Nothing within this book is believed to be beyond the reach of the mounted service in general.

The time allotted to “breaking” or gentling will be in many cases eliminated, as the present system of remount stations has become well established.

Each troop should have three or four such articles as longes and cavessons. These articles can be made very easily by saddlers and blacksmiths, from a model. Models can undoubtedly be procured through the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley, Kansas, or from any saddlery store, care being taken in purchasing from the latter to determine whether the model is a correct one or not.

In many cases the reasons for the use of certain aids, etc., are apparent, and all explanation is omitted. In other cases, where explanations involve nice points of mechanics, etc., they have likewise been omitted. The reason for the latter omissions being that they are interesting to the student only. The real student of horse-training can only be one who enjoys such work. Many officers do not enjoy it, and this book is intended for all.

In view of the fact that all the methods embodied herein are well-recognized methods, I trust readers will take for granted that they conform to the mechanical principles, etc., omitted.

As riding cannot be taught by books, no attempt is made to do so here. Officers instructed in riding at the Mounted Service School are returned to their regiments every year, where, by their example and ability to instruct, they can accomplish far more than any literature on the subject; but where riding, as regards the seat, cannot be readily forgotten, points of training a horse can; and it is for such as forget, or for such as have had nothing or little to forget, that this book is intended.

As to riding, it might be of interest, however, to some to note that the following cautions have been found to be a frequent necessity while training horses with enlisted men up:

Don’t yank upon your horse’s mouth.

Keep your hands low and your wrists supple.

Don’t stick your knees up in the air.

Grip with your knees and the calf of your leg.

Let your stirrups out (for most men).

Carry your legs back.

Don’t let your reins flop.

Don’t hollow out your back.

Don’t let your horse back up (unless the movement is a retrograde one).

Drive him forward.

Don’t let him bend his neck at the shoulder.

Use your leg (or legs).

Don’t be rough with your horse.

New horses sent to a post should be turned over to one competent officer with assistants, if necessary, for training. If necessary to assign them to troops to assure proper care and grooming, orders should be given that they be exercised only by direction of the officer in charge. Enlisted men specially suited for training horses should be detailed under the above-named officer’s direction. Only such enlisted men should be detailed who will not be discharged or detailed on other duty until the training ceases. The training should continue for not less than six months. Horses should, when possible, be assigned trainers who belong to the organization to which the horses are assigned, the rider being assured, if possible, that the horse will be assigned to him after the training is over.

Two officers can train with reasonable satisfaction seventy-five horses, if given one hour and a half per day six days a week, in the riding-hall. As the number of horses in the riding-hall at a time go over fifteen the difficulties increase.

In case it be impossible for new horses to be under the direction of one officer, organization commanders should keep the horses out of ranks an equal period, and undertake the same training with competent men.

Hard-trotting, uncontrollable horses, uncomfortable to ride and weak in muscular activity, result from lack of training.

From practical work with enlisted men, it has been found that there is little difficulty in teaching them the kinds of aids, with their proper names, and the use and form the various exercises take. The manner in which they apply their aids and perform the exercises varies with the individual’s ability to ride and aptitude for training.

When Part II. is undertaken, the difficulties increase. The difficulties do not lie in the use of the double rein, which the men soon become accustomed to, but in understanding the flexions and the delicate use of the aids required in these exercises and in the changes of lead at the gallop.

As hands are a most important element in Part II., it is not surprising that men who have ridden perhaps less than three years should have difficulty.

Part II. should not be abandoned, either because of the difficulties inherent to the exercises or because of the lack of proper equipment. The use of a double bridle improvised from a watering bridle and a regulation bit is preferable to the use of a single curb immediately succeeding the work with the snaffle alone.

To some it may seem that confusion exists as to arrangement of the facts. The scheme of arrangement is as follows:

A man, in training a horse, can begin work on the horse with what he finds in the beginning of this book, and as the horse progresses he need only progress in his reading to find new exercises. Certain definitions and explanations are requisite to a proper understanding of an exercise. These are necessarily interpolated.

If the reader will consider the difficulties in setting forth such facts in a logical sequence, he will perhaps be more lenient in his criticisms of this book, although criticism is expected and sought.

A. M. P.

Manlius, N. Y., August, 1911.