Belle Beach

“ Of course, one may recall many instances of light-weight thoroughbreds of beautiful conformation who are admirable hunters, but they cannot be hunted every day over a heavy country. That a hunter is to be ridden by a woman, is no reason why his appearance should be ladylike. The extra weight of a side-saddle and the unevenness of the distribution of the rider’s weight on his back, make it necessary that a woman’s hunter should be quite as large and powerful as a man’s. The recognized type of hunter is close to the thoroughbred and quite distinct from the harness horse. ”

“ Although learning to ride in childhood is certainly an advantage, yet age is not necessarily an impediment to a woman’s learning the art. I have known many women who have never been on a horse’s back until they were forty years of age, or even older, who, after a few courses of lessons, have derived much pleasure from their riding, and, with application, have even become proficient. However, the best riders, like the best singers or pianists, are born, not made, and there is a grace about the natural rider that cannot be attained even by the most thorough training. ”

“ Lightness does not in any way denote weakness, for, behind the light touch, there must always be firmness, decision, and strength. Nor does lightness mean a touch so vague that it produces upon the horse’s mind an impression of vacillation. In riding it is most important for the rider, once she has made up her mind what to make the horse do, to make the horse do that thing and not allow him to do anything else. One might, indeed, say that lightness of hands is very closely akin to tact and that it is a means of inducing a horse to adopt as his own the will of his rider. ”

“ I do not, however, approve of very young children taking riding lessons. The age of seven is quite young enough, for when younger than that a child’s legs are so short that it is difficult for her to keep her balance at any gait faster than a walk. But I do approve of very young children becoming accustomed to the motion and acquiring balance by being held on the back of a very quiet pony, which, of course, should not go beyond a walk. ”

“ I like to see a horse trained to be ridden with an even pressure on both curb and snaffle, as described in the chapter on hands.
While the horse is being ridden for you to look at, watch closely how he handles himself; see that his walk is free, his trot bold and well balanced, and his action true all-round. By this I mean that his hock action must be in keeping with his front action. A high-stepping horse will give you a good ride if he uses his hocks equally well, but a horse that is high-going in front and stiff and draggy in the hocks is impossible. ”

“ Riding should, I think, be as much a part of a child’s education as any of the subjects taught at school; in fact, I would paraphrase and say that “Reading, Riding, and ’Rithmetic” were the essential elements of every child’s education. All children find in it the keenest pleasure, and to the delicate child it offers salvation. Once the first difficulties are overcome, the benefits are soon realized. ”

“ If a rider is fortunate enough to be gifted with lightness, she will be able to control her horse by a spirit of love instead of adopting the brutal method of controlling him by fear and having him prepared at every moment to obtain his revenge upon his rider, as a horse that has been treated brutally is almost certain to do when he has the opportunity. ”

“ No recognized authority holds that it is the correct vehicle, and, for road driving, a gig is thoroughly unsuited to a tandem. While a gig is more comfortable and balances better than a wrongly adjusted tandem cart, yet a gig is much too low for the driver either to have proper control of his leader or to be able to see obstacles in front of the leader. Moreover, a gig, having a much smaller body than a tandem cart and also short shafts, gives an appearance of wrong proportion to the tandem, and, especially from a distance, an effect of something lacking. ”

“ In riding, even for a short distance, it is most advisable to start and finish your ride at a walk, following the old maxim, “Walk the first mile out and the last mile in.” At the beginning of a ride a horse needs to get going a bit in order to be limbered up and catch his wind. So, if you start off, as many do, at a fast trot or a canter, the horse will soon be winded and the rest of your ride will be spoiled. If you start him slowly, he will warm up to his work and you will have the best part of the ride where it should be—toward the end and not at the beginning. ”

“ Unless your companion is a thoroughly experienced rider and has a horse that he knows is faster than yours, he had much better rein his horse in and give you a chance to control your own horse. It may also be remarked that it is a very difficult thing to catch a runaway horse, and any one who attempts it is taking a great risk, not so much for himself as for the girl whose horse he is attempting to catch, while another woman, if mounted on a side-saddle, would have the greatest difficulty in bringing herself into position to catch your horse at all. ”

“ Nothing looks worse in park riding for either a woman or a man. In riding a horse that is bridlewise and perfectly broken so that he will obey the slightest movement of the reins and can make all the changes of action and of gait by a mere suggestion from one hand, the other hand should still be kept in almost the same position as if it held the reins, and remember that if it is necessary to rearrange the hair or the hat, or if you wish to make any gesture with the right hand, to be sure to transfer the whip to the left hand. ”

“ The great danger in beginning too young is that the child may have a fall, and, if she does, may receive a shock to her nervous system, the effects of which will make her timid about horses for years to come.
I like to have a child come to me for her lesson without fear, not timid from any past experience, yet enough awed at assuming control of so big an object as a pony to have respect for, and be dependent on, her teacher. Later on, confidence will come with increasing knowledge, and so her education as a horsewoman will be properly begun. ”

“ If the buyer’s experience is limited, there is nothing in which she can be so easily deceived as in a horse. Therefore, I strongly advise the novice to go always to a dealer of good standing, state frankly what she is looking for, how much she is willing to pay, and put herself in his hands without affecting knowledge which she lacks. When you go to a dealer of standing you may be confident that having acquired a high reputation he will maintain it, and will not sell you a horse other than he represents it. ”

“ For any formal occasion, where it is correct to drive a trap with a rumble, it is incorrect not to have the servant. It is better form, even for country driving, if you take a servant, to have him on the rumble, where he should always be if there is a rumble. It is not correct, where you have a rumble, to have the servant at your side. If the horses are pulling too hard, it is quite permissible to pass the reins back to the servant, or he may even drive them from the rumble, where he can control them quite as well as he could if he were sitting beside you. ”

“ The thoroughbred should be the ideal saddle horse, as he is fashioned by nature for that purpose alone. In England this is the type of “riding horse” most in vogue, and in this country he may, in a few years, as he already has there, supplant the park hack type. However delightful he may be in the country or in the hunting-field, he is not really suitable for park riding, where a collected trot is essential and where his excitability gives the rider more than she wants. It must be borne in mind that the conditions of riding in England are entirely different from what they are in this country. ”

“ For a woman the best style of jumping is that of the hunter who swings along and takes his jumps in a steady stride, and who is neither too fast nor too slow; who is up with the hounds, yet not on them.
What I am about to say with regard to the seat and hands in jumping applies to hunting in this country, not in England, for there the horses are very differently trained; but in any case a woman should always find out how a horse has been trained before attempting to jump him. ”

“ A horse, while walking, should have his head well placed, not too low or too high, and a horse whose head is up and neck well arched is much more becoming to a woman than a horse that carries his head down.
In general, in the ring, a horse had better be ridden on whatever rein he has been trained to go by, whether it be curb or snaffle, and so much depends on the individual peculiarities of the horse and rider that no definite rule can be laid down. The important thing is to have light hands and not to do anything to excite or annoy the horse. ”

“ There is, of course, nothing to steady the tandem leader and, in cases where in driving a four-in-hand it would be necessary to make and hold a point—as, for instance, in turning a corner—with a tandem it will often only be necessary to touch the leader’s rein. Remember, also, that the wheeler is only too apt to turn the moment he sees the leader turn, and it is often necessary to steady the wheeler by a pressure on the opposition rein, and, if he has a hard mouth or a sluggish one, it may even be necessary to make an opposition point to prevent him from making too sharp a turn. ”

“ The great advantage of beginning without stirrups is that it teaches a close seat at the start. Many riders who have not learned by riding at first without saddle and stirrups acquire the habit of relying altogether too much on the stirrups to keep their seats. In doing this their muscles are kept rigid, they become stiff and awkward, and they rely upon grip and strength, when they should rely on ease and balance. This fault is especially common with women, probably because they have been used to the support of the pommel and leaping horn of the side-saddle. ”

“ The opponents of docking are not persons who have driven high-spirited horses or who know anything about either tandem or four-in-hand driving. The danger, when a horse gets his tail over the rein, is multiplied a hundred-fold when he is the leader of a tandem, for in that case the driver is absolutely helpless; there is nothing that he can do but either jump out of the trap and run to the leader’s head or wait until such time as the leader may see fit to let the rein go. ”

“ When you are riding in company, an important thing for both your companion and yourself to remember is that if your companion, whether man or woman, is mounted on a slower horse than yours, and your horse starts to run, the very worst thing that he can do is to try to catch you. The noise and excitement which his horse produces will make your horse run all the faster; his horse being slower, he will not be able to catch you, and you will be almost sure to have a runaway. ”

“ Docking is not, as its opponents assert, a senseless fashion, but is founded on reason. A long-tailed horse, particularly if driven in a low four-wheeled trap, is almost sure, however careful the driver may be, to get his tail over at least one of the reins. If he does, it is a matter of great difficulty to release the rein, and if the horse is high-spirited or in any way vicious, as long as his tail is over the rein the driver has absolutely no control over him. ”

“ Cheap leather may give way at a critical moment, and, in any case, the low grade of leather will become hard and stiff, will crack, and will not take the proper polish. The leather, both of bridle and reins, should be thin and pliable, but this should be the result of pressing and working by the strapper. The reins especially must always be pliable, as thick reins tire and hurt both the hands of the rider and the mouth of the horse, and with them one cannot have that lightness and firmness of touch by means of which alone a horse should be controlled by a woman. ”

“ I think all saddle horses should be broken to drive, for there are many occasions when they will be more useful to their owners in harness than under saddle, and it is far better when one cannot ride to exercise one’s saddle horse by driving it to a light trap than to have it ridden by a groom or a stranger. In this country it is almost impossible to find a groom with “hands,” and one’s own saddle horse should be kept for one’s own riding exclusively. ”

“ In fact, no competent whip with light hands, particularly no woman, will want to drive a horse, however light his mouth, in the full cheek. If your horse’s mouth is rather hard and there is danger of his running away, it is better to have the reins in the first hole of the bar of the Liverpool or Ashleigh, but if you drive him this way you must keep a very light hand, as it makes the pressure of the curb chain too severe, and you may make his mouth hard by a constant pressure of chain. ”

“ Not until you are proficient enough to catch the thong with certainty should you attempt to drive either four-in-hand or tandem, and you will find, the moment that you take the reins in your hands and start to drive, that it will be far more difficult to catch the thong than when you could give it your undivided attention. Moreover, it is vastly more difficult to catch the thong in a wind, or under trees or other obstacles, than when learning in the stable, and constant practice is required to keep one’s hand in. ”

“ Here we ride for exercise; there they hunt for exercise and ride for rest. Therefore, what they want for riding is a horse with very easy gaits who does not give the rider any exertion. In England there is very little riding on hard roads, as there is here. They almost always ride over turf and they have bridle paths on nearly all the roads. The English “riding horse” I have referred to is a thoroughbred or three-quarter bred, and the trot is not one of his gaits. His canter is very easy and he gives the Englishwoman just what she wants in the way of rest and fresh air. ”

“ If you have a nervous or high-spirited horse who wants to go, it is far better to let him go in moderation than to be constantly holding him back, as that worries and fatigues him and, in the meantime, you are not covering the distance. So, if you are riding in company and your horse is the more spirited of the two, you will find it easier for your horse to let him keep about one-half a head in advance of the other, for, if you keep him level or hold him back, he will be fretting all the time and tire both himself and his rider. ”