Horses and Riding

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TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

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Webster Family Library of Veterinary MedicineCummtrigs School of Veterinary Medicine atTufts University

200 Westboro RoadNorth Grafton, MA 01536


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MORETON ON HORSE-BREAKING.Ju&t inihlislied, in One Vohi.mc, crown Svo. jyrice 5s.

ON HORSE-BREAKING, shewing the defects of the systemof horse-breaking at present in use, and how to remedy the sameteaching the breaking of hor.ses to saddle and harness, with instructionshow to teach horses their different paces ; describing also the differentclasses of horses required for the different kinds of work, &c. Poundedon experience obtained in England, Australia, and America. ByRoiiERT MoRETON. M.E.C.V.S.

LONGMANS, GEEEN, & CO.


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LONDON : PRISTED BYSPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE

AND PARLIAMENT STREET


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HOESES AND BIDINGBY

GEORGE NEVILE, Esq. M.A.

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR

SECOND EDITION

LONDONLONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.

1877

All rights reserved


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PEEFACEA GEXUINE fondness for horses, combined with arecollection of the falls I have had, the good runs Ihave lost, and the disappointments I have met with,from want of the knowledge contained in its pages,has induced me to write this book.

Every year a fresh batch of riders make theirfirst appearance in the field, eager to learn butunwilling to ask, and unable to sift the good advicethey sometimes receive from the useless informationoften given. It is for these that I have principallywritten.

I have drawn for them the sort of horse theyshould buy when they can meet with one, standingas a horse ought to stand to be mounted, that is,with his weight resting equally on all his legs, andwith nobody holding his head.

I have put on his back a saddle which will fithim, and on which a man can ride easily and


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vi PREFACE.comfortably, with stirrups the right shape and bridlereins the right length.

As a frontispiece I have given my readers theI)ortrait of Glencoe, a horse I consider the best-shaped I ever saw, or ever saw a picture of.

I have shown him what to choose and what toavoid ; what unsoundnesses to beware of, and whatfaults in riding to keep clear of; and, if he will takethe trouble to master its contents, I have put in hispossession a work which will enable him to gowithout trepidation into a dealer's yard, to buy ahorse that he will like, and to ride him withsatisfaction.


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CONTENTS,PAGE

Introdfction . 1

CHAPTER I.BUYING OR CHOOSnfG.

Various distinctions between horsesDifferent purposes for whichthey are used"What diflferent breeds are available forWhata horse's value depends uponShapeSymroetry ... 4

CHAPTER II.SHA.PE.

Shape of a horseProper position to see him inQualities at-tached to different shapes .......

CHAPTER III.SHAPE {continued).

HeadNeckShoulderPosition of the fore-legsWalkingTrottingPosition of saddle Galloping . . . .1.5


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viu CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.CHOOSIXG.

PAGENimrod's methodAnother methodWay to detect lamenessIn hind-legsin fore-legsOutline of a good-shaped horseFreedom from unsoundness not the only requisite ... 27

CHAPTER V.PKICE.

Price depends on height and size 35

CHAPTER VI.ABILITY TO CARET AVEIGHT.

Ability to carry weight depends on size altogetherWay toascei'tain sizeProportion of his own weight which a horsecan carryAmount of breeding required . . . .37

CHAPTER VII.TEMPER.

Different qualities important to different ridersHorse's disposi-tion should resemble the rider's 40

CHAPTER VIII.MOUTH.

Difference between a hard mouth and a hard pullerWhat sortof riders horses with different mouths are suitable for . . 42


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CONTENTS. IX

CHAPTER IX.RIDIXG ON THE ROAD.

PAGBTwo principal requisitesHorses not taught properlyAdvan-tage of riding with the head loose Best way to teach a horseto walk wellAnd trot wellCanteringDifference betweencanter and gallopMarks left by horses in their differentpacesCommon faults in riding on a roadTaking advantageProper way to start a horseStumblingShying . . 44

CHAPTER X.SHOEEN'G.

Shape of feetShape of shoesDiagram illustrating the propershape of shoes 62

CHAPTER XI.FEEDING.

Quantity of cornDifferent method of summering huntersNimrod's methodTurning outSummering in a boxThebest method 68

CHAPTER XII.BRIDLING.

Different sorts of BridlesCurbSnafBeDouble reinedPel-hamFaults in the ordinary bridles usedNosebandCaves-sonMartingaleShould be on the curb reinSo used byDick Christian and recommended by NimrodRingSubsti-tute for martingale or ringIllustrations .... 74


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X CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIII.SADDLING.

PAGEArt of making saddles improved during last centuryCapable ofstill further improvementCut-pommel saddlesIllustrationof ordinary and cut-pommel saddleGirth strapsStirrupleathersStirrupsBreastplate 84

CHAPTER XIV.VALTTE.

Distinction between value and priceWhat a horse's value de-pends onBreeding not altogether an element of value . . 98

CHAPTER XV.COLOUR.

Different coloursPeculiarities of different colours . . . 102

CHAPTER XVI.DIFFERENT BREEDS.

Distinct breads not numerousGreater number of horses used arethe product of two different breeds 107

CHAPTER XVII.RIDING ACROSS COUNTRY.

Definitici of good ridersDifference between hard riders andgood horsemenHorses not taught to jump properly . .110


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CONTENTS. Xi

CHAPTER XVIII.PAGKRefusingProper -way to teach a horse to leapInjury done to

horses by holding on to the bridleExperiment with worstedDifferent sorts of fences 116

CHAPTER XIX.HITNTEES.

No distinct breed of huntersDifference of opinion in differentcounties as to what constitutes a hunterDefinition of ahunterReason of so many disappointments in breedinghunters 1 2

CHAPTER XX.6TABLES.

Two ways of housing horsesLoose boxes the best when attain-ableShape and dimensions of loose boxVentilationDif-ference between temperature and yentilationCool stablesbetter than hot onesOpenings for light and yentilation.Stalls, best mode of arrangingIllustration of bell trap fordrainsRack and manger

CHAPTER XXI.STABLE UTEI^SILS, ETC.

BrushesCombsFoot pickerBit polisher ScraperFeederScuttle .... 153


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xu CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXII.COMMON UNSOIJ]!^DNESSES.

PAGESome unsoundnesses much commoner than othersUnsound-nesses of the hind-legsCurbsSpavinsRingboneSplintsBreakdown of fore-legMeans of preventing thisNavi-cular lamenessDefects of the windRoaring, whistling, andgruntingSand-cracks String-haltCrib-bitingWeavingSpeedy cuttingCuttingOverreaching .... 168

CHAPTER XXIII.BREEDING.

Four distinct breeds in EnglandRacehorseCoach-horseTrotterCart-horseBreeds of RacehorsesTouchstoneIrish BirdcatcherBlacklockThe CureSultanGlencoePeculiarity attending grey horsesObservations on breeding . 180

CHAPTER XXIV.BKEAKING AND TRAINING.

How to obtain foals from young fresh maresHow to halter thefoalTeaching to jump when two years oldTeaching tocarry a man on his backTeaching to go along a roadHowto make a horse carry his head in a right positionUse ofwhip 193

CHAPTER XXV.BETTING.

Influence of betting on the breeding of horsesAnalogy.betweenthe practice of betting and the consumption of drinkSimilarenactments affecting bothHandicapping inseparable frombetting 206


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ILLUSTEATIONS.

PoRTEAiT OF GrLExcoE FronttspicceThe Right Soet of Horse to Buy . . . To face jpage 11. Outline of the top of a horse Vage ^2. Bird's-eye "v-iew of horse's back 133. Diagram showing the relative position of two differently

shaped horses' fore-legs 204. Diagram showing the marks left by a horse's feet in the

different paces respectively 535. Outline of a well-formed foot and a badly-formed one , . 636. Drawing of a properly and improperly shaped shoe . , 657. Plain snaffle bit 758. Single curb bit and chain 769-10. Badly shaped and properly shaped curb bits ... 7711. Martingale stop 82

12. Drawing of two hunting saddles, one as used and the otheras recommended by the Author 87

13. Two patterns of men's stirrups 931-i. Latchford's patent lady's stirrup 94


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HOESES AND EIDING-.INTBOBTJGTION.

Macaulat, somewhere in his History of England,in describing the social position allotted to officersof the army of that day, writes as follows : ' Therewere gentlemen in those days, and there wereofficers in those days, but the gentlemen were notofficers and the officers were not gentlemen.' Ithink something of the same sort, in reference tobooks about horses and riding, may with a certainamount of truth be said at the present time, viz. thatthere are good horsemen and there are good authors,but as a rule the horsemen are not authors, and theauthors are not horsemen.

Anyone who does not know anything aboutriding, and who wishes to get to know somethingabout it, or who knows a little about it and wishes tolearn more, will find it difficult to obtain a book

B


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2 HORSES AND RIDING.that will impart to him any practical information onthe subject, which is of use to him ; while, if heabandons the idea of learning from books and tries toget any of his acquaintance to teach him, he willfind that although plenty of men can ride well them-selves they have not the faculty of imparting to any-one else the knowledge they possess, and that manythings they can do without any apparent effort andwith the greatest ease are perfectly impracticable toa novice.

Most children and probably many grown-uppeople receive their first lessons from grooms, and asa rule grooms have not the same practice in ridingas their employers.A very common piece of advice to a beginner,before trying to leap, is an injunction to ' sit tight,and keep hold of his head,' which is about on a parwith the advice generally given to beginners with agun, viz. to ^ aim straight.'

Both these instructions are equally useless, and ifacted upon would almost invariably lead to failure.For if you aimed straight at say a partridge flyingacross you, you would probably kill one that wasflying a yard behind the one yon aimed at ; and ifyou rode over a fence without altering your positionand without leaving go of the horse's bridle to acertain extent, he would most likely pull you overhis head by extending his neck on landing. T shallendeavour in the following work to give my readers


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INTRODUCTION.some sort of idea how to proceed in clioosing andriding a horse ; or, if they already know how to dothat, in making a horse more perfect and capable ofcarrying them more pleasantly.

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EUYING OR CHOOSING. 5Thus, while a cart horse is only fit for agricultu-

ral work, a racehorse or thoroughbred may be usedeither as a steeplechaser, hunter, or hack, and may bedriven in harness, or worked on a farm.

Similarly a horse bred exclusively for huntingwill make a good hack or carriage horse, but wouldfail to be of much use as a racehorse ; hence wearrive at the rule, that the better bred a horse is(other quahties being equal), the more uses he canbe put to.

If we take any particular horse of a well-bredclass we shall find that his value depends a gooddeal on three things : his size, the amount of sym-metry he possesses, that is his shape, and his tem-per or disposition. There are other qualitiesforinstance, beauty, action, and strengthbut these aremore or less included in the first three.

Thus, action depends on a horse's shape and dis-position combined. Beauty depends a good deal onsymmetry, combined with colour ; and strength isproduced by a combination of size and symmetry.I should here say that by the word size it mustnot be understood that the height of a horse only ismeant : that is only one element of sizethe size ofa horse, in the fullest sense, means a combination ofhis length, height, and thickness ; that is, his lengthfrom his head to his tail, his height from his shoulder-point to the ground, and the width and depth of hisbody. It is also evident that, whatever purpose a


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6 HORSES AND RIDING.horse is required for, he is better for possessing sym-metry and action, and a good temper or disposition.The chief point, therefore, which anyone has tosettle in their own mind in choosing a horse is, whatamount of breeding, and what amount of size, theywish to have in the animal they select. Colour is b}'some supposed to be a question simply of fashion andof fancy, but some colours are almost always preferredto others ; and, as far as can be judged, particularqualities are generally to be found allied with par-ticular colours. As regards what is generally calleda horse's make and shape, it will be found that, as ahorse being well-shaped means being symmetrical,and as symmetrical means a certain proportion orharmony between the component parts, that thereforethere is a certain resemblance or family likenessbetween well-shaped horses, of whatever size or breedthey may be.We will, therefore, lay down as a rule that whenyou want to buy a horse you ought to consider whatsize you want him to be, and what amount of breed-ing you wish him to have, and then try and obtainas much of all the other good qualities as you can.


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CHAPTEE II.SHAPE.

Now first as regards the shape of a horse. Thismust be judged of bj looking at him from severalj)oints of view ; and in order to judge of his generaloutline you ought to be far enough from him to takein the whole of him at once, without jour ejes rest-ing on one part of him more than another. For thisreason it is not a good plan to look at a horse in astable to get an idea of his shape, for jon are toonear him to see the proportion between one part andanother.

When the horse is brought out most people, Ibelieve, stand much too near him to be able to judgecorrectly, and are often in consequence disappointedin their purchase when they have got him home.

For instance, if a man examines a horse in astable only, he may satisfy himself that the horsehas a good neck and shoulders, and also good hindquarters, and yet the horse's fore quarters may betotally out of proportion to his hind quarters, and he


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8 HOESES AND EIDING.may really look as if lie was made of two halves oftwo different-sized animals joined together.A close inspection is very valuable to see andjudge whether a horse has any local defects, but amore distant view should first be obtained.

For this reason I should advise anyone to firstlook at a horse from a distance of forty or fifty yards ;and then, if the horse's looks please him, proceedto a closer inspection.

The first view is generally taken with the horse'sbroadside to you. With reference to this view, ahorse must either be a long, low horse, a tall, shorthorse, or a square horse. Many people who couldtell you directly if a horse was a long, low horse ornot are still quite unable to point out what a long,low horse means. The following is the explanation :If you take a side-view of a horse and drop a linefrom the top of his shoulder or withers to theground, then draw another line from the front ofhis breast to the furthest part of his hind quarters,and then compare the two measurements, if the firstmeasurement is the longest he is a tall, short horse ;that is, he is higher than he is long ; if the secondmeasure is the longest, he is a long, low horse; ifboth measurements are alike, he is a square horse.

Of these three shapes it is the fashion to considerthe long, low one as the best ; but for general pur-posesthat is, hacking on the road, hunting, andriding over all sorts of fences and groundI should


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SHAPE. 9prefer a liorse as nearly square as possible. A long,low horse will jump brooks and drains and other widejumps the best, and a short, tall one will jump postand rails and stone walls.A long, low one will gallop best over flat deepground, but a shorter horse will get up and downhill and over ridge and furrow better.A square horse, being between the other two, willbe the best at all-round work ; that is, he will jumpbrooks and gallop through dirt better than a tall,short horse, and will go up and down hill betterthan a long, low one.

Looking at a horse sideways his neck shouldform a convex segment of a circle, his back a concavesegment, and his loins and thighs a convex segmentagain, thus :

Fig. 1.

It should be noted here that it is a very commonmistake for inexperienced persons, in estimating ahorse's shape, to think that he will alter in shapeaccording as he alters in condition. This is a fruit-ful source of disappointment; for although a horsedevelops considerably with age and condition, still


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10 HOESES AND KIDING.the construction of his shape will always remainto a great extent the same.Thus, take the case of a lean horse with a concaveneck (what is commonly called a ewe neck). Manypeople might think that when the horse got fat hisneck would be the right shape ; whereas you canno more fatten a ewe-necked horse into a horse witha good neck than you could by feeding convert aperson with a turn-up nose into one with a hookednose.

The chief thing that a side-view of a horse isadapted to show is the proportion between his heightand length, the shape of his neck and head, and thesize of the horse's barrel, which is commonly dividedinto his girththat is, where the saddle-girthscomeand his back ribs, or the part immediately under theback of the saddle. It is also the place from whichto judge of the horse's hocks, to see if he has gotcurbs, and if his fore legs are straight or crooked ;but of that I shall treat in a future chapter devotedto unsoundnesses.

As regards the shape of a horse's body or barrel,a good depth in the girth is a good thing ; but if ahorse is wide in his chest he is generally not so deepin his girth as he would be if he were narrower ; anda wide-chested horse is stronger than a narrow one,although he may not look so deep in the girth. Itis very desirable that a horse's back ribs should belarge ; that is, that his body should look as big near


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SHAPE. 1the hind legs as it does near the fore legs. A horsewhich looks light in the stomach when he is fat inhis limbs will not be so strong or enduring as ahorse which looks thick in the middle at all times.A side-view is also the proper place to judge of ahorse's shoulder ; but, as that is one of the mostdifficult and most important points to settle about ina horse, I shall speak of it separately.

The second view to be taken of a horse is tostand in front of him. From this point you canobserve the width of a horse's chest and shoulders,and whether his toes are turned out or in. As re-gards the latter point, I need not say that a horse'sfeet should be straight ; but although turning theirtoes out or in are both faults, still there is a verywide difference between them.

Horses that turn their toes out may be riddenwith pleasure, and are often good-tempered and havegood shoulders, whereas horses that turn their toesin are often morose in their tempers and clumsy intheir action. I should also say that it is better fora horse to turn both toes out than to turn one toeout ; while, on the other hand, it is worse for a horseto turn both toes in than to turn one in.The front view is also the proper place to detectspavins in a horse ; but this also is an unsoundness,and will be treated of as such.

It is generally considered that a moderatelynarrow chest is preferable to a wide one, but I do


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12 HORSES AND RIDING.not think there is any good reason for this. A wide-chested horse's fore legs are a considerable distanceapart, while a narrow, deep-girthed horse's legs areclose together. Now, of all the things which annoyowners of horses, and particularly young horses, twoof the most common are a horse's back getting sorefrom the saddle i)inching his withers, and horsescutting their fetlocks, by striking them in going,with the opposite foot.

Now, a wide-chested horse is exempt from boththese evils. Again, a round, punchy carcase, with goodback ribs, will more often, though not invariably, befound in conjunction with a thick, wide chest.

For these reasons I should prefer a horse thatstood with his fore legs considerably apart.

The third view of a horse is to stand behind him.This shows the width of the horse's hi^^s and thighs,and whether his hocks are straight. Here, again,though a horse's hocks should look straight, it isbetter they should be too near together than too farapart. Looking from this point there are threecurves on each side of the horse's hind quarters, theui)per curves being the hips, the second the thighs,and the third curve the second thighs.

In a well-shaped horse the first and secondcurves should be the same width across the horsethe second, that is, the thighs, being if anything thewidest ; and the third curves rather narrower. Look-ing between the hind legs, the lower a horse's hind


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SHAPE. 13quarters come down together before they split apartthe better.There is a fourth view of a horse which is rarelytaken, but which I consider quite as important asthe other three, and that is the view obtained by

Fig. 2.

looking down on them from above ; that view, in fact,which you have of the wheelers of a coach when youare sitting on the box. Looking at them thus, thehorse's body should be the same shape as a hen'segg, with the broad end towards the tail. The back


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14 HORSES AND RIDING.ribs will then be the broadest part of him, whichthey ought to be. If anyone were to draw an egg,and then put a tail on the thick end, and a neck andears on the thin end, it would give them a very goodidea of what a horse should look like when viewedfrom above. The ears should be near together andcurve slightly inwards (Fig. 1).


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15

CHAPTER III.SHAPEconimwec?. shouldees.

HAVixa now looked carefully over the horse, we willtake each part and examine it more particularly.

To begin with the head. Standing in front andlooking at it, it should be narrow between the ears,wide between the eyes, and taper down till it isnarrow again at the nostrils. The eyes should belarge, prominent, and bold-looking, and the nostrilsmoderately large. I should say that a horse with avery large, open nostril would be delicate and nervous,and easily frightened, while one with a very small,closed nostril might be apt to be mulish and obstinate.Looking at the head sideways, it should be wideacross the cheek, and narrow, but not too much so,across the mouth. The front outline should bestraight, with a slight curve round the nostrils.What is called a dish nose is when there is a hollowbetween the eyes and nostrils ; and a Eoman nosemeans a projection between those two points. As arule dish noses are better-tempered than Romannoses, but a straight profile is the best of the three.


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SHAPE. 1pointed out as a good one, is not a good onethehorse's owner only thinks it is. Or again, a manlooks at a horse's shoulder, and then, in order toform an estimate of it, he goes and looks at a greatmany other horses' shoulders, and finds that hishorse's is as good as the average, and thereforeconcludes it is a good shoulder, and still the horsedoes not go right. The reason of this is that a goodshoulder is a much rarer thing than he imagines,and that none of the horses he has looked at havehad good shoulders, whereas he has naturallyconcluded that they could not all have been bad,which was not a correct conclusion. Therefore, ifyou are doubtful as to a horse's shoulder, don't goand look at another horse's shoulder, and particularlynot one of a horse belonging to the same owner asthe first, for if he is not a good judge of a shoulderhe is just as likely to buy two horses with indifferentshoulders as one; but take some other means offinding out.

Now, there are three ways of finding out whata horse's shoulder is like. Mrst, looking at himwhen he is standing still ; secondly, watching himwhile in motion ; and thirdly, riding him yourself andfeeling his action. Of these plans all should beused, but the third is better than the second, andthe second better than the first.We will beo^in with the first method of examinino-the horse, namely, when he is standing still.


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18 HOESES AND EIDING.What is commonlj meant by a liorse's shoulder

is one large flat bone called the scapula. This bonebegins at the withersthat is, the point where themane endsand extends to the breast in a slantingdirection ; and the more it slants the better as a rulethe horse's shoulder and action is. The upper boneof the leg, from the knee to the horse's body, iscalled the radius, and between this bone and thescapula, or shoulder, is a shorter bone, called thehumerus. The humerus is slanting as well as thescapula, but in the contrary direction ; that is,the bottom of the scapula and the top of the humerusare the forwardest. Now, it must be borne in mindthat while the scapula is better placed the more itslants and the less upright it is, the humerus, on theother hand, is better placed the less it slants and themore upright it is.

It is want of knowledge of this fact which causesa horse's shoulders to be often wrongly estimated.People are apt to think that if two horses have thesame inclination of the scapula their shoulders andaction will be the same, whereas one horse may havevery good shoulders and the other very moderate.If you take two horses with the same slant of theshoulder-bone, and the humerus of one is very muchinclined, while the humerus of the other is nearlyupright, the latter horse will have very much thebetter action of the two.

I need not point out that as the humerus is joined


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SHAPE. 19at one end to the fore leg and at tlie other end tothe shoulder-bone, it follows necessarily that themore n^Dright the humerus is the further forwardthe fore leg must be, and the nearer horizontal thehumerus is the further back from the breast the foreleg must be.

Now, if you run your eye in a line from themiddle of the fore leg upwards and notice how muchin front of the withers that line falls, and thennotice how far behind the top of the humei^us thatline falls, you will have a fair idea of what the horse'sshoulders are. The more that line falls in front of thetop of the scapula and the less it falls behind the topof the humerus, the better will be the horse's action.

In examining a horse here you should feel wherethe top and bottom of the shoulder and the top andbottom of the humerus are ; otherwise, and especiallywith flat, fleshy horses, your eye may be deceivedand fall in the wrong place.

There is one very common errorat least, Isubmit that it is an errormade in estimating themerit of a horse's fore legs. Their strength, that is,the horses' strength, is generally estimated by thesize of their fore leg below the knee ; but this is notof itself at all an unerring guide. In each individualanimal we shall find that the different parts areconstructed in a manner fitted to fulfil what isrequired of them in the case of that animal takenby itself.

c 2


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SHAPE. 21hind legs, place the two front pillars (that is, thefore legs) two or three inches nearer the hind legs;that is, two or three inches from the front end(drawing B). It will be seen at once that the effectof this will be that much more weight w^ill be su2>23orted bj the two front pillars, and so much the lessby the hind pillars. In order, therefore, to adapt thefour pillars to this arrangement, the two front pillarswill have to be made proportionately stronger, andthe two hind pillars lighter.

Now, the worse a horse's shoulder is the moreunder its body will be the fore legs, and the strongerthey will have to be formed to carry their share ofthat body.

It will often happen that there wiU be two horsesapparently about the same size and weight, andpeople will say of one, ' It has got beautiful shouldersand action, but it is rather too small below the knee; 'and they will say of the other, ' Its shoulders mightcertainly be a little better, but what a lot of bone ithas below the knee ! ' Now, anyone who bought thestraight-shouldered horse under the impression thathe would carry a certain w^eight, say fourteen stone,better than the light-boned horse, would, in myopinion, be making a great mistake. It is true thatthe bigger fore legs can support the greater weight,but they already have to do that before anyone getson them, and it does not follow that they can bearan additional weight better than the smaller and


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22 HOESES AND HIDING-.better placed fore legs, much less that the large-boned horse's fore and hind legs combined should becapable of supportmg a greater weight than thelighter-boned horse's legs, which are more perfectlyand evenly adjusted.

For this reason people often look upon the sizeof a horse's fore legs below the knee as an enhance-ment of his value and an improvement in his pro-portions, when it is simply a provision of nature tocounteract a defect in the horse's shape which thehorse would be better without.

In choosing a horse, therefore, I would lay downas a rule, that even for strength alone, other thmgsbeing equal, the position of a horse's shoulder andfore legs is of more importance than the size of them.In choosing a horse, therefore, you should bear inmind that a horse with a large muscular shoulder,and with his fore legs considerably behind the frontof his breast, is no stronger, and is less pleasant andsafe, than a horse whose shoulder and fore legs arelighter and better placed.

I would also point out that by using a shorter orlonger saddle the weight of the rider can be placednearer to or further from the hind legs or the forelegs at will, and that, in fact, with the same sizedsaddles on both horses, the formation of the good-shouldered horse will of itself place the saddle, andconsequently the weight on the top of it, furtherback and nearer the hind legs, and thus throw lessweight upon the fore legs.


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SH.1PE. 23"We will now come to the judging of a horse's

shoulders by watching his action while in motion.I would here say that as the only reason whya good shoulder is better for riding is because thehorse will have better and safer action with a goodshoulder, therefore, if you are certain that a horse'saction is good, there is no need to go any further.

All, therefore, that is required to be done is to becertain that the action really is good, and does notonly seem so. In order to observe a horse's actionproperly he should be walked up and down in theroad past you, and then trotted slowly round you ina large circle, and afterwards galloped round.in walking he should carry his head well up, andwalk freely and rapidly, with long strides ; but thetrot is the pace which tests a horse's action most.In order to trot well a horse should lift his knees uphigh and throw his feet forward a long way in frontof his breast, and should trot fast. Some horsesbend their knees and pick up their feet high, butcannot put them forward at all ; that is, they putthem down again under their chest instead of undertheir nose. This can be detected by comparing thepace they are moving their legs with the pace theyare getting over the ground. If they appear to bemoving their legs very rapidly, and still not to begoing fast, their action is not good. They can trotpretty well over broken ground, but cannot go fastand cannot very well recover themselves if theystumble.


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24 HORSES AND RIDING.Other horses put their feet well forward, and go

very fast over the ground, but do not bend theirknees or lift up their feet. This kind of action,though of more use than the other, cannot be calledgood, for this reason, that a horse which goes likethat, although he can travel fast on smooth, flatground, cannot trot without tripping over broken oruneven ground. A horse with good action shouldlift his knee as high as the first instance I havegiven of faulty action and throw his feet as farforward as the second.

In addition to watching a horse's legs you shouldcarefully observe the appearance the saddle and therider present on the horse. If you take away all theneck and head in front of the horse's breast, thebody of the rider should look to be in the middle ofthe horse, that is, half-way between his breast andhis tail. Avery good method of estimating a horse'smake when someone else is riding him and you havenot an opportunity of watching his action closely, isas follows : A saddle is composed of two parts, theback or body of the saddle, which lays on the horse'sback, and the flaps, which come down his sides. Thefront of the saddle is one continuous line from thebottom of the flap to the pommel or top of the saddle,but behind the flap there is a corner where the flapand body meet. Now, to judge of a horse's shape,draw two imaginary lines from this corner, one tothe lowest part of the horse's breast, and the other


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SHAPE. 25to the furthest part of his hind quarters ; these twolines, with an ordinary-sized saddle, ottght to be, butrarely are, nearly of equal length. Generally theline drawn from this corner to the hind quarter ismuch louger than the line drawn to the breast; andthe more difference there is the worse the horse'saction will be as regards safety on uneven ground.

This is as good a method of forming an opinionof a horse at a glance as any I know. If a horse ismuch longer behind the saddle than in front of it,he may have very good action to look at, but if hestumbles he has much greater difiiculty in pickinghimself up again without falling. I once had asingular confirmation of this in a pony which a manwas riding alongside of me. It had sloping shoulders,but was very much longer behind the saddle than infront of it. It had very good action to look at, andtrotted very fast so much so that I thought my rulemust be a fallacious one, when, just as I was beginningto doubt the correctness of my theory, it stumbledslightly, and then instead of picking itself up again,as it should have done, it went on its head and kneesfor some yards and rolled over.

After seeing a horse trot you should see it gallopand here the chief thino^ to note is to see if its foreleg action corresponds with the hind leg action ; thatis, whether he puts his fore legs as far in front ofhim as he puts his hind legs under him, and viceversa.


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26 HORSES A>'D EIDING-.If a horse does not do this he will look as if he

was taking a series of jumps and pitching down onto his fore legs, instead of going smoothly forwardsor he will look as if he was galloping with his forelegs and trailing his hind legs after him.


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27

CHAPTEE IV.CHOOSING.

We now come to tlie last, and practically the best,method of determining a horse's shoulders and action.

I have put it last for this reason, that you canalways look at a horse if you have the opportunity ofriding it, but it often happens that you can see a horsewithout being able to ride it or even see it ridden.

In buying a horse at a crowded auction, forinstance, you practically have to form your opinionof it as you see it standing. You cannot, of course,see an unbroken horse with a saddle and bridle on ;while it may often happen that you have an oppor-tunity of seeing a horse ridden (in the hunting-fieldor on a racecourse, for instance) when it would notbe convenient for you to ride it yourself ; but whenyou have the opportunity, you can form the bestjudgment by getting on them yourself.

I will here quote what 'Nimrod,' the author of "TheTurf, the Chase, and the Eoad,' says on this head inone of his works. He says : ' When I wish to judgeof a horse's action I require to do nothing more than


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28 HORSES AND RIDING.to give him his head and let him walk a hundredyards on a footpath. If he can do that withouttrip]3ing it is all that is required.'

When I first read the above I was rather scepticalas to the wisdom of this advice ; and having a marewhose shoulders I knew were not very good, Idetermined to put the plan to the test. I accord-ingly rode her a mile away from home where therewas a good flat raised foot^Dath on the side of theroad, and then put her on the footpath and let herwalk home with the reins on her neck. She stumbledtwenty times in the course of the mile, and convincedme that 'Mmrod' in this particular was right. If Ehad ridden her in the middle of the road that dis-tance she probably would not have stumbled once.

It does not at first strike one as apparent why ahorse should be more likely to stumble when walkingleisurely along a footpath than when walking alongthe road, but the reason I take to be this, thatalthough there are inequalities on the footpaththey are not so apparent to the horse's eye as thoseon the road, and the horse consequently does notmake the same effort to avoid them, but walks in amore natural, not to say slovenly, manner, and thusshows any defect in its action, and consequently in itsshape, more quickly and more distinctly.

This method recommended by 'Mmrod' is a verygood one, but I have found the following to be asgood or better : Ride the horse along the road untilyou come somewhere where there is a footpath or


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CHOOSING. 29piece of grass raised six or eight inches above theroad. Now ride the horse quietly a few yards alongthe raised edge of the footpath at a walk, and then,letting his head remain quite loose, turn him slightlyso that he steps off the footpath slantways on to theroad.

If his shoulders are good he will step off withoutany diflB.culty, and if you had your eyes shut youwould not be able to tell when he did so. If hisshoulders are bad he will either stumble, or dropheavily on to the foot he puts first on the road, so thathe gives you a disagreeable shock up your backbone.

You will probably think the first time you dothis that the horse has made a false step or stumbled,but if you repeat it three or four times you wiU findthat he always does the same thing, and that it isthe fault of his make, and he cannot help doing it.

I have tried this plan on several horses, and havealways found the test to answer. The explanationI take to be this.

When a horse's shoulders are good he can stepdown a foot or nearly so and reach the ground withone foot before he takes the weight off his otherfoot. When the horse's shoulders are straio:ht hecannot do this, and comes down heavily on the foothe first puts off the raised part on to the lower.

In addition to this, if you trot a horse slowlyover rough, broken, ground, he will go freely andpleasantly and safely, if his shoulders are good ; andif not he will not go pleasantly, and will feel as if he


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80 HORSES AKD RIDING.could not get on. If you trot him slowly on theroad or the grass, if his shoulders are good his forelegs will feel as if they were always in front of youif his shoulders are straight his fore legs will feel asif they were mostly underneath you.

While on the subject of riding a horse to test hisaction I may say, that in order to detect any veryslight lameness you should, if it is in the hind legs,put your horse in a slow trot and then sit as farback in the saddle as you can ivitJiout rising.

To test the fore legs take hold of the horse'smane and stand up in your stirrups while he istrotting slowly. By adopting this plan you canoften tell whether a horse is lame in front or be-hind, and which leg he is lame of, when you cannototherwise find out.We now come in our survey of the horse to hisbody, back, and ribs. The size of his body, I neednot say, will be influenced a good deal by the con-dition he is in, and the food he is eating. A horseeating green food in summer will have a bigger bodythan when eating hay, and a fat horse will have abigger body than a thin one living on the same food.But it must be remembered that a thin horse gettinggrass will often have a bigger body than a fatterhorse living on hard meat, that is, hay and corn.In all cases when a horse is living on dry food hisback ribs should be the widest part of him, and hisfore ribs the deepest part of him. The depth of a


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CHOOSING. 31horse does not always give a correct measure of hissize ; for a very narrow horse, with his fore legsclose together, will be deeper than a horse with awider chest, and will look stronger when you standalongside of him, although in reality he may beweaker than the other. You should, therefore,always measure a horse's depth of girth with a viewto his width of chest also.A horse's back should fall immediately behindhis withers, and then rise gradually to the partbetween his hip bones, and then fall slightly to thetail again ; there should be a gradual, even sweep,and no break or kink anywhere between his withersand his tail.

It Avill generally be found that a horse with verygood shoulders is one of three things, when youlook at him sidewayshe will either be short-shouldered, hollow-backed, or goose-rumped.

By short-shouldered I mean that he will notlook as deep from the withers, or top of his shoul-der, to the bottom of his shoulder-bone as otherhorses.

By hollow-backed I mean that he will be severalinches lower a little way behind the withers thanhe is at the withers and loins ; and being goose-rumped means having the tail set on a good deallower than the hips and loins, instead of being onlya little lower.

I do not say that it is invariably the case that


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CHOOSING. 33hocks. The tail should be set on lower than thehip-bone, but not much ; otherwise it will detractfrom the horse's appearance very much j and thougha low goose-rump is serviceable the horse will notsell for as much with it. Horses with low set-ontails often have their hind legs bent under them,which is not a recommendation.

Standing behind the horse, the thighs should berather wider than the hips, and the hock sharp andthin, and not round and clumsy.Having now given my reader an idea how to judge

of the shape and outline of a horse, independentlyof his size, breeding, or the purpose you wanthim for, I will endeavour to instruct him as tothe choice of a horse, and give him some generalrules which will assist him in selecting one thathe will not be disappointed with. I will begin bypointing out that, as no one except a good judgewith experience ought to buy a horse without eithera veterinary surgeon's opinion or a warranty, heshould not, therefore, give his mind too much tosimply detecting faults, and thereby prejudice hisjudgment as to the general merits of the animal.

Many a man has done this, and the result hasbeen that he has bought a horse which has beenpossessed of no good qualities or merit at all, excei:>tbeing free from unsoundness, and which was next touseless to him when he had got him. A horse maybe perfectly sound and yet have no constitution to

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CHAPTER V.PEICE.

Now, with regard to the third point, that of price.A good horse's value increases very much for eachinch that he measures over fifteen hands, or fivefeet, up to sixteen hands and an inch, or five feetfive. Horses belovf fifteen hands come under thehead of cobs or ponies, and have a separate and dis-tinct value of their own ; and horses above sixteenone are of no greater value than horses of thatheight or an inch less. But between those limitsfifteen hands and sixteen onea horse's value in-creases very largely inch by inch.

Therefore it follows that, taking any given price,the smaller the animal (within those limits) thatyou are content to put up with, the more perfect aspecimen of his own particular class you can obtain.Thus, let us take, for instance, 1001. as a price. Forthis price you could probably have the choice ofa great many well-shaped, sound horses betweenfifteen and fifteen one and a half. You would have

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36 HORSES AND EIDING.the choice of a few between fifteen one and a halfand fifteen two and a half, while you could notperhaps obtain one sound, well-bred horse with goodlooks at that price that measured sixteen hands. Asa rule a man will have more pleasure in possessingand using a good small horse than a moderate horseof greater size.

Therefore settle what is the most money you cangive, and what is the least size you can do with, andthen get the best you can of that size and at thatprice. The same rules will apply very nearly,whether you want to buy a hack or hunter or aharness horse ; but I will imagine that you aregoing to buy a hunter, for a hack is only a smallerhunter, and any horse that will do to ride will do todrive, and the same merits apply equally in bothcases. Now, in buying a horse to hunt a man must,next to the question of ^Drice, be guided by his ownweight. The heavier he is, the stronger horse hewill require, and the higher price he will have topay for a horse of any given height ; or, to put it theconverse way, the heavier he is the smaller horse hemust put up with at any given price.

Perhaps I shall be better understood if I say thata man who weighs ten stone can get a horse up tohis weight for a given price, say lOOL, two inchestaller, than the one a man who weighs thirteen stonecan get for the same money up to his weight.


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CHAPTER YI.ABILITY TO CARET WEIGHT.

A MAN who lias experience can form an opinion ofwhat weight a horse will carry, by looking* him over,although even then, I believe, men of good judgmentoften make great mistakes in the comparative abilityof horses to carry weight.

As I said before, if two horses are both sym-metrical the biofoêst horse will be the stronorest;and the big'gest horse means the one there is themost of, taking him altogether.

Of two horses, therefore, in similar condition asto fatness, the heaviest horse is the biggest, and thebio^cêst is the stronsêst.

Therefore the proper way to ascertain the strengthof a horse is to iveigh him, making a certain allow-ance for the condition he is in.

As a rough-and-ready rule, if a horse, well-formedand in fair hunting condition, is weighed, he will befound able to carry about nineteen per cent, of hisown weight ; that is, a horse to carry fourteen stone


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38 HOESES AND EIDING.OH gilt to weigh, about seventy-four to seventy-fivestone when in condition and not drawn too fine.You may also lay down a rule that the betterbred a horse is the better he will carry any weightthat he can carry ; and the less blood there is in ahorse's breeding the greater weight they can carryat their own pace ; that is, a half-bred horse willcarry the most weight in proportion to his ownweight, and the thoroughbred horse will carry whathe can carry the better of the two.

The amount of breeding required in a hunterdepends very much on the country he is wanted forand the sort of rider he has to carry. As a rule, theharder the rider, and the more open the countrj^, thebetter bred the horse ought to be. Fences stophounds more than they do horses, and the smallerthe enclosures and the larger the fences, the easierit is for a horse that can jump, to keep pace with thehounds, and the less speedy, and therefore the lesswell-bred, is it necessary for the hunter to be.

Again, the deeper the ground the better bred thehunter ought to be. The contrary opinion to thisused formerly to be held even by good judges ; butexperience has shown that the above rule is thecorrect one.

It was formerly thought that bone was wanted toget through dirt, and blood to keep up with houndsover grass, whereas the contrary is the case. It doesnot at first sight appear how it is that the light-


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ABILITY TO CARRY WEIGHT. 80boned thoroughbred horse can carry a comparativelyheavj" man through deep ploughed fields further andfaster than the more strongly-built half-bred hunter.The explanation, I take it, is this : the slower ahorse goes compared with his best pace the longerhe can last without being beat. Now, at the paceat which hounds ordinarily run, the thoroughbredhorse is only going at half speed, that is, at a canter,while the half-bred horse, being much slower, has:o go at full gallop, or nearly so. It is generallyexplained by saying that a thoroughbred horse willstay longer than a half-bred horse ; but I do notthink it is at all clearly proved that a thoroughbredhorse can gallop at the toj) of his siieecl, for a longertime than the half-bred horse at the top of his ; butbeing much faster he will cover considerably moreOfround in that time.


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40 HORSES AND RIDING.

CHAPTER VII.TEMPER.

In clioosijig a horse for liuntingj in addition to thesize and strength and breeding of the horse, thepurchaser will have to consider the horse's disposi-tion, constitution, age, and capabilities.

Here again it will in a great measure depend onwhat he wants him to do, and how he wants to ridehimwhether particular qualities are necessary orimmaterial. And here the horse's qualities shouldin some degree resemble those of his rider. Thus aresolute, hard horse will carry an irritable, hastyman, better than a nervous, timid horse would. Anoted jumper is wasted on a rider who never wantsto jump a fence, or who only rides at very smallplaces. If a man is possessed of a hard, strong con-stitution he should endeavour to get a horse withthe same qualities, as he will most likely go out inall weathers and ride long distances, and would tireout and knock up a horse that might carry anotherrider pretty well, who did not want to get so much


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TEMPER. 41work out of* liis horses. Again, some horses can goout hunting much oftener in a given time thanothers, and this quality is exceedingly valuable to aman who only keeps one or two horses and wishesto get out as often as possible, while it does notmake much matter to a man with a large stud.With regard to the horse's age, a horse is never sogood before he is six years old as he is afterwards.Many horses are hunted at three and four years old,and almost all horses at five, and they will go aswell while they are out as an older horse ; but theobjection to them is that they are never so pleasantto ride, and that they cannot come out so often, andthat they are always liable to be knocked up andrendered useless for some time after, whenever youhappen to ride them a harder day than usual. Inaddition to this they are much more likely to getlamed, for two reasons : first, their sinews are softerand they are more easily injured; and, secondl}^,they are wilder and more likely to do somethingthat will injure them.

There are a very great number of horses lamedby riding them to hounds when not fully developed,and if it could become the custom to either ridethem solely on the road, or confine them to lightharness work, until they are of a suitable age forhunting, there would be more sound horses thanthere are.


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42 HOESES AND EIDING.

CHAPTER VIII.MOUTH.

In choosing a hunter a feature of great importanceis, what sort of mouth he has ; that is, how muchand in what manner he pulls at the bridle.

Every horse has either a hard or a light mouth ;that is, he can bear you to pull at his head with asharp bridle without irritating him, or he cannot.

But a hard-mouthed horse may be a hard pulleror he may not be a hard puller, and a light-mouthedhorse may be a hard puller or he may not be a hardpuller, for this depends on the horse's temper asmuch as his mouth.

When a horse is said to pull hard, it simplymeans that he won't go the pace you want him togo, and he won't stop when you want him to stop,and that he does not pay the proper attention toyour wishes when you pull at him.

I should classify the four descriptions of horsesas follows :


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MOUTH. 43A hard puller with a hard mouth is the most

dangerous, for he is the roost difficult to stop.A hard puller with a light mouth is the mostunpleasant, for his mouth cannot bear the pain thathis own temper inflicts on him, and he will alwaysbe throwing his head about.A hard-mouthed horse which does not pull isthe safest for bad or moderate riders ; and a light-mouthed horse which does not pull is the best andmost pleasant for a finished horseman.A man who has habitually a rough hold of thebridle, and who holds himself on at every jump bymeans of the reins, would find a hard-mouthed horseboth safer and pleasanter than a light-mouthedhorse, and he would be very apt to make a lightmouthed horse make a mistake at his fences by notletting him have his head at liberty.


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44 HOKSES AND EIDING.

CHAPTER IX.RIDING ON THE EOAD.

I WILL now proceed to another part of my subject,and that is the art of ridnig^ a horse on the road.

'Now, what is the first requisite to enable j^ou toride a horse with pleasure and safety? The firstrequisite, I take it, is that you should be quitecertain that you can always stop him when youwant to stop him.

The second requisite is that you should always beable to make him go on when you want him to go on.

I have given the first the precedence for thisreason, that if you can't make a horse go on whenyou want, you only suffer inconvenience as a rule ;whereas when you can't stop a horse when you want,your safety may be endangered.Now, for a horse to be properly broke and trainedyou ought to be able to set him going at any pace,and he ought to continue at that pace, with his headloose, until you require him to alter it. But hardlyany horse will fulfil these conditions.


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EIDIXG OX THE ROAD. 45Very many horses will walk quietly with the reins

loose on their neck, and you can gallop them attheir top speed without pulling at them, for thesimple reason that they cannot go any faster. Butfew will trot pleasantly with their heads loose, andfewer still will canter.

Again, a horse to be properly trained shouldstand still without being held while the ridermounts. By without being held I mean withoutbeing held either by the rider or anyone else : buthow many horses are there that will do this ? Heshould also stand still with his head loose wheneverhis rider wishes to stop and converse with anyoneor to look at anything.

Most horses are capable of being taught all this,but they will not do it, partly because they are nottaught to do it, and partly because they are actuallytaught to do the contrary.

Thus, for instance, in galloping after the houndsa horse is taught and made to bear a certain weighton the rider's hands ; that is to say, a man will pullat his horse's head and spur him at the sametime.

This is popularly called holding him together,and is supposed to be the most necessary when gal-loping over rough, uneven ground, but I cannot helpthinking that if a horse's four legs will not keephim from tumbling down, the rider's hands cannotdo so, and that if a horse's own eyes cannot show


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48 HOESES AND RIDING.them from doing tliis when you are getting on thesaddle, than it is to prevent them from going forward.

If a horse is mounted a few times in this manner,and you adjust yourself leisurely on the saddle beforeyou tarn him round, he will acquire a habit ofstanding still while he is being mounted, even withhis head loose.

It often happens, however, that you want tomount him when j^ou are in some place where youcannot put his head against a wall ; for instance, ifyou dismount on a road. In this case you shouldturn him with his head the way you don't want himto go, and then when you have got settled in thesaddle turn him round. If he moves on while youare mounting he will find that he always has toturn round and go back again, and he will learn notto try and proceed in a direction which he finds fromexperience is not the one in which he has to go. Assoon as he is mounted he should walk quietly off"svitli his head loose without trying to break into atrot. If the horse will not do this, and keeps tryingto trot, it is better to let him trot gently for half amile or so at starting, till he settles down, than tokeep fidgetting him ; but in this case you shouldtake another opportunity of teaching him, so thathe may learn to walk.

The proper time to teach a horse to walk well iswhen he is tolerably tired and hungry and hasgot his head turned homewards. The fatigue will


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EIDIXa ox THE ROAD. 49prevent him from perpetually wanting to trot, andhunger will make him put the best leg foremost toget home to his stable and corn. When he isaccustomed to walk well and fast, and to continueat that pace without altering it, he will walk when-ever jou require him.

'Next to learninof to walk he should be taugrht totrot, and here the reverse process should be adopted.

In this case you should teach him to trot whenhe is fresh instead of tired, and when he has hishead away from home instead of to it.

When he is fresh and full of life he will lift hisfeet and throw them out, better and with morevigour than when he is tired ; and when he has hishead turned from home he will not pull so hard, andwill be more easily taught to go with his head loose,because he will not be so anxious to get to hisdestination.

It would not, in my opinion, take any longer toteach an unbroken horse to trot with his head loosethan to walk ; but, as I am supposing that the horseis already broken, he will probably be much moretroublesome to teach to trot than to walk, in thismanner. The way to teach him is to start him atthe pace you want him to go, and when he has gonea little way slacken his rein. He will most probablystart on quicker, and then you should pull at himrather sharply, and speak to him at the same time ;but as soon as he returns to the pace you want him

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50 HORSES AND EIDING.to go, you should slacken his head again, but with-out speaking to him. If he goes quicker again, youshould repeat the process, but you should not do itmore than half a dozen times in succession, or you^Yill upset the horse, and he will get puzzled andfrightened and not know what you want him to do,and then you cannot teach him any more for thatlesson; so that after doing this a few times youshould either pull him up into a walk, or let himtrot in the manner he is accustomed to, with hismouth slightly feeling the pressure of the bit. Whena horse has become so tractable as to trot the paceyou want him to go, with his head loose, when hefirst comes out of the stable, I should consider thathe has learnt a good dealmore, in fact, than manyhorses learn in their lifetime.

When a horse is trotting freely along withoutbeing pulled at, he will carry his head higher, andlook better than when he is ridden in the ordinarymanner. Most people conversant with horses willhave noticed that when a horse is turned out and istrotting about in a field, or when he gets away fromhis rider from any cause, he will carry his head muchhigher than he does at other times, and will, to usea common phrase, ' show himself off more.' 'No one,I should fancy, ever saw a horse stumble and fallwhen going like this, and this is the way they oughtto go when they are ridden. Instead of this youoften see them going with their heads low, pulling


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RIDINQ ON THE ROAD. 51hard, and leaning a great weight on the rider'shandsso much so, that if the reins suddenly brokethere would be danger of their overbalancing them-selves and pitching forward on their heads.

I do not go so far as to say that every horse wouldgo safely and pleasantly when taught to go in themanner I have here advocated ; but I am supposingthat the rider has got such a horse as I have endea-voured to describe, as the proper sort to ride.A bad-shouldered, badly-proportioned, bad-tem-pered horse will not go j)leasantly in this mannerbut neither will he go pleasantly in any other form,and he had better not be ridden at all.We now come to cantering and galloping.Horses are not cantered on a road so much as theyare trotted, and are rarely galloped.

!N"early the same observations will apply to- horsescantering as to trotting. The horse ought to canterwith his head loose the pace you want him to go,but he will probably want his mouth slightly feelingat this pace.

Horses canter with one leg in advance of theother, both before and behind, and the right or off legis considered to be the proper one to liave advanced,particularly for ladies, who use this pace chiefly.Going with the right or off fore leg in advance iscalled cantering with the right leg first; and goingwith the near or left leg in adva,nce is called goingwith the wrong leg first. I do not, however, think

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52' HORSES AND RIDING.it is of mucli importance wliicli leg a horse puts inadvance, especially when a man is riding him.

There is, I think, great misapprehension on thesubject of the difference between cantering and gal-loping. A real gallop is quite a distinct pace fromthe canter, but horses rarely gallop. What peoplegenerally mean by horses gallopiug is simply aquicker canter. In the real pro23er gallop the horse'sfore feet come to the ground simultaneously and closetogether, neither of them in advance of the otherand the hind feet also come to the ground together,but very wide apart, and not one in front of the other.In a canter or ordinary gallop the fore legs come tothe ground one after another, and one in front of theother, and the hind legs the same, in both fore andhind legs the one that is forwardest in point ofposition being brought to the ground the last inpoint of time.

Ponies gallop the true gallop oftener than horses,and compact, cobby, short horses oftener than long,sprawling, lathy ones.

Anyone who has ever been run away with for ahundred yards or so, especially on a pony, will knowthat it has a totally different feel to an ordinarygallop.

Racehorses, as far as my observation goes, rarelygallop, properly speaking ; in fact, I never rememberhaving seen a horse finish a race at a gallop unless it


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54 HORSES AND HIDING.tracks left by a horse in the four diflFerent paces,walk, trot, canter, and gallop ; but it nmst beremembered that there is a great difference betweenthe marks left by one horse and another, even whengoing at the same pace.

In order the more readily to distinguish betweenthe hind and fore legs, I have made the fore shoemarks circular, and the hinder triangular.

While on the subject of riding on a road, orrather of teaching a horse to go properly on a roadwhen ridden, it will be as well to mention a few ofthe commonest faults indulged in by horses underthose circumstances.

I have already mentioned one of the commonfaults, namely, not standing still to be mounted, andhave shown how to cure it. Now, one of the com-monest faults in nearly all horsesso common as tobe almost universal, and an excessively troublesomefaultis one which I have never seen alluded to inany book, or mentioned as a fault. I will call it,in the absence of any other name, ' taking advantage,'as this will give the reader the best idea of what thefault is. It is this : you are riding leisurely along,either at a walk or slow trot, and you have occasionto alter your position on the saddleto take yourpocket-handkerchief out of a coat-tail pocket, for in-stance, to blow your nose, or to look at something onthe ground under the horse's track, to adjust yourstirrup, &c. The horse immediately begins to trot


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EIDIXa ox THE ROAD. 55or, if tix)ttir.g already, quickens liis pace. The rider,having only one hand on the reins, and the reinsloose, cannot stop the horse in a moment, and whenhe does pull him up the horse often throws his headup and altogether disconcerts his rider. This trickis repeated invariably whenever the rider attemptsto move and takes one hand from the bridle. Now,I believe that this vice (for it really amounts to that)does not take its origin at all from the nature ortemper of the horse, but is entirely the result ofeducation ; that is, the horse does it because he hasinadvertently been taught to do it. And if a horsehad not been broken at all, and a man were on hisback, he would not do this particular trick, howeverbad he might be to ride in other ways. I will, there-fore, first point out how the mischievous habit isacquired ; and secondly, how to avoid it.

Anyone who is in the habit of riding will know thatwhen their horse is walking, and they wish him toquicken his pace, they generally proceed as follows.

First, they are aware by experience that when thehorse begins to trot he will pull harder than when heis walking ; so that they almost mechanically tightentheir hold of his head; secondly, they kick himgently with their heels, but very often they do notreally touch him at all with their heels, but onlycause a slight pressure of the calves of the legs againstthe horse's sides ; and thirdly, to avoid being jolted,they slightly shift their position and lean foi^ward.


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56 HOKSES AND HIDING.Now, the horse very soon gets to associate these

motions with the idea of quickening his pace, and soongets to take any motion on the part of his rider asan indication that he has to quicken his pace, andconsequently he invariably starts off whenever hisrider does any thing except sit perfectly still. It isnot a very easy matter to cure a broken horse thathas acquired this habit, but a horse that has not beentaught it can easily be prevented from learning it bysimply adopting some other means of setting himgoing. The proper way to do this is to start himby your voice, or by hitting him with your whip orstick behind the saddle ; and it is best to adopt bothof these plans simultaneously, for this reason, that ifyou strike a horse without at the same time speakingto him you will startle him ; and if he is a nervous,sensitive horse you may frighten him considerablywhile if you teach him to start at a given word youare liable to start him when you don't intend.

You can easily teach a horse to trot when yousay ' Trot,' and to gallop when you say ' Gallop.' Butif you do this the horse will akvays begin to gallopwhen you say ' Gallop ; ' and if you were riding with afriend and inadvertently introduced the word gallopinto your conversation the horse would set off at fullspeed, which might prove very inconvenient. Now,you can hardly both hit the horse with your whipand tell him to trot or canter at the same time, with-out intending: to do so.


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EIDING OX THE ROAD. 57It will be observed tliat I have said you should

bit the borse behind the saddle ; the reason is, thatyou sometimes bit your borse wben you don't wantbim to go on. For instance, if be sbies or is fidgetty,or is not looking wbere be is going and stumbles, orany otber reason.

Now, tbe borse cannot distinguish what you arebitting him for, if you always bit him in the sameplace, whatever you want bim to do ; but if you alwaysbit bim in one part when you want him to go on,and in another when you want to correct him, he willbe quite capable of distinguishing between the two,and understanding what you mean.For this reason I should recommend a rider toalways hit his horse behind the saddle when he wantsbim to go on, and always hit him in front of thesaddle when he wants anything else. By this meanshe will often avoid that unpleasant state of thingswhich is technically described as ' falling out withbis horse,' which is both unpleasant and mutuallyinjui'ious to the temper.

Two of the commonest faults on a road are shy-ing or refusing to pass anything, and stumbling ortripping.As regards stumbling it arises from one of twocauses : either from the borse having straightshoulders, and consequently bad action, or from theborse being careless and not looking where he isgoing, and putting his foot on a stone or some other


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RIDIXG OX THE EOAD. 59cause he has bad shoulders ; and nearly certainlywhen he tumbles down has bad shoulders. Stumblingcannot be cured and cannot be prevented very well.

With regard to the other fault, that of shyingor refusing to pass anything, it also arises from oneof two causes : temper combined with stupidity, orelse inexperience combined with timidity.

A bad-tem]Dered, intelligent horse is not likelyto shy, while a timid horse will pass most thingswhen he is used to them, and a bold horse will passthings when he is not used to them.

Usually horses are made worse by the methodsadopted to make them pass anything. Their head isturned to it, and they are flogged or forced up to itand very often when they have gone past it theyare turned round and ridden past it again. Allthese modes of proceeding are quite wrong ; and it isalso quite wrong to make a fuss over them and petthem, to induce them to go by a thing.

If you are proceeding along a road and your horseis frightened at an object that is, stationary you shoulddo nothing at all, but let him go past it in any wayand at any pace he likes; but you should speakroughly to him, to take off his attention and showhim that you do not approve of his behaviour. Theobject you should endeavour to impress on him is,that it is necessary to proceed on his way, but howor in what manner he gets past the object is a matterof total indifference to you as long as he does get


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60 HOESES AND' RIDING.past it ; and you should never after lie has passed iteither correct him or praise him, as both of thesehave a tendency to magnify the importance of theevent, whereas you want it to dwell on his mind aslittle as possible. If instead of merely shying heturns round and won't pass it, I should as a rule goaway and leave the object, if I could do so withoutinconvenience, and probably the next time you camethat way the horse would pass it without any troubleor difficulty arising.

If the object at which the horse is frightened is amoving one it will either be going the same way asyou are or else it will be meeting you. In the firstinstance you should let your horse follow it with hishead loose till he does go past it.

In the second you should turn your horse withhis back to it and make him stand still till the objecthas passed, and then turn round again and go on. Inthis way the horse Avill not see the object of whichhe is afraid, until it is practically past him and theroad is clear, and this is the only thing you oughtto do. It may be laid down as a strict rule, nevertry to force your horse i^ast a moving object that isTYieeting you.

It may be thought that if your horse shies andyou don't guide his head, but let him have it quiteloose, he will be liable to run into a ditch. Inharness it is possible he might run the wheels of thecarriage into the ditch, but it is very unlikely he


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EIDINa ON THE EOAD. 61will go in himself when ridden ; but if you are afraidof his doing so, all you have to do is to pull his headaway from the side he is shying at. His eyes willthen fall on the ditch or hedge instead of the objecthe is frightened of. But I should myself prefer doingnothing at all and treating his behaviour as if itwas a matter of total indifference to me. The horsewill then soon forget all about the matter, which iswhat I should want him to do.


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CHAPTER X.SHOEING.

Theee are in the care of a horse four thing's whichcome particularly under the notice of the owner ofa horse, and are of great importance both to thehorse and to his rider ; these are shoeing, feeding,saddling, and bridling.

To begin with shoeing. If anyone wishes tobecome completely puzzled and mystified, let him goto his blacksmith and ask him to explain the meritsof his particular method of shoeing. I need not saythat if a horse's foot has any peculiarity, or if hehas any failing in his feet, his shoes will have to beadapted to meet that defect ; but of this matter,with the exception of one or two observations onthe commonesb defects, I do not intend to treat, asI am supposing the case of a horse with sound,properly-shaped feet and no particular defect.

To begin, therefore, with the horse^s feet. If ahorse is sound and free from disease I do not thinkthe shape and make of his feet are matters of somuch importance as is generally supposed.


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64 HORSES AND RIDING.The outside upper part of a horse's foot is called

the wall, and the underneath part, where it is hard, iscalled the sole ; and where it is soft is called the frog.

It is necessary that when the horse is shod theweight of the horse should rest on the wall of his foot,and not on the sole, when the horse is standing onhard ground. When the horse is on soft ground thefoot sinks in, so that the weight rests on the wholeof the foot, and not solely on that part to which theshoe is affixed ; but if, when the whole weight of thehorse rests on the shoe, any part of the sole of thehorse rests on the shoe, then the horse is liable toget corns. The precaution, therefore, to be taken inshoeing a horse is to make the shoe so that none ofthe shoe presses on the sole when it is first put on,and also to make it so that there is no likelihood astime goes on and the horse wears the shoe, of itsgetting to press on the sole.

Now, the first of these two points blacksmithsgenerally guard against, but the second precautionthey often neglect and do not pay attention to itthat is, they put the shoe on so that it is right atthe time of shoeing, but do not make it so that itwill be right when the horse has had it on a fort-night or three weeks. This will be best shown bya diagram which I subjoin.

Foot A shows the shape of the horse's hoof whenthe shoe is put on, and foot b is the same hoofafter it has grown longer.


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SHOEING. 65Shoe A is the right sort of shoe, and shoe b the

wrono' sort.It will be seen that if you nail shoe a to foot A,

when foot a has grown into foot b, the shoe A will bein the right position, only rather shorter in propor-

FiG. 6.

tion to the length of the foot ; whereas, if you nailshoe B on foot a, although it will be right when firstput on, yet when foot a has developed into foot bthe heels of shoe b will be pressing on the sole offche foot instead of the wall or crust, and the horsewill be liable to get corns. If any reader will cut


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66 HOESES AND RIDING.out of a piece of paper the two slioes a and b andwill then fit them, first to foot a and then to foot b,the difference will be at once apparent.

The bottoms of road shoes are made flat, both inthe fore and hind shoes, and hunting shoes aregenerally made with a flat sole in the front shoesand a round sole in the hind shoes; but I shouldprefer all four shoes to be made with the undersurfacethat is, the surface which rests on thegroundrounded.

The heels of the fore shoes should not projectmuch beyond the heels of the feet, or there will bedanger of the horse's tearing them off by catchinghis hind feet in them when galloping or trotting insoft ground ; but the heels must project a little beyondthe feet, or as the foot grows they will soon bepressing on the sole.

The hind shoes should not in any case havesharp edges about them anywhere, or there isdanger of the horse cutting his fore feet with them,which is called overreaching. Hunting hind shoesare generally made with one heel slightly turneddown and the other thickened to match it, and theobject of this is to prevent the horse slipping whentaking-off at a jump. It answers the purpose forwhich it was intended, and is no injury to the horsethat I know of. It is called a caulking. There isalso a bit of the shoe turned up and let into the toeof the horse's hoof. This is called a clip, and the


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SHOEIXG. (^7object of it is to prevent the slioe from being dis-placed by concussion or otberwise.The shoe should be nailed on with most of thenails on the side of the foot that is away from theother foot, and only with one or two nails on theside next the other foot.

F 2


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CHAPTER XI.FEEDING.

An important element in the care of a horse is thequantity and description of food that he gets. It isdifficult to lay down any precise rules on this head,there are so many different circumstances to ta.keinto account. As a rule the better you feed a horsethe better he will look, but the more work he musthave, if he has any at all. By this I mean that ahorse will bear a good deal of feedings if he is in abox and does no work at all ; but if he has any workat all, the more corn he gets the more work he oughtto have, or he will both become lame and be unsafe toride. If a horse has regular work, and has to missa day's work, or two or three days, his corn shouldbe reduced in quantity while he remains off work,and put on again when he begins work again. Fourquarterns, or one peck of corn, with a handful ofbran in each quartern, and one stone of hay, isan allowance for a full-sized, full-grown horse fortwenty-four hours. When a horse is turned six


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70 HORSES AND EIDING.manner as jou do in winter, that is, keeping liim npin the stable, giving him hay and corn, or, as it iscalled, 'dry meat,' and giving him some v^ork, orrather exercise, every day ; in fact, with the exceptionof there being no hunting days, making the horse'streatment the same all the year round.

Mr. Apperly, who wrote under the name of ' ISTim-rod ' about thirty years ago, and who perhaps com-bined a capacity for riding with a capacity for author-ship, in a greater degree than most people, advocatedthis method, with an occasional dose of physic, andextolled its merits very highly. There is no doubtthat if you never let a horse go out of condition hewill always be in condition ; and if the horse iswanted for any useful work this plan is right enough ;but if it is only adopted for the sake of keeping thehorse in condition and nothing else, I should saythat it is not the most desirable plan.

The expense is very much greater, the wear andtear of the horse's limbs and system are greater,though to what extent it is difiicult to say, and theadvantages are not greater than can be obtained inanother manner.

Another method is to turn the horse out in agrass field and leave it to take care of itself. This isa bad plan. If the pasture is a rich one the horse willget too fat, and if it is a bare one it will get too thin,and either way it will lose the firmness of flesh itlias to start with, owing to its losing the most nutri-


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72 HOESES AND EIDING.when preparing them for the season's hunting, butI do not believe either in the necessity or even thebenefit of this proceeding. If the horse is perfectlywell it is superfluous, and if he is not perfectly wellit is tacit evidence that he has not been treated inthe best manner during summer or after he comes up.It is often, I daresay, found, that a horse's legs willswell if he does not get a dose of physic, and that if hethen gets one his legs will become fine again. Buthis legs onl}^ swell because he has been improperlytreated, and giving him physic is only treating himimproperly a second time to counteract the effects ofthe first improper treatment. If a horse is amiss hewill no doubt require medicine ; but the best rule,where it is practicable, is, not to give him anymedicine when there is not anything the matter withhim, and to send for a veterinary surgeon when thereis anything the matter with him.A horse after being summered and then broughtup to get ready for hunting, falls amiss from oneor more, of three things : too sudden or too greata change in food, ditto in work or exercise, ditto intemperature of stable or the atmosphere he breathes.

Now, the first can be avoided by changing hisfood by degrees, either giving him hay before he hascome up into the stable or continuing giving himgrass after he is brought up. Corn I am supposinghe has all the year round. Too great a change inwork will not arise if he has been accustomed to run


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FEEDIXG. 73out, and too great a change in the temperature of thestable can be avoided by keeping the stable windowsopen and keeping the stable at the same temperatureas the box he has been in the habit of living in. Ifthese precautions are properly taken, the horse shouldnot either require physic or suffer from swelled legs.


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74 HORSES AND RIDIXa.

CHAPTEE XII.BRIDLING.

After shoeing and feeding, saddling and bridlingyour horse have to be considered. I will endeavourto give my readers a clear idea under this heading,what sort of bridles to us^, and how they ought tobe made ; what sort of saddles to use, and why Iconsider them preferable to the ordinary saddles inpoints where they differ from them.

To begin with, there are four sorts of bridles inordinary usefirst, a plain snaffle ; second, a plainor, as it is generally called, a single curb ; third, adouble-reined bridle, formed of a snaffle and curbcombined ; and fourth, a Pelham, which consists of acurb and snaffle in one piece, forming a double-reinedbridle, with two sets of reins and one bit.

There are numerous ways of making, and patterns,and modifications, of each of these bridles, but theyall come under one of the four headings I have given.Of these four the double-reined bridle is the most


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76 HORSES AND PJDING.Thus, if a man lias a poii}^ with a hard mouth,

and a large horse with a tender mouth, he will findhimself obliged either to put into the pony's mouth alight bit, with which he cannot hold him, or a bigbit, twice the width it ought to be ; while with thetender-mouthed horse he will have the choice betweena little pony's bit, which will not go into his mouth,or a bit that fits him, but is too severe for him.

The size of a curb bit depends on the size of theFig. 8.

crossbar or port, as it is called ; while the severityof the bit depends on the length of the upright barsor cheeks. The longer the long part of the cheekis the more severe the bit is. The crossbar or portshould be quite plain and smooth, with the exceptionof a slight curve, and the severity" of the bit shouldbe increased by lengthening the cheek alone, and notby altering the shape or size of the port. The bestway to get a good curb bit is to order one to be madefor you at a saddler's, giving him the Avidth of the


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I3RIDLIXG.

bit that you want and the length of the cheeks. Inbridles, as in many other things, all fancy patternsshould be avoided, and the plainest only selected.(Pigs. 8, 9, 10.)

Besides the two descriptions of snaffles mentionedabove there are two more : the chain snaffle, in whichthere is a chain similar to a curb-chain in the horse'smouth, instead of two bars of steel ; and a gagsnaffle, in which the rein runs through the snaffle-ring, instead of being sewn or buckled to it.

Fig. 9. Eig. 10.

Taking, then, an ordinary double- rein bridle forgeneral use, we will examine it as it is generallymade.

The headstall and reins are either sewn on thebits or buckled on. One is called a plain bridle andthe other a buckled bridle. There is no great meritin either over the other.

The headstalls or that part of the bridle whichgoes on the horse's head, are generally made right,but I cannot say the same for the reins.


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78 HOESES AND EIDING.In every double bridle sold tliere are two faults

in the reins. First, they are too long for anythingbut a horse with an exceptionally long neck ; andsecondly, the snaffle and curb rein are of differentwidths.

The objection to the first fault is, that the endsof the reins hang down over the pommel of thesaddle, and get between the rider's knee and thesaddle, or else between the saddle and the horse'sshoulders, one causing discomfort to the rider andthe other to the horse.

The objection to the second fault is, that thebroad or snaffle rein prevents the rider's hand fromclosing round and getting a firm grip of, the narrowor curb rein, and consequently the horse is alwaysdrawing the curb rein through the rid

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