HOW TO RIDE—THE SNAFFLE-BRIDLE—THE WALK AND THE TROT—SHYING—THE CUNNING OF THE HORSE—SULKING—REARING—DEFEATING THE HORSE

Among my earliest recollections are those of a Shetlander, "Billy Button," upon which I used to disport myself on the gravel footwalk in front of our house. My children, also, have been accustomed to horses from infancy. These youthful experiences are doubtless useful in teaching confidence and, what is of equal importance, discretion. If he is not in terror of all such animals, it is the inexperienced person who exhibits too much boldness and places himself unnecessarily at the heels of a horse or overrates his powers of control. But a boy will never learn to ride upon a diminutive pony or upon any dull, slow-moving horse; from them he does not get the seat that quick motions quickly give, and his hand will be spoiled by the hard mouth or the "no mouth" of a sluggish beast.

Eight or ten years of age is as early as children should receive orderly lessons in horsemanship. It is useless to give instructions before the child is old enough to understand them or strong enough to carry them out. Indeed, I think that most riding masters would prefer taking an active boy of sixteen or eighteen years of age who had never been on a horse in place of one much younger who had been riding at his own sweet will. Aside from want of vigor, the latter would almost certainly have faults difficult to correct.

I advocate the use of the Shetland or other small pony as an amusing and valuable toy for very young children; but when they are old enough to receive instruction in riding, the pony should be devoted to harness, where he is really useful and often ornamental, and something larger should be procured for the rider.

A retired polo pony, or some quick but steady animal of that type, is an admirable successor to the Shetland for a child's riding. When I was a boy we used to get ponies from the Indian country, I think they were called Cherokees, that were simply perfection—pretty, nimble, and free from all vices. Mounted upon them, a number of boys would together scamper over the hills, avoiding the monotony of the roads, to try conclusions in speed, in jumping logs, low fences, and such obstacles, and in other exploits that gave firm seats and confidence. Then, sometime in the late '50's, Henri Franconi opened a riding-school and initiated us in the manÈge, and we began to break and train horses.

164

Girls should occasionally be placed upon a cross-saddle until they reach the age of ten or twelve years, so that they may learn the employment of the aids; but there is no more ungraceful position that a grown woman can take than to mount a horse astride; she has a far firmer seat in the side-saddle, and when she is a good rider never shows to greater advantage.

Any man may learn to ride with safety and comfort at any age as long as he has the necessary activity; and there are many men of forty, or even of fifty, who would be able to ward off old age for a long time, and have a pleasurable, wholesome exercise, by riding horses that do not require too much skill in their management.

For one to excel in horsemanship, certain physical qualifications and a rare gift, aptitude for the art, are required. I have often heard William Fritz of Stuttgart say at an early lesson, "That boy will never make a rider," or, less frequently, "Ah! here we have a good one;" for that experienced teacher soon recognized the possession of the necessary adroitness or the want of it.

But even where one has every natural advantage, he will never become a horseman without some instruction in the general principles of the art. These have been formulated, after centuries of experiment, and it is impossible that any one should acquire a useful knowledge of them by his unaided endeavors. The worst rider who ever mounted a horse imitated other, and of course better, horsemen when he essayed to get outside of the animal; but he doubtless thought that he was his own instructor, and it is the man of such reasoning powers who refuses to learn. We know that in the history of the world there was but one "natural rider," the brother of the first oyster-eater, who in the dawn of the quaternary period rode his family dinner, a broken-down, prehistoric horse, to his cave home. Since that event riding has been an art handed down by tradition and imitation.

The aptitude of which I speak is indicated by suppleness of the body, deftness of hands and legs, and the faculty of obtaining an understanding with the horse. Rigidity in any part will prevent one becoming a good horseman. The aids (hands and heels) must be applied with celerity and precision, and the rider must feel what the horse is doing and what it purposes to do. All of these things demand long and carefully conducted practice, but their full acquirement is denied to most men; otherwise we would have more such masters as De Bussigny.

From long practice in applying the aids the thorough horseman can use hands and legs without conscious thought, and he would often find it difficult to say offhand what he had done under certain conditions. His movements become as impulsive as those of the skilled pianist, who methodically touches thousands of keys with such marvellous rapidity that it seems impossible that his mind can even follow his fingers.

The trained horse under the trained rider moves at the master's will; the two are one, it is the centaur. The intent is one with the action, there is no time for consideration, thought has been expended in early practice and has produced those instinctive motions of the man which are always right and always instantly obeyed instinctively.

From the first, it should be known that riding is the production by the rider's heels of impulses which are met, governed, and directed by his hand. Therefore the secret of success in horsemanship is that the spur must always precede the hand, whether it be to advance, to turn, or to go backward. If the hand is not given impulses, it is powerless, and the horse is not under control. Whenever the word "spur" is used, it indicates such effect of the leg aid as the condition requires, whether it be the pressure of the calf against the side of the horse, the tap of the heel, or the prick of the sharp rowel.

The beginner should use the simple snaffle-bridle, for it has a much wider range of effects than the curb-bit, and with it he can do less damage to the horse and to himself when he hangs on to the reins to aid his seat or uses more force than is requisite. The instructions contained in this chapter, I should say, are primarily intended for the behoof of the tyro, but they would not be superfluous for ninety-nine hundredths of those who fancy they can ride.

The general principles of horsemanship are so few and so simple that any one should readily master them; afterward it is a mere matter of practice and aptitude. It is a matter of surprise that so many men ride, and yet do not think it worth while to investigate the principles of the art which they think they follow.

169a

169b

The rider, having taken his position upon the horse, as has been described, for the seat, he will take a snaffle-rein in each hand, the loose ends toward his thumbs and held by them, the reins passing through the breadth of his hands, which are held knuckles up, close together, to assist each other, and take a gentle feeling upon the mouth of the horse. He should then quietly close his legs against the sides of the horse and draw the reins until he has collected the forces of the animal, so that it will be able to go forward in a measured pace and not in the loose and disunited condition that would ensue were it driven on before it had been prepared. This collection will be evidenced by the alertness of the impulses and by the movements of its muscles, as the horse arranges the bearers to take each its share of the weight. To advance at a walk the rider will increase the pressure of his legs, or give a gentle tap of the whip behind the girth, until he produces the necessary impulses, which should be met by the hand in such a manner that the horse will proceed in an evenly cadenced walk. The movements of the horse are due to the changes of the centre of gravity produced by the impulses, and the legs make corresponding changes of position in order that they may support the mass as it passes over them in any direction. As the violence and rapidity of the changes of the centre of gravity increase, so does the speed and also the changes in the positions of the legs as they are required to give support. This is all very simple, and the rider should know at the start how the impulses he demands act, and how they may be governed.

The lowest form of collection of the forces in which the horse may move in a regularly cadenced pace, say in the walk, the moderate trot, and the hand-gallop (sometimes miscalled the canter), is the state which we call "in hand." When the horse hangs upon the bridle and shambles along, it is out of hand, and renewed exertion should be called for from the hind quarters, which should be met and measured by the bit. When the animal proceeds in free and even strides, its head fairly elevated, its face about perpendicular to the ground, and there is a light, elastic tension against the reins, it is "in hand," and between heels and hand should be kept so.

If a horse is "out of hand," it is not only careless in raising its feet, but the bearers are not moved rapidly enough for the preservation of the centre of gravity, and so the animal is very apt to stumble and fall. When in hand, a horse goes as safely as is possible for that particular horse, action and strength being considered.

What has been recommended above will not be accomplished perfectly when the rider mounts a horse for the first time. It is the goal for which he should strive, and when he has reached it, he has made good progress in the art.

173a

173b

It is while riding at the walk that the rider may best obtain the seat and that ease and pliancy which is so greatly to be desired. It also gives him a better opportunity of practising the various applications of his hands and heels than would be practicable in more vigorous movements. A story is told of a certain master of the art, who, in reply to the question how long it would take for a man to acquire a good seat, replied, "Fifteen years at the walk." If the rider pays strict attention to every detail, maintains, with occasional guarded relaxations, his position, and studies the effects of his application of the aids, a liberal deduction might be made from the above estimate of the time required to acquire proficiency in the most important feature of horsemanship. It is true that a man should, and probably will, learn something nearly every time he mounts a horse, for "art is long," but an apt pupil should become a very good horseman, without confining himself to the walk, in two or three years, and be able to ride fairly in a much shorter time.

It is not to be understood that a proficient should never let his horse go out of hand, for occasionally it will be a relief to horse and man to be free from all constraint; but this liberty should never be given to a leg-weary animal or upon rough or slippery ground, or in descending steep slopes. The Italian riders, in taking their horses down precipitous hillsides, put the animals straight, the horses closely united.

In the walk the rider will proceed in straight lines, in circles and curves of varying diameters, and in turns to either hand. The pace should be even and regular, and the impulses from the croup kept up so that the horse will not become heavy in hand. The forehand will be kept light and the jaw pliant by light tensions upon the reins, with occasional vibrations made by a play of the fingers upon the reins. A very little practice will show what these vibrations should be.

In turning to the right the movement will be directed by the right rein, its effects measured and restrained by the left rein, while the outside or left leg of the rider will give an increased pressure against the side of the horse to keep the croup from swaying out. The whole body of the horse should conform to the arc of the path followed. In making short turns, the horse should first be collected a little more closely, and as soon as the animal enters upon the new direction it should be put straight and be ridden in exactly the same form as it had before the turn was made. The turn to the left will be made in the same manner,—the left rein, guarded in its effects by the right, demanding the turn, the right leg of the rider keeping the croup upon the path.

In bringing the horse to a halt from the walk, the rider should close his legs against the animal's sides, lean back slightly, and raise the bridle-hand. This will bring the horse to a stop in a finished manner, with its hind legs under the mass, ready to furnish impulses for further movements. The tension upon the reins should then be relaxed and the legs of the rider withdrawn.

177a

177b

It is a rule, without exception, that when one rein or heel is applied, the other rein or heel must be prepared to guard its effects from being answered in too great a degree.

The walk is a pace of four beats, one foot being planted after another at regular intervals. If the right fore foot comes to the ground first, it is followed by the left hind foot, then the left fore foot is planted, and lastly the right hind foot. Then a new stride begins. In every stride the mass is borne by two legs or by three legs; just before a fore foot is planted, its diagonally disposed hind foot leaves the ground; at that moment the two legs bear the weight; when the fore foot is planted, three legs bear the weight. By stride we mean the movement that covers the ground from the time a certain foot comes to the ground until it is again planted. Through moment photography we have gained a knowledge, not only in every phase of the ordinary paces of the horse, but practically of every movement the animal is capable of making; and through the same medium I was able to explain, for the first time, the gallop changes, which very important movement was previously not understood, and was procured only by tentative experiments with each horse trained to make it.

When, the horse having been in the walk, the speed is increased, a different movement of the legs must take place to keep the bearers under the centre of gravity, and the diagonally disposed hind leg acts in unison with a fore leg, when we have a pace in which the horse springs from one pair of legs to the other, which gives the trot. In the trot we have a gait of two beats, as the horse takes the weight upon the right (or left) fore leg, and the left (or right) hind leg after each spring, going into the air as each pair of bearers leaves the ground.

The horse should be ridden in the trot in exactly the same manner as in the walk, except that in the turns the horse should be more closely united between hand and heels, particularly as the rate of speed is increased. As far as the rapidity of the movement will permit, the state of collection described as "in hand" should be observed. In trotting or in galloping at great speed a horse must extend itself too much to permit any such condition of its forces as that indicated; but if at sharp turns the flying horse is not somewhat brought together, so that it may have the bearers under the centre of gravity, as the mass leans inward, a fall will probably result, almost certainly if the horse be galloping with the outside legs taking the advanced strides.

182a

182b

But the horse should not be put into the gallop until it has been drilled in the double bridle, and has been taught the various forms of collection which prepare it for that pace; and we shall hope that even the rapid trot will not be undertaken by the beginner until he is quite sure of himself at lower rates of speed, or he will acquire faults difficult to remedy. When an indifferent rider is in the habit of speeding a horse in the trot, he almost invariably takes his weight upon his spine, arches the body, holds his arms stiffly forward, loosens his knee contacts, and has about the same security in the saddle that a bag of meal laid upon it would have.

To reduce the speed in the trot or to bring the horse to a halt from that pace, the rider should close his legs against the sides of the horse, lean back slightly, and, raising the hand, increase the tension upon the reins until the animal answers his demands by reduced speed. Then the increased tension upon the reins is relieved, and the legs of the rider withdrawn from the horse, and the slower trot having been obtained, the halt may be made from it; in the latter case the animal should be first put into the walk, and then brought to a stop as before described.

Nearly every horse will shy if "a bit above himself" from want of work, and many horses, otherwise quiet, shy habitually at some favorite object, either flying paper, a high wagon, an automobile, or some such thing. If the head of the horse be turned away from that which offends it, the animal may not only be made to pass it, but it will not be nearly so apt to jump down an embankment or run into some other danger, in its efforts to avoid that which caused its fright or pretended fright.

Horses show much cunning in alarming a timid rider, and such an unfortunate is unmasked at once. Some horses will endeavor to rub a rider's knees against a wall, when they may readily be foiled by having the head drawn into the wall; others will misbehave on slippery pavement; others will refuse to go in desired directions. Indeed, their mischievous tricks are so various that it is impossible to name them. It is seldom that they even try these performances with a determined horseman, and I have heard trainers say of horses sent to them to be cured of vices, that they could find nothing wrong with the animals.

If a horse sulks and refuses to move, sticking out its nose stiffly and spreading its legs as if to brace itself against being forced forward, the rider should not resort to punishment, as it is probable that the animal would retaliate by violent misconduct. If the animal can be induced to move its croup to the right or left, the rigidity will disappear and the forward progress be obtained. I have known cases where the horse, under such a condition, has been made to go forward by being ridden into by another horseman.

A horse rears, either because there is too severe a pull upon the bit, or because it is in terror at something which faces it unexpectedly, or through an acquired vice. When a horse is about to rear through vice, it almost always "drops the bit" (that is, the rider finds there is suddenly no tension upon the reins), and then thrusts its head in air and tries to rise upon its hind legs. If the rider sends in one of the spurs before the horse is balanced upon its haunches, it will induce a movement of the hind legs which will bring the forehand down, and the horse should then be pushed forward. Often a horse which is not very keen about it will make two or three weak essays before it goes quite up, and just as it makes one of these little rises the prick of the spur is very effective in bringing the animal down and in a position that prevents rearing until it is again prepared, before which it should be driven along. But if the horse has already risen, the rider must loosen the reins and lean forward; and as soon as the forehand comes down, he should drive the horse forward in any pace or action that it will take, to procure better regulated movements later. If the rider finds by a sinking of the croup that a rearing horse is falling backward, he should release his feet from the stirrups, seize the mane and pommel, drop from the saddle, and throw himself away from the animal as it topples over. I have cured a horse, apparently confirmed in this vice of throwing itself backward, by a thorough course of suppling; and it was afterwards ridden in various games and exercises which involved the pirouette, but the reformed animal never attempted to rise higher than was demanded. Whether the horse falls back intentionally or not I cannot say. But horses that have a habit of rearing so that they fall over are not rare. In the far West those that fight the air are called sunfishers, and none are more resolute or more dangerous. I read somewhere recently that if a horse kept its fore legs bent and down, it would not fall over, but that when its fore legs were extended upward and fought the air, it would come over on its back. I have frequently seen rearing horses in both poses which did not fall and which had no intention of falling, and I have had a horse throw itself over without giving me the preliminary notice of extending its fore legs in air. The elder Henri Franconi's Johnster and Bayard, and Miss Emma Lake's Bonnie Scotland, were well-known examples of horses which reared safely with extended fore legs; the other mode is not uncommon, but the horse does not usually rise to a dangerous height while the knees are bent.

188a

188b

Should a horse decline to leave its companions or to go in a certain direction, the rider should turn it around sharply three or four times upon the side in which he finds least resistance, when the animal becomes so confused that it may be ridden wherever the man chooses. This in Germany is called "rolling up," and is often practised in the cavalry, where every horse must be disciplined to leave the ranks singly—a very difficult thing to obtain in any other manner.

I have never seen the time when a safely trained horse of good disposition could not be found after a little search; and it is very foolish for any one but an expert or a professional horseman to mount a wicked brute. A really vicious horse will try the nerve of any man, but fortunately they are not frequently met outside of the ranches, and they become rarer as time goes on. Yet all of us have seen the young person of limited experience, and even less skill, who would boast of being able to ride anything and was desirous of dominating a bad horse.

Every horse that is lively enough to make a safe and agile riding animal will become fresh and disorderly if it does not get work enough. If it be not ridden sufficiently, it should be longed on the cavesson rein, or turned into a paddock. The most careful riding master I have ever known—and in my wanderings I have kept my horses in more than a score of riding-schools—was accustomed to turn his fresh horses, one by one, for a little time into the "ring," and, after some play, the horses would be perfectly quiet for the most timid and inexperienced pupil.

191a

191b

---