It is astonishing what a
difference attention to this most important detail
will make in the condition of horses. Individual
preference must be carefully considered also.
Many are night feeders and will only eat heartily
,
at that time. Many shy “doers” require their
food in small quantities and at frequent periods ;
some do better if they see plainly in every direc-
tion and enjoy the association of their stable-
mates; other misanthropes prefer seclusion. Ifa
horse is a bad feeder he will generally drink pretty
well, and his nourishment may be given him in
liquid form. No animal will take on flesh or
hold it well unless he is a good and deep drinker,
and this most important characteristic of the
easily fattened steer is equally essential in the
horse.
In shoeing we have vastly improved these
latter days, and all honor to the craft which so
53
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
speedily recognized and accepted modern methods.
Just at present the fad runs to a long toe in front
because certain show horses which had a tendency
to “mix’”’ needed such balancing to square them
away, and to attain the high action sought. For
use, however, such methods are to be condemned,
and no one can imagine how much this system
has to do with the premature disablement of
numbers of our fast trotters and high-stepping
horses. Weight in heel or toe according to need
will improve a horse’s high stepping, but, for
every-day work, an ordinary light shoe is all that
should be used, and it must be remembered that
the heavy shoes are never kept upon show horses
for more than a few days, or they lose all their
effect. The rubber pads, now in such general
use, are an excellent thing and almost a necessity,
but they will often make a horse go sore and
short, especially those with naturally weak quarters
and heels, while some few, already inclined to go
“sroggy,” they will benefit by relieving the con-
cussion. For country work, tips properly applied
(mind, properly applied) all round are as good a
protection as can be used, but one must not
expect to find them immediately successful upon
an animal whose feet have for years been accus-
56
STABLE MANAGEMENT
tomed to protection, any more than one can com-
fortably go barefoot until Nature has adapted
herself to the change. There is far too much
stuffing of feet and smearing them with oil and
blacking externally. A wet sponge confined in
the foot by a bit of steel or a stick is better than
any packing, which a wet swab tied around the
coronets will assist; while for dressing, a wipe
with a damp sponge will insure a better appear-
ance than an application of blacking, which
will be covered with dirt before your equipage
gets around to the front door. A horse’s foot is
provided with pores as is your own, and if these
are clogged with grease, etc., local health cannot
obtain for long.
Pages can be written upon the most unimpor-
tant of these details, and it is only possible to
touch upon a very few of them within the
boundaries allowed. So important are they:
to the enjoyable and profitable use of horse-
flesh that the amateur will be well repaid if he
will begin to experiment for himself, and to real-
ize how exactly the hygiene, accepted as sen-
sible for the biped, applies to the needs of the
quadruped.
Taking one day with another, and averaging
57
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
the periods of expensive and of cheap feed, the
cost of feeding and bedding a horse will reach
about twenty-five cents per day, if the best of
everything is bought; if lower grades, and the
various materials recommended are purchased,
the cost may well run down to fifteen cents,
though this would hardly be possible, without
buying at wholesale. Large quantities of grain,
etc., should not be stored for too long a time
in closed bins, or it will heat, and be damaged.
Foods are best (if mixed) prepared not over
six or eight hours before feeding lest they
sour.
About twenty-five minutes will suffice if the
man is active, and has everything handily ar-
ranged, to thoroughly clean any horse, and there
is no occasion for him to kill time over the job
unnecessarily. The time requisite to cooling out,
and putting away after work, varies with the ani-
mal’s condition on arrival. The ordinary carriage,
given the usual accessories of hose, ample water
supply, etc., should be washed in the same time,
a buggy or runabout in about fifteen minutes.
The ordinary single harness will need twenty
minutes of attention, aside from its steels, and
metal work, which will require time in comparison
58
STABLE MANAGEMENT
with their condition and amount. All necessaries
in the way of sponges, chamois, ‘‘ compo,”
soap, polish, etc., should be bought in quantity,
and issued as needed, as such economies all
count.
59
Chapter, V
CONDITION AND CONDITIONING
ATISFACTORY working condition, that
bodily fulness of outline which not im-
properly may also be associated with hard-
ness of flesh and fineness of muscle is,
givenordinary attention to the usually unconsidered
trifles, and genuine interest in the welfare of one’s
dumb beasts, neither difficult to attain, nor to
maintain. All horses in work should, as denoted
by coat and countenance, be constantly in the
bloom of health, and as evidenced by action and
appetite in the flush of vigor; nor is there any
excuse, in private stables at least, for their exhib-
iting other appearance. Be your man ever so
highly recommended, or ever so affectionately
regarded by yourself and family, any appearance
of dulness of courage or roughness of coats
among his charges is proof positive that he does
not know his business, and, if he is allowed full
swing in stable management, no excuses should
60
“ONTTOOHOG HLYO AV
CONDITION AND CONDITIONING
be accepted; if he is not, and you look after
things yourself, better far, for your own credit, to
resign in his favor, or to find some one able to
supplant you both, for the ability of the horse is
largely dependable upon his treatment, and he,
at least, will of a certainty “do as he is done by.”
Given a hearty feeder and one who is regularly
worked and exercised, his care resolves itself
chiefly into the matter of feeding and grooming;
but there is a vast army of the other kinds,
excellent in all respects, but wanting in little
details, that nursing and coddling over, which, to
the detriment of their appearance and of their
reputation, they seldom get.
The average horse is not fed or watered often
enough, early enough, or late enough. With his
small stomach and voluminous intestinal arrange-
ment little and often is the necessary and whole-
some rule, and the long hours of the winter’s
night are made doubly irksome by the fact that
after a certain period the poor animal is both
hungry and thirsty; nor will the provision of a
large feed of hay and grain obviate the trouble,
because his own breath and the usual stable
excretions render the provender unpalatable long
before appetite has prompted its consumption,
61
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
while the greedy feeder will gorge himself with a
mass which his digestive apparatus is wholly un-
able to handle. The man who will invent an
automatic feeder that shall expose extra feeds at
certain hours will meet a vital want; but, failing
this, the man who feeds at say six and ten in the
morning, and two, six and ten in the afternoon,
the usual daily amounts, subdivided to meet the
occasions, will find his sure reward in the im-
mediately bettered condition of his horses, and
inthe fact that they are ready, at any time, (to
use. Especially must the thin animal have his
meals often; in concentrated form, and small in
quantity. No satisfactory progress can be expected
if allowance is not made for the weakened con-
dition of the subject’s digestive apparatus, which
is the prime cause of his failure to do well.
Exercise of course has its necessary place in the
attainment of satisfactory condition, and herein
we all err on the side of insufficiency. Not one
horse in twenty in private stables is used enough
to keep him really healthy. If the pair go down
town on a shopping tour they must do no more
that day ; if our saddle horses get an hour in the
park or riding school every day they are in luck.
Any horse in work, can do and should do his ten
62
CONDITION AND CONDITIONING
miles a day, and that at a smart pace, not jogging
along at huckster’s trot, but roading fast and
promptly.
So far as stable management goes, its depart-
ments of menu and massage are of first impor-
tance. To simply gallop a race horse is by no
means to train him. As one taciturn yet won-
derfully successful trainer replied to the question
as to where he worked his horses, “In my
stable.” And that is three-fourths of the whole
matter. As to ventilation there cannot be too
much, draughts being prevented as much as pos-
sible; nor should there ever be noticeable the
slightest trace of ammonia. Disinfectants that
really disinfect — not simply cause one stench in
order to smother another —are too plentiful to
allow for any such evidence of neglect, whether
the stable shelters one horse or one thousand ;
and air may be plentiful, yet foul, or limited, yet
fresh. Get all the ozone you can manage, and
then try your best to get a little more.
As we carefully cleanse the lungs by proper
ventilation, so we must attend to the “ external
breathing apparatus,’ so to speak — the pores of
the skin— by regular and thorough grooming,
by frequent washing, and by clipping the hair, if
63
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
the animal is to work in winter, and is heavy
coated. That washing should be advised is con-
trary to general practise, but that has no bearing
on its practical advantage. A cold bath and
shower, followed by a quick scrape and rub-out
(alcohol shampoo to follow, if desired), is as in-
vigorating to your horse as to yourself, and just
as healthful. Moreover, the recipient is left
absolutely clean, as he should always be and
seldom is. There need be, and should be, no
more “horsey” smell to your steed and his
clothing than to yourself. Clean clothing is a
luxury to him as to you, and you had far better
be untidy than to have him appear so. A lazy
groom can so smear a horse over with damp
sponge and rub-cloth that he shall look fairly
well to the eye; but if you know that he receives
a bath daily, or thrice weekly, he will come very
near being sweet and savory all the time.
If the lungs and skin are regularly well cleansed
the highroad to health will be in sight, and it but
remains to see that the digestive organs are
properly nourished and regularly flushed to at-
tain the goal of perfect physical condition. So
far as nutriment goes, hay is, of course, the staple,
and furnishes in addition the bulk which is needed
64
CONDITION AND CONDITIONING
in the stomach to insure perfect digestion. The
popular demand is all for a coarse and clear Tim-
othy hay, woody in fibre, and not freely digest-
ible ; but why this should be the case, at least for
general purposes, will ever remain a mystery. Of
course, horses in fast work and highly grain-fed
get but little hay (although the more advanced
trainers have modified this); but the average
beast may have all he wants, and the finer grasses
(and clovers) early cut and nicely cured are
cheap, wholesome, preferable, and rarely used.
One hears much of the celebrated “blue grass”
of Kentucky, but finds it simply the “June
grass” of all northern localities; while the stock-
barns of that State, thoroughbred and trotting estab-
lishments alike, are filled solid to the roofs with
clover hay, and that is what grows and nourishes
every celebrated race-horse that upholds the fame
of the “ blue-grass region.” Such fodder may be
a little dusty, but it is easily sprinkled, and no
horse keeper need fear to outrage tradition and
feed the finer grades of this material with great
economy and much satisfaction. Oats, as the
staff of equine life, should form the basis of the
general ration. But corn-on-the-ear, no other
way, is a most satisfactory adjunct for eight
5 65
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
months in the year, and a breakfast of ten to
fifteen ears of a cold morning is as grateful as
you find a Yarmouth bloater now and then.
There is a strong prejudice against corn, but
it is a mistaken objection, provided ear-corn,
rather than the shelled or the cracked, be gener-
ally fed. Bran in its various grades, according to
the animal’s characteristics, is a most useful and
generally cheap food, and mixed with cheap oats
and cooked (by pouring on boiling water, and
covering for a few hours) may well be used
for feeding as a warm evening meal, well salted,
on, say, Saturday nights. All the other grains
may be usefully and profitably fed in the same
way as well as brewers’ grains, stale bread, etc.,
experiment determining the needs of the indi-
vidual. Cut feed is an excellent provender in
theory, and in practice if carefully managed, but
its steady use has caused many a death, and made
many a hopeless dyspeptic. The difficulty is to
keep the stomach sweet, especially with greedy
feeders, who will bolt their provender. To use it
safely a mixture of equal parts of powdered ginger,
gentian, and bi-carbonate of soda should be kept,
and a tablespoonful mixed with at least one feed
daily. Flaxseed jelly, made by pouring boiling
66
CONDITION AND CONDITIONING
water on the whole seed and letting it “jell,” is a
most valuable feeding adjunct, and as wholesome
as it is appetizing. A half-pint at a feed will
work wonders in a horse’s appearance, or it may
be given as a drink, or as a drench. Linseed
meal has, under modern processes, little feeding
value, as all the oil is extracted by pressure and
by chemicals.
While the hearty and hardy equine is the most
eagerly sought and most easily cared for, there
are numbers of high-strung, nervous and “ crotch-
ety” individuals, who, properly handled, will out-
work and out-last their more phlegmatic confreres.
For these certain methods must be tried, and
various means applied to soothe the nervous
temper, coax and stimulate the generally wayward
appetite. A real “shy doer” is a fascinating
study, just as is a brilliant cripple. “If I can
only get him right, he’s a wonder,” we have all
soliloquized many a time! Your shy feeders
will always drink if they won’t eat, or they can
be made to drink, thus disproving the adage that
the “devil may lead a horse to water, but he
cannot make him drink.” You can drench him
with the essence of say eight pounds of hay three
times a day, with the addition of a half-pint of
67
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
flaxseed jelly each time (that is, if he won't
drink it, which he generally will). Skim milk
can be bought very cheap, and with flaxseed
(or with that and “hay tea”’) affords excellent
nourishment. Molasses also, the old-time black
kind, is a grand appetizer; may be diluted and
sprinkled on hay, etc., or fed clear, and a pair of
very old horses were, to the writer’s knowledge,
kept for a long time on clear molasses, and a little
hay, which they mumbled over and rejected after
extracting the juice. Apples, carrots, etc., all
kinds of flavoring materials, may be cheaply pro-
cured and appropriately used, so that there is no
excuse for any man to say that he cannot keep
his animal in condition, unless his horse has
some grave physical ailment.
Physic — purgative — is rarely or never needed,
especially if the subject is well salted, either in his
Saturday night feed, or by the provision of Glau-
ber salts, or rock-salt, at frequent intervals, and by
the weekly provision of a grass-sod (if obtainable),
roots, dirt, and all. Very rarely the kidneys need
slight stimulation, and occasionally the liver gets
sluggish, but if so, the veterinary had better be
consulted than to tinker with your horse’s inter-
nals as your own theories or your man’s fancies
68
CONDITION AND CONDITIONING
suggest. You take your $5 Waterbury to the
do be
equally respectful to your $500 equine’s main-
watchmaker’s for cleansing and oiling,
spring. “Carron oil” —linseed oil and lime-
water — may be given (from a pint to a quart)
occasionally, and can do no harm, provided the
recipient is laid by for a day.
Now we come to a matter that is usually re-
garded with horror and distrust,—the use of
arsenic. ‘This drug, properly used, is nothing in
the world but a strong tonic, and, like all such
powerful agents, its use must be gradually be-
gun, briefly continued, and gradually abandoned.
’
“ Fowler’s solution” is a very valuable medicine,
and in capable hands works excellent results, stimu-
lates faltering appetite, and generally tones up the
system. Quinine, another powerful tonic, is also
wonderfully helpful with hard-working horses,
and with some it seems to be as useful as the
dangerous and distrusted arsenic. There are
more horses (which do not seem to do well) suf-
fering from genuine malaria than would be be-
lieved, and especially in the spring is this drug a
most valuable agent to the maintaining of health,
appetite, and courage. Do not for a moment
imagine that the writer is an advocate of the use of
69
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
stimulants, medicines, etc., for general and regular
use, for that is not the case; but there are not a few
useful and appropriate methods and medicaments
which we are prone to condemn wholesale because
we have seen them abused and not used.
The water and drinking vessels must be of the
purest. Can you expect a sensitive creature to
relish drinking from the pail which has just held
soap, and is contaminated with the other stable
uses to which it may be put? or to be other than
nauseated when the same sponge is used to wash
his mouth, his legs,and his feet? And can the
creature relish a mash mixed by hands uncleaned
from the filth of stable labor? Or does a sour
manger under his nose all day, a steaming hay-
rack beside that, and a reeking straw-bed under
him, sound like a combination likely to create a
thirst to be acceptably assuaged only from a
bucket about which clings the filth of months?
No wonder we have some light feeders!
Horses should have their hay on the ground
in front of them. They may waste some, but it
is generally only that which has become distaste-
ful to them, anyway, by being breathed upon.
Besides, hay nowadays is as cheap as rye-straw,
and no more expensive if used as bedding. Feed-
70
CONDITION AND CONDITIONING
boxes should “take out,” and what is more, they
should be taken out after each meal, washed and
sunned if possible. Ifa certain time is allowed
for the consumption of grain, horses will learn it,
the light feeders eat as much or more, and not be
disgusted with a balance steaming under their
noses.
On days that no work is to be done, the feed-
ing must be regulated accordingly ; and if any acci-
dent, etc., is likely to prevent outdoor work for an
extended period, a mild dose of physic may be
given at once to advantage, which, with rather
laxative food, will prevent any tendency to
feverish symptoms from its sudden and abso-
lute cessation.
There are so many dozens of little details which
bear directly upon this most important matter
that one hardly knows how to stop or where to
begin. Various rarely considered details, such as
the condemnation of many horses as subjects to
fits, which suffer from nothing but disordered
liver and digestion generally ; the value of bleed-
ing in certain cases, where a horse is nervous, shy
feeding, and generally upset ; the treatment of feet
and legs with relation to maintenance of health, —
these and dozens of other matters must be left
ip
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
untouched. The “condition” herein referred
to means that of the carriage, the hunter, the
saddle, and the general-purpose horse; with the
race-horse and the trotter we have nothing to
do as yet.
72
Chapter VI
THE «GREEN”? OR UNACCLIMATED HORSE
AND HIS CARE
T comes to the ill fortune of most of us, at
some period of our horse-keeping experi-
ence, to purchase, and be obliged to care
for, a horse fresh from the country —west
or east, north or south—to watch for and tend
him in his acclimation sickness, which is certain
sooner or later, with varying degree of severity,
to overtake him, and to subsequently congratulate
ourselves upon his recovery, or to mourn his
untimely demise.
The trouble which we thus call “acclimation
’
fever” is rarely other than a more or less severe
attack of influenza, brought on by the transfer
from airy country barns, or pastures, to hot and
ill-ventilated dealers’—or private—stables in
town or city. In the former case the animal is
not improbably dosed with drugs to resist the
approach of the disease, and when removed to the
73
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
private stable his condition is the more liable to
make him not only ill, but seriously so. As the
Esquimaux succumb to the conditions of civiliza-
tion, as you yourself, after weeks spent in camp-
ing out and exposure of all sorts, immediately
become ill with a cold on taking up your usual
habits of indoor life, so is your horse upset by
changed air, food, water, and surroundings, while
probably the mental depression and despondency
caused by his homesickness for familiar scenes
play their important part in reaching this result.
Horses are poor patients, possess but feeble
resistive powers, and the gamest and most sturdy
succumb to apparently trifling ailments, which
would never seriously affect a human being —the
truth being that not only have they often a “ faint”
heart, but also a really weak heart, and one
sometimes failing totally in most extraordinary
fashion. ‘True it may be, that such cases have
“kept up” bravely until nature was exhausted,
and after their disease had advanced further than
was appreciated — though this is hardly likely.
Physicians find great difficulty in diagnosing
cases of the human subject where questions may
be answered and symptoms explained. How
much more arduous to successfully locate and
74
"AULNOOD JHL WOWd Lsa[
THE “GREEN? HORSE
combat illness in an animal which can do neither,
nor call attention to other complications which
may exist! In equine pathology all treatment
must be speculative, and one can but try and try
again. Certain evidences insure the presence
of special troubles, but the serious ailment may
totally escape notice, as in the cases mentioned
of apparently weak heart. Privation and fatigue,
the horse’s limitations, insure that he shall but
feebly resist.
Nature is the best veterinary, and her indicated
treatment of rest, and light feeding will result
favorably five times out of six, and her repairs,
slowly made, are the more enduring for that
reason.
Sooner or later, then, you find your “green”
horse running at the nose, and possibly the eyes,
refusing his feed and probably coughing and
sneezing a little. If you can, forthwith stop his
grain; feed him only a little hay (or a mash,
if his throat is sore, as probable), never more than
he will eat clean in thirty minutes or so, and all
remnants cleared away at once; all the water he
will drink, with a dose (at once) of powdered nitre,
or one ounce saltpetre in it to keep his kidneys
active; clothe him warmly, bandaging his extrem-
75
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
ities well, and insure fresh air, but no draught ;
then, leaving him alone until he gets better, it
wil] generally be but a few days before he is all
right again; nor, beyond a simple febrifuge, and
a liniment for the sore throat, could the most
skilled veterinarian do anything further. It is,
of course, best to send for him when available (as
he nearly always is) but this is written for those
who may not care to go to that expense.
Rigid cleanliness must be enforced, and the
nose, eyes, etc., as well as the surrounding wood-
work, gently sponged and cleaned with tepid
water, for a sick horse is generally rather nasty.
The head may be steamed if there is much
accumulation of mucus, and if the throat is very
sore, but if this is done (hot water and vinegar is
as good as anything) the head and neck must be
carefully dried, and protected by a hood, or harm
may ensue.
A thermometer is useful if understood, but is
dangerous in the hands of an amateur, for the
reason that he will always be “panicky” if he
uses it. A horse’s temperature constantly varies,
and the odd degree or two of change from normal,
which may seem to presage fever, has very prob-
ably no significance. One should experiment
76
THE “GREEN } HORSE
with healthy animals by placing the fingers on
the bars of the mouth under the tongue, for
fever is quickly detected here, the temperature
being about ninety-eight degrees in health. The
pulse is below the jaw and runs about forty de-
grees in health, and it is then pliant and full,
not hard and wiry. The following will be found
excellent to relieve the cough, etc.:
Extract of Belladonna . . . . . ¥% ounce
PowidercdwOplum: jo So) 6. | 2) 2) dtachms
Powdered) Camphor ))('3' 0 y's) 3) ‘drachms
Powdered Iniquorice, | si). = 2). 2 2 ounces
Wralasses gn thinn (ecliiie ssi) \)\raitve @ oe eapine.
Mix ; smear tablespoonful on tongue three or four times daily.
The throat may be smeared —not rubbed, or
it will blister — with
Lard Ae ie Tome cath orhiniiake las tee RO DOUnG
Turpentine . Bee (etare okies I pint
Melt lard and mix turpentine.
When the “pink eye,” as it is called from the
tendency of the eyes to close and be weak (needing
a darkish stable when this occurs), has passed its
worst, there is often a dropsical tendency of the
legs ensuing, or remaining, which may hugely
swell them, giving them the appearance of having
77
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
been tied with strings. This will help toward
cure:
Todide of Potassium sty ofa St. ie a eT POUNCE
Carbonate of/-Ammonia $s) 45.5) 3) ieounce
Powdered Gentian . . Se) alo ounce
Eight balls (or drench if throat is still sore); two each day
for four days.
Soft food is indicated, but very little of any-
thing will be eaten. If weakness continues, the
strength may be maintained, and heart stimulated,
by doses of whiskey and quinine at frequent inter-
vals ; or this treatment may begin at the first indi-
cation of disease.
Soft and easily digested food should be the
rule for some weeks after recovery, for a latent
weakness —a sort of low fever—remains and
any over-exertion may cause a relapse. Exercise
must gradually increase.
Of course few or none of these occurrences may
result. The horse may escape with a trifling
dulness for a few days that will hardly be notice-
able, and not even affect his ability for light work.
If this fresh or “ green” horse is put directly
to gentle, steady work, whereby he gets regularly
into the open air; if he is neither over-heated, nor
allowed to chill when warm ; if kidneys and bowels
78
Tae “GREEN HORSE
are kept active, that feverish tendencies may be
corrected ; if, in short, he is used just like any
other horse, only not quite so hard, he will have
little trouble, as proved by the thousands of
express, car, and cab horses, which are always put
at work, and, keeping on, are rarely sick.
We kill more horses by mistaken kindness
than we do by abuse. Your “green” horse tells
you (or your man) that he feels “ dumpish,” by
refusing his feed, or not eating up as he should.
Forthwith your energies are directed to tempting
him to eat not only as much as usual, but even
more, and his slightly feverish system is loaded up
with all sorts of stimulating stuff. As he seems
not quite himself, you decide he is best in the
stable for a few days, and there he stops, to eat,
to grow very ill, and possibly to die, a victim to
your inexcusable ignorance, for it is that. You
have no business to own him if you will not
spare a few hours to inform yourself by reading
or by questions as to his care and needs.
Had you been advised by him, and kept the
food away until he asked for it, or even had you
used him and got him into the air, the chances
are that three or four days would have seen him
all right again. Use him, therefore, even if his
19
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
soft flesh shrinks; he will take no harm, and
quickly build up again; nor spare him just
’
because he is “the new horse,” and therefore to
be treated with the care accorded new furniture
or china. You bought him to work, and that it
is which insures his health and welfare.
Remember that your country horse will prob-
ably suffer from homesickness, and try to alleviate
this by insuring him equine companionship, by
little attentions and delicacies, etc. As you would,
in similar circumstances, brood over your condi-
tion if left in solitary confinement, so will he; as
your depression would be increased by over-feed-
ing and lack of exercise, so is his; as wholesome
fatigue insures the kindly oblivion to you of sleep,
soit will to him. Wherefore, use him’ ‘daily:
cherish him thoughtfully, treat him rationally,
and never fear the “bugaboo” of the fatalities
attending the acclimatizing of the “ green” coun-
try horse.
80
Chapter Vil
THE HORSE’S EDUCATION
HERE can be no such thing as a part-
nership arrangement in the handling of
any dumb beasts, and he who thinks
that this is exaggerated, and that
he and his horse are animated by a single purpose,
is laying up stores of trouble that will surely lead
him to ultimate disaster. The fables of the Arab
and his steed, and the verse or prose of various
writers who were composing for “ the gallery” of
the general public, make interesting reading; but
beware how you reduce these lovely theories to
practice. Any idea that your horse really knows
you from any one else, or that your touch has
any special influence over him, should be banished
from the mind, for it is the merest nonsense. To
any stranger who uses your tones he will pay as
much attention as to you; to any casual whose
nerve and experience chance to render the hand-
ling of the reins, etc., similar to that of the accus-
6 81
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
tomed hand, he will prove as biddable. “Go
on” may mean “stop” to him; “ Whoa” may
produce accelerated speed ; “ go away” may make
him come to you, provided he has been used to
so construe these commands, —and your actual
words are immaterial ; the tone and gesture are
the only mediums effective.
In “ educating” a horse one should carefully
remember three vitally important facts which
never change as characteristics, although they
may vary in degree. First, a horse 1s a fool, and
he isacoward. Nature intended that this should
be the case, in order that his failing should make
him distrustful ; that this foolish distrust should
render him timid because of his suspicions; and
that the combination of these characteristics should
prompt him, once his fears from whatever trivial
cause are thoroughly aroused, to use his chief
means of protection (his speed) in flight. A
horse will, of course, fight when cornered, as will
any moral weakling; but, save for a saucy colt,
which may now and then run at you, or an occa-
sional stallion which has been made savage by
solitary confinement and improper handling,
there is no such thing as any attempt to seek an
encounter with man, whose scent is disagreeable
82
Even ALit-rounpD ACTION.
if © ,
aarrt ry bs ey re F
SKS SOL Elo
hades ba
ae i <
>»
wt
ct aie y
“phe oe
vis =
t
‘ ry
+3 oo
A]
=o a3
Sioa ral
aa Sta
Ay
bal
Sa |
we
+
.
Gide wR
te aa
— SARS baar ge
Pee TiORSES DUCA TION
to the animal, and whose presence is distasteful,
until it is found that from him come certain ad-
vantages in the way of care and food. Second,
the horse is an animal of one idea, and cannot be
expected to consider two or more matters intelli-
gently at one and the same time. ‘This is, of
course, a part of the universal characteristics just
mentioned, and an essential portion, for it prompts
the one idea of terror of any strange object or
action; the one idea of flight over or through all
obstacles. Through fire and flame he returns to
his blazing stall with the one idea of seeking the
sanctuary which has always proved to him the
safe and secure haven. Do not consider that
these statements are intended to in any way vilify
the animal, but let us try to realize distinctly his
mental limitations, and be governed by them in
our treatment of him. Nothing but his foolish-
ness allows man to so successfully hoodwink him
as to his powerlessness to evade the labor which
he does not enjoy, and to obtain from him the
services which he does zor delight to render, but
which he imagines he cannot escape.
As to the “education” of a horse, much de-
pends, of course, upon what will satisfy the owner :
whether the “three royal R’s” are enough, or
83
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
whether the full collegiate course must be com-
pleted. He whois content that his children shall,
as he himself did, stop short at the merest rudi-
ments, will pooh pooh the higher branches; he
who believes that a horse is merely a beast which
turns either way if the steersman pull hard
enough, or stops if he pull more strongly, will
ridicule the idea of any further development; yet
may, if he choose, and has ordinary patience and
intelligence, convert his equine into a patent
safety conveyance under almost any circumstances.
The public are greatly to blame, that, through
mistaken economy, they will not make this “ edu-
cation” possible to the producer and the pur-
veyor. The qualities of fearlessness, etc., are
obtained by simply accustoming a horse to every-
thing; and this takes time and money. If you, as
a buyer, will not pay the extra price the acquire-
ment of these accomplishments has cost, a dealer
will have certainly no intention of spending any
more time in such efforts upon his merchandise
than will make them way-wise enough to pass
muster, and the fault is yours, and yours only, if
trustworthy horses are not easily obtainable. In-
stead of a properly educated steed at $500 or
more, you will persist in buying one you know is
84
’
THE HORSE’Sc EDUCATION
raw and green for $150; and the woe you thus
persistently court be upon your own head.
A horse may be taught to do anything possible
to any creature so formed, and to be fearless of
everything on earth, if he is accustomed to see
and hear all sights and sounds; and the fault in
training all colts and horses is that we seek the
quietest country locations, and most secluded
roads and fields for such purposes, and then have
to begin all over again when city life ensues. We
take the greatest care in harnessing the raw colt
that no loose straps hang about; that the gig does
not rattle, etc., yet he fears the dangling leather
(or chains,even) no more than the ordinary har-
ness; the clattering vehicle than the noiseless.
He will pull the wagon by his tail, and hold it
back by his unprotected quarters, thighs and
hocks, if you educate him to do it. An ideal
school for equines would contain pile-drivers,
thrashing machines, steam-drills, blowing paper,
electric and elevated cars, etc., in quantity ; while
a band of music, a company of artillery, and a
gang of quarrymen blasting rocks, would prove
useful accessories. Timid and foolish, the horse
does not discriminate, and notices nothing fam-
iliar, nearly everything strange; your artillery
85
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
wheel-horse which stands drowsily while cannons
fire in his face, has a convulsion at sight of a
fluttering apron.
As the ideal school is a medley of hideous sights
and sounds, so the ideal schoolmaster is dumb.
He who never speaks to a horse does well; he
whose vocabulary is absolutely limited to “whoa”
and “c’lk” is fortunate. These words should be
construed by your pupil as always meaning but
two things — instant and motionless stop in the
first case, and accelerated progress, to be regulated
by the feeling of the hand upon the reins, in the
other. Your voice alone, even in its kindest
tones, causes apprehension in the narrow-gauge
mind of the raw colt or wild horse, and he
is prevented by his natural limitations from
calmly comprehending the two details of speech
and action upon your part. Your actions he
finally appreciates through their personal effect;
and in the same way the tones accompanying
certain motions are finally accepted as signals.
Pray do not—O dear reader do not— enroll
yourself among that band of chirping and chir-
ruping dickey-birds who, with their incessant
““P-weep-p-p”’ and the “c’lk, c’lk, clk,” make
themselves a menace to others, and render them-
86
THE HORSE’S EDUCATION
selves a spectacle to the general public by their
vocal gymnastics. The man who is eternally
“Steady, old man,” or “ P-weep-p-p’”’-ing to
his horse is an infernal nuisance, and a menace
to every one within hearing. This wretched habit
causes you to spoil your own horse and to
needlessly irritate those of others; you have no
possible right to persist in it, and some day it will
be interdicted, at least in park-ways and bridle-
paths, by strict regulations.
If now your horse also comprehends the com-
mand “‘ Back,” he is indeed well equipped to prove
to youa thoroughly safe and satisfactory means of
transport, and to provide for you all the delights
to be so liberally gained from such outings.
Naturally horses vary greatly in their receptive
powers, and their intelligence is not always to be
gauged in the same notch. Every acquisition of
an accomplishment, every instance of implicit
obedience, renders much easier further advance in
the direction of higher education. Not only are
the body and muscles thus coerced, but obedience
follows more instantly as the futility of resistance
is understood, and there is practically no limita-
tion to the lengths to which this instruction may
proceed, allowing that the subject is not physically
87
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
deformed, and that only feats possible to him are
attempted.
You are greatly to blame, as a breeder or trainer,
if you do not teach your pupils to walk fast, and
to move actively at all paces; you are equally
culpable, as an owner and consumer, if you do not
improve your steed’s abilities in this direction to
the best of his powers. Remember that this pace
is, to the average horse, the only one susceptible of
improvement, and yet the gait upon which we
rarely attempt to work any betterment. Of course
the trotter or the race horse will gain increased
speed at their fastest paces through teaching, but
the average horse has his abilities at the trot and
gallop very accurately measured out to him at
birth, while his walk is what his trainer chooses
to make it. No horse is so regularly overdriven
and abused as the slow and dawdling walker,
none so appreciated as the free and active mover
at this gait. Your saddle or harness horse may
be greatly helped if you will but persistently try
to educate him.
Punishment must enter into the education of a
horse, and usually the quarrel which compels it
brews without a helping hand from you. No
animal is safe until he has been conquered in a
88
THE HORSE’S EDUCATION
discussion of this kind, and made to know that he
must obey, or physical pain to himself may follow.
Arguments are naturally useless, and no such
thing as mutual alliance or concession is possible;
nor must he for an instant imagine that he is the
superior ; you must be the boss and there must
be no possible misunderstanding about it. If you
have to punish, the sharp and sudden is the most
genuinely kind method; but the subject must be
allowed every opportunity to understand clearly
the reason for the discipline, and the punishment
itself must promptly follow the fault. It is true
that if you punish only for reasons that satisfy
yourself, it is strange how seldom you will inflict
such discipline at all; but even so the time always
comes when the recalcitrant must learn who is his
master. Punishment by no means always means
whipping or spurring, there are other methods, and
the “punishment must fit the crime,” as “ The
Mikado”’ says.
Ninety times in the hundred we punish at
the wrong time, and in the heat of passion.
Remember that if a horse is beaten for shying,
his narrow intelligence will always associate the
two events, and he will so confuse cause and effect
as to imagine that an encounter with a piece of
89
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
blowing paper, for instance, is synonymous with a
sound thrashing and a badly hurt mouth. There-
fore when next he meets this disconcerting object
he proceeds to turn round, to upset the buggy,
and to escape at all hazard from the vicinity of the
object which has been to him accompanied by
much physical distress. Remember that if he is
troubled by this so-called vice — which it never
is — his’ one-idead mind is perhaps to blame;
or his eyes may be wrong (he may be as near-
sighted as any of us); or the alarming sights may
be strange to him, needing only thorough famil-
larizing to be disregarded; or perhaps he may
be playing the fool from sheer light-heartedness,
and if so, to be circumvented by taking him
sharply in hand, “ shaking him up,” and pulling
him together as the awesome spectacle is passed.
Fear of any particular object is almost invari-
ably a token that at some previous time, and in
some other hands, serious fright or injury has been
associated with it, and if this seems to be the case
the utmost patience is called for in your treat-
ment of the timid, apprehensive creature.
While you must punish at times, and teach
the pupil that this will invariably follow wilful
rebellion, your caresses must as regularly, and even
99
?EE VFORSEs EDUCATION
more promptly, follow competent performance.
As cannot be too often repeated, however, these
must apply directly to the part involved, and not
to other portions of the body, which, while they
may also have been concerned in the action, are
not so actively implicated. If your Uncle John
lends you ten dollars, you do not return it to
Cousin Henry, and in the very same way if
your hunter jumps a fence, do not pat his neck,
but the hind quarters which he so ably em-
ployed; if he bends his neck and carries himself
as your hand directs, do not caress his shoulders.
Indiscriminate petting 1s worse than none at all,
and extremely confusing, while that which is
prompt and appropriate is the kerne/ of the nut,
the gist of the whole matter. The old books on
equestrianism were, in a way, insistent upon such
points, and while they were not strong upon the
’
“‘caress’’ clause, they came out brilliantly upon
the punishment part of it—and that directly to
the rebellious members, as instanced by the
advice “ to cure a balky horse”’ by tying a tom-
cat to a pole and shoving it between the hind
legs to scratch and bite, winding up with the
prophecy, ‘‘ And thus doing, doubt not that he
will go forward.”
gi
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
The rubbing of the forehead over the brain
is always gratifying to the animal, and doubly
so when he has obeyed; while the application
of the hand, or a light switch to the ears, when
rebellious has always proved especially effective
in obtaining obedience very quickly. Baucher,
the celebrated French equestrian, must be given
the credit for first discovering and intelligently
applying these principles of direct punishment
and reward, and while his pupils have tried vainly
to apply his teachings, their failures are not due
to error upon his part, or to mistakes in his
deductions, but to inability to carry out his teach-
ings, or, indeed, to unravel from the skein of
verbiage in which they are enmeshed the practical
fragments of his method.
Remember, as the Irishman said, that your
pupil “has a mouth on him,” and a most appre-
ciative palate behind that, and do not forget that
various tid-bits, as apples, carrots, sugar, etc.,
are as grateful to the inner quadruped as are
caresses to the outer. Of course you will always
be provided with such morsels if you are, “ round
and about”’ horses to any extent, and equally of
course you will not, if you are wise, hand them out
indiscriminately, but reserve them for the mo-
g2
THE HORSE’S EDUCATION
ments when they may make the most vivid im-
pression, and “tip” him with them as judiciously
as were your superiors moved to reward you, in
boyhood’s days, when various delicacies were
yours if — always if— you did or did not thus
and so.
Exhaustive and tedious rehearsals taught you
your letters, and no effort was ever made to have
you read before you could spell. A horse’s
education should follow the same lines. About
the first lesson kindergarten taught you was that
you had to obey, and even as the traits of disobedi-
ence and disorder became more and more con-
firmed if not combated, so the habit of submission
might be developed to any length — so far that
even man, a reasoning and intelligent being, should
have no active and aggressive mind of his own.
This same habit of non-resistance may be developed
in the horse to a remarkable extent, and not too
early can the initiative in this respect be taken,
nor too sternly can it be enforced.
Good manners in the subject who has never
been thoroughly “ bested” — allowed to attempt
revolt and met only with summary defeat — are
but the merest shell, which, like the “ shedder”’
crab, he is likely to cast aside without a moment’s
93
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
notice. His good behavior has been due to
laziness or indifference, or he has not been, through
fortunate environment, really alarmed. Some day,
however, something happens to arouse him, and
then look out, for no memory of previous fruit-
less rebellion recurs to him, and you will, as you
pick yourself out of the gutter or off the tree-
tops wish most earnestly that you had devoted
a few of the dollars, which must now go toward
doctor’s and wheelwright’s bills, to a thorough
collegiate course for your disappearing steed!
The domestic wheels turn more smoothly after
the first little ““spat’’ or two which really welds
the diverse natures more closely together; the
wheels of your vehicles will be safer from bruise
and blemish if similar squabbles arise between
horse and master, but they must have only the
one result of his defeat.
You may proceed along these educational lines
to whatever lengths you fancy, but the average
man will be well satisfied if the primary school
stage is passed, and its essentials thoroughly mas-
tered. The great drawback attending the advanced
education of all horses is two-fold: firstly the
public will not pay the prices which such time-
consuming work makes necessary ; and secondly,
of
THE *HORSE’S) EDUCATION
after the animal is thus trained, it is not easy to
find the man who is similarly qualified to use him.
The rudiments of behavior are therefore sufficient
for the average owner, and further advance is
not practical. If the animal knows his A. B. C.’s
thoroughly, that is a lot more than can be said
of the majority of them, and we should be grate-
ful for that. Every accomplishment may be
taught him ‘‘hind-side before” if you like, and
a pull to the right may mean turn to the left, as
it does when the ‘“‘jerk line” of the southern
four or six mule team is pulled, and thus we see
most of our equestrians conveying their wishes
to their saddle-backs, by exactly wrong signals
which nevertheless these patient creatures have
learnt to construe as meaning exactly what they
do wot say! If awkward blundering will effect
such results, what may not intelligent effort
attain ?
That latter-day Juggernaut, the noisy and
noisome automobile, has, as was the case when
the bicycle first appeared, excited much appre-
hension, and caused prophecies that driving and
riding would shortly become impossible. As
was the case with the bicycle, however, this “ bug-
aboo”’ will lose its terrors as it becomes more
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FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
common, and thereby horses get used to it. The
whole country is now so thickly settled, and the
ordinary traffic along even remote country roads is
so variegated that horses encounter these machines
in their ‘‘ salad days,” and long before they come
to market. No horse ever fears the bicycle to-
day; none will notice the “ ought-not-to-be’s”’
to-morrow, although the intervening period of time
is trying to nerves and exasperating to tempers.
Undoubtedly the manufacturers will provide
schools for equine education, and probably the
authorities will enact ordinances that horses must
attend them, for necessary evils must be combated
along sensible lines, and the machines have as
much right to the highways as the animals. Any
friend who owns one of these “‘ contraptions” will
oblige with rehearsals. Let your horse, led
in hand, investigate it, smell it, touch it, gratify
all the senses, and thereby allay terror, while it is
standing still, then when moving at all speeds
and from all angles; feed him in it if possible,
but simply keep at him until he is used to it, or
get rid of him. Carry a thick felt blind with
you when driving, and in narrow roads signal for
a halt, and blindfold your horse. He will not
move while the machine passes. Try him with
96
RHE IHORSE!S EDUCATION
all varieties, —the stenchful, the coughing, the
snapping, the chug-chugging, the steaming, the
smoking, the rattling, — they all evince some one
or all of these enjoyable characteristics, and keep
rehearsing him until indifferent to them, apologiz-
ing to him for the inconvenience which the dis-
eased taste of modern man has forced upon him,
and never punishing him for manifesting the
alarm which at times overcomes even you at the
uproar and confusion which attends the passage
of these horrors.
It is impossible, of course, within the limits of
a book to give ways and means, methods and
,
manners, of “educating’’ the horse to sedately
perform all the offices which we require of him,
but the fundamental rules are invariably the same,
and their results if intelligently applied, are uni-
versally satisfactory. A certain amount of “ horse
sense” is required, and ordinary nerve and temper ;
that is all, and every horse which successfully per-
forms on track or circus ring, park, road, or rid-
ing school, has learned his lesson on these general
lines of instruction, which might have been ac-
quired so much more quickly, painlessly, and
pleasantly, had reward always been intelligible,
caress appropriate, and punishment as rare, as
a7
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
prompt and severe upon occasion. Sentiment
and theory are slender supports in such matters,
and as you love and care for all dumb animals, so
see that in their sphere of action they perform
their tasks as you, their master, direct ; promoting
thus their truest happiness and best welfare.
98
“SUANNVJA] LOTAUdg
Chapter VIII
MOUTHS AND MANNERS
ITHOUT manners of the best,
neither man nor horse is fit for
polite society ; and as the one may
be judged by the words which fall
from his lips, so may the other by the moisture
which anoints his bars and mouth angles; for if
one would keep the horse’s mouth alive and sen-
sitive, beware the period when moisture disap-
pears, and saliva ceases to be in evidence,—a
lubrication intended by nature to facilitate in just
such ways the comfort of the animal. Without
manners, the biped is reduced to the level of the
aborigine, the quadruped to that of the wild
beast, in degree equal to their respective deficien-
cies in such respects. In view of the constantly
increasing number of horse shows, it is curious
that so little attention is paid to these points; or
that, when these requirements are insisted upon,
they form an unimportant detail under the cap-
are: 99
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
tion, “ mouth and manners also to be considered.”
How refreshing it would be to notice some such
classification as this: “ Mouth and manners about
ninety per cent; horses also to be considered,”
and fairly practical as well, for, as every dealer
knows, and as every buyer will agree, without
these two essentials in.their best development, no
horse is trustworthy.
“To balk” is generally interpreted as a refusal
to progress, and good old Mr. Webster in his
lively little work, sets forth that “balky ” means
“apt to turn aside or stop abruptly.” Mr.
Webster is a trifle out on the last definition,
however, as “stopping abruptly” implies that
there must previously have existed motion, which,
alas, is not always within the facts! No reference
is made as to direction, and an animal as truly
balks which refuses to back, or to turn either way
at the signal of the reins, as the beast which
objects to go forward. At the Philadelphia show
a few years ago the judges, asking a coachman to
back a step away from a puddle of water and
mud, found he could not perform the feat;
further investigation revealing the fact that but
one entry in the entire class could and would
“progress backward,” yet several of them had
100
MOUTHS AND MANNERS
previously won as private carriage horses, pre-
sumably suitable for ladies and children to drive
behind! Surely all horse-show exhibits should be
required to back freely and in a straight line, a
distance of at least twenty feet, and to stand still,
when “ lined up,” without a man to hold them,
or be instantly disqualified, be their merits ever so
great. Conditions are published far enough in
advance for intending exhibitors to familiarize
themselves with all details, and prepare accord-
ingly ; and if they will not take the trouble, or
have not the skill, to mouth and manner their
entries, let them “take the penalty for their neg-
lect.” It would surely be for the best interests
of all if severe bitting were restricted, and no horse
allowed to compete which was apparelled in any-
thing but a plain elbow, or Liverpool bit, no
port, and the reins in either the cheek or half-
cheek, the chain loose and untwisted. We do
not want to know what an animal can be tortured
into doing, but to see what he does when left
comparatively to himself; and too many awards
have gone to the brutes that have to be “ fished,”
jerked, and whipped into the ribbons, and that
cannot, or will not, go a yard save under strong
compulsion. Any external evidence of appliances
IOI
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
for controlling or influencing pace or action is
promptly penalized; why punish for the employ-
ment of what every one can see, and omit investi-
gation as to concealed means of control which
may be far more severe and inexcusable?
As is well known, many horses go quietly
single if the breeching is omitted, but strongly
object when that sometimes necessary portion of
the equipment is used. Yet, in championship
classes at least, it would seem that the competitors
should be put to this and all other conceivable
fair tests; for certainly champions should possess
perfection of manners and mouth. A horse also
which must be gag-checked until his backbone
creaks, and he can’t close his eyes, is deficient in
deportment. Our saddle-horse classes are ham-
pered with such proper requirements to but slight
extent, and exhibitors employ all sorts of arrange-
ments to get away with the money if possible.
Not thirty per cent of their horses will back ; not
half of them stand still, either mounted or to be
mounted ; and not one of them is ever required
to “side-step” freely and instantly, as he must
do if his rider wishes to open a gate or a door
from his back, hold it, sidle round it (pirouette),
and close it again. A saddle-horse is supposed to
102
MOUTHS AND MANNERS
carry you across country, or anywhere, and gates
and bar-ways may be present in quantities. Your
hack need not know how to jump them, but he
must know how to be handy in the other ways.
We have gone quite daft upon the subject of
appointments, which matter not at all to any one
but the faddist and the ‘‘ poseur,” but never stop
to consider that an outfit comprising every detail
that caprice may require or ingenuity construct,
may be quickly reduced to fragments, and rele-
gated to a state of “innocuous desuetude,”: by the
misdirected energies of an animal which is lacking
in these two essentials.
Primarily, and of more importance than the
layman will allow, it is necessary that your horse’s
“clothes must fit,” his harness be just right at al]
points, his saddle properly fitted to his back, and
correctly placed, his bit or bits nghtly arranged
in his mouth. Let the master be ever so partic-
ular as to the set of his own garments, it is a mar-
vellous fact that he will, month after month, ride
his hack uncomfortably and improperly capari-
soned as to saddle and bridle, the former wrongly
placed, unevenly padded, too narrow and too
short in seat to properly distribute weight when
the rider is a heavy man, and the head-piece too
103
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
narrow in brow-band; too short as to bridoon,
too narrow as to bit, too severe as to curb-chain,
too small as to both mouth-pieces. The average
bridoon bit is generally so tightly drawn up into
the angles of the mouth that cheeks are wrinkled
and drawn in against the teeth, so that any motion
of them tends to bruise and Jacerate the inside of
the cheeks, causing continual pain and discomfort.
Nine bridoons out of ten are taken up from three
to six holes too short, and the bridoon thus acts
upon a part of the mouth which it was never
meant to touch, and which it must not press upon
if the best results are expected. An old-fashioned
“Texter snaffe”’ is the best bridoon known, and
it cannot be too large, while its shape prevents its
pulling through the mouth (as does the ordinary
small-ringed wire bridoon). A bridoon dropped
as low, or lower, than the bit, will effect the best
results, as experiment proves, as practice confirms,
and as the most competent authorities advocate.
As the bridoon is too high generally, so is the bit
placed too low, and is often not only very narrow,
but sometimes provided with a port as well.
While the whole purpose, intention, and indica-
tions of the two bits are dissimilar, and intended
rarely to be used at equal tension, most equestrians
104
MOUTHS AND MANNERS
handle them as one rein, and rest their weight
upon both alike. It is a miracle, not that the
horses occasionally turn sulky, and rear and run
away, but that most of them are so well behaved
under their uncomfortable accoutrements. Now
that the “ full” bridle — the double-bitted — is in
such general use, it behooves every one who rides
to carefully study the effect of the bits; to ascertain
by experiment how a horse goes most pleasantly ;
to purchase larger and easier bits, and to inspect
the inside of their horses’ mouths and consider
those wonderfully constructed, delicate, and sen-
sitive membranes upon which these instruments
must rest.
As in the case of the saddle-horse, so with the
heavy harness-horse ; we do not use ordinary care
that his comfort is assured before we ask or expect
perfect service. We jama huge “ Liverpool” or
“elbow” bit between his teeth, and before he has
more than licked it over, proceed to convey to
him a series of most confusing signals, which he
has neither time nor preliminary instruction
enough to understand. In his confusion he
finally makes a leap or plunge, and, not allowing
for the action of the bit, or the fact that the
driver’s weight will almost break his jaw-bone,
105
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
receives a terrific jab on that sensitive membrane,
and a bruise which either grows more and more
deep-seated until some bone sloughs away, or,
continually painful, renders him frantic each time
he is harnessed. Nor does the mischief end here,
because he finds that, if he pulls hard enough,
that infernal chain round his jaw, and that double-
fisted Indian that is driving him, form a combi-
nation which will quickly destroy all sensation.
Of the two evils he chooses the lesser, and another
confirmed puller is educated.
Mouth and manners are interdependent, and
no horse which has a bad mouth can have good
manners. Heavy hands make bad mouths, and
so far as equestrianism goes, no man can possibly
have good hands who has not a strong and secure
seat, while he may possess a very firm seat and
the very worst of hands. The interpretation of
”
what constitutes “good hands” is generally
wrong, and half the people who pride themselves
upon such possessions will be found to be actually
riding and driving their horses “ behind the bit ;”
that is, they do not make their animals go up to
and face it, but allow the ‘‘ give and take” proc-
ess to be all “give.” There is more to “hands”
than mere manipulation. There is the intui-
106
MOUTHS AND MANNERS
tive perception of what a horse is about to do,
and the instant frustration and correction of any
outbreak in just the proper degree, which is so
much a matter of instinct that it is automatic.
Therefore, it may be said, be he ever so assiduous
in practice, no man can ever acquire good hands
who is not thoroughly sympathetic, and has not
that indefinable ‘horse sense’’ so necessary to
successful equine manipulation. It is this quality
that enables some men to get on amicably with
even the most determined rogues and pullers. No
special appliances for them, but just the exercise
of the gifts of sympathetic intelligence which
nature has granted them.
With such hands a man handles his horse’s
mouth with a touch that may sometimes seem
rough, and frequently is. He never yields until
the horse does, and then gives (rewards his sub-
mission) like a flash, but only to an almost im-
perceptible degree very often; forcing the animal
up to his bridle by word and whip (or spur if rid-
ing). A “nagsman” handling a green and raw
horse may seem, as he “ fishes”’ him along, to be
rough in his treatment, but, on the contrary, he is
using consummate skill with beautiful effect, and,
given a pliant and finished animal, no fingers will
107
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
be more airy. He is making the creature do
what is desired to the best possible advantage,
and that is “hands” in its best development, be
methods approved or condemned. He combats
each wayward movement and awkward turn with
so much finesse and apparent ease that the on-
looker is completely deceived; and he wends his
way through complicated traffic, his horse always
in hand; careful to anticipate any awkward move,
and requiring just enough increasingly correct per-
formance from his pupil to advance his education
while it neither confuses nor discourages him.
Watch him as he is about to turn at the end of
the block; part way round, the mouth subtly
telegraphs that the horse does not quite under-
stand, or does not wish to describe the correct
semi-circle intended ; like a flash the reins “ fish”
the mouth, and if the answer still is “no,” a step
or two in a straight line, and then another at-
tempt, or a turn the other way, but no confusion,
and no quarrel; here is a trolley on one side, and
a steam drill on the other; forcing the pupil up to
his bit, the driver fairly lifts him through, shifting
the bit, and using all his arts to bring about the
safe passage which he invariably secures. The
spectator may say that this charioteer had no
108
MOUTHS AND MANNERS
hands, and that he hurt his horse’s mouth, which
very possibly he did, but both hands and manage-
ment were of the best and most appropriate for
that particular case, and any deviation from the
methods followed might have caused a serious
accident. What this man did, he is doing
all day long, and every day, and probably he
could not tell you why he adopts his methods,
or what those methods are; condemn them
if you like, but be sure that, theory aside, the
individual who successfully handles ail sorts of
raw horses in all sorts of places has hands of
the very finest, and given time, his charges will
usually acquire mouths and manners of the very
best.
The novice commits his first (generally his reg-
ular) mistake when he sets out to “make” a horse’s
mouth by asking the animal to change his balance
and yield to the bit before his muscles, especially
those of the neck and crest, are limber and supple.
Nothing is more likely to make a dead and hard
mouth than the practice of putting a “dumb
,
jockey” on a horse in his stall or box, bearing
him up, and leaving him to “fight it out.’ The
suddenly contracted muscles pain him, and he is
thoroughly uncomfortable; he fights back and
109
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
learns that even if he does “lug” and lay his
weight on the bit, he is no worse off than before,
and another puller is made. If you mean to
check a horse high, and especially to gag-check
him, always do one of two things: either leave
the check off the water-hook for the first ten
minutes of the drive, or start with it five or six
holes too long, to be taken up later. If you
really want your charge to improve quickly and
make a fine and sensitive mouth, drive him on a
fairly loose check, and when you return, and after
he is free of the wagon, bear him up hard and
leave him so, on the floor or in a stall, for not
over fifteen minutes. He is warmed up and
can yield, and he freely does, often with extraor-
dinary results. Of course his physical structure
must be considered carefully, and impossibilities
must not be asked, or another puller is assured.
Thick and short necks cannot arch; narrow
jaws cannot flex too far; weak backs and loins
will not bear too much strain; of the two evils
your horse will choose the lesser, and if he
cannot give, and you persist, he must resist and
pull. Conformation must always be taken into
consideration.
Broadly speaking, every horse that is fit to
y1O
MOUTHS AND MANNERS
use, ought, in heavy harness, to drive comfortably
in either the check or preferably the half-check ;
and ninety per cent of them will do so if proper
appliances are used. The use of the middle-bar
has many drawbacks, and tends to make a horse
dead in his mouth very quickly, unless carefully
applied, for, some day the plain loose chain gets
twisted, the bit drops lower to a new place, the
mouth is bruised, and, as hanging back procures
punishment, the horse, again choosing the lesser
evil, pulls to let the chain and bit numb his
mouth and—another puller is in process of
manufacture. Be sure the bit is neither too nar-
row nor (as generally) too wide; if the latter, put
on leather cheek-pieces to make it fit, or get an-
other bit.
If the smooth side of an elbow bit is too easy,
try the rough; if the subject opens his mouth,
put on an “all-round” nose-band; try the bit
high and low, loose chain and tight, plain chain
and twisted, until you find the “ comfortable spot,”
and frequently shift it from there if he is inclined
to take hold; if a ‘‘ tongue loller,” or one which
gets his tongue over the bit, try dropping it very
low instead of, as usual, taking it up very high, or
put on a long sole-leather port which will keep
III
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
the tongue in place; if he “lugs” on one rein, or
has a habit of lunging, sidling, or wheeling either
way, apply a bristle burr until he gives it up, an
instrument which, contrary to the S. P. C. A., is
neither cruel nor used to “ make horses prance”
and ‘“‘foam at the mouth,” but to keep them out
of shop windows, off sidewalks, and on all-fours,
and is a most useful and necessary adjunct to the
proper bitting of many horses; uncomfortable,
yes, but cruel, never, nor will its steady use
cause even an abrasion. The demonstrations
of, the,S.. .P. ©. A.; \ and) :certamn 1.old, womens
against these contrivances cause much merri-
ment among all practical horsemen who use,
always have used, and always will use them
when “necessary,” but “no longer and not
’
otherwise;”’ in fact, it is only exceptional cases
that require them.
Every puller is made, none was ever “born
so,” and every such horse has some reason for his
bad mouth, and some one arrangement of bit and
bridle that will suit him, — it is for his intelligent
owner, given certain fundamental principles, to
learn the one and to provide the other. Sharp
teeth are a frequent cause of trouble, and every
master should see to it that his stud is inspected
Li
MOUTHS AND MANNERS
annually by a competent dentist, and no money is
more humanely or practically spent.
Of course a four-ringed snaffle or other bit may
be used for heavy harness work, and in light har-
ness the sensible and easy bits in vogue will in
their various combinations meet practically any
needs. In heavy harness, however, an “elbow”
or a “Liverpool” bit is the sort in general use,
and the methods named apply to these as to
others. Given a proper mouth, the acquisition
of acceptable manners is so natural a sequence
and so entirely a matter of a little patience and a
very reasonable amount of horse sense, that it is
hardly necessary to go into the ways and means
of perfecting education in these particulars. Firm-
ness and constant rehearsal until letter-perfect,
and all lessons short and frequent are the rules to
follow, and your horse’s accomplishments in all
the practical decencies are limited only by your
own patience and intelligence as an instructor.
One always chuckles inwardly to hear an owner
say, “I can’t wait, my old mare won’t stand, and
has troubled me that way for the six years I’ve
owned her.” What folly to allow one’s self to
be mastered by a dumb beast! One might as well
admit that one could n’t open one’s office before
8 113
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
ten o'clock because the old bookkeeper did not
choose to show up. You may be pretty sure
that the old mare is more amused at it than any
one else and fairly neighs with laughter at the
biped who imagines he is master.
114
“aASYOP{-aATdavs S JALHOAY AIN
Chapter EX
THE FOOT AND ITS TREATMENT
T is inevitable, if you keep horses for any
length of time, and really take interest in
them, that you should develop a fad in
connection with shoeing, and the care of
the feet. It is earnestly advised that when this
period arrives, you read carefully all the books
treating of such matters available; then select
your fad, and stick to it through thick and thin,
saving thereby much discomfort and probable
injury to your animal and possible loss to
yourself.
“Well, come, now,” you may say to the writer
“what is your fad?” And to this the reply will
be made that it is the use of tips where any shoes
are to be worn; but that probably the “fad genu-
ine” in this case is the unshod and bare foot and
the use of no protection of any kind. This is
not the result of theory, but of practice extending
over many years, and applied to many animals.
11¢
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
Preliminarily he will assert that, given the op-
portunity to rest the animal (by employing others)
when the attrition of our stone and gravel roads
has worn the foot to a condition where the horse
evidences tenderness, nearly every horse — at all
events the beast for average harness and saddle use
— does better, and is vastly cheaper to keep if left
barefooted. Secondly he gives it as his experience
and opinion that an even larger percentage does
better, lasts longer sound, and works more easily
and naturally if no shoes are used but tips.
Naturally Dame Nature does not in a night
overcome the mistakes of years, nor produce in a
moment the redundancy of material rendered
necessary by the sudden exposure of the un-
accustomed foot. The secreting vessels must be
brought up gradually to the point of pouring forth
in quantity the horny matter needed to repair such
waste, and growth must be forced by the appli-
cation of moisture; and the foot itself gradually
toughened, frequent intervals of rest being ar-
ranged that renewal may keep pace with the
attrition of travel. Of course the pleasure horse,
for saddle or driving purposes, or the farm horse,
is the animal indicated for this treatment, and the
heavy drafter used on city pavements is outside
116
THE! FOOT AND: IVS TREATMENT
the pale, both because of his weight and of the
location and regular long periods of his labor.
Our pleasure horses, on the contrary, are most
irregularly used, and that for only a matter of an
hour or two at a time, so that, if they have origi-
nally fairly sound feet, they may be used either
barefooted or wearing tips, and while not, of
course, displaying that excessive action which
weight in the shoe assists to procure, they retain as
much of it as is necessary to attractive progress.
Our showmen are in the habit to-day of leaving
their exhibits barefoot between shows, and the
shoes then applied greatly enhance the always
extravagant action. While just at first wet swabs
about the coronets, and even the use of the foot-
tub, will force the horny growth, no moisture will
afterwards be called for beyond that absorbed in
washing the feet, or in travelling muddy roads.
If growth is rapid, extra pains must be taken to
keep the feet level and balanced, and frequent
treatment with a rasp (never any other instrument)
is needed to round up the edges of quarters and
toes. The attrition of travel will remove all sur-
plus horn, but it must be noticed that all horses
do not wear their feet alike, and then it is your
duty to preserve the level they destroy, and to
117
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
credit yourself the amount of the blacksmith’s
bill you do not pay.
A barefooted, or a tip-wearing horse rarely
overreaches, and never interferes, stumbles, or
slips, suffers from corns, quittor, quarter-crack,
etc., nor ever injures himself or others with sharp
calks. He will go a trifle short for a day or two
sometimes if you wear his feet too thin, but never
if you use tips. These are simply a protection
to the toe, and therefore that portion of the foot
must be regularly shortened and lowered, or an
unduly elongated foot works harm to back ten-
dons, and throws all the joints of the leg out of
gear. ‘This tiny crescent of iron (or steel) is set
into the toe in a groove made just inside its edge
by the drawing-knife, which is just sufficient to
allow the admission of the tip, and fastened by
three nails, to take the friction of travel by extend-
ing just below the surface of the foot, extending
round the toe to the widest part of the foot.
The heels never need opening as is so usually
done; the bars and frog should be left entirely
alone. The requisites are alevel and natural tread,
and this must be carefully provided, or quarters,
if weak, may develop fissures or quarter-cracks.
Wash your horse’s feet always, and have them
118
THE FOOT AND ITS TREATMENT
wiped over, when going to the door, with a damp
sponge, but do not defile them with grease or
blacking which will not keep clean for ten steps
and will cover your hands and gloves with filth
if you touch them. Such applications close all
the pores, and prevent the entrance of moisture
thereby ; besides which, the equine foot perspires
and should be allowed to do so unchecked.
The savage travels barefooted over the rough-
est and most stony ground, and so will that horse
which has never been shod, — especially if he is
protected for the first time by tips. Shoes and
boots render soft the savage’s leathern sole, how-
ever, and so do the refinements of civilization
cause the horse to seem to demand similar assist-
ance. As the one foot can be toughened so can
the other.
Certain fast trotters need —so far as experi-
ment has gone—an extremely long toe, and
various forms and weights of shoes to so balance
them that they can reach and maintain the limit
of their speed. Many celebrated show horses
require similar appliances to display that high and
stately action which catches the attention of the
crowd, and draws the approval of the judges.
”
The pleasure animal, the ‘‘common or garden
11g
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
horse, the race horse, and the pony in all his
heights will do perfectly well in tips, or barefooted
if due allowances are made for rest and for recu-
peration of the horn-producing vessels from time
to time. The writer has proved this time and
again, not in isolated cases, but with dozens of
horses, and of all ages and conditions, but natur-
ally not without close personal supervision, and a
knowledge for himself that all details were attended
to, all directions carried out. Grooms, black-
smiths, and even the average horse-owner are
opposed to all innovations, and even if they adopt
them, do so more with the idea of proving them
impractical than the reverse. Fair trial is what
all such plans should be accorded, however, espe-
cially when so great an economy is possible. If
you chase hither and yon to save a cent a bushel
on oats or a trifle on hay, why not fairly try a
scheme that will save you many dollars per annum,
— not only in smith’s bills but in wear and tear
of horse-flesh? We all agree that the first thing
to do when we turn our horses out is to either
pull off the shoes or to replace them with tips,
and thus equipped we allow them probably to
travel several miles daily in ranging over their
pasture, — and that means a good many miles
120
tHE} FOOT (AND PES°TREATMENT
when we consider the quality of the average
pasture-ground! What is there to ordinary har-
ness or saddle work that is more exacting, or
likely to wear away the horn? If you fear to try
it on the front feet, treat the hind after this plan ;
and if it seems too radical to leave the subject
barefoot all summer, take the early spring or the
winter snows for the experiment.
The only means of keeping a shod horse safely
on his feet over the treacherous wet asphalt is
to either leave him barefoot, or to shoe him with
a rubber pad, which is a fairly faithful imitation
of the surface of his unshod foot. These rubbers
are acknowledged to be the only artificial means
to this end, yet we pay four dollars a pair for
them when Nature, if we give her a chance, will
provide them as good in every way, gratis !
When you shoe in full, use a narrow one, thin
at heel and flat on the foot surface, being very
carefully fitted there, fitting the foot like a second
edition of itself. Discard knife or buttress res-
olutely, and be sure that the rasp will remove
all that needs displacing, and usually a good deal
more if you don’t watch the operator carefully.
This instrument will shorten the toe, level the
tread, and do the whole work, including rasping
121
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
a sharp point on the clinches so that they may
hammer smoothly down. Never permit these
to be drawn too hard, and after they are turned
down, just smooth them (wot the foot) over with
the rasp, thus leaving intact the delicate covering
of the foot. Such a shoe should be convex on
the ground surface, and the big natural frog assists
this very narrow protection, which rests upon
the bars as intended, and not upon the sole, to
provide a good foothold, and to minimize the
concussion to the limit. Indeed, such a shoe is
quite as useful as though sharpened even in the
frostiest weather, and provides quite a secure
footing. Bevelling of the toe should always cause
the new shoe to imitate the shape which travel
had caused the old one to assume, and we are
very careless in not recognizing this need and
compelling the horse to anew stub away his toe
until a comfortable angle is reached. Six nails,
and generally five are enough for any shoe, and
these should be driven at a sharp angle with
the ground surface so as to take a short hold of
the horn, and to come out as near the ground
surface as possible, and at the same time to
cross the grain of the horn, over-lying just
enough of it to afford the clinches a nice hold.
122
PHE FOOT AND ITS) TREATMENT
All nail holes must grow down as the horn grows,
and have no other way of disappearing; hence
the closer they are to the ground the quicker
they grow down and the sounder the foot, which
a number of different appertures greatly weakens.
For this reason, also, the nail holes should be
well spread apart, and the shoe not drawn too
tight; in fact it should always be easy at the
heels and quarters, and so that daylight is visible
between horn and metal there. Pricking and
serious wounds to the foot may be avoided and
proper direction of the nails insured if the nails
are gently driven with repeated taps of the ham-
mer and not banged home with a blow or two as
if one were welding a boiler-plate. Owners
should insist upon this precaution and leave any
artisan who will not take it. The man doesn’t
live who can properly and quickly apply a
shoe by “ cold-fitting,” and nothing is gained by
the process, any way. Excessive heat should not
be allowed in the shoe about to be applied, but
this mistake is not usual.
Shoe always as lightly as is commensurate with
labor, and thus avoid all needless concussion,
and jar to feet, legs, and body. Our efforts
should all be directed to preserving the natural
123
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
and original shape of the foot and not to attempts
to improve upon what is already exactly suited to
the animal’s needs. The blacksmith of to-day is
a man of great skill and intelligence, wide awake to
the advance of methods and to the new departures
in his trade. He is competent, asa general thing,
to not only apply but to originate patterns suitable
to the case at hand, and to-day the diseased or
irreparably abused foot is becoming quite uncom-
mon — and to this end the daily and the sporting
press have worked their active part. No details of
this kind are too much trouble forthe owner to take,
and any man who assumes to take horses under his
charge and into his stable is deficient in his duty as
a man, and as a master, if he does not as thoroughly
insure their ability to comfortably do their work
as he provides their food and shelter.
Certain diseased conditions of the foot necessi-
tate special shapes of shoes, but many or most of
them will be as quickly relieved by the methods
given here as by more complicated means, all of
which are valuable according to the faithfulness
with which they imitate nature and allow her
processes to proceed undisturbed.
124
Chapter xX
THE APPOINTMENT FAD
ORRECT appointment may, for want
of a better definition, be described as
a genuine harmony of all details and
outlines, quietness of ornamentation
and color, and appropriateness of animal, vehicle,
and equipment in every essential, resulting in the
perfection of good taste, inconspicuous in detail,
yet thoroughly competent for the purpose in-
tended. Let caprice be ever so rampant, and
personal predilection ever so pronounced, he who
is thus turned out is correct beyond dispute, and
when this fact shall have been generally accepted,
we shall arrive at really intelligible and intelligent
results, and cease splitting hairs over the absurd
issues which are to-day held paramount.
Foreigners are vastly amused at our laborious
efforts in this direction. The English and French
whom we assume to imitate, go to no such ridicu-
lous lengths, and, in fact, save in the matter of
E215
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
the equipages which they use upon state occasions
and court days, elect in all such matters to indulge
liberally in personal preference and convenience.
If they, after centuries of trial, have reached such
practical conclusions, by what right do we arro-
gate to ourselves the power to set up standards in
such matters, since, seventeen years ago, before
the inception of the horse-show as a public educa-
tor, we few of us soared above the level of the
carryall, the buggy, and the chaise, distinctively
American vehicles, which it is doubtful if we have
ever, for practical use, greatly improved upon.
It must not be imagined that any intention ex-
ists of ridiculing the methods by which we have
arrived at the generally attractive ensemble which
nowadays predominates; on the contrary, there
can be nothing but praise for the amateurs who
have given so liberally of both time and money to
attain perfection in such details; but this con-
ceded, it can hardly be denied that there is a con-
stant straining for effect which inevitably prevents
lack of uniformity of arrangements, and the adop-
tion of any definite standard of excellence, and
seems to insure the arrival at results but too often
as bizarre as unworkmanlike. Dictatorial selec-
tion has almost completely overridden common-
126
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THE APPOINTMENT FAD
sense appropriateness. Everything very plain,
and very neat is the acme of good taste.
Of course one realizes that we are passing
through a curiously abrupt transition stage in
these matters. So many more people “keep a
>
carriage” than formerly, such a number of us
have become suddenly and extremely wealthy,
and, this being the case, desire that our equipages
shall produce upon the general public the same
feeling of amazement and gratification which we
ourselves continually experience in such contem-
plation, believing that by garish display such ends
may be attained.
Among the most common of our failures is our
curious habit of keeping horses, carriages, har-
nesses, servants, etc., all (or most) excellent of
their kind, but, in their relations to each other
total misfits. One constantly finds pretentious
equipages thus appointed: the smart miniature
brougham drawn by a pair of coach horses, and
having two fat and heavy servants on the box;
the imposing landau “ turned out” with a couple
of slight and light servants, a pair of small and
narrow horses at the pole lapped in harness suit-
able for light phaeton use, or some huge old family
brougham similarly appointed. Liveries are
127
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
often most extraordinary in cut, color, and con-
ception, and too often of the “ hand-me-down”
patterns of the ready-made establishments, while,
if breeches pass muster, boots are apt to be shock-
ing, and to look as if James wore them while
washing the carriage and milking the cow. Again
one sees a really fine and perfectly appointed ve-
hicle disfigured by the figures and faces of the
men in charge, who look as if they might, either
of them, fit the innuendo of the London ’bus
driver in Punch, who says to such a one, “ Now,
then, gardener, when will the coachman be well
enough to get about again?’ Trim and present-
able servants are a most important detail of any
establishment, and care in their selection is as 1m-
portant to the general effect as that exercised over
horses, carriages, etc., and infinitely more so than
the quibbles and squabbles we are constantly
obliged to endure while learned authorities (? )
ponderously argue over the location of the breast-
plate upon the wire of the kidney-link, and the
merits of three rivets (clips outside) on the hame
tugs, or the relative propriety of square, horse-
shoe, or D-shaped blinkers.
Although seeking to establish rules for such
details, yet we allow our servants to assume an
128 .
THE APPOINTMENT FAD
attitude upon the box suggestive of nothing so
much as “the monkey on a stick” of “The
Geisha” fame, as grotesque as inappropriate, as
uncomfortable and unbusinesslike. This “cor-
rect’’(?) attitude (and not a few of the masters
have adopted it themselves) consists in perching
upon the very edge of the cushion, with the back
much hollowed, knees much bent, and the heels
against the edge of the seat fall ; a position calcu-
lated apparently to project the contortionist into
space if perchance his gee-gee make a mistake or
stumble. This posture undoubtedly was origin-
ally adopted by some short footman or lad who
could not otherwise reach the heel-board, and
being perched upon the vehicle of some ultra-
smart owner, it was assumed that this must be
the dernier cri in form, and forthwith this atti-
tude of compulsory discomfort became the posi-
tion of established fashion. That any self-respect-
ing amateur, however, should thus make a show
of himself is as senseless as it is un-American.
Another and more serious offence against or-
dinary common-sense appropriateness of detail
we notice when our carriage pulls up at the
door and our footman must jump down into the
mud, snow, or dust, and amid traffic, run thence
9 129
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
around the carriage or horses, before he can ap-
pear at the door where we sit; nor when in mo-
tion can we readily, from our seat on the right
side, get at this servant, who sits upon the left,
the place of all others where he is not wanted.
Wherever traffic tends to the left, the coachman
sits upon the right for the very excellent reason
that his seat-mate may then alight upon the side-
walk, or doorstep, wherever he pulls up, and be-
cause thus placed, he can see his outside wheel,
gauge distances, detect and avail himself of open-
ings far away in the tide of travel constantly
drawing nearer him, his horses meanwhile winding
smoothly in and out, never suddenly checked,
sharply turned, or quickly started. For the same
identical and excellent reasons he should, where
traffic is to the right (as in America), sit upon the
left, and there is absolutely no logical reason for
sitting elsewhere. Remember, also, that as you
(and your servant) are constantly hindered in city
streets, because from your (and their) seat on the
wrong side you cannot avail yourself of the
chances offered, you yourself further obstruct
trafic, as do the thousands of others who adhere
to this utterly unreasonable custom.
Originality is something. It at least shows that
130
THE APPOINTMENT (FAD
one has given thought and attention to the matter
in hand, and has an individual opinion; but
slavish and unreasoning imitation is less than
nothing, especially the imitation of methods and
customs which have no reason for existence;
and in no detail of appointment matters does this
imitation reach such dangerous and ridiculous
lengths as in that connected with the harness, its
“trappings and its strappings.”” Thus, once up-
on a time, the punctilious pundits who adjudicate
upon such matters, proclaimed that no harness
was properly arranged for use with a carriage
owned or driven by a lady, unless it included lace
housings, fronts, rosettes, and loin straps; sub-
sequently it was determined that such trappings
were en regle only when a servant drove, and
were a part of the full dress equipment imperative
only where he was to take active pare.) At the
Garden, 1901, not a single carriage was thus
“turned out”’ (in the brougham class for pairs),
and the only housings were those borne by a pair
which got fourth, — these being of brass curb-chain
pattern! In view of these absurdities — for really
they are nothing else — why pay any attention to
details? One cannot change frequently enough
to be correct. Judges endorse at one show the
131
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
angular outline of the high-backed Victoria (which
found such speedy oblivion, thank Fortune), and
at the next they insist upon the graceful, flowing
lines of the beautiful sea-shell pattern. Now for
this, and again for that, but all as caprice or fancy
dictates; and never do the safety and practical
usefulness of either carriage, harness, or methods
of “putting to” the horses appear as factors
either in public appreciation or show ring de-
cision, while some of the requirements are posi-
tively dangerous and unsafe. For example, pole
straps must never go around the collar-throats
(nor must the breast-plates), and yet, otherwise,
the whole weight of the vehicle, etc., which may
be three tons of coach and passengers, is stopped
and held back, by what? Why, by a hames-strap
not half an inch wide, nor a quarter of an inch
thick, confined by a tiny buckle with a tongue (on
which all the strain may come) no larger than a
match —a mere bit of wire —and bear in mind,
if this wire breaks, and the pole straps are not
around the collars, everything goes. So with the
breast-plate, which, properly (?) appointed, must
work upon the kidney-link wire only. Of what
earthly use is it there in case of need? and how
generally you find it so loose that it never tightens
132
THE APPOINTMENT FAD
even when horses back, and yet all is passed as
“correct” and proper! The almost universal
abandonment of breeching in all light, and some
heavy, four and two-wheeled vehicles also affords
its elements of great danger, and has, from the
unaccustomed pressure on the root of the tail
caused by holding back, brought about many a
kicking match and ensuing bad accident. How
consistent we are in insisting that the ninety-
pound one-man wagon shall be provided with
breeching, etc., while the one-thousand-pound
tandem cart, for instance (carrying possibly four
passengers), would be regarded as extraordinarily
“ out of line” were it so appointed !
What utter nonsense is all this matter of at-
tempting to draw fine distinctions between finger
or anchor hame drafts, open or jointed hame
links, square or horseshoe buckles, pads, straight
pattern or otherwise, where and how the hame-
clip-rivets are placed, or when and how certain
bearing reins and bits may or may not appear!
Judges walk out of the show ring after “ settling
the hash” of all comers in one of these appoint-
ment classes, and the winner bears away the blue
with his collar so short and narrow he can hardly
breathe, gag-checked so his backbone creaks, his
#33
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
browband so narrow it cuts his ears, his blinkers
so close he cannot see, and producing uncomfort-
able heat about his eyes, his backstrap so short
that only his cramped condition prevents his
kicking the trap to pieces, his pad too narrow in
the tree, and his hame tugs gripping his shoulders ;
girthed so tightly that he wants to lie down (and
sometimes does). However, he has his rivets and
breastplate all right, and the judges receive the
plaudits they are conscious of deserving. Nor is
this an imaginary happening. You may see it at
pretty nearly every show you visit.
The harness makers and carriage builders are
sadly hampered in their undertakings by the va-
garies of show ring judges in so illogically and
so constantly changing the standard; for what is
O. K. one season is all wrong the next. It is
true that these industries frequently venture, upon
their own accord, into the realms of the fantastic
and the wonderful, and we all remember some of
the extraordinary contraptions which have been
thus evolved and put upon the market; harness
as hideous in detail as ensemble, vehicles telescop-
ing or expanding in all directions, and providing
everything from a baby carriage to an ambulance,
according to what springs were pushed, and what
134
THE APPOIN FMENT FAD
arrangements were unfolded. Such contrivances,
of course, can never be seriously considered, but
there should be certain standard types that shall
be permanent, duly authorized and accepted as
correct. The associations which regulate the in-
terests of such industries have it in their power,
by proper action and adequate representation, to
accomplish much in these directions, and they
should attempt it.
Horse shows have done much to awaken inter-
est, and forward undertakings in these details.
Never a little local show occurs that is not fol-
lowed by a smartening of the neighborhood
equipages. Even though evanescent in effect,
the good seed is sown, and it is wonderful to
turn back seventeen years, to the time of our
first exhibition, and realize how general has
been the “sprucing up.” It is not so very long
ago (when we were lads, though, dear me, that is
a long way back !), but, anyhow, then the smartest
thing one could find on our public highways was
a landau drawn by a pair of logy, long-tailed
horses, caparisoned with what is now the “com-
mon or garden” depot hack harness (including
oftentimes overdrawn checks), coupled far apart,
so that, like ancient mariners, “they looked east,
135
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
they looked west,” and engineered by an aged re-
tainer whose livery was, in winter, the boss’s cast-
off overcoat, and in summer one of his linen
dusters, while those really inclined to be devilish,
ornamented the beaver hat, which crowned the
whole, with a velvet band and a silver buckle!
With his ‘‘Galways” fluttering under his chin
and ears, and a rein clasped in each white cotton
gloved hand, these faded Jehus plodded solemnly
over the drives and through the parks, as thor-
oughly convinced that they were the “correct
thing”” as were their complaisant employers.
These equipages, while they would hardly fill the
bill from latter-day standpoints, were thoroughly
American, generally useful and distinctly individ-
ual, as were the old-time carryalls, chaises, and
buggies which have never, for real comfort and
convenience, been improved upon. Were James
still in the flesh, and were the old bays yet jog-
ging about, think how easy it would be to find
them in line after the opera; James’s flamboyant
whiskers giving off their zolian melodies, and
the bays, as handy as a yoke of oxen, monopo-
lizing the whole_street! As it is, Jones, Brown,
and Robinson are in dire distress to pick out
the family outfit, so dismally alike do they all
136
THE APPOINTMENT FAD
appear, and unless Jones has had the nerve to
ornament his blinkers with a crest (which prob-
ably does not belong to him), he is only
kept out of Brown’s brougham by the positive
refusal of Brown’s footman to allow him to
enter.
There are certain native vehicles, and various
arrangements of harness, etc., which are distinc-
tively American, and light, comfortable, and con-
venient, but these are relegated mostly to country
and seashore use where “it really makes no dif-
ference.’’ Surely we might be more independent,
more patriotic, and less imitative of the methods,
manners, and management of other countries.
Because a certain thing is English or French,
does not necessarily prove it either correct or ap-
propriate for our needs. American carriages,
harnesses, etc., on distinctly national models, are
making huge advances in Great Britain and
all foreign countries, because our styles are
light, durable, practical, and sensible. Can we
not appreciate our own blessings, and like-
wise endorse native enterprises, without supinely
(and often mistakenly) trying to imitate alien
fashions?
New carriages from the best builders run in
137
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
price about as follows: brougham, $1,200 to
$1,500; Victoria, $800 to $1,200; runabout,
$300 to $450; gig, $450 to $600; coach,
$2,200 to $2,700; hansom, $1,000 to $1,200;
spider, stanhope, or demi-mail phaeton, $800
to $1,200; carryall, or depot wagon, $250 to
$600. Excellent vehicles may, however, be
obtained from builders of lesser note for fully
thirty per cent less. Second-hand carriages in
good repair will average about one quarter the
price they bring new, and many capital bargains
may be obtained by visiting the auction rooms,
taking care to buy closed vehicles in the spring,
and open in the fall, for the reason that the
opposite condition of the seasons makes them
cheapest then.
Harnesses average about like the appended
figures: brougham single, $150, double, $300;
hansom, $80; four-in-hand (park), $400; road,
$175; runabout, $85; tandem, $200; road
harness, $35 to $150; all these prices vary-
ing according to the maker’s reputation, to the
mounting (whether brass or silver), and to the
extra ornamentation and finish. Second hand
they bring prices according to condition, but
averaging about thirty per cent of the original
138
RHE APPOINTMENT) FAD
cost. Excellent plain new harnesses may be had
at $50 single, and $125 double, and road harnesses
at $25; all good purchases, and as durable,
practically, as any, but not quite so finely
finished.
139
Chapter XT
THE SADDLE-HORSE
HILE the comparatively recent in-
terest in all outdoor exercises has
given renewed impetus to the glo-
rious pastime of riding, and while
fashion originally conferred upon it the seal of
approval because it was English, and therefore
proper, no nation has from necessity been more
generally a user of saddle animals than Americans.
From the early days of settlement, the pacer of
the Providence Plantations and the more or less
thoroughly “ gaited”” horse of other sections were
the regular means of locomotion throughout all
our great country, until gradual civilization and
adequate road provision made possible traffic
upon wheels.
Just in proportion as the possibility of vehicu-
lar transportation increased, the care for, and the
attention to, the saddle beast decreased, until the
advent of railroads and decently kept highways
140 |
‘UMIUAV) LHOW AL VY
THE SADDLE-HORSE
and “pikes” produced among our hustling citi-
zens the rush, hurry, and drive which left neither
time nor inclination for the pursuit of equestri-
anism as an enjoyment, and, as fast as settlements
became established, saddle-horses gave way to
wheels, double impetus being given to this move-
ment from the very beginning, through the fact
that our ingenious mechanics at once produced a
vehicle which for easy riding qualities, for strength,
and for ease of draft has never been excelled even
unto this day — the old-fashioned, leather-hung
chaise of our boyhood’s days (and long before).
In certain districts of the South and West the
mild climate, and the imperfect condition of the
roads at certain seasons of the year, rendered the use
of the saddle-horse a necessity, and all children
must ride perforce, as soon as able to get about
alone. This bred a love for such exercise in these
sections, and as society drew into closer connec-
tion, the class of horses bred, and their thorough
education, became a matter of great local pride
and intense rivalry. Even these sections, how-
ever, while they produce and market many of the
best saddle-horses seen, have ceased to really use
them in a general and matter-of-course way, so
that go where you will, you find wheels in use in
141
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
every place where they are possible, and in many
localities where they would seem impossible; the
plain fact being that Americans, as a race, are not
enthusiastic sportsmen, and care little for outdoor
exercise for recreation’s sake. This is of course
the thoroughly natural result of inheritance, en-
vironment, and tradition. Our children’s chil-
dren, the descendants of all our latter-day polo
players, huntsmen, golfers, riders, drivers, yachts-
men, etc., may logically and probably prove the
most thorough and genuine sportsmen in the
world, but we are, most of us, too near as yet to
the counter, the desk, the office, the plough, pick,
and shovel of hard-working, frugal, determined
ancestors, whose pleasure was work, whose relax-
ation was preparing for more work, and whose
enthusiasm was all for the mighty dollar, its ac-
quirement, its husbandry, and its augmentation.
What the Narragansett pacer was to the Provi-
dence Plantations, was imp. Diomed and his de-
scendants to the Middle, the middle Southern, and
the middle Western States ; but the ambling pal-
freys of those days would find but little favor in
modern eyes, either in gaits or appearance. The
thoroughbred — the pure blood —was but little
used for riding, although his more or less direct
142 |
THE SADDLE-HORSE
descendants were much appreciated, and, owing
largely to the long journeys and the usually
wretched roads, necessity and native ingenuity
quickly set about methods to increase the ease
to the rider, and furnish to him, and his not
infrequent female companion em” croupe, an easy
gliding gait which should neither discommode
the lady, nor fracture the eggs and bottles which
were a not infrequent part of the cargo.
The slow amble, or pace (most easily taught to
animals of the proper conformation) was in gen-
eral use, and even in those early times the hob-
bles were used for purposes of education, and
the legs tied together laterally until the “side-
wheeling” motion had been acquired. This pace
it was found was transmissible, and horses of a
certain shape either possessed the gait from birth
or readily acquired and easily performed it. From
this beginning followed, at brief intervals, the de-
velopment of the single-foot, or rack, the fox-
trot, and the running-walk, but just in what order
no man knoweth.
While the gaited saddle-horse — the five gaited
beast — of the West and South is upheld by his
admirers as the only properly educated “ saddler”
(an excellent, expressive, thoroughly American
143,
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
and necessary word), he has found but limited
favor in the East, and none at all in foreign coun-
tries except in Cuba and Mexico. The reasons
for this are plain and logical; simply that the
saddle-horse is used for separate purposes in the
two localities, and that his adherents in the West,
and his detractors in the East, are, from their point
of view, both right. Your easterner rides gener-
ally for exercise, and for the deliberate and sole
purpose of jolting up that sluggish liver, or les-
sening the pressure upon that bulging waistcoat ;
he is also generally an individual of limited leisure
and to him the trotting hack presents the quickest
means of attaining his end; moreover, all his tra-
ditions and associations are with the English style.
Your westerner, generally a man of spare habit,
finds his pleasure in the gliding motion, the nim-
bleness and the ease of the gaited horse, and his
theories and environment blind him to the fact
that he is compelling his animal to pursue his
course at artificial paces, usually of the most tiring
description, the rack —the favorite pace — being
most severe and exhausting, since to properly per-
form it the animal must go well up to his (curb)
bit, must bend himself thoroughly, and must use
hocks and knees as well as shoulders and stifles.
144
THE SADDLE-HORSE
The running-walk and the fox-trot are easier
for the horse, and are most comfortable all-day
gaits for the rider; but when all is said and done
these gaits are absolutely artificial, and most un-
natural to one’s four-footed partner, as proved by
the fact that no loose horse ever employs them,
and every animal unless kept constantly collected
and made to differentiate them, will so run one into
the other, and so scuffle and shuffle in his efforts to
ease himself that all clearness is destroyed,and none
can tell where one begins and the other ceases.
Although a “ saddle-horse register”’ has been
started, and although the advocates of this variety
of horse have made and are making persistent
efforts to persuade the public of the vast merits
of their commodities, the demand for gaited
horses steadily decreases in the markets of the
world. The walk-trot-canter horse is the one the
public wants.
If one uses it regularly, and was brought up to
(and on) it, the square trot is the easiest for man
and horse, the most natural, and the most sen-
sible, whether for long distance or short, for close
seat or “‘ posting ’’. (that is, rising in the stirrups).
Nearly all over the world this is the standard
gait, and it is no more tiresome than any other,
Ze) 145
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
once the equestrian passes the novice stage. The
cowboy trots his pony as persistently as the park
rider his hack, and the two opposite styles of
seats and saddles prove equally adaptable ; in fact,
the trot is the regular plains gait for long distances.
The walk is the most neglected pace the horse
pursues, and few, indeed, are the animals that can
perform it fairly, squarely, flat-footed, fast, and
free. The hardest horse to beat in the show
ring is he who comes striding in one, two, three,
four, hind feet under girth, head nodding, quar-
ters, shoulders, knees, and stifles all at work;
and, whatever his faults, he is the one his owner
parts with most reluctantly, and regrets perpetu-
ally. Occasional prizes have been given at our
shows for walking, but, because they have not
been especially exciting and attractive to the
crowd, they have been generally abandoned. By
all means possible, however, should proficiency
be encouraged, not only for the amount of pleas-
ure obtained, but through mercy for the horse,
for none is so perpetually overworked, so regu-
larly over-urged, as the slow, plodding, awkward
walker, rarely allowed to pursue the pace because
he does it so badly.
The canter is rarely properly performed, and
146
THE SADDLE-HORSE
one sees constantly winners in show-rings which
have not really and properly cantered a yard,
their nearest approach to that feat being a more
or less slow gallop, in which they change their
lead (if indeed they do change) by “ main strength
and stupidity,” and not because they are properly
educated or really proficient. Changing the lead-
’
ing leg in cantering “ figure eights” is not enough
proof of a really trained “saddler.” Any horse,
which is supposed to be A 1, should change his
lead at his rider’s will in straight going; do it
properly and cheerfully, with hind legs well
under, face perpendicular, balance perfect, mouth
light, and cadence exact. The collected canter is
very trying, and if one lead is regularly used, the
hind leg of that side is sure to finally go wrong in
the hock, or at other weak points.
Horses are imitative to a wonderful degree,
and a youngster can have no worse mentor than
a calm, sluggish “old un,” which saunters along
at all paces, and is never in a hurry; while the
elder’s improvement can only be accomplished by
most diligent forcing into his bridle, riding him
every yard by knee, calf, spur, and voice, literally
“making him over again” if the job is not aban-
doned in disgust before completion.
147
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
The pace of the saddle-horse at the trot can
rarely be improved. His method may be vastly
bettered, of course, but the pace at which he can
go squarely, without hitch or skip, is pretty accu-
rately measured out to him at birth, and, beyond
doing his work in proper form, little improve-
ment can be made. The canter, being strictly an
artificial pace, may, and should be in every case,
perfected to the last degree. Proper bitting, sup-
pling, frequent changing of direction, riding in
small circles and figure eights, backing, ‘“ passag-
ing,” and the use of the pirouette, and the pirou-
ette renverse in a crude form, are all necessary
elements of education.
What a, b,c, is to erudition, what ignorance
is to knowledge, what crudity is to perfection, is
ordinary horsemanship to /a haute école, and it 1s
inconceivable that horsemen, amateur and profes-
sional, should ignorantly sneer at this most deli-
cate and most essential art; the plain truth being
that but very few have the intelligence or the
ability to learn or to apply it. What calis-
thenics are to the imperfect man, are these gym-
nastic exercises to the improperly developed horse,
and that is the substance of the whole thing.
Writers and teachers of this art have purposely
148
THE SADDLE-HORSE
so hedged about their explanations (?) with verbi-
age and mystery that the public have come to
regard it as either a stupendous task, or a mere
circus performance, than which nothing can be
farther from the truth. The “high school”
horse of circus and western production, which
does a few “jig” and march steps under the
powerful administration of curb-bit, spur, and
whip, is as much like an adept at /a haute école,
as a grub Its like a butterfly. We have never had
ten thoroughly educated high-school horses in
this country, nor six men who were capable either
of training them, or of imparting their knowledge
to others.
In all forms of riding is this art most essential,
and he who has it will turn a polo pony quicker,
will hand a hunter over an “inthricate lep”” more
successfully, will get the last ounce out of a
“‘ chaser,” will skim the rails closer in a race, than
his more ignorant confrere, and the rudiments of
it should be imparted (as they easily are) to any
beast used under the saddle. The proper signals,
the proper aids in equestrianism are so absolutely
a matter of plain common-sense, and so generally
misunderstood or neglected, that it is a marvel
that the most polite of animals does not rid him-
149
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
self of his intolerable burden oftener than he does.
Stand at the entrance to the park any day, and
you can see nine hacks out of ten turn the corner
wrong foot first; start to trot, or (especially) to
canter at signals from those on their poor old
ridgepoles which mean exactly opposite to what
they say, and which those patient heads and
anxious hearts have, after vast effort (and many
failures), learned to interpret backward, so to
speak ; figuring out that a touch of the right heel
(or a jab of the right spur) means “lead right”
(not left, as nature diagonally intended); that a
jab in the mouth and a stroke on the off-shoulder
if a lady is on board; that the
left rein pulled across the neck means go to the
right; that the fact that one’s rider pulls the right
rein, and signals to one’s hind quarters to go the
»”?
means ‘“‘ canter
same way, must be disregarded as to the latter
intimation; “ whoa’? sometimes means stand
perfectly still, and then again it doesn’t; while
“c’lk, clk” may mean go very fast, or walk a little
quicker, but which, one can’t tell until one tries.
That our saddle-horses are not as a rule more
perfect in training and manners is due chiefly to
that impatience, that eagerness for results, how-
ever imperfect, which is so thoroughly a part of
150
THE SADDLE-HORSE
the American character. Much time, patience,
and money must be expended upon the animal to
make him as perfect in his work as he should be,
and for this scientific labor the buying public are
not willing to pay prices fairly remunerative to
trainers.
Again, the average American equestrian is not
himself sufficiently proficient to ride a really
highly educated horse, as his impulsive nature
will not allow him to expend the time or money
necessary for competent instruction, and its ac-
companying adequate practice. As a consequence
his seat is generally insecure, his hands of course
of the worst ; while of the proper aids to the art
he has not the faintest conception, and further-
more generally takes vast pride in his ignorance.
Hands — that delicacy and pliability of touch
which is so necessary for the proper performance
of all equestrian evolutions, are absolutely depen-
dent upon a secure and elastic, properly balanced
seat, and to this there is no royal road but that
of constant rehearsal under competent supervision.
The riding schools will teach any one to “remain”
upon a steady old school slave in a course of from
fifteen to thirty lessons, and with this the average
citizen is satisfied.
151
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
If you must buy a horse for saddle use on one
qualification only, be sure he moves his hocks
well, and “goes off them ” as the dealers say. A
good deep slanting shoulder is valuable; a well
set head, and a long neck that “ bridles,” that is,
bends well, is an advantage; a strong loin and
back, and well-sprung ribs a blessing; good open
feet, and broad, flat bone, with no “ dishing ”’ or
“toeing out,” a requisite; but when all is pos-
sessed (and said and done) if the animal does not
“bend his hocks” he will never give you a really
good and comfortable ride ; will lose his action and
elasticity with fatigue; will tire to death in deep
going, and will prove the failure that any machine
must be when defective in its most important
(and least considered) detail.
Be sure your bridle and saddle fit, and are
properly put on. The universally used double
bridle is too frequently short in brow band, mak-
ing it lie uncomfortably about the thin skin at the
ears; the bridoon is generally placed three to five
holes too high, and the rings are far too small,
the bit too thin and narrow. What is called a
“Dexter snaffle” makes the best possible bridoon
bit. If the bridoon is too high, the curb-bit is as
universally too low, the port too frequently pres-
152
THE SADDLE-HORSE
ent, the arms too long. Look at the tender skin
on which these weapons must rest; oh, reader!
figure to yourself the agony easily inflicted, and
buy the largest, easiest bits you can find, seeing
that they lie always well below the angles of your
patient servant’s mouth. ‘The saddle, well pad-
ded everywhere, should be well clear of the
shoulder blades, and, if you are a heavy man, be
sure your tree is long and wide, that the pressure
may be well distributed. If a woman, a thick
felt, girthed separately about the horse, will afford
a surface for your saddle to move on, while the
affixing of your stirrup-strap to a billet on the
off-cantle (after going around the body) will re-
duce all shifting and consequent chafing to a
minimum.
If you will remember, after you have been out
about thirty minutes, to have your girths tight-
ened one or two holes, you will do well by your
beast, and save a possible fall. Upon return, if
saddles are left on for a while, the girths should
be tightened to compensate for the weight re-
moved, not loosened as is the custom; but if
plenty of cold water is well applied the pores of
the skin ‘will be closed, no injury or swelling
result, and the saddle may be removed at once.
Les,
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
The bending, suppling, and mouthing of the
horse need only patience and common-sense.
The horse must yield every time, not you, and
if you make a mistake and give before he does,
you will have much to do to repair your error.
Caress always that part that yields (or that per-
forms): the jaw, the neck, the shoulders, the
croup, with whatever he accomplishes your wish ;
reward that part immediately by caress (never
word). As a clever teacher once said to his
pupil, “If your little boy pleases you, do you
kiss your little girl?” and that is the whole thing
in a sentence, the secret of Baucher, the essence
of equestrianism, which, if you regularly practise
and believe, simplifies everything about horse-
manship.
When the jaw, neck, etc., yield easily and pli-
antly at a stand, proceed at a walk straight, in
circles, figure eights, etc., and at the passage both
right and left, always returning to the halt if the
animal gets out of hand, always beginning and
ending the ride with a moment or two of station-
ary bitting. The same manceuvres at trot and
canter naturally follow, and form the last stages
of the training of the average hack.
Never tire the horse; two lessons of thirty
154
THE SADDLE-HORSE
minutes each are much better than one of an
hour, although occasionally a sulky or wilful
pupil may keep you even two hours. Never
punish without a reason that satisfies yourself,
and always punish the part that has proved recal-
citrant.
Remember that a horse has two ends, and that
it is essential to proper locomotion that both
front and rear should be signalled to, guided, and
always under proper control. Two methods of
advance are possible, the diagonal and the lateral.
For instance, the horse may lead in the canter
with his right leg, but to do this his croup must
first go to the right (of his own volition, or at the
intimation of your left leg). He cannot canter in
any other position, and your training him, and
explaining to him what your leg, spur, or heel
may mean, renders it impossible for him to do
other than to perform your bidding properly and
promptly, changing the lead by a reversal of sig-
nals. A horse in training, and afterward, must
be “ridden” every step. No partnership is pos-
sible; he will do it his way if you are not master
(and he “sizes you up” in a moment). He is
kept up to his bit, made to bend, made to yield
by constant, almost unconscious signals from the
155
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
legs, reinforced, if necessary, by occasional appli-
cations of the spur. He will not even stand
properly, or back collectively, unless the rider’s
legs are doing their part.
If it is desired to teach your horse to guide by
the neck, a simple crossing of the reins under the
neck, that a pressure on one side may accompany
a pull on the opposite of the mouth, will quickly
promote it; or the western “hack-amore,” a
rope around nose and through mouth, will soon
accomplish it roughly. As a civilian, however,
you have two hands free, and will, if you ride
much, find ample employment for both of them.
There is no more reason for riding with one hand
than there is for always mounting on the nigh
side, as a moment’s thought will show you.
Never speak to your horse more than
fwo ‘words: “Whoa,” and Clk.” wanditdor
pray do, forget the latter, or the exasperating
“‘ P-w-e-e-e-p,” so often heard, at least when in
company. You have no right to ride any one’s
horse but your own, and your legs should suffice
for that. Your “ Whoa” should mean but one
thing —dead stop—and be always quick and
sharp, never drawled. Make your horse back
frequently, and never be satisfied unless he will
156
THE SADDLE-HORSE
do so freely, promptly, and evenly, keeping him
straight with leg pressure, and being sure he is in
position to do so before the first step is asked.
He cannot back unless he is, it is physically im-
possible.
The smaller the training inclosure, within cer-
tain limits, the quicker will the animal learn, and
the handier will he prove. A place fifty feet
square is ample, or thirty feet wide and sixty
feet long; a twenty-foot box stall is sufficient for
all but the trot and canter.
Read all the books on equestrianism you can
find, but sift out the chaff and remember that,
given a few facts and a certain amount of elemen-
tary instruction, all depends upon practice, com-
mon-sense, and “horse” sense.
The hunting man and the equestrian who
“learned to ride before I could walk, and was
brought up on horseback” are apt to scout the
idea that the riding-school affords an arena where-
in may be learned anything likely to further their
accomplishments, scorning the suggestion that
they are not perforce competent for all emergen-
cies. The performer who “always rode with
popper from the time I was so high” is generally
as arrogant as he is dense.
L67
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
To wander at disconnected paces round and
round a dull brown parallelogram is not, per se,
wildly exciting, and the sight of awkward men
and “‘ soggy ’’ women flopping about on the long-
suffering old riding-school slaves, jagging their
poor old mouths into ribbons, is enough to make
one take,in horror, to the bicycle. ‘There ares
however, other grades, but the kindergarten, in
all schooling, and if one really sets about it, one
will be aghast to find the amount one does not
know, and to learn what a lenient critic was
“popper.” As workshop to the artisan, as class-
room to the student, as atelier to the artist, so
should be the riding-school to the equestrian; a
place for study, research, practice, and ultimate
skilled performance. Any man of fair physical
soundness may, if he will, progress far in this fas-
cinating art, finding daily new fields of pleasure
opening to him, and rewarded, not only by the ex-
ercise afforded and health obtained, but by the de-
light found in gaining mastery over an animal so
companionable and so lovable as the horse.
158
Chapter XII
THE HUNTER AND HIS EDUCATION
HE ancient ‘receipt for “jugging”
hare or rabbit began with the rather
useful advice, “First catch your
hare;”’ and an equally important de-
tail concerning the education of hunters is to
first get your apparently suitable raw material.
Horses which in appearance and conformation
are well worthy of consideration are passed by,
or put to other work, far more generally than
one would suppose, because the average buyer
has set up false idols of worship, has been influ-
enced, consciously or insensibly, by the drawings
of Leech and of Sturgis, the works of Whyte-
Melville, the Badminton books, etc.; has, in fact,
acquired a “false eye,” and accepted quite errone-
ous impressions as to what comprises essential
hunter conformation and weight-carrying ability ;
demanding a bulk and height which are not only
absolutely unnecessary, but possibly detrimental.
159
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
A good weight-carrying horse is an easier ani-
mal to find than one would imagine, if one will
but abandon the untenable argument that lofti-
ness and avoirdupois have necessarily anything
whatever to do with such ability. These huge
brutes of sixteen hands and upward have just
two solitary points in their favor, — they are
more proportionate, if their bulky riders be also
very tall, and they make the fences look smaller.
They are not as active as the smaller animal;
their own body-weight is generally an uncomfort-
able impost, after hounds really run, and when
the ground, —as seldom is the case in America,
because of the seasons at which we hunt, — affords
heavy going; their size is generally a guarantee
that, close up, there is a cross of the coldest kind
of blood; their clumsiness, normally objection-
able, is overwhelming when exhaustion impends,
and they weigh a lot when the worst has come to
pass, and you are trying to keep them off your
wish-bone! Again the average heavy weight is
short and—well, plump; and these tall beasts
are as insurmountable as a mountain range when
embarkation is at hand, and about as altitudinous
to fall from. They are, also, perforce, too thick
through for a short and stout man to ride com-
160
‘WYOY door)
.
»
lie RE hi
at Aim
THE HUNTER AND HIS EDUCATION
fortably; even the extra length of stirrup-
leather, which his round and short thigh compels,
does not afford him a secure prop; and the
same arguments hold against the tall saddle-horse
as against the hunter. Modifications of these
characteristics are most essential if comfort is to
ensue. As hunters and hacks for men are almost
always selected above the needful power, so those
for feminine use are usually the exact reverse. If
a woman walks one hundred and forty pounds,
she will ride at or near one hundred and seventy
pounds; yet any sort of slack-waisted, light-tim-
bered screw is chosen for this job, doubly irk-
some to it because weight and balance are mostly
to one side; and this “ crock” effectually “ wipes
our eyes” by frequently carrying his burden
safely and satisfactorily for years; referred to as a
mere “lady’s horse,” yet accomplishing tasks
that would be considered impossible were they
appreciated. How often, too, you hear men say,
“Yes, I sold Honesty ; he carried me splendidly,
but he was n’t up to my weight!” How curious
that is! As if the performance did not conclu-
_ sively prove the ability, be size, make, and shape
_ what it might. The plains pony of six hundred
pounds weight carries all day and every day,
11 161
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
most of the time at a canter or jog-trot, a two-
hundred-pound man, a fifty-pound saddle, blank-
ets, “slicker ”’ rope, pin, etc., about one-half his
own body-weight, and this on grass alone, and of
that only what he can pick up at intervals; the
tiny burro lugs two-thirds his own weight and
often more; yet we demand twelve hundred
pounds of horse, high fed and fairly bred, to carry
two hundred and fifty pounds of man and equip-
ments for an hour or two’s gentle ride, or for a
forty-minute hand-gallop, with checks thrown in,
after hounds! Is there any reason in that?
Surely not, and in buying these huge horses
heavy men are seeking false types, and at unnec-
essary expense; while in the fortunate lighter
divisions the separations into the different grades
of carrying ability are purely arbitrary, and use-
ful for show purposes only. Any horse that will
carry one hundred and sixty pounds properly
will handle one hundred and eighty pounds
just as well during the brief periods of use,
especially if the rider does what any thinking
man will, and slips off his gallant companion’s
back at every check, —a feat which the tall horse
usually precludes. English types and require-
ments are different from ours, and we are neg-
162
THE HUNTER AND HIS EDUCATION
lecting and refusing every day good and cheap
hunters (and hacks) because of this erroneous
idea of what constitutes weight-carrying ability.
When all is argued, the inevitable facts remain,
that action is what carries weight; that wind
is strength; that rather drooping quarters, and
hocks a little “set in,” and those hocks well
flexed in action, insure ability at the jumping
game; that while a fine, deep, sloping shoulder
is beautiful, it is by no means absolutely essen-
tial, not a few excellent performers being exactly
differently constructed; that the short-backed,
close-coupled, close-ribbed horse not infrequently
has no “ liberty” to him; that some of the best
weight-carriers are slack of loin, long of back, and
light of rib; that horses must have length, at least
below — “stand over” much ground proportion-
ately ; and that as our thoroughbreds are gen-
erally ruined by over-racing at two years, we can
place but little dependence upon them, but must
turn to the trotting-bred animal for our recruits ;
and that these are fast enough, strong enough,
and more manageable for the average equestrian.
While our racing stables afford but barren
fields for recruiting the ranks of our hunters, for
the reason that, if good, the animals of suitable
163
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
age — three and upward —are too expensive, or
too unsound, to be desirable; too light-framed,
or. too crazy, etc., there’ are, on the »western
tracks, not a few horses running in cheap selling
races that are well worth purchase, and can be
bought at suitable figures. There are also in the
sales occurring annually at Lexington, Kentucky,
in December, a lot of barren brood mares, stallions,
and various racing misfits and failures, often very
thin and out of condition, but selling for the
merest trifle, that are well worth looking over.
They run in price from $5 to $100, and the
writer has seen many rare bargains, for hunting
or hacking, going for a trifle. The objection
that dealers and others have hitherto had to the
thoroughbred is that there has existed among
buyers an unfounded prejudice against him, and
one found great difficulty in disposing of him
even “in the raw.” If orders were placed with
any purveyor to secure a certain number at a fixed
price per head, they to be of certain height, etc.,
quantities could be cheaply secured. If the de-
mand exists it can be economically supplied.
Once bought, it remains to teach the young
idea how to competently perform his task, and
many and various are the methods in use. One
164 |
THE HUNTER AND HIS EDUCATION
should decide at the beginning which style of
leaping he prefers: the “flying,” wherein a
horse goes fast at all his fences, taking off a few
feet away from them, or the deliberate, wherein
he goes close “under” them; “lobbing” over,
and jumping from a trot when occasion serves.
The latter has always seemed the best for every
reason; horses are more temperate, they may be
stopped at the last moment if deemed wisest (and
discretion is as valuable in hunting as in other
pursuits); we seldom have to jump anything
with a ditch, etc., on the “take-off” side, and
horses take much less out of themselves. The
“flying” fencer, on the contrary, becomes a
’
“rusher” under average handling; he cannot be
easily stopped or turned, and be it five inches or
five feet, he goes at it thirty miles an hour, taking
just that much more useless exertion. If this is
the “sort” desired, it is only necessary to have a
>’
“rail ’ or alittle “ cripe”’ a‘ short distance in
front of every schooling fence, and to let him go
along at them; he will quickly learn to “stand
away’ from everything, and swing over a fair
space of ground on both sides. The concluding
objection, and a very strong one it is, to the
“flying” leaper is that while you may at any
165
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
time hurry your deliberate horse and make a
?
“flyer”? of him, it takes much patience and a
good man to restrain your impetuous friend to
other methods, and make of him the calm and
collected patent-safety conveyance which we all
prefer.
The writer’s own methods of schooling, applied
to hundreds of horses, and always satisfactorily,
save in a few cases of broken legs and necks
which could not be prevented if education was to
progress (the risks being fair for both because
they were mutual), were always to get on a horse,
and take him out jumping, with hounds if pos-
sible, but anyhow never to let the pupil imagine
for a moment that the excursion was a task, but
to understand that he was only doing what he
saw other horses do; going where they went, and
always on the way to some place. Thus it was
the custom, after the horse had been kept a few
days at the stable, and ridden about the roads so
that he had a general idea where home was (the place
where he always was cared for), to start off with a
boy on a “made” jumper, ride away into the
country a few miles, turn into somebody’s fieid or
woodlands, and ride across country toward home,
taking what chance might bring. The steady horse
166
THE HUNTER AND HIS EDUCATION
jumped first (and he must-be a “ flippant” fencer
that will not refuse or swerve; preferably one
that the pupil has accompanied about the roads,
and stands next to in the stable). With him well
over (and waiting) it was “up to” you who had
been several lengths back, that your mount might
catch the idea and see how the other horse per-
formed (for no horse but a steeplechaser learns
anything from schooling beside, or close to, an-
other). The novice of course is equipped with a
plain, large snaffle, or some of the combinations
of such a bit according to necessities ; no “ double-
bridle”’ should ever be used at such work ; acci-
dent may catch the curb-rein, or you may
unintentionally hold it too short, or accidentally
hang on by it, and give your tyro a jab in the
mouth that he never forgets and always associates
with the proximity of a fence, spoiling him at once,
possibly. Now, do, please, leave at home all
theories as to “‘ how to doit,” and to “assist” your
horse; remember this is Ais business, and you mind
your own, which is simply to remain on board until
the worst comes. When close up, urge him
gently to a trot—he can judge height better
thus —and leave him alone to leap, scramble, or
fall as best he can. If he refuses, as he rarely
167
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
will if “‘ between your legs” as he should be, just try
again, and let him see now that his comrade on the
other side iswalking away from him. Never speak
to him,and, above all, do not clap him onneck or
shoulder to reassure him ; reward follows only per-
formance. Now, somehow or other, he is over
the obstacle (of course you are only asking for
about three feet). This is your time for caress,
and as you refrained before, accord it now. Jump
off and make much of him at once, and bring
the other horse back to him. How has he per-
formed the feat? His brain has figured out that
he must use his hind-quarters. He has done it,
and immediately is with his friend. The points
for caressing are the brain, the hind-quarters, and
loin, and don’t for one moment imagine that he doesn't
understand. Never caress him if he falls or
bungles; he reached his companion, which is
what he was trying to do, and the fall was an acci-
dent, but the first time he lands clear, do your
duty, and forthwith he is half-schooled. ‘“ Now
I see,” he says to himself; ‘this curious creature
who has always dominated and cared for me, ex-
pects me to get clean over these things, and, as I
bruise my shins if I don’t, and get petted if I do,
I'll do my best to save myself pain, and give him
168
THE HUNTER AND His EDUCATION
returns for his kindness.” After this experience
he finds that he duly reaches home, to which the
only apparent way led over the fences, is made
much of, and well fed upon arrival. Practically
your hunter is ready for you now, and if you
never ask him for extraordinary efforts in cold
blood (but heed only his manners and the form
in which he works), you may attempt when hounds
are running, to jump anything in (or out of)
reason; he will try, anyway, and that’s all any
horse or man can do.
You may do about the same thing with hounds,
and with no preliminary schooling ; letting him
see the field go on, and then following quietly after
for a mile or two; leaving off, for a few times,
while he is still eager and fresh; and you will
generally havea surprisingly safe ride. The nov-
ice always jumps big, especially after he has
rapped his shins once and, if he falls, he takes the
greatest care not to hurt you, and, being unterri-
fied by previous disaster, will always try to get
up —a thing that an old horse will not always
do, especially if a bit blown; and this it is very
handy to have him attempt, if he is lying on
your cigars — you may want tosmoke! In fact,
in a long experience of riding all sorts of horses,
169
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
over, into, through (and under) about every im-
aginable fence and combination thereof, the writer
has never once been seriously hurt or broken any
bones, except when riding the few “ made hunt-
ers” that chanced, through some infirmity of
temper, to be sent to him for coercion.
Contrary to general opinion, it has always
seemed bad policy to deliberately try to put
horses down by arranging traps for them, and
making them jump fences beyond their powers.
Horses must fall, but let that come in the course
of events, and when the blood isup. A hunter
should be as bold as possible; and any fall that
hurts him will never be forgotten, nor will it
always make him more careful, for he sometimes
seems to, desperately, take chances thereafter,
and does not half try. Moderate-sized, unbreak-
able fences are the things over which he may
scramble and plunge, but if they do not break
he concludes nothing will, and takes care not to
test them. Better far three feet six inches 1n per-
fect form over stiff fences, than five feet over
loose bars that can be knocked off. Your neo-
phyte never forgets the last occurrence, either ;
and some day, when he is rather tired, he will
take a chance at a big place, fail dismally, and
170
THE HUNTER AND HIS EDUCATION
leave you a possible job for surgeon or coroner,
according to your luck.
If you find that your pupil persistently “hangs
his knees” — that is, folds his forelegs from the
knee, but not from the shoulder and elbow —
get rid of him forthwith. He can rarely be
cured of the fault ; he will never be safe with it;
and if he does tuck those dangling limbs cosily
under a stiff toprail he will give you a smashing
fall that will — well, it will break your watch-
crystal, anyway. Arogue, or a headstrong horse
—as some excellent hunters originally were —
is often well worth expending patience upon.
Their failings are but the result of misdirected
energy, caused by a bold and independent spirit,
that will be invaluable once their confidence is
gained, To this end patience and perseverance
are the only means—never punishment. Ask
them to do all sorts of unexpected (but perfectly
possible) things ; being sure that you have plenti-
ful leisure at your disposal, and never provoking
an argument you are not prepared to carry
through. Turn him out of the road and through
that little gap and back again, or over that ditch ;
ride up that woodland road, and out of it among
the trees; when about to enter the stable, turn
171
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
and ride him away for a few hundred yards;
every time he wants to go a certain direction, make
him go some other, or wait until he does. Just
sit there, that’s all; he will give in and finally
have no mind of his own, once he finds it’s use-
less, and that the quickest way to get through is
to comply. Remember his mind only contains
one idea at atime, that he is foolish and timid;
that he obeys, not because he wants to, but be-
cause you deceive him into thinking he can’t
help himself.
Once he has competently performed he needs
no more schooling, and it is surprising to find
how regularly every year many hunting men put
that
serves but to disgust them. All that is necessary is
to get the muscles used in jumping in order, and,
in our short drag hunts, preliminary jumping is
not called for, especially if there be a hill any-
where at hand—the longer the better— up
which horses can jog, trot, and canter (walking
down) for an hour or so daily. Nothing better
can be imagined for the purpose, and a hunter
”
their horses through a “ course of sprouts
that knows his business is all the more keen if he
never sees a fence from the last meet of our season
to the first of another. If any schooling is done
172
THE HUNTER AND HIS EDUCATION
it should be at low and stiff fences, and always
with a rider, as the balance is different when the
horse is burdened ; and, as the object is to exer-
cise the muscles, he will do so more perfectly if he
carries a man. That the pen—the enclosed
school —is useful enough to bother about may
well be questioned, and a few fences made with
wings that will not interfere with the lunge-rein
answer just as well, if that sort of schooling is at-
tempted. These obstacles should, of course, be
low —not over four feet — stiff, and may be ar-
ranged in a small area so that the pupil on the
long rein may negotiate them in turn. The
is that the
subject is very apt to find too many things to
>
trouble with “ pens” and “ lunging’
distract his attention. If he is going to his fence,
and you are going with (and on) him, he can at-
tend strictly to the matter in hand. Another
objection to the enclosure is that it is too handy
of access and too easy for you to play with. The
temptation is strong to show Tom, Dick or
Harry “ how the bay horse jumps,” and, as usu-
ally happens, when he does not “put up” the
clean and clear performance which delighted one
yesterday, one is not unlikely to keep at him un-
til he does, or becomes so much worse that he is
m73
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
sent away in disgust — the truth being that his
unusual efforts on the previous occasion have
rendered him muscle-sore and disinclined to try.
Reward and caress should follow performance
here as elsewhere; and remember horses as a
rule hate jumping.
Water of any width is not usually met with in
our hunts because the dragman does not cross it.
If one would have his horses jump such obstruc-
tions, however, it is very easily taught them, and
despite the objection said to be entertained by
English horses to brooks, etc., our horses make
no great to-do over them.
The education of a hunter in America is vastly
simplified by the fact that we have practically only
two varieties of fence, post and rails, and stone
walls. The wall is of all obstacles the easiest of
negotiation, and in fact, where that is the general
form of fence to be met with, schooling is practi-
cally uncalled for. There is apparently some-
thing about a wall, perhaps its apparent solidity,
that makes it, whatever its height, the most ac-
ceptable of fences; nor does this fact change even
when the agriculturist superimposes a “ sheep-
rail,” perhaps a foot or more higher. Any
horse that is not a cripple, or “ricked”’ in the
174
THE HUNTER AND HIS\ EDUCATION
back, is a hunter in a stone-wall country, and the
boldness and cleverness there acquired stand
him in good stead when rails or gates must be
encountered. The writer has ridden dozens of
horses (rarely the same horse twice) over a nearby
country, where walls, many of them capped and
two feet thick, form the chief impediments, run-
ning up to formidable heights, frequently crowned
with “ sheep-rails ;”” interspersed with plank fences
and post and rails; and although these animals
had never seen hounds, nor a jump of any sort,
was always up at the finish. This is only men-
tioned (with apology) to show that personal ex-
perience with quantities of horses of all sizes,
shapes, and kinds, has proved how practical are
such methods, and how generally wrong we are
in all this schooling over which we make so much
fuss and flurry; we will persist in trying to make
an animal, who understands himself better than
we possibly can, do Ais work after our fashion.
Post and rails afford a fair and easy fence to
the horse which has been deceived into thinking
rails unbreakable; he can see any impending
ditch clearly, and can in every way allow for just
what exertion is necessary. Rails have a forbid-
ding appearance to those who have hunted in a
175
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
wall country, but they are no more formidable in
reality, the only difference being that your novice
not improbably tries to break them when he is
fresh, and certainly will when tired. The post is
the safest thing to aim for unless it is too high
above the top rail; your horse will try hard to
clear it because it seems solid, and a rail broken or
carried away may split and fall so as to impale him.
Gates are always highly dangerous, for if they are
hit, the latch is generally so weak that the gate
swings with you, and you may get an awful fall.
However, no sane man will ever essay a gate on
a “‘oreen”’ one, if any alternative offers.
Opinions differ as to the pace to be employed
at timber, but as rails are really no more formid-
able than walls, the same calm and collected rate
should be preserved at both, more especially at
timber, if no gripe shows beyond. A deliberate
horse may always be hurried, if needful, and so
far as pace having any bearing on the height to
be successfully cleared, we all remember Ontario,
who used (at last) to turn round the edge of the
wing at a walk, make perhaps three strides, and
clear six feet and upward. Lord Minto and
many other extraordinary high jumpers approach
their fences at a hack canter. Even the rushers,
176
THE HUNTER AND HIS EDUCATION
coming to their fences like meteors, begin to
“prop” a few strides away, and “take off” like
the temperate ones. Therefore as doth varieties
employ at the critical moment precisely the same
methods, there is no argument left in favor of ex-
cessive pace, and in America the flying leaper
has no advantages over the deliberate. Wire is
on the increase everywhere. The huntsmen of
Australia are said to ride over this fence as a regu-
lar thing, and it affords about all the leaping they
have. By going at the posts one has a chance at
such an obstacle, but it is only a chance, and
while frequently nearly invisible against certain
backgrounds, it also insures a hard fall and a
badly cut horse if collided with.
It will never prove a popular (!) fence, certainly,
among even hard riders, and should it become
universal, as apparently it must, hunting will be
doomed.
Neither “full bridles’’ nor spurs should be
employed in schooling, nor (if rowelled) should
the latter be used in hunting. They are thought
to “ look well” because we are used to thinking
that they set off a top-boot, but only one man in
fifty knows how and when to use them, — and
that individual leaves them at home. More
Iz i |
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
refusers, worse rushers, more rogues and cowards
have been made by these contrivances than by all
others put together; and if you see a man down,
and down hard, take another look and see if he
isn’t wearing spurs, with which he has just done
some foolish thing, or reminded his sprawling
steed that he had before been ripped up at a sim-
ilar place, insuring a scrambling jump and ensu-
ing grief. Any horse that needs spurs to make
him jump is no hunter, and no horse, properly
educated, requires them, anyway. What a re-
proach to a rider, on dismounting after a good
run, to find his horse’s sides and shoulders punc-
tured and bleeding, his spurs and boots blood-
stained! half of the damage having been caused
inadvertently, it is true, but not the less shocking
for that. It has been well said that, with differ-
ent combinations of the snaffle-bit, one can hold
any horse. Leather or rubber-covered, four-
ringed, nose-banded, gag-reined, running-reined,
chain, twisted, double and single-reined, martin-
gale or free, etc., the statement is very nearly
true.
Very few men are competent to handle prop-
erly the double-reined bit and bridoon bridle, and
it has had a recent vogue which is by no means
178
SHE HUNTER AND HIS EDUCATION
itsdue. It is used, not for any special and intelli-
gent reason, but because the saddler and other ad-
visers recommend it. The simpler arrangements,
relegated to the groom’s use, are just as appro-
priate to the master’s, and if the latter is possessed
of the fine and delicate “hands” which he will
not allow that the menial possesses, he should be
able to make his horses bend and carry themselves
just so much better, with the same tools, than
the servant. Experiment will prove what form
is suitable to the mouth and to your hand, for
the trouble may, and does more often, lie at your
door than at the horse’s.
Some of the arguments used, and of the meth-
ods advised, may meet with scant favor. That,
however, is not the point, and they are simply
given as having proved useful in practise. We
all have our own ideas about the best ways of
accomplishing such feats, and as the main issue is
the crossing of a country with safety and ease,
and after as little preliminary trouble as possible,
perhaps the plans recommended may at least be
accorded a trial, results being left to speak for
themselves.
179
Chapter XIII
THE STEEPLECHASER AND HIS SCHOOLING
i WENTY years ago,” as the old man
in. * Adonis” -used to say, tie
writer was once commissioned by a
sporting friend to look out for a
thoroughbred suitable for making into a steeple-
chase horse. After diligent inspection of various
winners, etc., the would-be purchaser was in-
formed that there was nothing among the success-
ful horses (on the flat) that “looked the part ”
for the cross-country game, and the reply has
never been forgotten, for wisdom and conciseness
quite unique. “ You are watching the wrong
end of the races,” it ran. ‘ Never mind the
winners on the flat; see what is in front —and
stops —at four furlongs. If he gallops rather
high, and seems to give up because he can’t
carry that action at the pace, buy him.” This
epitome has since proved almost invariably
true.
180
“adA T, ASVHOATdIIALS V
DHE? SPEEPLECHASER
“ Action carries weight.” ‘ Wind is strength.”
“The best stayer is the sprinter, which only
gallops while others race.” These three maxims
really contain the essence of truth, so far, at
least, as selecting cross-country material is con-
cerned; and he who would go a-shopping would
do well to bear them in mind. Countless have
been the efforts to make over high-class flat-
racers into crack steeplechasers, and in nearly
every case the result has been dire failure. Years
ago, in the late sixties, R. B. Connolly was fair at
both games; later on, Post-Guard (General
Phillips), and Resolute (Mart Jordan), and Day
Star performed fairly well, but in these three
cases it should be remembered that fences were
all very small, and that horses of no reputation
on the flat were beating all three of them in the
turns that our pernicious handicap system as-
sured. More recently Dr. Catlett, quite a good
flat race-horse, ran successfully over the “ sticks,”
but he generally beat nothing much, and was apt
to fall if hurried. Howard Mann, winner of the
Brooklyn Handicap, was put to jumping, and
was big enough and strong enough, had such
qualities been useful factors, to carry any weights ;
but a trumpery hurdle-race or two was the best
181
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
he could annex. Fast horses (on the flat) have
done well over hurdles, but practically never
“through the field,” and have been regularly and
signally beaten by horses which could not (over
the flat) “see which way they went.”
There is a reason for all things, as for this;
but what is it? It has always seemed that the
action was different was higher and rounder
in the successful cross-country horse. Whether
this makes to his advantage over grass, or in
jumping, or at both tasks, has never been
conclusively and logically explained. Certainly,
however, it seems that somehow, and “some
why,” this sort of action is essential to the suc-
cessful -jumper; nor is the mere sprinting, fast
horse any more likely than any other to prove a
good performer, unless he is classed as a sprinter,
for the reason that he cannot carry his high action
at speed for any distance without tiring and stop-
ping. This explanation is doubly logical because
the gist of it is that the possession of speed proves
the animal a high-class horse; and his zufrmity of
excessive action, which causes exhaustion at top
speed, prevents his taking the position, on the
flat, which is his by right of ability. Handi-
capped by this shortcoming, he, at other tasks,
182
THES PE RPLECHASER
and at a slower rate of speed, finds his opportu-
nity and develops into the crack ’chaser we ail
admire. In other words, he 7s a high-class horse ;
but even as a colt can hardly win the Futurity if
he has but three legs, so the animal in question
can only go a certain distance at top speed, be-
fore fatigue compels him to give up, and he is
calledsa“auitter:/and.,a “mete sprinter.” df
such a horse turns out well over jumps, we pro-
claim ourselves as wizards for selecting him; but
we are blind to the fact that, if put at the same
tasks on the flat—racing over a distance of two
miles or more—he might have developed pre-
cisely similar ability; and if we give him the
chance, and the needful preparation, we not im-
probably find that our ’chaser is fairly shifty at
the “legitimate” game. It would be interesting
to see one of our best cross-country horses spec-
ially prepared for one of the fall long-distance
flat races; he would, not improbably, give a re-
markably good account of himself.
Was it Whyte-Melville who called attention
to the fact that in every case, after a long and
exhausting run with hounds, the men “ present
or accounted for’’ were invariably mounted upon
little horses, old horses, and thoroughbred horses ?
183
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
The “ thoroughbred” and the ‘‘old” are quite
matter-of-course, since no mongrel and no baby
can do a well-bred man’s work; but there is
”
much significance in the “little” part of it, —
probably under 15.2 in contradistinction to the
huge beasts that buyers will seek for, whether
for hacking, hunting, or steeplechasing. What
is there about a big horse that is so valuable?
Does the elephant carry weight proportionate to
his bulk and tallness? Surely not. And does
not the flea jump many times his own height?
The big horse has generally proved a failure at
steeplechasing ; our cramped and almost circular
courses are all against him and his long stride,
and the fences come too close together. Again,
if he hits one of them —at the pace our cross-
country events are run—he jars himself to
pieces, and if once off his stride, he is apt to drop
right out of it. He is also harder on his legs,
and consequently more difficult to get thoroughly
fit than a smaller animal; he does not carry
weight any better; he adds to his prospective
handicap imposts because the handicapper cannot
forget that he looks big and able; he doesn’t
make the fences look smaller, because some of
them are of miniature proportions now; he de-
184 |
THE STEEPLECHASER
velops and comes to his full powers much later ;
he is dearer to buy; he eats (or let’s hope he
does) more than’ the “little un;°” he weighs
more when he rolls over you; he has everything
against him, and nothing in his favor, except the
fact that he “looks the part;” but how many
failures do that, and how many “cracks” do not?
These characteristics an embryo ’chaser must
have: he must gallop rather high; he must flex
his hocks ; he should have a fairly good shoulder ;
and that extra length in back, and freedom in loin
which is so generally decried and rejected, and
without which no horse has the requisite liberty
and length to properly “use himself” at the
task. Long below and short above is all very
well, but get the length, anyway.
With a long hill (the longer and steeper the
better), a fence, and a ditch you can condition any
horse that is passing sound, and if he hath in-
firmities the more does this afford appropriate
environment. Trot up and walk back; canter
up and walk down ; thighs, loins, all the jumping
and galloping muscles developing at every stride,
and wind and heart gaining strength steadily.
Take a horse, so trained, to one of our steeple-
chase courses and he will show a performance un-
185
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
expectedly good ; and whatever puts him down,
it will not be weak or tired jumping muscles.
We eternally exercise and gallop horses, under
light weights, over dead flat roads and race tracks,
and then marvel that they fall or are beaten off
in their races ; nothing so confuses true “ form”’
in ’chasing as this fact. If one has not a hill, an
ordinary horse power, such as is used for thresh-
ing machines, is excellent; and any horse will go
kindly in (and out) of it if he is fed init a few
times before it is started up, and then moved
slowly at first. An hour or so daily at this work
will do wonders in developing muscles one never
realized a horse had.
It is an excellent arrangement, if schooling
fences can be so placed that a horse jumps them
as a matter of course on his return from his work,
and thus clears from four to six fences unaware
that he is being educated. Of course you can
handle him like a hunter — and hunt him as well
—if convenient; but the dwelling style of a good
hunter is the last habit you want your tyro to
acquire, and the trick may recur to him some fine
day when the “money is down,” and he thus
loses the all-important length or two, too near
home to again make it up. You do not want
186 |
THE STEEPLECHASER
him to jump clear over anything, either, as that
entails waste of power, but to “hear his feet
rattle’ at every fence, as an assurance that not an
inch too much is essayed. All his leaps will be
regulation fences — banks, brush, water, and that
idiotic “ Liverpool,” the most senseless, useless,
trifling, un-American contraption ever incorpo-
rated in requirements. Of these he will find cer-
tainly ten inches flimsy brush, so that if he clearly
and with certainty jumps three feet six inches the
fence is not built on American courses that will
put him down, nor is there anything to be gained
by asking him to jump higher, by more than an
inch or two. Some of our ’chasing enthusiasts
perpetually school their horses over larger fences ;
but the returns do not show that they profit by
it— either owners or charges— but rather the
reverse ; nothing is more irksome than rehearsal
when the actor knows himself letter perfect ;
some of these everlasting schoolmasters kill and
maim not a few of their animals, while the balance
of them fall about as often as those more leniently
treated.
The variety of jumps advised and legalized by
the National Steeplechase and Hunt Association
is sparse, and the obstacles are not those which,
187
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
in this country, are ever met with in the hunting
field. || As “hunters ”’ are, /by “use (ofa) pigns
fiction, supposed to race over these courses, they
are described as “ fair hunting country ’’ — than
which nothing wider from the truth and the actual
facts can be imagined. Not only are our steeple-
chase fences unfair, in that they do not in the
very remotest degree resemble any American
fence, but they are practically rarely built in
accordance with the instructions issued by the
N.S. & Hs AY They’ are: principally banks;
brush jumps, anda so-called ‘‘ Liverpool.” This
latter is neither fish, flesh, nor fowl, and is, even
in the country of its origin (England), held up to
daily vituperation alike by public, press, owners,
and riders. Over it a shocking number of horses
have been fatally injured, although it must be
owned that such results have not so regularly ob-
tained here, wherefore this criticism is restricted to
condemnation of it as absurd and useless because
it is not of national character. Rails, walls, slat-
fences, brooks, board fences, etc., are legitimate
obstacles, and those to be met with in riding
across any American country. To these ab-
solutely should our jumps be restricted; nor is
there any reason for the adoption of other styles,
188
THE STEEPLECHASER
and imitation of what is English. Our water
jumps are as trifling as the other obstacles, and
contain hardly enough liquid to make a splash
when a horse lands in them. Again, from the
circular nature of our courses, the field is always
bunched close to the inside flags, and one can
hardly find a footprint twenty feet out from
them; thus making the going not unusually
cuppy and rough on the inside of the course,
and rendering the higher action more useful, in
fact essential, than the “ daisy cutting.”
Whatever hunting a horse may have done— and
at whatever pace he may have been ridden — you
find, when it comes to steeplechasing, that it has
not advanced his preparation to any great extent.
This is assuming that the runs have been at the
usual hunting pace ; for, of course, if the drag is
laid so that hounds get through bar-ways, etc.,
and if they are fast, the hunt will present all the
incidents of a ‘chase; and a horse may fly his
fences, and charge them at full speed, perforce
gaining thereby the finest kind of experience.
At the hunting game, however, he learns only to
be clever, and too suspicious and careful — the
very virtues (in your hunter) which are the most
objectionable of faults (in your steeplechaser).
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FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
Your ’chaser cannot be too bold, nor too rash;
he should never (if you can help it) think he can
fall, and be willing to go anywhere that he is
headed without hesitation, and to take any and
every chance ; for with our fields always crowded
at the fences, and the patrol judges and stewards
overlooking much jostling, a cowardly horse has
no chance, and the first bump puts him out of
the game. For this reason the horse that leads
the pupil in his work must be as bold as a lion at
all times, and go flying at everything without
hesitation. A shifty, dodging, propping old
rascal that begins to hang and swerve the moment
a fence heaves in view is the last schoolmaster
the youngster should follow; and, in fact, the
young ’chaser should always jump his fences
either lapped on, or head and head with, his
mates ; head and head at first, because, if half a
length or more back, the green one will take off
when the horse in front does (possibly) have just
that much farther to spring and get a bad fall in
consequence. This jumping in company is most
essential, because it makes the pupil look out for
himself and get used to the rush and turmoil of
horses all about (and upon) him, and teaches him
to time his eye and his muscles to act indepen-
190
THE STEEPLECHASER
dently of others. How often you see two horses
ina chase come to a fence, and the one not quite
up — half a length or so back — come a “ regular
buster,” because he gets confused and takes off
when the other does.
The novice should always wear the very easiest
bit that will restrain and guide him; and the vari-
ous combinations of the snaffle-bit are most use-
ful, as anything like a curb has the tendency to
make him fight it and gallop too high. A rail
should be put down in front of every schooling
jump, which will make him “stand away”? at his
fences, and if this imitates the guard-rail of the
“ Liverpool” he will jump that monstrosity the
first time he ever sees it, and quite as a matter of
course. He should never be schooled over this
fence (that is, ‘ Liverpool’’), however, for, if con-
structed according to the rules, it has an awesome
aspect, and many a promising young horse has
been ruined for the job by allowing him to get
frightened at a fence he never should have seen
until his blood was up and he went to it in com-
pany with other horses in a race. If the guard-
rail is down in front of every fence, he treats them
all alike, and one has no more trouble with him
at the ditch than at any other fence. Horses
IgI
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
need little or no schooling at water-jumps, either.
A green horse may “prop” a little before a
water-jump in a race, but he is going too fast to
stop, and is over before he knows. If he learns
to refuse in his preliminary work, however, he
can never be depended upon, and he can, if scien-
tific, come at his fence at a tremendous rate, and
still stop dead, or whip ’round.
The long-hill trots and canters are the things,
and if he can wind up by jumping a few fences on
his way to the stable, he is learning his business
and getting fit to perform it at one and the same
time, and with the best will in the world.
The thoroughbred novice will generally prove,
or seem to prove, himself rather timorous at first.
Of course, as a matter of fact, he is exactly the
reverse, but all his preliminary education, if com-
ing from a flat-racing stable, has taught him the
wisdom of doing as little as he possibly can when
outdoors. His carelessness and indifference re-
sult generally from that fact, and also from the
superior intelligence which leads him to be suspi-
cious of novelties and cautious toa fault. Gener-
ally, he is a shockingly bad performer at all paces
except full speed ; he misunderstands the position
of your hands when you start to canter, as a sig-
192 ;
THE STEEPLECHASER
nal to “go along” (as it was in racing days), and
takes an awkward hold of you; heusually has one
side to his mouth; he “goes about” with the
deliberation of a line-of-battle ship, and needs as
much sea room; he kicks up every pebble, and
stubs his toe on every straw and cigarette butt in
the road. All this he must give up; and riding
him over all sorts of rough ground helps action and
agility, as suitable bitting and riding into his
bridle improves mouth and paces. Your gawky,
shambling, three or four year old learns deport-
ment quickly, and is vastly more adaptable to
changed conditions, because of superior intelli-
gence, than a colder-blooded horse.
He should always be well bandaged when
schooling, and there should be no stubs nor any-
thing likely to scratch his thin skin in your school-
ing fences, and he should always go to the “left
about” over them, as all our ’chases are run that
way. He will prove most probably a “shy”
doer when he gets really into work, and his fickle
appetite must be tempted in the peculiar ways
that suit him best, and which only experience will
determine. At best the thoroughbred rarely eats
as much as other horses. He may love compan-
ionship, and to see other horses at all times in
oe 193
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
the stable; he may prefer solitude, being of mis-
anthropic temperament; he may be a “ night-
feeder,” or prefer to steal his grain, finding a few
handfuls here and there in the straw of his box;
he may have a thousand fancies, but if he is to
prove a good horse they must be divined and
provided for. ‘These little things make all the
difference. If walking, galloping, scraping, and
schooling were the essentials, training would be
too easy. When asked how he trained his won-
derfully successful string, the very excellent hand-
ler laconically replied, “In the stable;”’ and that
is about four-fifths of the whole business.
There are many high-strung horses which fear
the crowd of a race-track, and fret away to noth-
ing during the twenty minutes or so they are in
the paddock. They will outgrow it if taken to
that enclosure every day, and kept walking there
for an hour or so. They fear, not the people, but
the race which has always proved an accompani-
ment, and their dread disappears with familiarity.
Such horses ought to be stabled away from the
track, and will rarely bear, undisturbed, any pre-
liminaries in the way of “setting short” before a
race, but are best left to run without preliminary
“‘ readying.”
194
DME St EE PEE CHASER
If every thoroughbred yearling were broken to
harness, and exercised “in leather,” as a general
thing it is quite sure that there would be better
results, and that they would keep sound longer.
For one thing they would be vastly better mouthed
and mannered, because they would be handled by
men, and not by mischievous boys; for another,
because they would be kept on the roads, and
away from the deadly monotony of eternal track
and shed work; for a third, because they would
do their work more calmly and collectedly, and
would use different sets of muscles; for a fourth,
because they are more salable afterwards (and a
thoroughbred’s road-horse qualities, though first
class, are totally ignored); and, for lots of other
reasons, every venture in this line has proved
highly successful. Horses hold their flesh much
better — important in this trying climate — and
steeplechasers as a general thing need vastly more
flesh than they are allowed to carry, and are more
often too light than the reverse.
With plenty of hill and road work, a cross-
country horse needs very few fast gallops over a
distance of ground. A few spins at four furlongs
or so, to make sure he has his speed on edge, is
enough, unless he is a very gross horse; and if he
125)
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
handles himself ably against the watch, is nicely
schooled, hard and full muscled, bright, and eat-
ing and doing well, he is as good as hands can
probably make him, and ready to appear under
silk. He may fall, or “run green,” and he will
probably have to learn the “tricks of the trade”’
generally, before he becomes a safe betting propo-
sition; but, beaten or not, he will have a better
foundation for future operations than many of his
seemingly formidable competitors.
196
Chapter XLV.
RIDING FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN
HE woman’s saddle-horse must be
good-looking, — the mere fact that
he is so generally proves him pos-
sessed of a harmony of parts which
insures his being able-bodied and suitable for
work ; he must be active, good-natured ; he must
bend his hocks well — as must any saddle-horse,
in order to insure ease and pleasure in riding at
the trot; he must “ bridle well,” that is, bend
his neck, and carry his head perpendicularly; he
must have a nice oblique shoulder; bold and
high withers ; should be a trifle long in the back,
—longer than is generally acceptable in a man’s
riding horse — in order that additional elasticity
may be insured, and that there may be that extra
length, which the long and broad woman’s saddle
renders necessary for appearance and for utility.
He should walk fast and square; trot freely and
level ; and canter — always right foot first — at
=)
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
a touch of the rider’s heel; or its effect may
be transferred to a tap of the whip on the
off-shoulder, and the signal prove equally intel-
ligible after a little practice. Light colors (grays
or roans) are bad, because the hairs show on a
dark habit; and a horse with few white mark-
ings, or none, is also less conspicuous and more
“Pentel.
No horse is safe for a woman to ride unless he
will stand still and allow her to mount from. the
ground without assistance ; and no woman should
ever be allowed to ride alone until she can per-
form this very simple feat; can put on, or read-
just, her own saddle and bridle, and know when
others have placed and fitted them properly. As
she aspires to be independent, so must she be
prepared, in every way, to take care of herself;
and upon the heads of her male relatives be it if
she is not properly instructed and taught how to
perform the simple duties needed. Every horse
shrinks after an hour or so at exercise, and the
saddle may turn at any moment in consequence,
thereby endangering others, possibly, as well as the
rider. An ounce of prevention is most valuable
here, and the equestrienne should know how to re-
girth and arrange her saddle if necessity arises.
198 |
‘sSNYI]T, AOOD NO
RIDING FOR WOMEN
Preserve us from the self-sufficient female who
“ knows it all,” who “ Always rode with popper
from the time I could walk.” “ Popper” prob-
ably was one of the vast army whose equine
experiences and knowledge of equestrianism were
of the vaguest, and as long as Maude neither
broke her neck, nor killed anybody else, he was
more than satisfied — and had better reasons so
to be than probably he appreciated! Anything
that is worth doing is worth taking pains to per-
form to the best advantage, and to nothing does
this so much apply as to feminine equestrianism
and the general carriage and attitude. A woman
is accepted by the public as a good or bad per-
former solely upon her appearance. She may be
a perfect horsewoman, but if she looks shiftless,
sits carelessly, dresses haphazard, she will never
class among the experts as will her smart, neat,
correct sister, who cannot really ride at all — but
’
who “ looks the part.” Riding schools and compe-
tent instructors are to be found everywhere now-
adays, and no woman has any excuse for appear-
ing other than at her very best upon horseback,
and nowhere when properly, snugly, and neatly
“turned out,” does she seem more attractive.
Proper costume, equipment, and other details
199
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
would afford material for a book, and there is
space here to touch but upon the merest out-
lines of the fascinating art.
Hair should be tightly confined; derby or
sailor hat securely fitted and fastened; corsets
loose ; riding knickerbockers roomy, but snug at
knees ; better kept down by a band going under
the foot (inside the boot) which does away with
all buttons. The habit should be very smart,
and no matter what else you economize on, go
to a first-class maker for it, or for the skirt, any-
how. A high collar and plain tie; large, loose
gloves; boots or gaiters; no flowers, ribbons, or
anything superfluous; a useful straight whip, and
not a useless crop, and you are ready.
Your saddle should be flat-seated, and you
cannot —if it is of this shape — get it too long;
it will fit any one else, tall or short. No saddle
should ever be made any other shape, and would
not be if the public would insist. There is more
money in it for saddlers, if the model is such
that each person must be fitted and refitted with
increasing stature and weight. A child, and a
tall, stout woman can use the same saddle, if the
seat is flat.
Any one can put you on your horse, but learn
200
RIDING FOR WOMEN
to get up yourself from the ground, not off a
chair or fence. Your stirrup girth should go
round the horse and buckle to a strap affixed to
the cantle (the back) upon the off side, so that
you can, when mounted, reach it with your right
hand, and lengthen or shorten it at pleasure. Let
it down now six or eight holes so that you can,
when standing, put your left foot in the stirrup.
Grasp the pommel in the left hand, the cantle
in right; swing up, and, as you stand in the
stirrup, shift right hand to pommel, twist your
body to face the horse’s ears, and sit down; put
your right knee over pommel, take up your
stirrup strap to proper place, put the elastic over
your right heel, etc., to keep skirt down, and
pull that nicely straight, and you are ready to
proceed. Practise this until you can do it with
celerity ; when dismounting, clear elastics from
heels and skirt from pommel, swing to the left
face, take pommel in right hand, and slide off.
Remember that nature gave you two hands,
and be quite sure that, if you ride much, you
will at times need them both and probably wish
for a few more. Don’t hold your reins in one
hand — you are neither military, nor paralyzed
in the right; reins held in each hand insure the
201
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
shoulders being square; in one, their being
crooked, and the seat askew, after the muscles
tire. [ake the reins in both hands, therefore,
and if you are a beginner have only one rein,
and that attached to a large and easy leather or
snaffle-bit. You are going to prove an awful
nuisance to your mount for the next ten days —
make him as comfortable as you can. Let this
rein come through the whole hand from outside
the little fingers; shut your thumb on it where it
goes over the first fingers; close ‘your fists, and
learn to keep them closed, not by hauling upon
the reins, but by using the muscles given for the
purpose of shutting your hand. When you can
ride for thirty minutes and keep your reins in
their places, you have made a big advance, and
one most people never make in a lifetime.
Take the pommel exactly in the bend of the
right knee. Have your stirrup at a height that
allows three fingers, or two inches, between your
left knee and the leaping horn; carry your left
foot back and keep your heel down; bring your
right heel also back against the left shin, and
cultivate with care this position at every pace, for
upon it depends your security. This constitutes
your seat, yet few women have it correctly and
202
RIDING FOR WOMEN
the right foot sticks out like a bowsprit on a
ship, generally forced to this attitude because the
saddle is too short; the knee plays over the
right pommel instead of holding it exactly and
firmly in the angle for the same reason; and be-
cause the pupil does not sit up, with hollowed
waist, as she should. If you have the true seat
you can — without stirrups —rise at the trot ; or
leap, etc., and be (unless the saddle chance to
turn) infinitely more secure than a man.
You should proceed at a walk only for two or
three days; and for only thirty minutes or so at
each time, during which practise lying flat down
on the horse’s back, both when standing and
moving, bending far over to each side forward
and backward, gaining all the contidence possible.
When beginning to trot, ride “close seat”’ (that
is, do not rise) at least for a week, and pay great
attention to sitting square, hollowing the waist,
and inclining to the right (always be able to see
the horse’s right foot). Never allow more than
the weight of the foot in the stirrup.
When ready to learn to rise take the reins in
the left hand, the off-pommel in the right; leana
little forward from the waist ; when the horse gets
trotting steadily begin to count, or have a friend
203
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
to say, “ One, two, three,” one count at each
step or cadence, and as you feel the impulse
upward press in the stirrup with the left foot;
on the off-pommel with the hand; and use the
right knee as a fulcrum —as if the thigh were a
jackknife blade that hinged at the pommel of the
saddle. By these means and by this counting —
each count (as “ one’) marking the rise, and
return, in readiness for the next cadence — the
“posting” is very easy to acquire, and in three or
four trials you will rise steadily and without effort
at the trot. Always remember to lean well to
the right, watch your horse’s off forefoot and re-
member that your knee on the pommel, and not
your foot in the stirrup, must be regarded as the
lever which enables you to thus rise and fall.
Do not try to begin to rise the moment
the horse starts to trot; “sit close” until
he is underway and stepping evenly; do not
try too hard to rise, but let the horse put you up;
“sit close” again a few strides before he comes
back to a walk. In pulling up lean back from the
waist and never forward over your hands, as so
many do.
To canter, sit still and erect; raise your left
heel, until your left knee is up snugly under the
204 |
RIDING FOR WOMEN
leaping horn, and both horns in the grasp of your
two knees ; lean over the horse’s right shoulder,
and as you thus sway, bring your left foot against
his ribs, and just move the bits in his mouth; or
you may touch him down the off-shoulder with
your whip so that he may associate the signal of
heel and stick, and canter finally from the whip-
tap alone. He should lead with his right, and if
he does not you will immediately notice it; pull
up and start again. Keep him up to the bit, that
he may bend and collect himself, as he must to
canter comfortably for you, and do not let him
go so fast that he gallops. It will be hard for
you to make him nicely perform this pace until
equipped with the “ full bridle,” that is, bit and
bridoon, and in two weeks from your beginning
you may probably be promoted to this combina-
tion of bits and reins.
Most people hold the curb reins inside, and
the snaffle outside the little finger (that is, in two-
handed riding; the writer neither advocates nor
will describe one-handed riding, which is utterly
unnecessary, and an absurd affectation in civilian
equestrianism). The writer holds the curb out-
side the little finger of each hand ; the snaffle (or
bridoon) between that finger and the third; all
205
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
reins going through the hands, over the first
finger, and being firmly held there by the thumbs.
Thus arranged, knuckles up, the bridoon is
chiefly operative, and the horse faces that as he
should, except when cantering ; a mere turn of the
wrist to thumbs up, however, and the curb (the
bit) comes into play through holding the knuckles
perpendicular, and the manipulation of either
hand and any rein is independent. The writer
does not attempt to say which method is right, but
gives his own and the reasons for its preference.
Leaping will not be treated of here ; that is ex-
clusively the affair of the girl and her male rela-
tives. If they can, after looking at a side-saddle,
view with equanimity the possibility of a fallen
animal caparisoned with those formidable pom-
mels, rolling upon the prostrate form of wife or
sister, 1t is their privilege to allow the casualty to
be tempted.
Ride your horse with hand, whip, and heel, and
except for the “ whoa!” which should mean in-
stant stop and stand, never speak to him. People
who do that sort of thing are a nuisance and a
menace; their eternal chirping is affecting every
horse in hearing. In the same way practise stop-
ping your horse, and making him stand still any-
206 .
RIDING FOR WOMEN
where, not by soothing (?) words, etc., but by
hand manipulation of the mouth. Can you do
this? Try and see, and if not, why do you fail?
Remember your escort, and when he dismounts
to make some change, etc., in your equipment,
do not have him running after you all over the
street while you vainly try to stand still and wait
for him. Rehearse this most essential accomp-
lishment. Make your horse back properly ;
practise opening gates, barways, etc., from his
back; in short, equip yourself in all methods
to be a companion to those who ride with you,
and not a burden, and neglect no details that
will make you independent of any escort or
assistance.
Children, boys and girls alike, should all learn
to ride astride, and the day is coming when the
ridiculous, unwieldy, and unworkmanlike side-
saddle will be as much a curiosity as is that of
“Good Queen Bess” in the British Museum.
Women of all ages should ride astride; it is
practical, modest, graceful, and safe, although it
is not probable that for the average equestrienne
the ordinary man’s saddle will meet every require-
ment of comfort and safety, and it is upon this
feeling of assurance that the adoption of the
207
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
fashion largely depends. For riding astride, a
woman’s saddle should have a good roll to the
knee-pad, and probably another behind the thigh
would be a help. Some modification of the Aus-
tralian “ bush”’ saddle would seem best to meet
the requirements, and it is likely that, as the
change finds general favor, such a saddle will be
used. It is like the ordinary English shape, save
that it has large pads in just the proper places for
feminine needs, these cushions being useful in sit-
ting the “ buck-jumpers”’ abundant in that coun-
try.
The pony should be thin through between the
knees of the rider, if the child begins very young,
as he should not, seven being quite young enough.
A pad of steam felting, cut saddle-shape, and
girthed on with a plain surcingle, is the best
arrangement for juvenile beginners, as it gives
the little legs a chance to get close to the animal’s
sides. The small ponies are generally such little
pigs, mentally and physically, that nothing is to
be gained from their use, and the small and
narrow horse of 14.2 or so is better, gent-
ler, and safer. After a few weeks of the pad,
with easy bit, etc., for the horse (special attention
being paid to square shoulders, and the natural
208
RIDING FOR WOMEN
erect carriage which the hollowed waist insures),
the child may advance to a saddle without stir-
rups (and finally with), and these should always be
open, large, and heavy, and the child’s foot carried
“home” in them, that is, through to the instep.
The reason for this is that if the stirrup is held at
the ball of the foot, and any accident happens, the
foot may go either way, probably through; but
if it is worn “ home,” the jar and twitch in falling
will almost surely throw it out. No jockeys or
huntsmen, always riding “ home,” are ever hung
up and dragged; soldiers and civilians who insert
only the toe and the ball of the foot, are frequently
so caught. This point is most important, and
worthy careful investigation.
Children should always be superintended in
their rides. They are mischievous, and when
the novelty palls, attempt all sorts of strange
experiments with their mounts which may cause
bad accidents, or they may bully and punish their
charges toacruel extent. A finished saddle-horse
is not needed in learning equestrianism ; in fact,
if one begins with a rough gaited animal, and
gets along fairly well with him, further advance
will be rendered much easier when promoted to
the handling of an accomplished hack. The
a 209
FIRST-HAND BITS ‘OF STABLE, LORE
pupil who rides all sorts, takes them as they come,
and strives to make the best of them, will learn
vastly more of practical equestrianism in twenty
lessons than she who rides the same perfectly
trained steed every day for a year.
210
Chap ter XV
FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING
F one listen to the average instructor in the
art of driving four-in-hand, or if he read
the books and articles written upon the
subject, he will become firmly imbued with
the mistaken idea that this accomplishment is
most difficult to acquire, and most complicated to
apply, whereas it is one of the very simplest feats
known to equestrianism. Professionals, however
expert, are generally inapt at explaining lucidly
the “ whys” and “ wherefores,” the “ wrong” and
the “right” of the undertaking, and naturally,
since they have their living to make by such in-
struction, it follows that there is no effort made
at undue haste, the object being to carry the
pupil along as slowly as possible, and always to
leave some further points for experiment in order
that the course of lessons may run to as great a
length as possible.
Again, the average “ pro” has been taught by
rule of thumb, and has neither inclination nor
211
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
much opportunity to inquire into, or practise
other methods. He has been made to do thus
and so because —well, because that was “the
right way to do it,” and his teachings run along
similar lines. He also fears ridicule if he depart
from the narrow limits of established usage, and
so do his pupils; hence they are as keen as is he
in the matter of discouraging any innovations.
Books and articles upon four-horse and tandem
driving err in the same way; instead of setting
forth fairly the advantages and disadvantages of
different methods, they one and all follow the
dead level of what the ancient road-coach chario-
teers are supposed to have done; and there is no
spark of originality to any of their recommenda-
tions. They may all be right, but why are they
so? And why is any other fashion wrong? The
limits afforded here are narrow for what might
well be made an elaborate treatise with diagrams,
etc., but if one will experiment, one will find that
there are more ways than one to hold reins,
arrange loops and points, catch thongs, etc., and
”
realize that the term “correct form” is purely
arbitrary, and that it is quite possible to achieve
results in various ways, and yet to appear “cor-
rect”? so far as workmanlike performance goes.
PR Yo.
“unOFT NV Sa TITY NAILYNOY
FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING
Why not be independent and original in all
things, thinking and acting for one’s self, heeding
advice when found good, but following only that
which common-sense and unbiased experiment
prove to be most natural and most practical ?
The main thing about driving four-in-hand is
to get up and drive four horses, learning by ex-
perience and profiting by mistakes. The man
who does this and persistently keeps at it, with
all kinds of teams, will make a far more genu-
inely good coachman than he of rule-of-thumb
methods and so-called scientific theories and
fancy touches. There is just so much good
material to every dress; the rest is trimmings,
frills, and fallals, like the absurd “ opposition
loops” on thumb, finger, and wrist, which so
many of our “flash”’ amateur and professional
whips essay. These gentry go through as many
manceuvres in turning a corner as if they were
playing a fiddle in a street band, though it will
be noticed that they generally take to such antics
only when the team is very “unanimous ” and
knows the way, and the driver knows the way
and knows the horses know “ the way.” Other-
wise, like the poor girl in the song, whose “ shoes
were full of feet,” the steersman’s “ hands will be
a:
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
full of reins” at the last moment, and he wiil
not improbably regret that he has not at liberty
three pairs (of hands), a set of feet, and a mouth-
ful of teeth to keep him out of trouble and steer
him away from the impending curbstone and
lamp post.
Holding the reins over four horses and escap-
ing calamity by the aid of good luck is not
driving four-in-hand, by a long way, however
much your instructor and your vanity may strive
to persuade to the contrary; nor is handling
always the same steady, quiet team likely to ad-
vance you very far, as the first “raw” lot you
chance to take hold of will prove. There is
nothing to be said for and much to be argued
against the keeping of a regular team. Horses, if
they suit each other and are properly “ put to,”
will go as well the first time they ever see each
other as they will afterward; and constant change
affords incessant practice. A real coachman can
get along with anything, and however queer,
they “all look alike to” him. As proper “ put-
ting to” is a matter of practice for each individ-
ual combination of horses and driver, we may
pass over that part of it, only pausing to remark
that all teams, once started, should be given time
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FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING
to settle and to show you possibly how they like
things; they may have reasons which you don’t
appreciate (and be right at that). Above all
things, don’t be eternally changing couplings,
bittings, and bits. One very well-known ama-
teur carries in his coach a bag of all sorts of bits,
and the occasion that does not find him changing
them two or three times all round is marked as a
day lost. If horses drive pleasantly in simple
combination, let it go at that, and never provoke
trouble that you could have avoided, or tamper
with mouths already amenable.
The horses “ put to,” wheelers well poled up,
and both pairs coupled close (for a beginner, as
they turn and stop more easily), we come to
the reins and their manipulation. The conven-
tional method, acceptably correct, is to place the
near lead over the left forefinger, the off lead
between the first and second fingers; the nigh
wheel between the same two fingers, and below
the off lead, and the off wheel between the sec-
ond and third fingers. The only advantage of
this method is that you may take either pair back
a trifle more easily than in any other way, but
only a very trifle, and an immaterial one. The
loopings are made by taking the desired rein in
215
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
the right hand, and drawing it back, making
the rein thereby short enough to accomplish the
intended turn, and confining it between the
thumb and finger or the other fingers, according
to which rein you Joop. ‘This loop is let gradu-
ally slip as your curve is made, and you desire
your team to resume straight going. ‘ Opposi-
tion loops”’ are similarly made upon the opposite
wheel rein in order to keep your wheelers in
their place, to prevent their following the leaders
too directly, and to insure describing the graceful
curve you aim to accomplish. These loopings,
direct point and opposition, are made in the same
way when the reins are held in any one of the
several other methods. In one of these the nigh
lead goes over the forefinger; the nigh wheel
and the off wheel between the first and second
fingers, the nigh rein on top, and the off lead
between the second and third fingers. This
method separates the two lead reins by a wide
margin, and quite sharp angles can be made and
corners turned without any looping, or touching
the reins with the right, if the wrist is carried
right or left, and the knuckles or the palm turned
up or down, as the case demands. The off-lead
rein crosses the off-wheel rein close to the toe-
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FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING
board, but this is rather an advantage, as, witha
pulling team, a turn of the wrist gives one when
going straight an extra purchase by the slight
binding of the reins. Another method separates
all the reins with a finger between each; and still
another separates the two wheel reins by the
second finger, while the nigh lead comes over the
forefinger as usual, but the off comes in outside
of the little finger, and through the “whole
hand.”’ ‘This makes looping difficult, but gives
such scope to wrist turn and movement that prac-
tically loops are almost unnecessary. Still an-
other method treats the wheel reins like the lead,
in the case just cited, while the wheel reins “ come
home” as do the lead in the same case. Orrigi-
nally it is said that the wheel reins were made
just long enough to reach the hand, and that
their loop was taken in the “ full hand,” the op-
position being made by sliding the hand either
way. A not improbable objection to this was
said to be the fact that, if a wheeler fell he pulled
the Jehu off his box, which result certainly had
its drawbacks, especially if the “ monkey on a
stick” attitude, so fashionable on the box to-day,
was accepted as correct then. With all its dis-
advantages it was found very difficult to make
217
FIRST-HAND BITS OF SEABLE LORE
the jeunesse dorée of those days abandon this
method, showing that fad is not entirely a modern
development. The second and third plans are
most useful if reins are to be taken in both
hands, as occasionally they must be, since they
are so placed that separation into rights and lefts
is easy. However, perhaps that consideration is
immaterial, as while we ridicule an equestrian
who does not ride his one horse with two hands,
we jeer more loudly at the charioteer who does
not drive four horses with one hand. Which
method you elect to use is for your personal
preference to decide. They all have advantages
and drawbacks ; they are all practical and proper.
“Opposition” looping is a delusion and a
snare. The best opposition is a turn of the
wrist, and the carrying of it right or left if your
wheelers are mouthed and mannerly; if not a
touch of the thong on the proper wheeler’s shoul-
der prevents all trouble, or your right hand may
come to your assistance if needed. You have two
hands, why not use them? or you may “ oppose”’
with the toe of your boot if you like; undoubt-
edly the old-timers did, for with their thick reins
and low-grade, generally worn-out horses, no
other “opposition” but that of whip and main
218
FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING
”
strength was possible. Leave the fancy “ stunts
to those who drive for “the gallery,” and be sure
that a genuine heavy-headed, tired, or awkward
western “bull” will play havoc with the most
scientific “opposition’’ loops ever constructed.
If you wish to play with these toys, you may
“put them on” either between the fingers, caught
over the thumb, or round the wrist according to
what you guess the resistance will be; but noth-
ing will be said of the details here, as they are not
practically useful, but merely tricks; you had as
well practise “‘ opposing” round your own neck
or the box-seat’s off ear.
There are many different ways to catch your
thong; the main thing is to catch it every time,
and without effort. Keep it always soft and
pliant, or it is a nuisance. If you’ve never prac-
tised it, just take a whip, balance it nicely, the
end of the thong in your hand; don’t look at it
and make as if to throw your whip away to the
right, but stop it suddenly as about to leave your
hand — probably the thong is there when you
look. Never “meet” it with the stick, as you
will if you look at it, but throw the thong to that.
A few turns the reverse way before you throw it
will put a few wraps on the handle, and a kink in
219
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
the thong that will make it twist and bind better ;
a few knobs on the stick will make it “catch and
’
keep” well. Practise from a horseless coach un-
til you can hit an imaginary leader (off side or
near), and always under the bars or on the shoul-
der in front of the pad, nine times out of ten, and
always “ bring the thong home” with a twist of
the wrist that will land the end across your chest,
whence it can be picked off by the fingers, and the
thong replaced on the stick; or you may, when
b
expert, “draw” the end direct to your fingers.
When you hit any horse, hit him “for keeps,”
and, if necessary, several times; if emergency
arises, and you have, some day, barely time to
touch him, he will not have forgotten what fol-
lowed on other occasions, and may prevent acci-
dent by quick response. Under trees, or in
traffic it is sometimes handy to put on a “ reverse
’
thong,” and that is done by simply chopping into
the loop as it hangs, throwing the stick to the
loop. This method is not considered “good
form,” but as results and appearance are the same
there is no reason for condemnation.
The brake is regarded by some drivers — we
can hardly call them coachmen, for no man can be
who jeopardizes the safety of others — as a con-
220
FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING
trivance to be used only at a pinch, as when the
load is getting, or has obtained, the best of the
wheelers on a down grade. ‘They will not use it
otherwise, but jar the wheel horses to pieces in
their efforts to hold back a huge load by their
necks (the breastplates being half the time too
loose to afford any help), and yet maintain the
brisk pace demanded; nor will they apply it
after pulling up. Surely it was meant for use,
and certainly it is a labor-saver and a safeguard.
The “ old-timers ” didn’t have it, we will allow,
but there were several things they lacked, includ-
ing ingenuity. Pray do not be led astray by
such arguments. There has never seemed any
good reason for working it by hand, except that
no one likes to incur ridicule through manipula-
ting it by the foot. The hand lever is in the
way ; it may entail operation when the hand has
plenty of other things to attend to, and if it
“ pushes” (instead of “ pulls” ) one must throw
his weight forward at the very instant when,
through some emergency, he needs to throw
it backward in pulling up his team. Is this ordi-
narily practical ?
When ready to mount the box, place the reins
in your left hand, as you are accustomed to hold
221
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
them ; take each one back separately until you
just feel your horses’ mouths; with your right
grasp the two off-reins, and carry your off-wheel
coupling-buckle up to the nigh coupling-buckle,
letting the off-reins slip through your left hand
for that purpose. Mount your box and all reins
will be even, and all horses “in hand.” Sit down
deep and square on the cushion, and put your feet
fairly forward in an easy position, not cramped
back against the riser. Give your team “the
office”’ to move, and if you suspect either wheel-
horse of being ungenerous, swing the wheelers a
step, so that the free horse feels his collar first.
Many a rogue which has made up his mind to
either balk, plunge away, or throw himself, is so
disconcerted by this move that he is underway
and in his collar before he has time to realize
what he is doing. Leaders of course never start
a coach, unless the load is so heavy that all four
must act. If your road is long, and the team
getting tired, watch your chances to pick the best
places, and if a horse drops out of his collar for a
few strides, let him have his “easy” and get a
long breath or two; ease them all round if you
can manage it. Although, theoretically every
horse should be in his place and “up and doing”
222
FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING
all the way, in practice you will find that it pays
to nurse them along now and then, especially in
warm weather, and do not be too persistent with
thong and voice with an animal that hangs out
distress signals. Nor is there need to trot eter-
nally, or to change only by galloping. Walking
a team gives lots of good practice, and is much
harder to perform properly than any novice would
believe. Galloping a team is great fun for you,
but is not a feat for a light or weak man to at-
tempt. Horses at speed must “take hold” a
little to steady themselves, and only weight and
strength can long stand the strain. The chief
precaution necessary is to keep the wheel-horses
galloping in stride; or, if one strides the shorter,
make him by a touch of the thong frequently
change his stride and “get in” with the other
horse for a stride or two to steady the coach, or
you will get it swinging and may turn it over. Be
sure horses are not too fresh when you attempt this
feat, or they may get away with you, and a runa-
way four makes nasty handling, as personal ex-
perience with several has proved.
The best way to bit a puller is to let somebody
else bit him, and own him. Still he may be cir-
cumvented in various ways. The all-round nose-
ahs)
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
band, a strap with a buckle on one side to shorten
it, and a few links of curb-chain on each end,
should always be on the coach. Hook a link in
the curb-hook of one side, pass it across the chin
and round the nose, inside the face-pieces ; cross
the chin again and hook it on the other curb-hook,
taking up snugly with the buckle. This closes
the mouth, and with a dropped-bit or a port-bit,
if needed, is severe. The jaw-strap, a strap finger-
wide, long enough to go through the mouth, and
having half a dozen curb-links on each end, is
excellent for a few times. Hook as before, run
across chin, through the mouth, and across chin
again, and hook on the opposite curb-hook.
These two straps are invaluable. Various ways
of using cords, etc., savor of the “gyp ” dealer,
and will not be quoted. The much-abused burr
is invaluable at times, and on certain heavy-headed,
one-sided, bolting, plunging horses will keep one
out of many a shop window and off of many a
sidewalk.
Driving tandem has always seemed like putting
two horses in line to accomplish a task which they
could perform much better abreast. In olden
times it was doubtless a handy method of getting
one’s hunter to a meet, but its pursuit seems
224 |
FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING
otherwise to possess slight merit. It presents all
the difficulties and enhances all the dangers attend-
ant upon driving four, and yet has little of the
interest attaching to that undertaking. Probably
no man more surely tempts fate than he who
thus “takes the air,’ and may his temerity do
him that much good. Two four-in-hand leaders
rarely decide upon the same mode of procedure
if disposed to be light-hearted, but help keep
each other straight. Your tandem advance guard,
however, is open for any kind of deviltry. How
on earth they ever do manage to lead properly is
a wonder, and the feel of the traces as they hang
must in a way act asa guide as to where the wheeler
is, and which way he means to go, for half the
time the lead reins are slack. “That was a wise
nagsman indeed, who, asked as he drove out of
the archway which way he was going, up or down,
replied: ‘“ Blowed if I know till I get into the
street;”’ and that’s the worst of tandem driving,
one “can’t pretty much always tell’? what will
befall the next moment. If tandems must be
driven it is to be hoped that the fad will change
and allow breechings to be worn on wheel harness.
To ask a poor brute to hold back by his tail and
withers a thousand-pound cart carrying possibly
Te 225
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
eight hundred pounds of human beings (if four
ride), and that down hills and with a leader to
possibly snatch him onto his knees, is inhuman,
and the S. P. C. A. might well take a hand. If
through any of these reasons your wheeler does
chance to fall, you will certainly find the landing
on your head and knees on stones or macadam
most unpleasant, and that is where you must
bring up. Undeterred by these prospects and
difficulties, it is a curious fact that pretty well any
one will get up and try to drive a tandem, where-
as if a four is offered they respectfully decline ;
the latter task being infinitely more easy of ac-
complishment.
There are many performances which one may
go through with by himself, or with a friend to
prompt, that will forward him vastly in the art of
driving a team. Driving figure eights at a walk
and trot (finally holding the reins in one hand
only, and making all turns by moving the fore-
arm and turning the wrist and hand) is splendid
practice if a broad road or field can be had; pull-
ing up at all sorts of unexpected places, upon
signal from a friend or servant on the coach;
backing round in narrow lanes and yards, driving
through pegs and posts with many sharp turns in
226
FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING
thecourse, etc., are excellent manceuvres, and make
a man a better coachman in thirty days than are
half the “regulars” who have always driven only
on the roads. Rough horses, all kinds, are the
sort for learning from, and the meaner the better,
provided you don’t set too much store by paint
and varnish, which can always be renewed.
Practice is the only useful way to make perfect,
and independence and sensible appreciation of the
real issues are the desirable qualifications; com-
petent performance is the criterion of individual
merit.
The driving of one horse is nowadays, with
most of us, an acquisition of youthful days, and
usually performed in very slovenly style. The
American fashion of holding a rein in either
hand obviously does not tend to that delicacy of
manipulation which is so essential to competent
performance, and the fashion of one-hand driving
is gaining ground everywhere. The attitude has
much to do with proper performance, and the
slouchy charioteer is generally not driving his
horse, but “being taken to ride” behind him.
Proper bitting has as much to do with comfort
in handling one as four horses, and is a detail
generally disregarded, nor do we appreciate the
227
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
necessity of it. Loopings, as with four may be
used, and the practice is excellent. The whip is
not merely an ornament, but an instrument in-
tended to play its important part in the guidance
of the quadruped, and its manipulation should
be carefully studied.
Driving a well-mated and coupled pair is as
easy as driving one, and the whole secret consists
that they mu-
»”
in so “ putting them together
tually assist, and do not obstruct each other at
their work. Bits, harness, couplings, traces, pole-
pieces must all be rightly fitted and arranged ;
the horses must be comfortable to make the
driver at ease. Just as one hand is more sym-
pathetic with the single horse, so are two hands
with a pair, and most pairs are virtually so driven,
the right hand being always near the left, ready
for use, and frequently in use. As much good
practice may be gained by driving at a walk as at
a trot, and it is no easy matter to keep a pair
properly in their places at this gait. Judgment
of distance is an essential to be developed by
practising at driving between pegs, and nothing
looks worse than to see a driver craning his neck,
and taking his horses back to a slow pace to pass
a vehicle, or enter a gate where practice should
228 |
FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING
show him that ample space was at his disposal.
No man is driving who is not ready to turn right
or left, at any angle, instantly to pull up, and
promptly to increase his speed, and he is no
coachman until he can perform these feats easily
and gracefully, his hands in their proper place,
about opposite the fourth button of his waistcoat,
and not his chin nor his lap; his arms hanging
naturally from the shoulders, his position erect,
and his attitude easy. Study the methods of an
amateur accepted as proficient, and bear in mind
that your appearance has as much to do with your
reputation as a whip as your actual performance.
Space forbids extended commentary on this art,
which would by itself fill a book; and anyway,
given the few rudiments, there is no royal road
to success but practice, diligent and incessant,
and with all kinds of horses.
229
Chapter XVI
COACHING AND ITS ACCOMPANIMENTS
‘*Here’s to the hand that can hold them when gone,
Still to a gallop inclined, sirs;
Heads to the front, with no bearing-reins on,
Tails with no cruppers behind, sirs.”’
Old Song.
T is a very curious thing that coaching, in
its most sporting development (as the
public), or in its more individual and ex-
clusive (as the private) form has not made
greater advances in popular favor. Polo, hunt-
ing, road driving, etc., all have their adherents
and furnish enthusiasts in quantity; but the use
of four horses before an appropriate vehicle —
coach, drag, or brake —while not necessarily
more expensive than the other undertakings, ad-
vances in popularity with slow and faltering
strides. So far as cost goes, indeed, coaching
may easily entail the smallest outlay of the lot.
Of course if one is to purchase a new coach at
$2,500 to $3,000, ditto harness at $300 to $500,
230
$2?
«© CoacH, GENTLEMEN !
COACHING
horses at $500 each, liveries, etc., at high rates,
figures may run to huge proportions.
This expenditure is quite unnecessary, how-
ever, and a second-hand vehicle at $400 to $700,
harness at $100 to $150, and horses at $100 to
$250, liveries, etc., those on hand (or even stable
clothes if desired), will afford quite as much en-
joyment and be just as practically useful, while
one’s lead harness answers perfectly for pair-horse
work, as will the wheel ata pinch; or if one has
two sets of double harness, one set can be easily
arranged with the proper spare lead terrets for
pad and bridle, and the others provided with an
extra set of traces with cockeyes, etc., for lead work.
The horses may be four odd ones (two pairs, or the
carriages-horses at wheel, and the saddle horses as
leaders). One’s vehicle also will bring at any
time, and in any reasonably fair condition, about
what it cost; $500 or thereabouts being a staple
buying or selling price for a second-hand coach
or break, and readily obtainable in any market.
How much polo or hunting can one enjoy for
the same, or less, money? and again, while these
two, or the road driving of fast horses, are purely
selfish amusements, a four-in-hand enables from
one to twelve others to enjoy most agreeable out-
231
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
ings, and their presence really adds to the pleasure
of the owner. We have the roads and the object
points of romantic, picturesque, or historical inter-
est in most localities; we have the vehicles,
horses, etc., obtainable at trifling outlay, and we
lack simply the enterprise and the appreciation
necessary to make the pleasure vehicle drawn by
four horses as common on our thoroughfares as
the private or public equipage of any other type.
Perhaps, in its private form, coaching has for
competitors too many other attractive and rather
costly sports for it to be more generally popular ;
and again, the driving of four horses has been,
through lack of enterprise, and the machinations
of professional teachers, who strive for private
ends to encourage the belief that it is an accom-
plishment most difficult of acquirement, held as a
most serious and dangerous undertaking, whereas
it is the acme of simplicity for any one who can
successfully navigate one or a pair, and infinitely
easier than driving tandem, which few aspiring
Jehus hesitate to attempt. Four horses, in a
way, combine to keep each other in the straight
and narrow paths of rectitude, and even the
“rawest ” green one finds plenty to attend to at
such work, and has little opportunity for sky-
232 |
COACHING
larking. Moreover, the unpretentious amateur,
indifferent to the “appointment fad”’ and its at-
tending eternal bother and fuss, has all the best
of it, so far as real enjoyment goes, and may pro-
ceed gayly on his daily drives, serenely indifferent
to the gibes of captious spectators, taking his
pleasure in his own way, and giving full sway to
the hardy individuality which should be and gen-
erally is his birthright.
When the cost of a coach-and-four has seemed
prohibitive to the individual, it appears that a
“neighborhood coach” might be both practical and
practicable ; that is, that a syndicate of neighbors
could arrange to assume each a certaincpart of the
expense of purchasing and maintaining such an
equipage; he who provided one, two, or more
horses thus standing upon the same footing as
the man who paid as great an equivalent toward
the purchase of the vehicle, harness, etc. These
subscribers then might have a well appointed
drag ready “turned out”’ for each of them on a
certain day, or days, each week; and in no way
can more pleasure be afforded to so many people
at so reasonable a cost.
For the necessary attendants each man’s servant
(carried inside if preferred) would suffice. Plenty
233
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
of good grooms can blow a “ call” or two on the
horn, and if not an amateur can very easily learn
to perform— it is all part of the fun. If a team is
kept especially for the coach, four animals quite
good enough may be put together for about $100
each, practically sound, good-looking, free, and
pleasant drivers, so that after an original outlay
of, say, $1,200 for the whole outfit, an expense of
$4 per day for keep, and a trifle for shoeing
and repairs, will furnish a “ neighborhood” with
means for six weekly outings at a really trifling
individual cost. Of course, it must be agreed
that these daily drives are limited to a certain dis-
tance within the powers of the animals, and it
should be understood that any one making longer
trips must provide his own horses. ‘Therefore,
for about $20 per month any subscriber may once
a week take out for a drive of say ten miles a
party of eight to twelve friends, enjoying with
them a most unique pleasure.
Public road coaching as an amusement has
made a surprisingly slight advance in the affec-
tions of Americans, and its perpetuation is nowa-
days seemingly confined to New York, the locality
of its inception more years ago than one cares to
look back upon.
“0%
COACHING
These undertakings have almost invariably
been conducted upon non-practical and most
expensive lines, with the natural result of aband-
onment by the backers who found the debit side
too extensive to face with equanimity, and of lack
of support from a public which objected to paying
heavily for a ride to a private club wherein they
were tolerated but not encouraged; or to nearby
road-houses where the company was not unlikely
to prove miscellaneous, to say the least, and the
nourishment simply awful.
Practically managed, the sport is not necessarily
expensive, and with a more general understanding
of this fact, it seems certain that the sound of the
horn and the “ chatter”
generally heard upon the splendid roads which
of the bars would be very
lead from all our cities to nearby places of
interesting environment.
If one wishes to learn the art of “charioteering”
from the “ground up,” to acquire a practical and
speedy knowledge of horse flesh, its capabilities,
limitations, its management and preservation in
health and soundness, to secure health-giving
exercise in the open air, to afford vast pleasure
to hosts of friends and acquaintances, there is no
way he may so speedily and easily accomplish
235
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
these various ends as by taking up road-coaching
actively; not as a fad, but as a live issue, not in
a desultory manner for a few weeks, but resolutely
and for extended periods, — for our lovely springs,
glorious summers, and superbautumns are equalled
as a whole hardly anywhere on earth, and should
all be liberally utilized.
To be sure, at first, expenses will exceed re-
ceipts, but knowledge comes quickly, and with
the personal attention all undertakings demand
and should receive, there is no need for heavy
outlay of any sort; while increasing reputation
for owning good and well-mannered horse-flesh
will meet its due reward in frequent private or
public sales, insuring a handsome percentage of
profit upon the investment. The trouble with
most of these undertakings has been that horses
were extravagantly bought, badly managed,
improperly handled, and speedily used up,
while at the annual sale the anticipated huge
profits failed to materialize in consequence.
The amateur owner’s “geese are all swans”
generally, and he scorns the “nimble nine-
pence” of profit which he should welcome with
eagerness. |
Perhaps a few hints of ways and means to in-
236 |
COACHING
sure profit, or at all events help in preventing
loss may be of interest.
Regarding the coach and harness: one cannot
go wrong if he applies to any of the leading
dealers, either at home or abroad. For horses,
one may go West or East if he prefers, but in
New York he can find the raw material better
broken, more nearly conditioned, and cheaper
than anywhere in the country, for the reason that
farmers nowadays know all about market prices,
which are always well kept up at Western points,
while New York is the “jumping-off place”’ for
horse-flesh, and by auction or private sale a
coach can be horsed more cheaply and quickly
there than anywhere else, while the material
offered is sure to be the best in the country or it
would not be there.
As a rule, one makes a mistake in expecting to
get (or in giving, if one is a buyer) fancy prices
for any animals which have been regularly work-
ing a coach. Such horses have generally one-
sided mouths, and have banged their legs about
more than a bit; if they have been the slow ones
of their team they have either been kept hopping
and skipping to keep up, until that unsightly
mode of progression has become a habit, or else
237
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
they have galloped most of the trip; not a few of
them are arch scoundrels at “soldiering” their
work ; that is, they will not do their share, but
shoulder the pole and their luckless mate, or learn
the art of just keeping their traces straight and
not really working at all. A public coach-horse
has been not inaptly described as “an animal
which has seen an unusual amount of grief in an
uncommonly short while,” and most of them fit
the description. Therefore, the low cost horse,
— not the one which is dear at $100, but the beast
that is cheap at (or near) that figure —is the one
likely to afford most general ultimate satisfaction.
In a collection of expensive horses one is sure to
acquire several gigantic and costly failures, while
from a similar bunch of low priced material it is
not unusual to develop a few really high class and
valuable animals. In event also of the inevitable
accidents, the loss in the first case is very heavy,
and must be charged up against the remainder.
Horses of 16 hands should be the limit, and
15.214 will generally be found more satisfactory.
A “thick horse,” long and low, good fronted,
well-shouldered, deep hearted, long ribbed, closely
coupled, deep quartered, short above and long
below, standing square on all his legs, and mov-
238
COACHING
ing true in all paces— ‘good to meet and good
to follow”? —is the sort, and beware the beast
who “dishes,” for he will either tire quickly or
cut himself to pieces. Refuse the dull horse,
for he will never last the season, and his faint
heart will cause endless trouble. We have
grown into the fashion of having our road-coach
leaders of a rather slighter, more “rangey”’ and
“ breedy ” shape than our wheelers, but it is un-
doubtedly the case that, when the coach was the
only means of public conveyance, our forefathers
— whom we essay to imitate— made no such
error, nor would our light leaders have long en-
dured the heavy everyday work of big loads and
heavy roads. Practically it is far more economi-
cal to have your Jeaders more nearly of wheel-
horse type than is usual, so that an animal may
work anywhere in a team, at a pinch, and still
“mate up” fairly well. By this means, with
five horses at a changing station, every one gets
a day off in six besides his Sunday, and all hands
work “all round the team”’ to the ensuing 1m-
provement of their legs, mouths, tempers, and
condition ; whereas, otherwise, if you keep spare
horses, you must always arrange to provide a
change leader and a wheeler. Again, if you have
239
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
on hand say twenty or thirty animals, any two of
which will make a pair, the value of your whole
stud is increased, both for use and for sale
purposes. An additionally practical reason for
this ability to work a horse anywhere is that one
may constantly arrange new combinations, secur-
ing thereby practically different teams to the
furtherance of his own enjoyment and practice.
Let all your stud be good-necked and up-headed,
running up to 15.3) average.’ A: | horse Jen
about that height is always salable, whereas the
demand is limited for the one an inch or two
smaller. Colors may be anything, and always
try for a few odd-colored or flash-marked ones,
leaving out “ soft”’ bays.
Having secured your “ gee-gees,” put them
through physic, trim them up, and pair them off.
Two mild doses of physic are better than a severe
one, and ten days should intervene. A quart of
Carron oil is excellent, or four drachms of aloes.
When you “pair” them off, mate them by
mouths and manners, rather than by exact heights
and precisely similar appearance, if you want to
drive comfortably; but of course secure as much
similarity of make and shape as possible. Not
half the preliminary work that is usually done
240
COACHING
with them is necessary, and “ fresh” horses should
go on the road after three weeks’ handling; they
will fall away a little, but they will quickly get
their flesh back. By the way, be sure that all
collars are especially fitted, and that they set very
snugly at first, as horses’ necks and shoulders are
bound to shrink.
A public coach-horse cannot wear too little
harness: bridle, collar and hames for leaders (with
or without trace-bearers, for they do not do much
good), wheelers the same, with the addition of
pads and breastplates. No cruppers need be
used at wheel if the pads are provided with very
thick, broad, and long housings of the heaviest
felt. This will prevent the pad from cutting the
withers when tipped forward by the up-draft of
the reins to the hands; and in fact it will not
so “tip up” if properly girthed, unless by chance
some leader pull hard, not usually a permanent
feature of a hard working, properly bitted horse.
This reduces your trappings to first principles,
indeed, and with a spare check-rein or two, an
odd port bit, an “all round nose” band, and a
jaw strap, etc., you are fairly well provided so far
as essentials go; rein and trace-splices, spare reins,
etc., of course you will have also. A leader
16 241
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
which hugs its tail, or kicks when it gets the rein
under, may be circumvented by fastening (tempo-
rarily or permanently) a ring a foot or two behind
the coupling buckle on the other horse, and run-
ning the awkward horse’s rein through this ring,
both reins leading thence inside the wheelers’
bridles (not out).
“* Putting horses together,” by which is meant
proper regulation of the harness, reins, and bits
to each individual requirement to the subsequent
general advantage, and the appropriate placing
of each horse in the team, is a matter of observa-
tion and experiment, and a vitally important detail.
Four horses comprise a team, but they do not
necessarily make a team, by a long way. The
alteration of a hole or two in couplings, dropping
or raising a bit, “roughing” or smoothing, loos-
ening or tightening of curb chains, taking up or
letting out pole pieces, low-headed horses always
underneath in coupling; the whole team com-
pact — wheelers and leaders close to their work ;
lead traces always crossed (to opposite bars), for
nothing so puts together a slug and a free-goer,
as any ploughman or teamster knows. (This
may not be “early English,” but it is practical
and has no drawback, except allowing the bars to
242 |
COACHING
swing awkwardly sometimes at the gallop.) Pole
pieces should be loose and coupling free for
wheel horses, closer for leaders; and awkward
leaders may sometimes be “ throat-lashed,” as it
is called, as well, which puts their heads close
together if inclined to pull. _Nosebands and jaw-
straps are always useful and often necessary. The
mere compulsory closing of a puller’s mouth
often renders him as light and pliant as any.
Watch especially the top of the neck and the
shoulders, under the hames drafts, for chafing,
and be sure that the sweating shoulders are im-
mediately well sponged with cold water, which
will close the pores. Let every horse’s bridle fit
him (especially the wheelers), and every one’s bit
be of the make, shape, and width which suits
him best. Browbands, especially, are often too
small, too sharp-edged; blinkers set too close ;
throat lashes are too short, or the whole bridle
moves or chafes when the lead reins play. Your
horses must work hard, make them comfortable
every way you can think of, and don’t “ pooh-
pooh” anything you have not tried.
Never economize on stable help, and always
arrange to drop in on them at all sorts of un-
expected hours, day or night. Many a road
243
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
coach horse spends his “ leisure’’ (?) time in work
of various kinds, from which lis care-taker
profits, and the constant eye of the owner, or
some capable representative, is the only thing to
keep horses and men up to the mark. A team
running on a local coach was found to be very
thin, whereas all the other horses on the road
held their flesh. Not until after the sale was it
found that the poor brutes had never been fed in
the middle of the day, the grooms at each end
of their stage “supposing” that the others had
fed them while the master knew nothing about it
personally, but left all to chance.
Teams should never be changed at their
stables, but the fresh “change” led out at least
half a mile, so that they may be well “ on their
feet”? and ready; while the old team so thor-
oughly “cools out” and tranquillizes heart and
respiration in its walk home, that no harm can
come to it. Grooms may object, but that 1s
of little moment, and many a possibly damaged
horse will be saved.
With a “long ground,” that is, a stage which a
fresh team works each way, to change the teams
to every few weeks, horses last much longer. No
cold-blooded horse can long endure being thor-
24.4
COACHING
oughly exhausted, and regularly “ done up” twice
each day, as he must be in the ordinary stages
where he works both ways; and a change to the
“long ground,” which he travels but once (al-
though over a longer distance), will do him as
much good as having the spare wheeler or leader
to work “turn about” on the double-trip system.
Four horses managed thus will do better than
five worked in the ordinary manner.
Horses should be kept naturally also, and the
swaddling process of heavy blankets and closed
windows, which the average groom insists upon,
be sternly forbidden. When in rugged health a
horse needs and will endure great apparent ex-
posure, and once he is thoroughly “ cooled out”’
clear through, vitals and all, he cannot have too
much air and too few clothes, which means none
at all. Learn of the trainers of thoroughbred
race horses on this point, and keep your animals
naturally cool, airy, well bedded, and well fed,
plenty of hay and all the water (at temperature
of air) they can drink whenever they want it.
No horse can eat well and do well if he does n’t
drink well, and don’t imagine that he is not to
have it when he is warm. You do yourself,
and you need n’t fear for him, providing circula-
245
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
tion and respiration are tranquil and the water has
the chill off. In fact,in all dealings with horses
disregard tradition and hearsay, and be governed
by common-sense and ordinary intelligence.
Toward the securing of first-class “ condition ”
nothing is more essential than properly cared for
teeth and regularly assimilated food and drink;
toward its maintenance nothing is more indispen-
sable, if the season is long, the roads and loads
heavy, and the drivers changeable and not crack
performers, than the proper use of powerful tonics
like quinine and arsenic, especially quinine. This
will cause expressions of indignation, perhaps ; but
if so, it will come from people who have never had
to keep low-bred horses on their feet and in good
condition throughout hot weather at this most
exhausting work; or who, if they have done so
successfully, have profited by the use of tonics
administered without their knowledge. Properly
used (mark “ properly used’’), no drugs are more
generally and directly beneficial or more harmless.
Horses need change of scene and the oftener
the better. However, every coachman quickly
finds this out, for there is nothing more monoto-
nous than driving teams that know their run to
an inch, cutting all corners and quickening or
246 |
COACHING
slowing their pace like machines. Horses gain
spirit and flesh at once when changed about, and
a general shift every two weeks greatly enlivens
matters.
Above all, a road-coach should go, must go,
a good pace, and nothing is more tiresome or
less sporting, than the funereal progress pursued
by the average public conveyance. As “ speed,”
“‘ speed,” and “more speed” are the essentials
for a race-horse, so are they for a successful coach,
and if this is not to be the characteristic, the
whole enterprise is best left alone. Better five
miles at a clipping pace with one than twenty with
three or four teams at a jog trot; just fast enough
to eat your own dust, and the freight praying for
the (and your) end.
Perhaps an approximate table of expenses for
running a road-coach for a short season, using three
changes (four teams), may be interesting, and the
monthly sheet would figure about as follows :
Keep twenty horses @ $1.00 . . . . $600.00
SHGSING MeCN Sh Aik ales! cts ura ak LON OL OO
Ewe: craoms: (FAO is 2h) Veli be op le) 4 BOSOO
Grarde tare tel Meet etee Vea, ire. Sw iuke ate NG ROO
Repairs and incidentals, 5) 22) 4°.) 4/21)" 82500
$800.00
247
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
To this must be added about $60 if a super-
intendent is employed; about $40 for “ cock-
horse boy,” if one is used, and other needless items
may run it up to $800 or more per month. If,
however, the promoter’s heart be in the under-
taking, he will act as his own superintendent,
hire cheap stabling, feed his own horses, shoe
them with tips, and economize vigorously and
wisely everywhere, his sheet running about
thus :
Feed and care twenty horses@.50 . $300.00
Stall-room @ $4 per month, per horse . . 80.00
SHOES piel den Weal Tet ire etic ds) hi aes aOR ers
EEE ds POU AMR ETP RGBIR ceapinroms tele, ap be rie eni i sgemnsma (<3 (6 ()
FREDAIIS | ci ( his 14. cuiht atharsi® gegen ue) eth, Tail) etal
$460.00
This assumes that he also keeps his horses
in such condition that little or no veterinary at-
tendance is required. His horses ought not
to cost him over $100 per head, and if he will
‘take ’em as they come,” as a road-coach should,
he will find no trouble in securing free-going,
easy-driving teams, whose occasional infirmities
of temper it will prove both amusing and in-
structive to combat. If horses are sold at pri-
vate sale out of the different teams, it will also
24.8 )
COACHING
prove more generally remunerative than an
auction, and useful horses in hard condition
are always in demand at fair prices. Such fig-
ures are all that the proprietor should strive to
secure as a general thing, although occasionally
he can mate up a pair that will bring him
excellent returns.
He should also be able to secure concessions
(in the way of keep, percentage, etc.) from the
hotels whence he starts and where he finishes. It
is all business, and if he brings trade to various
hostelries, he should claim his share, especially as
his freight generally spends money freely. To
popularize his route, he will do well to reduce
prices of transportation to the lowest limit,
compatible with earning a fair profit on his
outlay of time and money. The average prices
are excessive, and the expenses of two persons
in a coach trip to-day will draw heavily upon
a twenty-dollar bill, while were the cost $10.00
or less many more would take passage. The
average party also finds a good road house
or hotel far more agreeable as a destination
than a private club wherein they do not feel
at home, must submit to certain restrictions,
and figure neither as active members nor priv-
249
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
ileged guests. The existence of these condi-
tions has greatly affected the popularity of this
glorious sport, and the average “ public” is
masquerading under a false title, and is such in
name only.
250
Chapter XVII
MANAGEMENT OF A PACK OF HOUNDS
* HUNTING we will go,” as runs
the old English roundelay, can
hardly be read by even the most
phlegmatic without a stirring of
the pulse, and an indefinite wish that one had,
“when all the world was young, boys,” turned
more attention to the joys and perils, the tri-
umphs and the vicissitudes of such outdoor
pursuits. Involuntarily one straightens the droop-
ing shoulders, and expands the chest which, all
too seldom, rejoice in such novel sensations ;
and a sigh of regret at opportunities lost, dis-
misses an idea which might, under proper culti-
vation, result in endless benefit to even the man
of middle age, or worse, would he but cast aside
the clogging fetters of indolence, and, accepting
the goods the gods provide, fare him forth to
undertakings which would prove as healthful as
inexpensive, and as fatal to his increasing girth
251
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
and advancing decrepitude as they would be
beneficial to his welfare. To such an one, as to
those in the flush of youth and vigor, any and
all methods and means of securing outdoor exer-
cise should be welcome, and would be so did they
but realize the possibilities at their hands in this
great country of ours. ‘The man on horseback
rules,” as some wise tactician has sensibly re-
marked ; and what is true of nations applies as
well to individuals. ‘ There is something about
the outside of a horse that is good for the inside
of a man,” as Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes so
wittily and pithily put it, and he who takes the
prescription will surely endorse it. To the noy-
ice —and these articles are meant to interest the
“ new hand” — and the neophyte who is recom-
mended horseback exercise ; or to the faddist who
takes it up as a caprice, the humdrum monotony
of riding-school and bridle-path equestrianism 1s
as dull as a sermon with fourteen sub-heads.
Once enlisted at this branch of sport, the recruit
must be kept interested, or he returns quickly to
his shell, never again to be tempted forth. To
such, as to the adept, drag hunting over a coun-
try that is fair, and rideable for the moderate per-
former, affords a mode of delightful enjoyment
2 .
j Usa 40 TIV | dN WV” >>
ce
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
that is as little appreciated as it is rarely adopted ;
while, that the ladies, the children, and the
’
‘‘road delegation’? may be provided for, the
course may always be laid parallel to, or con-
stantly crossing, various roads, that the spectacle
may be visible to all. Such gallops need occupy
but a trifle of time, from forty to sixty minutes,
and it is perfectly possible to so arrange matters
that within those times hounds may have covered
a fair space of country, and at a rate of speed
which changes the usual afternoon or morning
trot and canter into a delightful brisk hand gal-
lop, as beneficial to beast as exhilerating to man.
Suitable country for such undertakings abounds
everywhere in America, and may often be found
close to, or inside of, the limits of even large
cities. Farmers, as a rule, never object, especially
where the hunt carefully and immediately repairs
all smashed fences, but enjoy with their families
the novel and picturesque sights such runs afford.
Wire may always be dodged in such hunting,
and if it is very prevalent, arrangements can
always be made to substitute a panel or two of
negotiable rails here and there in the line which
is to be followed, while purchase of hay, grain,
and other commodities, even at slightly better
253
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
than market rates, will do much to cement good
feeling, and may be considered as return in part
for the privileges which the hunt enjoys. Of
course, gardens, new seeding, grain fields, etc.,
must be sacred; but here again the “ dragman”’
can easily arrange his journey so that no harm
shall ensue, and pasture, meadow, and lane only
be encroached upon.
Wholly false ideas are entertained regarding
the cost of such undertakings, the original outlay
necessary, and the expense of maintenance. The
whole matter need run to but small figures, and the
spring, and fall (and summer’s) hunting entails but
a mere bagatelle of outlay. If puppies are to be
bred and “ walked,” if high-cost horses are kept,
high-class servants employed, and costly kennels
built, money to any amount may be “ chucked”
away ; but no such plans are contemplated here —
merely a rough-and-ready establishment, which
shall provide the maximum of fun at the mini-
mum of expense, unpretentious, amateurish, and
the more amusing for that reason. Hound pups
are most difficult to rear, because of distemper,
and the mortality is always enormous among
them, while many which survive the disease are
either crippled or worthless ; cheap hunters, that
254
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
can do other “ slave” harness-and-saddle work at
any time are indicated, and will provide as much
sport as the expensive sort; while, if accident
occur, the loss is small. Servants need be few in
number ; in fact, one man who lays the drag,
feeds the hounds, cares for the hunt-horses, etc.,
is all sufficient, assisted, if an amateur does not
“whip-in” to the amateur master, by a light lad,
who can ride a little, and help about the stables
and kennels. One man will, however, do all the
work, — the three or four hunt-horses, the six to
ten couple of hounds, etc., — and, if an active
and lively fellow, as any servant should be, do it
well.
Horses may be picked up at all sorts of prices,
but it is very easy to obtain in the auction marts
(of the east, at least) any quantity of good, safe,
useful “ gee-gees,” able and trained to jump well,
gallop fairly, work in harness, etc., perhaps not
all clear and clean in their legs, but bearing
J
“honorable” scars only, emblematic of disaster
in flood and field, and fully competent for the
work in hand. Such animals run all the way
from $50 to $150, although if a man is very
heavy he may have to pay rather more for some-
thing up to his weight. The light and the
255
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
middle weight (lucky men!) may easily mount
themselves for about these figures ; but of course
when they promote themselves to a fast pace and
a big jumping country, they must expect to pay
accordingly. We are not now considering those
matters, but providing for a line where fences do
not run (or weed not run) over three feet six
inches to four feet, as a general thing, that be-
ginners may be encouraged, and not dismayed
or hurt by celerity of progress or altitude of
obstacle.
“ Draft hounds” may be procured from any
established pack for next to nothing, often two or
three dollars each, especially if several couple are
taken, and, for a beginning, almost “any old
thing” that will gallop and hunt will answer.
“‘Babblers,” “skirters,” non-hunters (so that they
go along with the rest), anything will do at first,
and as experience teaches and knowledge increases,
so the pack may be re-drafted and improved along
reasonable, sensible, and economical lines. Eng-
lish hounds are always to be preferred for such
work, and for the handling of the neophyte
master, as, both by inheritance and education,
they “pack” better, are more manageable on
road and in kennel, more picturesque 1n appear-
266
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
ance and more easy to obtain. They do not
give tongue like the American hounds, but they
make music enough, and as your drag need not
run through large woodlands, the field is in no
danger of losing them if they keep anywhere
near at hand. The American hound will stand
no knocking about; a whip crack or a harsh
“rate. and he is of, home; he can rarely, be
handled on the roads unless coupled, and, once
the run is over, will march away to kennel by
himself, while, if the whip tries to “turn him to”
the master, he is lucky if he gets to him within
the limits of the county. In kennel, also, they
are shy and discontented. After our wild foxes
the American hound, with his wonderful nose,
his patience, his pace, and his conversational
powers, is unapproachable, but he insists upon
handling the job his own way, and, be you ever
so intimate with him, resents your interference
with his business firmly and immediately, nor,
once he has left off through your officiousness,
will he begin again, that day at least. English
hounds may be “ rated,” thrashed, ridden over,
“lifted,”’ cast and banged about any way you like,
once get them on the line again and they go
cheerfully on their way, “’owling ’orribly,” as the
‘ 25/
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
nervous old lady said, but plugging along to the
end, where six pounds of a bullock’s neck seems
to afford them as much gratification and amuse-
ment as if they had run into the “little red rover”
himself. A mixture of the two kinds never
proves satisfactory, and provides a pack which
spreads over a forty-acre field, some on the line,
and some yards and furlongs down-wind of it.
Of course, after a time some (the majority)
of your “ mottled darlings ” will lose interest in
hunting, and will become quite worthless, save as
an addition to numbers. Generally these old
stagers are incorrigible, but occasionally (if
thought worth while) they may “come again”
if loaned to some sportsman for the winter who
shoots rabbits, etc. Worked on the “ bunnies,”
and allowed to kill and to taste fresh blood, some
of them will become keen again, but draft hounds
are so cheap and plentiful that it is rarely worth
while to bother. It is often possible to thus lend
your hounds, or some of them, to various farmers
who employ their leisure time in winter in shoot-
ing, and thereby the expense of keeping them is
saved to you, while, as you only run a drag, it is
quite immaterial what your charges fancy as long
as they leave sheep, calves, and chickens alone.
258
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
A drag pack of six couple is plenty large
enough for ordinary occasions ; holidays and féte
days you may turn out the whole lot of ten
couple or thereabout. A big lot of such hounds,
which is bound to contain some stragglers, gets
under horses’ feet at the fences, and is a nuisance
generally, and besides it is far easier to get a small
lot to “ pack ”’ well and run properly than a large
one, and as galloping and jumping is the main
issue, superfluous hounds should be avoided.
There is nothing to be gained by a big pack, and
ten couple will easily give you a working detail
of six or seven couple for three days a week, or
more if you have time, for after all, there was
something in the oft-quoted remark of the hard-
riding English lordling, after a “lark home” fol-
lowing a blank day: “ There! you see what fun
we might have if it wasn’t for those d—d
hounds!” For, of course, in America, hounds
must be but the material means to the end of a
good gallop, that being, alas! about all we, most
of us, have either time, inclination, or opportunity
to accomplish, nor would the average impetuous
national character have patience to potter about
all day.
As to kennels, hounds do well in very rough-
259
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
and-ready quarters, so long as they are reasonably
cool in summer, and free from damp in winter.
Stone structures are distinctly to be avoided, at
least for winter use, and any hovel which has a
good height of roof and does not leak will answer
all purposes. It should, of course, have at least
one, and preferably two, shady yards of fair size,
and the building itself should be divided into two
rooms, a feeding and a sleeping apartment, the
latter provided with slatted benches, about two
feet from the ground, which will either fold up
against the wall or take out entirely, so that per-
fect cleanliness and disinfection may be assured.
While washing down and sweeping will work well
for at least seven months in the year, any damp-
ness is very bad, in winter, at least, in the sleep-
ing quarters, and the disinfected sawdust which
may be obtained in barrels answers all purposes
better if it is liberally used, and swept out with
a very stiff broom daily. Hounds are fairly tidy
if given constant access to a yard, but some are
incorrigible offenders and defile everything. For
this reason the drinking water should be renewed
several times daily, and preferably arranged so
that the animals must stand on their hind legs to
reach it. Straw makes an excellent bedding to
260
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
scatter over the benches, but it should be fresh-
ened daily and renewed entirely every few days,
while by body dressing and the use of insecticides,
constant warfare must be waged upon fleas. The
feeding room will need the same treatment, only
that its floor and troughs must be kept scoured,
and the troughs always set out in the sun daily
and never allowed to sour. Everything about
kennels should be, and can be, as sweet as a rose,
and any offensive odors pay eloquent tribute to
negligence and want of care, not only from the
kennel man, but from the master. Any man who
takes animals in his charge, and does not properly
care for them, is worse than a beast himself.
The extraordinary odors emanating from the
kennel and cook-room (and hounds themselves)
of some very pretentious packs are an insult not
only to the defenceless animals, but to all the
members of the hunt whom the master thus wil-
fully neglects. Hounds bearing traces of mange
and other skin disease, blear-eyed and rough-
coated, are also by no means uncommon. Every
one should receive a body dressing with a rough-
ish brush and a cloth “swipe’’ every day of his
life, and will learn to enjoy it as much as a horse,
while by this means every little abrasion of skin,
261
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
etc., is noticed and may be at once attended
to. A large pail should be kept in the kennel
containing the following mixture and provided
with a good big stiff paint brush to rub the dress-
ing on and in:
Crude petroleum y ia cay ei sivel Voll phe tnctpn eee leames
Oilsofetan esi oie ar vette (att er vag apUTTES
Flowers of sulphur.) .))).. 2 2\))= . <4 pounds
Manpentine 5. DNA. 6 ON ariel: uaimieliih fe ate apne
Use this whenever there is any redness of the
skin, or cuts; it will make the victim sing out for
a few moments, but it will cure anything from
mange down.
In dry, hot weather, hounds are very apt to
get tender-footed as their pads wear pretty thin,
and a pickle of strong brine, in which their feet
may be placed for a few moments daily is excel-
lent. A shallow trough that will hold an inch of
the fluid is all that is necessary, and if it is placed
in a passage-way so that they must walk through
it, will be just the proper arrangement; while if
there is a door at each end of the passage, the
whole pack may be shut in, on returning from
exercise or from hunting, and left for a few min-
utes. Occasionally, too, in the early fall, certain
262
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
of them seem to be affected sometimes by a sort
of hay fever, due either to dust or the pollen
from some weeds, and a weakness and running
of the eyes ensues, which may be alleviated by
any of the washes used for such things on the
human subject, and the kennel may be kept dark-
ened as in summer, at all events on bright days.
For this reason, if any whitewash is used (as it
never should be, however cleansing, because
hounds’ coats get full of it, unless plenty of glue
(sizing) is mixed with it), it should have some
lamp-black mingled with it, in order to give a
dull gray, and not a glaring white, effect.
The proper feeding of hounds in this climate is
not generally understood, because usually Exglish
servants have them in charge, and masters leave
all such details to them. It is to the heavy flesh-
feeding that much of the disagreeable (doggy)
smell may be attributed, and such strong food as
horse meat is never needed, at all events with the
“‘ dragmen,” nor raw meat of any kind, save that
’
provided by the “ worry” which they will enjoy
the more and work the keener for, if they taste
it only then. In fact this plan works wonders
sometimes in the energy of a pack, once they un-
derstand that they will get blood at the end of a
263
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
run, and at no other time. Broths and soups
may be made of various odds and ends of cheap
and refuse meats, and at least once a week they
should be “ drawn ” off into a yard two or three
couples at a time, and given some good big bones
to gnaw at, polish their teeth with, and growl
over. Always have some one with them at these
times, for the best of bench bed-fellows will fall out
over a bone, and in a moment the whole lot will
be at it. And never go among hounds without
a good lashed crop; you never can tell, and
when one gets nasty the others sometimes back
him up —trousers are expensive, and it’s bother-
some to eat meals from the mantel-shelf. Stale
bread, etc., may be bought at any baker’s very
cheap, about fifty cents a sugar (not flour) bar-
rel full, and, either broken up and sopped in
broth, or fed occasionally in large pieces, dry, it
makes an excellent food. Oatmeal “ puddings”’
may be used in cold weather, but it is a very
heating food and sure to make skin trouble with
(man or) hounds if fed regularly and liberally.
Cornmeal pudding, or a rough sort of corn bread,
made and baked in large tins, is excellent, as is
rye mush sometimes, while occasionally a regular
vegetable soup, or broth, affords a welcome
264 |
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
change. ‘“ Puddings” are made by boiling the
meal until it is cooked, and then turning it off
into large tins, which will hold five to ten quarts
each. Once a week in winter, and twice in sum-
mer (if the pudding is kept in a cold place) will
be often enough to cook, and will keep all sweet
and savory, while this material may be then taken as
wanted, and either mixed with broth and scraps
of well-cooked meat, or fed alone. The hearty
“doers ” will get along well on but little broth or
meat food, but the shy, light, dainty feeders need
a lot of coaxing sometimes (yet are frequently the
best hounds in the pack), and generally must
have their handful or two of meat extra and other
little attentions. No two are alike, and the man
who feeds his hounds like swine will find they
work like pigs. The dainty ones must never see
a full trough, either; just a little, and, if that is
eaten, a little more, and so on, winding up, as
necessities direct, with a few bits of meat, and
then “ calling over” the next hound, before turn-
ing the dainty feeder into the yard, when Mr.
Fastidious will generally pick a bit more just to
spite the newcomer. On these trifles and this
“infinite capacity for taking pains” depends suc-
cess in all undertakings in life, and he who pooh-
265
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
poohs them as insignificant has no business with
animals as a charge.
Hounds should always be drawn one at a time
for feeding, and that by name, no animal being
allowed to stir out of his turn, nor should the
same order ever be preserved, as otherwise they
get very cunning and answer, not to their names,
but to the turn which they feel has arrived. By
this means discipline is preserved, both indoors
and out, and the dog eats his fill slowly and un-
disturbed, while meantime one has a chance to
look him over, and “ have a word with him”’ all
alone, as enjoyable to him as to you, if you have
the real instinct of dog love and dog sense. No
hound should move from his’ bench until
called, and any misbehavior must be punished
by a sharp rate or whip-crack, and by being left
until the last. Properly drilled, not a hound will
stir until called. When troughs are filled, open
the connecting door and give the order, “ Bench
up, all of you, bench up!” As soon as all are up
and waiting, draw one by name, as, “ Prattler,
come over!” speaking the dog’s name very
clearly. Some timid or cowed ones will show
that they have been cruelly flogged by previous
feeders, but one can soon get them to bound at
266
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
the word. Shut the door, and when Prattler is
through, fondle him a bit and turn him out into
the yard. Thus draw over, one at a time, until
all are fed, when the door from the other room
into the yard may be opened, and they may
return to their sleeping quarters.
Hounds should be fed twice daily, some light
’
broth or “ lap ” in the morning ,— skim milk may
sometimes be had very cheap, — but the hearty
meal always at night. It does no harm, after
hunting, to have an old broom in your hand
when hounds are feeding, and to dip this in the
broth and sprinkle them well with it. When
they return to bench they will then set to and
lick themselves and each other all over, the warm
tongues forming the best kind of a fomentation
for any cuts or bruises they may have sustained.
The “ sing-song ” in which they love to indulge,
especially on a frosty, moonlight night, should
never be checked, unless too long prolonged, and
has always seemed too much of a hymn of
thanksgiving for full belly and comfortable bed
to be interfered with; in fact, when they thus
“sing” they are doing pretty well bodily. When
working, of course, they must be closely watched,
and those which are shrinking too fast, worked
267
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
less and fed most nourishing food. Very fast
hounds may be made to “ pack” better by keep-
ing them high in flesh, while the slow ones must
be fitted like race-horses if they are to be literally
“in the hunt.’ A capable feeder, who has op-
portunities to see hounds work, can make a vast
difference in any pack.
When hunting is going on hounds need little
horse exercise. What they get in their yards and
an airing once daily with a man on foot, who
takes them to a big field where they may knock
about a bit, will keep them hearty and reg-
ular, and amount to about the equal of a four-
mile jog if they are out for an hour. Always
keep them interested and make much of them,
and have a few bits of biscuit, etc., to toss to
them, but as soon as they begin to get ranging
about, either take them in, or couple them, or
they may get into mischief. When horse exer-
cise is’ on, it had better be done in) the ‘early,
morning for the fresh air and the dew, and at a
brisk pace. A moderate distance at a fair pace
is better than dawdling along for miles, and
condition comes quicker thus. Keep them well
packed at all such times, and have your whip at-
tend to his business, or your neighborhood will be
268
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
”
“shy ” sundry pet bow-wows, cats, and chickens.
The rascals will continually try you to see just how
far they may go, and any insubordination must
be nipped in the bud. If they get muddy when
out wipe them off before they go to their
benches, and do not leave them to shiver and
dry themselves as best they may. A _ properly
handled pack will heed every low-spoken word,
and such a thing as a flogging is soon totally
unnecessary ; but when it is, make no mistake
about it, and be sure the individual understands
what it is for, and receives it promptly, or he
will go further next time.
When the time arrives for taking the field
every effort should be made to simulate, as far
as possible, the “real thing” in hunting; and on
holidays, or on other occasions, where time is
plenty, two or three covers may be drawn before
hounds are really “laid on” to the drag. This
not only makes them more keen, but it affords
an opportunity for the field to see the pack at
work, and is also capital schooling for the tyro
master, who, of course, will also hunt his hounds.
The dragsman may be instructed to visit a grove
or two, and therein to let his cane touch the
ground in a few places, that hounds may be en-
269
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
couraged to work, and to really draw through
such coverts. If a fox or two can be kept ken-
nelled, the litter will afford the best material for a
drag, but in its default, anise-seed, or any of the
other combinations used, answer about as well.
The dragsman takes a small vial in his pocket,
and, armed with a walking-stick which has a rag
wrapped around the end, he pursues his way over
the selected course, touching the ground at every
step or two, as one would handle a cane, and re-
moistening the rag occasionally from his vial. In
dry weather he may find it better to drag his
stick along, as scent is apt to quickly evaporate
under these conditions, and due attention must
always be paid to such details, and also as to the
direction of the wind. Hounds do better “up
wind” on hot or muggy days, or, at all events,
across it; down wind they get very much dis-
tressed, and it is also hard on horses and riders.
This, of course, has special reference to summer
hunting, which is as possible with drag hounds as
that at any other period of the year, checks with
more frequency being necessary, and fences, made
blind from thick foliage, being avoided when
possible. The dotting of the stick in spaces a
few feet apart makes hounds “ pack” and work
| 270 |
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
better. With the old-fashioned bag they might
run a field ‘‘down wind” of the line, and still
carry the scent breast high; in fact, the field
could smell it themselves. This is what spoils
drag hounds and makes them so careless that,
finally, they will own nothing less rank, so spoiled
are their noses. The drag should also end near
a grove, wall, or some such place, as if the quarry
had escaped, and not, as generally the case, in
the middle of a big field, where hounds check,
stare about, and finally act as if they fully real-
ized how they had been fooled. The checks
should be arranged in the same way, and if pos-
sible (especially in summer) occur at or near a
river, brook, or spring, where the exhausted
brutes can lap a little water and wallow a few
minutes, to cool their over-heated bodies. Many
a fit and case of over-exhaustion will thereby be
frustrated, and then again, any fox might have
thrown them off there. If stone walls are plenti-
ful, or fences are close-made, order the dragsman
to always take his drag through or near to bar-
ways and gaps. Hounds are thus saved much
useless labor in jumping, and your object must
be, with the small pack at your disposal, to keep
them as fresh as possible, and to avoid all unnec-
271
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
essary work. For the same reason an old wagon
or van is useful to take them on, and bring them
home, if the meets are far from the kennels.
Ten couple handled thus will do as much work
as twice the number that are slammed about and
neither properly cared for nor favored in all the
little details that go to “make the difference.”
It is beautiful to see hounds going to cover and
coming home, but it means just so many extra
miles, and you may have large distances to get
over. When at the meet let the whip keep a
watchful eye for stragglers, and by throwing to
them a few scraps of biscuit, etc., from your
hand, talking to them and keeping them inter-
ested, they will cause no trouble until you are
ready to move. Be careful that your drag does
not start too near the meet, for the wind may
bring the savor to the pack, and if so, the run is
on ina minute. Always draw “down” the wind
onto your starting point, and not “up” for the
same reason. When time is up jog quietly off,
making sure that your whip — we will assume you
have only one — keeps the field off the hounds,
and insures them room enough; nothing makes
them wilder than the ever-present fear of being
ridden over, and you, as master, can and should
272
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
prevent it, for as such you are autocratic, and
may even declare the run off, and go straight
home, should your field prove recalcitrant. Ex-
plain to them that their fun depends, now and in
future, on giving hounds plenty of room on road
or in field. When they find and “go away,” go
on with the leaders and leave it to your whip to
get any stragglers away. English hounds will be
the better for a scream or two at this juncture,
and the tail hounds will fly to it. Ride your
own line and set your field an example in this
respect, taking the bitter with the sweet, and
giving your pets plenty of room by riding to
one side of them. A live fox generally turns
“ down wind,” but your drag hounds need not
be thus considered, for you will, as often as not,
have the scent laid the other way. Give them
room, therefore, and let them alone, save a word
of encouragement to those not hunting keenly ;
and be very careful how you encourage the lead-
ing hounds, the keenest and fastest, too extrava-
gantly. It is hard to refrain from cheering
honest old Bachelor, who is working every yard,
and carrying the head like the game old dog heis;
but that arch scoundrel, Furious, may awaken to
his duties if you can really get him in conceit with
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
himself, so “‘ talk him along,” and try to get him
and that shy old bitch, Rarity, and that star-gaz-
ing, babbling old villain, Guardsmen, into the
game, leaving Bachelor and Prattler, Honesty,
Rapture, and the rest to meet their reward at the
end of the run in plentiful caress of voice and
hand. If cattle, sheep, or colts are on the line
try to get your whip up to you; you may need
him, and it is bothersome to have to whip and
rate your own hounds. These obstructionists
may foil the line and bring about a check you
had not anticipated, and if so let hounds alone,
until they begin to get their heads up and “ chuck
it,” when you may take them in hand, as they
plainly show themselves ready for assistance, as
much as to say, “‘ Boss, we give it up! Where
did he go?”” Have a wary eye to the real hunt-
ers at such times, for wise old Bachelor may make
a cast forward on his own account, and if you
have let him get too far away from the main body
and yourself he may suddenly “ own it” with a
joyous note, and be off before you and the rest
can get to him. Keep your field back at such
is their
’
times. ‘“ Away back and sit down’
place.
Arriving at your prearranged check, when
lise
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
hounds all “throw up” and quit, have your
whip put them to you (after jumping off your
good horse for a moment or two, if the pace has
been fast or the going deep, and waiting for your
field to catch up); cast them quietly, zigzag-
ging along up to your new point of departure,
and encouraging them to hunt all the way, using
up time according to the weather and your own
haste. When they “own it” again, cheer them
away and go on as before, save that at the very
last you may really cap them along, as the scent
grows stronger (because it is fresher) and they
seem to be “running into him.” Arrived at the
“finish,” take your six or eight pounds of meat —
a steer’s or bull’s neck makes the best material, as
it is tough and they must “worry” it well before
it will come to pieces; if “gamey”’ it is all the
better. Get them about you, encouraging the
shy ones all you can; hold it well above your
head, that they may see it, and throw it to
them, urging them to worry and tear it to frag-
ments, that all may get a taste, and preventing
any hound from getting too large a piece. If the
weather is hot get them to water somehow, either
to a nearby brook, etc., or hire some lad to bring
a bucket. Water them yourself (in fact, they
aie)
FIRST-HAND BIFS OF STABLE: LORE
should look to you for everything), and see that
all are attended. Couple up those that road
best so confined, and shack off home, treating
them on arrival as described in earlier pages.
As to hound language, you will soon pick it
up. Very little is really needed, nor is it easily
put in print. The whip’s rate should always
include the name of the hound, clearly and
twice repeated, if he addresses an individual, as,
“ Curious! Get forrard! Curious!” the first
word attracting the desired hound’s attention,
and the repetition enforcing the order. To a
would-be investigator of passing dogs, etc., he
may say, “ Bachelor! Leave it! Bachelor!” or,
“ Druid! ’Ware sheep! Druid!” etc., while the
pack may be rated, “ 4// of yer! Get for’rard !
All of yer!” or, “Turn over to him,. if ‘they
straggle. Your own commands may run as fol-
lows: at starting, “Coop! puppies, Coop! come
away, l-a-a-ds!”; on finding, a sort of treble
scream, like ‘‘ Yo-o-o-0-i! for’rard! for’rard !
Go-o-ne away,” as loud as you can yell, accom-
panied by a cheer to the hound that owns it,
as, “ Prattler, hoick! Hoick, Prattler!” and
when they are drawing, “ Yeo! ¢ry for it! Ye-o-o,
rouse him out! Yeoo, work for him, puppies!”
276
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
Many huntsmen keep up a running fire of falsetto
encouragement to their hounds, but it has never
seemed productive of good results and has a
tendency to distract their attention. They know
their business, and if you can catch a fox yourself,
why go ahead and doit! It makes them indifferent
also, when a crisis really arrives, and if they have
been rarely interfered with, your voice then brings
energetic response, and eager work. If they
“ kennel-know ” you and love you, they will try all
they can, anyhow. When the “kill’’ comes, call
them by name, as, “ Bachelor, here! Music / Van-
ity, old woman !”’ etc., and after the “ who-o-op!”
which has announced the finish, cry, “ Worry,
worry, worry! Tear him and eat him!” and so
on. To make hounds drink, the words “ Suss,
suss!’? are used. There are numerous other
rates, cheers, and calls, but every huntsman has
his pet vocabulary, and you will by degrees
acquire one of your own. Readers will pardon
these details, which are feebly and incompletely
set forth, as well as matter-of-course to all who
have hunted, but this is intended for those who
have not, and only as a general guide at that.
No details of the management of bag-foxes and
their destruction, if hounds can be induced to
a)
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
touch the poor brutes, which sometimes they will
not, will be given here, and if your sport (?) is
not complete without this feature, then may your
undertakings in the hunting line prove dismal
failures! How any collection of ordinarily civi-
lized beings can find their pleasure enhanced by
the killing of a poor little wretch which is turned
out in a strange locality, too feeble from long
confinement to run any distance, too bewildered
to seek any sanctuary, or to know where such
may be found, is as much a mystery as its perpe-
tration is an inhuman outrage on decency. The
flimsy excuse that hounds “ need blood”’ is ridic-
ulous and untrue; there are successful packs in
all countries that never kill, and do not even taste
raw meat at the “finish.” That a “bagman”’ is
highly distasteful to hounds, anyway, is proven by
the fact that if they do kill him, they often refuse
to either “ break him up,” or eat him. Oneview
of the wretched, hunted creature, probably a cub,
tongue out, brush dragging as he struggles hope-
lessly along, is enough to make one’s blood run
cold; and it is safe to say that, had the bulk of
the field any opportunity to view such a spectacle
they would promptly demand its abolition, or
abandon hunting entirely. A wild fox at large in
278 |
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
his own country, all holes (or earths) unstopped,
has a fair chance, if he gets away with a decent
start, and he is probably a chicken-stealing rogue,
which deserves extermination. Your rotten little
mangy bagman, however, has no such chance,
but runs aimlessly on until he is caught, or drops
from sheer exhaustion, or else seeks the nearest
fence corner, where he stops and faces his foes,
dying like the hopeless little desperado he is.
There are wild foxes in certain localities, nota-
bly about Philadelphia, which .have been hunted
time and again, and which really seem to enjoy
the outing, affording good runs sometimes for
years, and then dying peacefully of old age; but
such cases are few, and as, sooner or later, all
American hunting must be after the drag, let that
be the legitimate object of pursuit, and for human-
ity’s sake, leave out the bag-fox features.
Tame deer have been used a little in this coun-
try for pursuit, and have afforded good sport,
their tendency to take to the roads, and to “soil ”
obstinately in water when pressed, presenting the
chief drawbacks to theiremployment. Of course
they are never killed, and equally, of course, the
master and whips must be well up, or they may
be, but it takes a mighty fast pack to catch a deer
219
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
that has fair ‘‘law”’ and means going. Nota few
of these old-stagers seem to enjoy the chase, and
will keep just far enough in front to make hounds
do their best, until nearing the finish, when they
really “set sail” for the box-stall that awaits
them, to which they unerringly return. They
are a bother to procure and keep, however, and
should not be seriously considered.
The farmers, over whose lands one hunts,
must be cared for properly, and made to realize,
by purchase of supplies from them when possi-
ble, and by prompt settlement of any reasonable
damage claims, that hunting is to their interest.
Picnics, dances, etc., should feature each season,
once at least; growing crops, new meadows, etc.,
should be shunned; smashed rails should be at
once replaced, the dragsman going over the course
the very next morning with spare rails, boards,
etc., stamped with the club stencil, so that there
may be no question about it, and making good
all damages; claims for stock getting out, etc.,
should be courteously considered, and promptly
settled ;-ask permission of all land-owners first,
and shun carefully the premises of all who ob-
ject; their number will be few if they are prop-
erly approached, and the objects clearly explained.
280 .
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
As your sport is possible only on their sufferance,
let them understand that you appreciate it, and
will requite the courtesy in kind.
Hounds are quite subject to fits in hot weather,
if hunted, and periods between checks should be
brief for that reason; the scent rather lightly laid,
that the pace may not be too fast. Checking
near water is best for this reason, and if any show
signs of exhaustion the time at check may be
prolonged until recovery is made. Occasionally
one must be bled, but this is so rare as hardly to
merit consideration. If you must act you may
scarify the roof of the mouth, or may bleed from
the jugular, taking care to makeall safe afterward
by running a pin through the edges of the cut
and twisting about it a few hairs from your
horse’s mane; his tail will afford none long
enough, now that this infernal fashion of docking
prevails.
Your kennel needs in the medical line will be
few; an occasional dose of physic (as castor oil
and syrup of buckthorn), a blue pill for a slug-
gish liver, etc., will about complete the list unless
you undertake to raise puppies and breed your
own hounds. As most masters finally essay this
disappointing undertaking, however, they should
281
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
have at hand some of the works upon diseases
of dogs, and will find plenty of opportunity to
practise. Distemper will rarely trouble you if
you buy drafts of full age for such purposes
as the average drag pack requires. It is the
height of folly to try to breed, although handling
puppies, training them, and watching them learn
to work is great fun. If you successfully raise
six couple out of twenty pups you are doing
wonders; and if two couple out of the six are
any account you are in great luck. The game is
not worth the candle, save as a side issue. A
number of true and tried receipts for various
ailments are appended, and it is hoped that these
rambling and imperfect notes may urge you to
actively take up this most interesting sport, and
derive from it the health and the unlimited en-
joyment that such outdoor recreation, and its
attendant intimate association with dumb animals,
has procured for the writer.
VERMIFUGE
25 grains areca-nut
2 grains santonine
Follow in two hours with tablespoon castor oil. Repeat in
three days. Withhold food twenty-four hours previous. Pups,
half quantity.
282
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
Cuorea (Following Distemper)
¥ grain strychnine y dram extract gentian
Q grains quinine ¥% dram Barbadoes aloes
3 grains extr. belladonna
Make 36 pills ; one twice daily before food.
VERMIFUGE
20 drops oil male fern
30 drops oil turpentine
60 drops ether
Beat up with egg. One dose.
Canker (Ears, etc.)
6 grains nitrate of silver
I ounce water
Use twice daily.
Fever Mixture
1 dram powdered nitre 1 dram wine of antimony
¥% ounce sweet nitre 4 ounces water
11% ounce minderous spirit
Tablespoonful in gruel every four hours.
Disr—EMPER Mixture
2 drams chlorate potash 2 drams tincture of henbane
} ounce minderous spirit 2% ounces water
2 drams sweet nitre
Dissolve potash in water; add rest. ‘Teaspoonful to table-
spoonful twice daily, according to size of dog.
283
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
StomacH STIMULANT
1 dram extract gentian
36 grains powdered rhubarb
12 grains carbonate of soda
Make 12 pills; three daily.
FLeEas
Strong solution quassia chips
Poor FEEDER
One grain sulphate quinine daily, in powder.
What, then, may we count upon as the approx-
imate cost of an unpretentious establishment, such
as described, hunted and whipped by amateurs,
and cheaply handled in every way, to afford runs
of three days per week? Such amateurs as are
able to enter actively into this sport, and to give
the necessary time to it, can well afford to horse
themselves, and should do so; but for the sake
of argument we will assume that the club decides
to provide their horses. Animals such as will do
the work can be procured at auctions, etc., ready
schooled, for very little money, and many useful
screws are noticed at such sales selling for fifty:
dollars and less. Of course, heavy men must
usually pay more, but for drag hunting there is
no occasion for a welterweight being horsed
as he would be for a whole day with hounds.
284
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
Most horses, up to one hundred and seventy-five
pounds, will carry two hundred pounds perfectly
well for an hour or two, and bulk in the quad-
ruped by no means insures safety to the biped.
Action is what carries weight — level, true, effort-
less, galloping action — and little horses are often
as competent for the undertaking as the big,
robust brutes generally selected. A tall horse
makes fences look smaller; he has no other
merit of any kind.
This, then, is the schedule for the year, the
club furnishing kennel room and stall room free :
OricinaL OutTLay
Four horses @yeroagyey iss ia.) ys .\"$400.00
Fen coupleshoundss@<$10) 4) 4 05. sreo.00
Sdadlessoridlessrerey)-s0l) 5°52) cyl ae 1O0:00
CAE H Re co ply hh EY end cots tani WN on au pe OLOO
$680.00
Cosr or Keesp, etc., Per Montu
Feed. \ctc.,, tour horses @ $123) 5). ($48.00
SROCII CER aren AT Set eat ae. ra) aa hey A UGE Ge
Nictanisdbyeyete route vos hiatal ts iba. Jt Jat bEOO
Drassmian ren ys) an ok Wied ald dE wd | 1 ROSOO
Kennelmanvand.groom, . 9. 4... « «50,00
eed ce ROUBG Sz iia) suis, 13 us oA 0200
Sundry Me gie: Ne “2.5500
Fence repairs, damages, etc. (?)
$226.00
285
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
The saddles, bridles, clothing, coats, etc., as
with the horses, would probably be provided by
the amateur officials. Hounds may often be pur-
chased for much less than the price named — $5
per head.
The amount named for feeding the horses is
ample for any locality ; in many sections they can
be well done for half the money. Shoeing, at $2
a set, averages rather high, and, if tips are used,
expense is halved. Veterinary should hardly be
-needed, but may be occasionally. The kennel-
man, if he also “ does”’ the horses, some of them,
and is competent, is worth $60 if he boards
himself; if the club gives that, he should get
about $35, and presents, etc., at Christmas will
help out nicely. The dragsman, if regularly
employed, may also help about horses and ken-
nels, and work “by the run” (at $5); or for
so much per month, or the kennelman may also
lay drag, and will be glad of the chance, if an
active fellow, as he must be. A lad at $10 a
month and board can help about kennels, etc., if
necessary. Asa matter of fact, the writer has
always found it possible to get one man to do
the whole job, hounds, horses, drag, and ll,
and never paid over $60 to a man (who also
286
THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS
boarded himself). Christmas, however, brought
in at least $75 more, and other tips were fre-
quent. While the work is hard, for a few months,
it is easy the balance of the year, and the wage
drops correspondingly, as do the expenses of keep-
ing the animals. Hounds may be well fed at $2
each per month, when in work. The expense of
repairs and damages will be light, if farmers are
favorably disposed to begin with, and are prop-
erly approached for the privileges desired. The
writer never had to pay a penny for anything
during three years in one country, and but a few
dollars in another for a calf and a few hens de-
stroyed by straggling hounds.
All told, then, five months’ hunting, spring,
six weeks, and late summer and fall, three months
or more, may be enjoyed for an outside expense
of about $1,500, and probably for very much
less, which, if the club has twenty members or so,
entails a very slight individual outlay per month.
The season over, all horses and hounds may be
sold, and a fresh start made when time approaches
for again beginning.
287
Chapter XVIII
SHOWING HORSES
O successfully handle horses in the
show ring implies a contest of intelli-
gence between judges and exhibitors,
in which the officials make every
effort to discover imperfections of manners, gait,
etc., while the “nagsmen”’ try their best not
only to display their charges to advantage, but to
conceal or modify all short-comings. Amateurs
to this extent, strive to emulate professionals,
and adopt methods which, in their own investiga-
tions as purchasers, they are prone to resent
upon the part of the purveyors, and to consider
proper in the arena, artifices which they denounce
in the sale stable. 4s this is proper — or #f this
is allowable—in the former case, it certainly
should not be condemned in the latter, and if
attempts to hoodwink the judicial eye are toler-
ated, the hackneyed motto “ Caveat emptor” de-
mands equal respect. As showman or salesman,
288
*“Sdd XT, aoor)
SHOWING HORSES
all goods should be displayed to the best advan-
tage, if satisfactory results are to follow, and we
have many amateurs who are as alive to every
“trick of the trade’’ in showing a horse as the
best professional.
To make the best possible impression upon
show functionaries every detail of equipage must
be just right. This does not mean that the
absurd appointment fad must be exactly copied,
but that the eternal fitness of things must be
plainly evidenced in the conformation, action,
and qualities of the animals, — grace and appro-
priateness in size and variety of the vehicle, and
neatness, snugness, and good fashion and fit of
harness, or of saddle and bridle. An absurdly
short dock, an unkempt and crooked tail, shaggy
mane and fetlocks, dirty vehicle and trappings, —
all affect results; and while it is true that a horse
should win on his merits, his entourage has its
proper effect on the outcome, and very justly. If
pains are not taken to please the official eye, the
offender has but his own neglect to blame if
passed over.
The great trouble with the average amateur is
self-consciousness, and the fact that through it he
works himself into a state of nervousness which
fe 289
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
affects his horse the moment he takes up his
reins. That “ wireless telegraph” is instantly in
action, and the animal is disconcerted before the
time for action arrives, — half beaten before the
battle begins. Again, he has watched profes-
sionals “nagging”’ their horses with bit, whip,
and voice to make them display the action and
carriage necessary, and he makes efforts to emu-
late them which result only in confusing and up-
setting his charge, forgetting, or not appreciating,
that half their performance is “gallery work”
only, and that, through incessant practice, they
intuitively understand just how far to go, and
just when to stop, or to change methods. Almost
any horse that is up to show form, performs at
his best when handled quietly, and allowed to
display himself in his own way. ‘There are some
sluggards, and regular winners at that, which
have to be waked up (outside the ring) with
stimulants and bale-stick, and to be flogged,
jerked, “ fished,” and lifted when contesting, as
if in the last strides of a race, but these are not
the sort the tyro will wish either to own or to
handle, if he is the good sportsman we all ad-
mire, and with a soul above mere mug-and-rib-
bon-hunting. Ladies usually accomplish wonders
290
SHOWING HORSES
in such competitions, because they are not so
assertive as the sterner sex, and being willing that
the animals should do their best in their own
way do not hamper them by misdirected efforts
to better the performance ; their hands are lighter
and more firm, and they are usually more self-
possessed.
Most people entirely misconstrue the phrase
“good hands,” and the people who pride them-
selves upon these possessions will be generally
found not to send their horses up to their bits ;
instead of the “ give and take,” their method is
all “give.” Nor is manipulation the only requi-
site of this accomplishment. It must include the
intuitive knowledge of what a horse is about to
do; how he is about to do it; and the instant
frustration of any outbreak or mistake in just
the proper degree, which is so instinctive that it
becomes automatic. ‘‘ Horse sense”’ and sym-
pathetic intelligence are essentials which may de-
velop through association, but are usually a
matter of personality alone. The very best
“hands” often appear rough, and are when re-
sistance demands coercion, for the definition of
“hands,” roughly put, is ‘the faculty of making
a horse do what we want in the way we want it,
2gI
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
and with advantage to himself.” He who affects
this unerringly, be attitude and methods what
they may, indisputably possesses “hands” in
their finest development.
On the first appearance of a class, judges do
not want, nor do they regard favorably any sen-
sational performances. At this stage their efforts
are directed toward culling out the unfit, and any
excessive display upon the part of your horse
will go for nothing so far as results are concerned.
If you have even an outside chance you will be
duly “lined up” among the elect: all energy
should be reserved for the struggle which is to
come later. Go carefully into all the corners of
the ring, therefore, taking the longest way round
that your steed may get the utmost benefit from
the straight sides, and not be perpetually on the
turn, or in an unbalanced attitude. He will, if
he has had no preliminary experience in an en-
closure, be at a huge disadvantage anyhow as
compared with those who have enjoyed this re-
hearsal. Let the racers race, and the hustlers
strive, a dignified and quiet progress is all you
should attempt, although once, when they have
begun to choose the eligibles, you may make one
“parade” just to clinch things with the judges.
292
SHOWING HORSES
When coming into line at the call of the ring-
master, it does no harm, if your horse is au fait in
such accomplishments, to go a length or two
beyond your place, and then, after pulling up, to
back into position,especially if a judge is looking.
You prove good manners at once. If your horse
is quiet, you may now, by your apparent disre-
gard of him, emphasize his merits in the way of
quietness when standing, and should always, if
possible, uncheck him while in repose, the long
waits proving very fatiguing to cramped and
twisted neck-muscles. Keep him square on his
legs, and light in hand, and if the judges ask you
to back, do not make the common error of at
once trying to haul him back, but be sure that
he is “on his feet,’ and so placed that it is
physically possible for him to comply. One some-
times sees exhibitors trying vainly to perform this
simplest of manceuvres with horses whose atti-
tude precludes the possibility of their obedience.
Never try to overdo it, or back one step after
the judge’s gesture shows that he is satisfied, for
your horse may turn restive from any cause, and
suddenly rebel. ‘Let well enough alone” in
all such undertakings.
Called upon for a second display, it is probably
293
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
your last chance, for ribbons may come any time
now. If you can manage to lead off you are
lucky, as you can turn the way about the arena
which your horse prefers, and in the direction he
shows best, for all horses have preferences this
way. By being in front you may also regulate
the pace, for a few turns at least, to that which
fits your charge’s ability, displaying fast pace, if
allowed, to the detriment of others, or retarding
it if yours is a flash mover at the slower rate (and
others may be inconvenienced thereby). You
should still go well into the corners, and be sure
the judges will appreciate your reasons, and
award you due consideration for your care. If
you are deficient in pace, this manceuvre will
puzzle them as to just how much your horse
lacks in this respect, inasmuch as you are going
a longer way round than any one, and would
naturally lose ground.
If you can detect the dangerous horse, and do
not fear, or would challenge, comparison, get be-
hind him if possible, where you can observe, and
copy all his tactics, if imitation seems best; if not,
you may offer the proper contrast, and beat him
then and there. Above all things do not try to
pass any horse on the turns, and be careful of the
294
SHOWING HORSES
rights of others in that you attempt no cutting
off of contending horses, by pulling across them,
and forcing them to shorten stride, or to pull up
altogether. A number of professional tricks have
been adopted by some of our amateurs, and no
good can come of it.
A saddle class makes its appearance at a walk,
as should all others, but that we have fallen into
the error of disregarding, officially, a horse’s abil-
ities at this, the most important pace he employs.
The bold, free, upheaded, flat-footed walker, is as
hard to beat as he is to find. Ride your horse
every yard, and keep one eye on the judges, if
he is a slack walker, ready to seize the opportu-
nity to jog a few steps up to your leader, and re-
gain the ground you have lost. When told to
trot, take a nice collected park pace, such as your
animal can exhibit without hopping or hitching,
and stick to it, going closely into the corners, and
making your mount bend himself nicely ; at the
canter —and never let that pace degenerate into
the gallop, — go calmly and collectedly, changing
your lead in straight going if you can (and if a
judge 1s looking), as evidence of handiness. On
lining up, take room for yourself, and give it to
others, and after your mount has stretched his
295
FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE
neck and shifted his bits, keep him lightly in
hand ready to obey the judges’ directions at a
moment’s notice; do not expect them to wait
while you sort out your reins, fix your hat and
stirrups, and when ordered, gradually get under
way.
The same methods apply in a way to hunting
classes, and the principal requirement is to go a
fair hunting pace all the way, and not to be pull-
ing up to a walk and starting again at a gallop at
every fence.
Select stabling that is the quietest in the build-
ing, or preferably stable outside. The bustle and
the bad air will put many a horse completely off
his feed if kept in the building, and unless you
are dealing there is no advantage in stabling there ;
while your vehicles inevitably get badly banged
about in such places, your harness scratched, and
your smaller valuables hypothecated. Always be
ready long before the call, and do not annoy the
management, and get the judges down on you by
causing delay either through carelessness, or
through a desire to make a sensational, if tardy,
entry and set the crowd to asking, ‘Who is
that?”’ Such cheap methods of advertising are
beneath you.
296
SHOWING HORSES
Horses travel best by express, and should
always be well bandaged, and protected, as to the
crown of the head, from bruises, by placing a pad
over the brow, while the tail should be carefully
bandaged that it may not be disfigured by rub-
bing or chafing.
Watch your men carefully, that not only may
they do their work properly, but that they may
give no cause to public or officials for complaint.
You are responsible for the appearance and man-
ners of your servants, and should carefully arrange
that they are beyond reproach.
Above all things, never expect to win, but
treat losing as an essential of thegame. Anybody
can win gracefully. If thus prepared for defeat
your occasional successes will prove doubly grate-
ful; if the reverse obtains, your losses will be
hard to bear, your winnings never compensatory,
you will find the amusement an irksome task, and
quickly degenerate into a leading member of that
huge body of hard losers and “ chronic kickers ”’
which no sport has so ably developed as the in-
adequately expensive game of horse showing.
297
hi
iy i
Tie
The Private Stable
Its Establishment, Management, and Appointments
By JAMES A. GARLAND & & &
NEW EDITION. WITH ADDITIONAL CHAPTERS,
FULLY ILLUSTRATED. 8vo. CLOTH, $5.00 net
R. GARLAND’S valuable book has been for some time
out of print. The new chapters in this edition are:
“Hunters and Hunting,” by Harry W. Smith, one of
the leading riders in America; “Exhibiting,” by Francis M. Ware,
manager of the American Horse Exchange, New York; “Riding
for Women,” by Belle Beach, the expert woman rider; “Four-
in-Hand Driving,” by Frederick Ashenden, the leading profes-
sional whip, with additional suggestions as to the handling of reins
in driving a single, pair, or four-in-hand ; and “ Notes on Riding,’’
by T.C. P. of Toronto. The new edition has additional illustra-
tions and will be found of greater value than ever to all interested
in horses and stables.
& FF
OPINIONS REGARDING THE FIRST EDITION
We heartily indorse the work as one of the best that has come to our
attention. — Rider and Driver.
Everything that needs to be known for the successful establishment and man-
agement of a private stable seems to be contained between the covers of this
excellent manual. — Review of Reviews.
It is a treasure-house of valuable and accurate information. — New York World.
The touch of the master of his subject is discernable on every page of this
book. — N. Y. Mail and Express.
LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers
254 WASHINGTON STREET: BOSTON, MASS.
nM
Ve
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