Chapter IV: Part I: Amateur Horse-Training (2)

Up to this time your horse has been guided as in driving, by a pull upon one side of the bit, that is to say, upon one corner of the mouth, and it is time now to substitute a simple pressure of the rein upon his neck. The chief difficulty to be encountered is in the fact that, as the rein is attached to the bit, the tension of it against one side of the neck pulls the bit on that side, consequently conveying to the horse an impression exactly opposite to that intended. This difficulty must be overcome by patience, for this instruction cannot be completed in a single lesson, but will have to be carried on simultaneously with other work for a week or more. It is given by carrying your hand over, whenever you turn, to the side towards which you wish to go, so that the reins will press against the neck. Thus, if you wish to turn to the left, draw on the left snaffle-rein, and as the horse answers to it, carry your hand to the left, so that the right reins press against the right side of the neck. This must be done with judgment, or the bit, being pulled too hard on the right side by the tension of the rein on the neck, will stop him in his turn. Of course you will seek as many occasions as possible for turning, choosing, in preference, places where your intention cannot be misunderstood, as at a corner, for instance. There is no better spot than some old orchard, for the horse instantly takes the idea of going around a tree, and there will be more or less shade, and probably good turf. While he is learning this lesson do not distract his attention by other instruction; but as soon as he has mastered it, see that his head is always turned in the direction towards which he is to go, for it is a habit with horses, as awkward as it is common, to turn one way and look the other. At the same time always lean in your saddle towards the centre of the curve you are describing, and at an angle increasing in proportion to your speed.

Some English writers depreciate the above method of guiding the horse, preferring to use the bit exclusively, but it is almost universal in the United States, and its advantages for ordinary riders are numerous and evident. Indeed, Stonehenge, a well-known English authority, says that in “this way a horse can be turned with a much greater degree of nicety and smoothness than by acting on the corner of his mouth.”

LESSON XIII.

THE TROT.

Writers on the horse distinguish three kinds of trot, _viz._, the “jog” trot, the “true” trot, and the “flying” or “American” trot. In the first the feet remain longer on the ground than in the air, and lazy animals are naturally fond of it, while spirited horses sometimes drop into it from impatience of walking. It is, however, apt to be a slovenly gait, which, though easy to the rider, should hardly be permitted.

In the flying trot the horse leaps a considerable distance through the air at each stride--evidently a mode of progression unsuited for ladies, who must attain speed in trotting by quickening the step without undue lengthening of the stride.

Your first care will be to prevent your horse from losing his “lightness,” as he will be inclined to do at every change of gait or increase of speed--and this, while often by no means easy, is yet a task to be thoroughly accomplished if you wish for comfort or style in the future. You will observe in trotting, as in all other gaits, at each step a slight tug on the rein, called by some writers the _appel_, and this you will ordinarily yield your hand to, so as to keep a steady feeling of the mouth.

If, however, the horse begins to bear on the bit, hold your hand firmly, with the rein just so tight that at every step he will himself thrust his jaw against the curb. This will very likely bring him to his senses and restore his lightness, and if so, pat and praise him; but if not, tap him on the side with your whip, at the same time pulling on the curb for a second or two. If he does not yield to this, repeated two or three times, stop him short; and when, by the same method, you have got him to relax his gripe of the bit and arch his neck, allow him to go on again. He will dislike excessively to be stopped and started in this way, and when he finds that he will not be permitted to go in any way but the right one he will give up the attempt.

Do not try to succeed by giving a long, steady pull, nor by using force, as it will do no good, and may cause the tongue to be put over the bit--a very troublesome trick. Remember, in stopping, to lean back, and lay your whip, by a movement of the wrist, on the horse’s back.

You will next turn your attention to your horse’s gait. As the trot is rarely so easy that a lady can sit down to it with comfort, it is advisable to rise in the stirrup.

This is difficult and fatiguing if the stride is too long, and you will therefore prevent its extending too much by giving a little tug on the rein just as each step is made, at the same time with the heel keeping up speed and animation.

If your bitting has been thoroughly done, and your horse’s mouth is fine and sensitive, you will probably find the snaffle best for trotting, and you will give a steady support with it.

Keep the step quick, elastic, perfectly cadenced, and without any rolling of the shoulders.

Should you happen to be mounted upon a horse which, from bad handling or his own faulty conformation, is disposed to “bore,” or bear on his bit, you will ride with the curb, taking its reins in one hand, but in the other hand taking the snaffle, with the left rein drawn much tighter than the right. This will have an effect quite different from what one might expect, and will put a stop to this most fatiguing and annoying trick.

This recipe is not found in Baucher’s book, but is said to have been given by him verbally to his pupils, and it is really “a trick worth knowing.” If it does not have the desired effect, however, when practised with the left snaffle-rein, try it with the right, as the mouth--for instance, from the effect of double harness--may not be equally sensitive on both sides.

If you observe that the step of one foot is shorter than that of the other, making the horse appear lame, you may be almost sure you have fallen into the too common feminine practice of bearing too much of your weight on one side. An even balance in the saddle is of capital importance, and a rough-and-ready test is to observe whether the buttons of your habit are in the same plane as the horse’s backbone, and your shoulders nearly equidistant from his ears--points of which you can judge as well as any one.

In the matter of the horse’s gait you must be equally exacting, not resting so long as you can perceive the slightest irregularity or difference between the strides. It is desirable to cultivate such a sensitiveness to all the horse’s movements as will enable you to know where his feet are at all times without looking, and the first step towards this is to learn to “sit close to the saddle.” This firm and easy seat, coveted by every rider, is attained by some with much greater difficulty than by others. Many riders will bump about on their saddles for thousands of miles without being “shaken into their seat,” because they neither abandon themselves to the instinct which correctly guides a child, nor, on the other hand, seek out and remove the cause, in the muscular contractions of the body and limbs.

A loose sack of grain set upright on horseback does not jump up and down, and, while it is not desirable to be quite so inert as a bag of grain, yet a lesson may be learned from it--which is, that the lower part of the person, from the hips to the knees, should be kept firmly and steadily, though not stiffly, in place, while the waist, with the back bent slightly inward, should be as flexible as possible, and the whole upper part of the person pliant and supple, so as to yield with a certain _nonchalance_ to every movement.

Nervous riders, like nervous horses, are those in whom involuntary muscular contractions persist the most obstinately.

As both of the horse’s strides are equal when the trot is true, it seems nonsense to talk, as some writers do, about the “leading foot” in trotting; and except that few horses are so perfectly symmetrical that both strides are equally elastic, there should be no difference to a man on which one he “rises,” and he will therefore spare that foot and leg which, for any cause, he may suppose to be the weaker. A lady will without effort find the stride best suited to her.

Horses are often trained in our Western States to trot when the rider touches the back of their neck, and to single-foot or pace when he makes play gently with the curb-bit. These signals are injudicious, because in harness a slight movement of the bit sets the horse so trained to single-footing, and there is no way to communicate to him your wish that he should trot. It is better, therefore, to give the signal to trot by taking a firm hold of the snaffle, and laying your whip gently on his hind-quarter while you incite to speed with your heel.

After dismounting, observe whether your horse has _interfered_--that is, struck one or more of his fetlock joints with his hoofs; should the skin be knocked off, apply some healing ointment; and if the joint swells, bathe with water as hot as the hand will bear. This is the best remedy for all ordinary bruises and sprains.

LESSON XIV.

THE GALLOP, HAND-GALLOP, AND CANTER.

These are treated of by some writers as distinct, the canter being called “purely artificial;” but it will be convenient and sufficiently accurate for our purpose to take them up together and to consider the canter as what it in fact is--an _improved_, and not an “artificial,” gait. Horses undoubtedly often canter in a rude way without being taught, as may be seen often in the field, and not seldom in harness, and you will probably have little trouble in getting your horse to do the same. It is this natural canter which is called by country people the “lope.” It is of importance, however, that your horse should not change his gait without orders, no matter how hard pressed, this being especially true if he is to be driven as well as ridden. The signal to canter should, therefore, be such as can be given only from the saddle. It is well not to use the whip for the purpose, but to try by raising the bridle to lift the forehand, while stimulating at the same time with the heel. Should he persist in trotting, do not get vexed or discouraged, for he is only resisting temptation to do what he has expressly been taught not to do; but continue your incitements, raising the bridle-hand firmly at every stride till you have got him fairly off his feet into a gallop, when you will soothe his nerves by patting and praising him, and gradually calm him down into a canter, lifting your hand at every stride to prevent his relapsing into a trot. When he will canter promptly at the signal, you will get him “light in hand” before giving it; then make him start without thrusting out his nose, and keep him light by the means already detailed in the lesson on the trot. Next you will bring his haunches forward under him, which is the great point, and increase the brilliancy of his action by stimulating him with heel and whip, while at each step you restrain him by a gentle pull, so that he will not spring forward so far as he intended. Persevere until he will canter as slowly as he would walk. Your best guide will be to observe the action of some well-trained and well-ridden horse, and to endeavor to obtain the same in yours.

To _change the leading foot_ in cantering is, however, a more difficult matter, and we will postpone the consideration of it until his education is a little farther advanced. In the mean time you will avoid turning a sharp corner at a canter.

The hand-gallop is simply a moderate gallop in which the ear observes three beats,

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as in the canter, but swifter; while in the extended gallop it hears but two,

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though given with a sort of rattle, which shows that neither the fore nor the hind feet strike the ground exactly together, as they do in leaping.

_Keep to the left, as the law directs_, is an admonition on bridges and other thoroughfares in England which has often excited the surprise of Americans, very likely eliciting some such comment as “How stupid!” “How perfectly ridiculous!” Yet for many centuries it was really the only safe way to turn, whether on foot or on horseback, and as all our fashions of riding and driving are based upon it, it is hard to see why the custom should have changed in this country. In the olden time, when people went about principally on horseback, when roads were lonely and footpads plenty, it would have been “perfectly ridiculous” for a man to turn to the right and expose his defenceless bridle-arm to a blow from a bludgeon or slash from a hanger. Much more would it have been so had he a lady under his care, who would thus be left in the very front of danger, whether it might be of robbery from highwaymen, of insult from roistering riders, or of simple injury from passing vehicles. At the present day and in this country the danger last mentioned is the only one really to be feared, and it is so considerable that the question is often raised whether a lady be not safer at the right of her cavalier; but the still greater danger in this case of her being crushed between the horses, in case of either one springing suddenly towards the other, has caused it thus far to be decided in the negative. There is also always a possibility--slight, doubtless--of a lady’s getting kicked or bitten when on the right; and it might be difficult for her companion, without risk to her limbs, to seize her horse by the head should he become refractory. In case of its becoming absolutely necessary to take a terrified or exhausted rider off of an unmanageable horse, there would probably be time for her escort to cross behind her and place himself at her left hand.

Now that we are on the subject, we may give a word of caution as to some other dangers of the road. Among those to the rider, the most common is _shying_; but vigilance--and perpetual vigilance will be necessary--will reduce this to the rank of simple annoyance. Get your horse past the alarming object somehow, even if he has to be led; get him up to it if you can, and then pat and praise him; never let him hurry off after passing it; never whip him afterwards.

Rearing is less common than shying, but more dangerous from the risk of pulling the horse over backward. To rear he must, of course, spring up with the fore-legs, and if his intention can be divined in time it may perhaps be frustrated by a smart stroke down the shoulder; but an active animal is usually up before his rider has had time to think, and the question is how to come safe down again. To this end, on no account pull on the bit, but, without letting go the rein, grasp a thick lock of the mane and hold yourself with it as close to the neck as possible--which will throw your weight in the best place, and prepare you to leap down, should it be necessary. If you have kept perfectly calm, so that the horse has not suspected that you were frightened, he will doubtless come down on his feet, and very likely may not rear again. If, however, you feel his hind-legs sink under him, he will be intending to throw himself down, and you must jump down instantly to avoid getting caught under the saddle.

Kicking, when coming unexpectedly, is more likely than rearing to unseat the rider. If you withstand the first assault, however, get the horse’s head up by an energetic use of the bit, and look out that he does not get it down again. It is needless to say that should either of the last two tricks become a habit, it will make the horse quite unfit for a lady’s use.

If your horse is restless and disposed to jump, or perhaps run, when horses or vehicles rapidly approach him from behind, occupy his attention by moving the bit a little from side to side in his mouth.

Running away is undoubtedly serious business, but all authorities agree that the safest plan is to let the horse run, if there is room, and that the best lesson for him is to make him continue running after he wishes to stop. A steady pull on the bit is quite useless, and so is any cry of “Whoa! whoa!” at first. But after a little the bit should be vigorously _sawed_, so as to sway the head from side to side if possible, and thus confuse him, while you speak to him in a commanding tone.

The dangers to the horse upon the road, however, are greater and more numerous than to yourself, but they may almost all be averted by care and watchfulness on your part. Beware of a fast pace on hard macadam; beware of loose stones, which may bruise the frog or cause a tedious sprain; beware of food, water, above all, of currents of air when he is warm.

LESSON XV.

THE PIROUETTE, DEUX PISTES, PASSAGE.

In the _pirouette ordinaire_ of the French _manége_ the horse turns upon one of his hind-legs, walking on the other three around it, just as in the _pirouette renversée_ of Lesson XI. he turned upon one of the fore-legs, around which he walked upon the other three; and now, as then, the chief difficulty is to keep him from moving the leg which is to serve as a pivot. The means for accomplishing this you have already acquired, and a pressure of the heel on the one side, or of the crop on the other, will prevent an intended movement of the croup, while by the rein against the neck you move the forehand to the one side or to the other. In wheeling to the left it is the left hind-foot, and to the right the right hind-foot, which serves as a pivot. If your horse is stiff and clumsy in this exercise it will probably be because you have not got him together, with his hind-legs well under him, but at best you will probably find him less supple on one side than the other. Begin by moving the forehand but one step at a time, keeping your horse calm, so that he may not wound one foot with the other, holding your own person motionless, and gradually accustoming him to slight and delicate effects of hand, heel, and whip, so that he may to a by-stander appear to move of his own volition.

The _piste_ (literally “trail” or “track”) in the French _manége_ is an imaginary circle lying three feet distant from the wall; which imaginary line, however, becomes in practice a well-defined path, which the horse soon learns to follow with little guidance from his rider. To go, then, “on two _pistes_” is to cause the horse to advance with his body placed obliquely, so that the hind-feet move on a different line from the fore-feet. In the cut the horse is shown directly across the _piste_.

The _passage_ is a side movement without advancing. By it the cavalry close up their ranks, and to a civilian it is useful in many ways. Both of these movements you are now able to execute at pleasure.

LESSON XVI.

BACKING.

This lesson has been deferred thus far because, while it is one of the most practically and frequently useful, yet it is also the method which the horse naturally takes to escape from the unwonted constraint put upon the muscles of his neck and jaw in the course of the preceding lessons. You have had, therefore, to be on your guard hitherto against it; and had you taught it earlier you would have found your horse cunning enough to pretend to believe every play of the bit to be a signal to step back, and thus protract the instruction.

Having, then, got your horse, as usual, well in hand, lean back and give a pull on the reins. If he steps back, well; if not, touch him with the heel or tap his side with the crop, and when he lifts his foot to step forward repeat the pull on the reins, when the foot will be replaced farther back; then pat and praise him, and persevere until he will, at each tug of the reins, move backward one step and no more.

Should he swerve to right or left, straighten him by a tap or pressure of the crop on his right side, or by the pressure of the heel on the left, as the case may require.

Your horse having learned to obey the pressure of the rein upon the neck, you may now, if you choose, adopt another method of holding the reins. It differs from that described in Lesson XIII. in that the two snaffle reins, instead of being separated by three fingers, have only one--the middle finger--between them; while the curb-reins, instead of coming into the hand between the snaffle-reins, come in below, having the little finger inserted between them.

This method, though formerly the one usually taught, being that adopted by the English cavalry, has not, on the whole, as many advantages as the other for a civilian.

If you have occasion to use the left hand, or wish to rest it, change the reins into the right hand by placing the right, still holding the whip, over and in front of the left, both palms downward, inserting the right fore-finger between the reins separated by the left little finger, and so on, then grasping all together with the whip, and allowing the ends to pass out to the right.

This does not disarrange the reins, but makes it possible for you to take them back into the left hand in an instant by passing the left hand in like manner over the right.

LESSON XVII.

RIDING IN CIRCLES.--CHANGE OF LEADING FOOT.

You are now prepared to practise with profit a simple exercise, which you will find interesting to yourself, and, if carefully done, very improving to your horse. It is the riding in circles of small diameter. Mark out a number of rings of various sizes in some pasture-field with white pebbles or beans or small scraps of white paper, which may be scattered at intervals of two or three feet, so that the figures may not be remarked by the horse, but that he may receive his instruction from you only. Let the circles touch one another, so that you may change from one into the other, and thus turn to the right and left alternately. Begin at a walk, then proceed to a trot, practising first on the large circles, and then taking the smaller ones. Keep your horse “light in hand,” and do not let him place his body across the line, but make him follow it accurately, with his neck and body bent around to the curve which it describes. When he is perfect in this exercise on level ground, move to some hill-side and begin again. When he can do figure 8’s of a small size accurately at a smart trot on a pretty steep slope, you may congratulate your self on having made good progress, and may begin to do the large circles on level ground at a canter. Here comes in the troublesome matter of the “leading foot,” and if you do not understand it, you must not be discouraged, for many persons ride “hit or miss” their whole lives long without thinking or knowing anything about it. The expression, besides, is misleading, and you will do well to study up the subject first on straight lines. Get a friend to canter beside you, and observe the motion of his horse’s feet. You will see that the two fore-feet and the two hind-feet strike the ground not only one later than the other, but one in advance of the other, and that the one which leaves the ground last steps past the other and is planted farthest forward. It is this foot taking the long stride which is called, although it moves last, the “leading foot.”

It ought not to make any difference to the horse with which foot he leads, nor to his rider, if a man, so long as he follows a straight line; but whenever he has to turn, it becomes both to horse and rider of importance--if the curve is sharp, of very great importance--that he should lead on the side towards which he is to turn.

A little observation of your companion’s horse when turning will make the reason clear to you. A woman’s seat being on the left side of the horse, it is easier for her that the shoulder having the most motion should be on the right side, and ladies’ saddle-horses are consequently trained to lead with the right foot; the result, we may remark, often being that the fore-foot which does most work gives out before the others.

The horse so trained, however, is in this way always ready to wheel to the right; but when he turns to the left, whether carrying man or woman, he must change and lead with the left foot; and if he has not sense enough to do so himself, you must teach him.

This, really, is not an easy task for an amateur, especially for the amateur feminine, who has not the efficient masculine resource of a pair of spurred heels. Even with their aid a man is often so embarrassed to make his horse comprehend that he gives up the attempt, and contents himself with “slowing down” before turning, his failure usually resulting from the insufficient previous training of the horse, coupled with his own ignorance of the successive short steps by which the latter may be led up to the performance of the wished-for act.

If you have been exact in the instruction hitherto given--if your bitting has been so thorough that your horse remains “light in hand” during all the manœuvres described in the foregoing lessons; if he responds instantly to the pressure of the rein upon the neck, and to the touch of the heel and of the whip upon the flank, so that you can move the forehand and the croup separately or at the same time in the same or in opposite directions; if he will rise from a walk into a canter without trotting; and if, finally, your drilling in the flexions of the neck permits you to bend his head to right or left when at rest or in motion without affecting the position of the forehand--then your horse is thoroughly prepared for the present lesson; and the same tact and patience which have brought you on thus far will assuredly carry you triumphantly through it.

First, however, you should learn to tell with which foot you are leading, and you can do so by leaning forward in the saddle while cantering, when you will see that the knee of the leading leg is thrown up higher than its fellow, and by bending still farther you may see this foot planted in advance upon the ground. If your horse has never been trained, it is as likely to be one foot as the other. Now, the first step to be taken is to put your horse in such a position that it will be easy and natural for him to lead off with the desired foot, and awkward to lead off with the other. This position is with the head turned in the direction you wish to go, and with the croup advanced a little in the same direction, so that the body is placed obliquely across the line of advance. Thus, if you wish to lead with the right foot, you keep his head turned in the direction you wish to go, while with the heel you move the croup over two steps to the right; then, touching him with the heel and raising the hand, you give the signal to canter, and he will probably lead off with the right foot. If not, stop him and try again, giving him a sharp cut with your whip just behind the right shoulder. To lead with the left the process is reversed, the croup being moved two steps to the left before the signal to canter is given, a sudden dig with the heel behind the shoulder conveying to the horse the hint to hurry forward his left leg. You can now begin to canter on the circles you have marked out; you will, however, at first come down to a walk before changing from one circle to an adjoining one--which change, of course, reverses the curve, and makes it necessary to change the leading foot.

This figure eight riding, thus, ∞, is most useful both for horse and rider when it is carefully done. Keep the horse “light in hand,” and above all, _collected_--_viz._, with his haunches well under him, and always with his feet exactly in the circle and his neck and body bent to the curve. As soon as he will lead off correctly from a walk, begin to teach him to do so from the trot; and when this lesson has been learned, practise him on the double circles, or figure 8’s, beginning at a trot, and lifting him into a canter just as you pass from one circle to the other. This will accustom him to the idea of a change of movement at the time of a change in direction. Having got him to canter, continue on the same circle many times around and around, then bring him to a trot, and pass to the adjoining circle, lifting him to a canter just as you turn into it, as before, but of course leading with the opposite foot. Make your circles smaller and smaller, and continue till he has had time to appreciate the importance of leading correctly; then try to make him change at a canter, choosing for the purpose one of your smallest figure 8’s, and indicating to him the change of foot on the same spot and in the same way as when you began by trotting, and you will no doubt be immediately successful.

If the horse in changing the lead of the fore-feet does not make the corresponding change with the hind-feet, he is said to be _disunited_. This fault must be corrected immediately, as it renders his gait not only uncomfortable to the rider, but very insecure.