George Greenwood

“ Sermon to the colt-breaker. As Lord Pembroke remarks in his admirable treatise, his hand is the best who gets his horse to do what he wishes with the least force, whose indications are so clear that his horse cannot mistake them, and whose gentleness and fearlessness alike induce obedience to them. The noblest animal will obey such a rider, as surely as he will disregard the poltroon, or rebel against the savage. The noblest horse resists the most. I say the noblest, because it is ever the noblest among them which rebel the most. For the dominion of man over the horse is an usurped dominion. ”

“ That is, because the bad horseman hurries his horse over hard or rough ground, or down hill, or over loose stones—allows him to choose his own ground—lets him flounder into difficulties, and when there, hauls him so that he cannot see, or exert himself to get out of them, and expecting chastisement, the horse springs and struggles to avoid it before he has recovered his feet, and goes down with a tremendous impetus. ”

“ They indeed argue, “Surely if you throw back the weight of the shoulders over the croupe of the horse, you relieve his fore-hand, and diminish the chance of his falling.” This is rather to propose a new method of preventing a horse from falling, than to prove the advantage of pulling at the mouth while he is falling; for if it is of any advantage to throw your weight back, then the less you pull at the mouth the better, for the more you pull, the less you are at liberty to throw the weight back. But, in truth, it is of no advantage to throw the weight back when the stumble is made. ”

“ If good riding is worth your attention do not think these things beneath your notice. For the acquirement of the bearing on the horse’s mouth, the turning your [41] horse on the proper rein, smoothness of indications, and, in shortening the reins, the power of making your horse collect himself, and the working together of your hands and legs, are the unseen and unappreciated foundation on which good riding stands. These, and not strength or violence, command the horse. ”

“ When an unmounted horse stumbles, nature teaches him to drop his head and neck; philosophy teaches us the reason of it. During the instant that his head and neck are dropping the shoulders are relieved from their weight, and that is the instant in which the horse makes his effort to recover himself. If by giving him pain in his mouth, you force him to raise his head and neck instead of sinking them, his shoulders will still remain encumbered with the weight of them ”

“ Gentlemen having a leg and spur on each side of the horse to urge and to guide him, should ride without any whip at all if the horse has been subjected to the leg, so as to have the right hand as free for the reins as the left: there should be no such thing as “a bridle hand. [34] ” If a whip is carried, it should be as light as possible. It should be held up like a hunter or a rough-rider, not down like a jockey; and so completely between the hand and the thumb as to leave the fingers free for the reins. To carry that club called the handle of a hunting whip is a frightful enormity. ”

“ The horse should stand loose. A horse should have a loose standing if possible; if he must be tied in a stall it should be flat. A horse cannot stand up hill without muscular exertion, and the toe constantly up, and the heel constantly down, induces ruinous distress to the back sinews.
No galloping on hard ground. Do not let your groom gallop your hunter on the hard ground in autumn; and my last word shall be a petition on this subject to master as well as man—to deprecate a piece of inhumanity practised, indeed, as much by ladies as by gentlemen—the riding the horse fast on hard ground. ”

“ And the impossibility to draw breath when off the ground is the reason of the death of horses in steeple-chasing and hurdle-racing; they die of suffocation. The reason is a sufficient one for the discontinuance of such racing and chasing.
A mounted horse will overtake a dismounted horse, his superior in speed. It is the common error to suppose that this results from the mechanical assistance of the rider. The real reason is, that the dismounted horse goes off, like an inexperienced jockey, at his utmost speed. ”

“ With such a bit, so placed, I have seen the taper tips of the most beautiful fingers in the world constrain the highest-mettled and hottest thorough-bred horses, and “rule them when they’re wildest.” It is an implement which will give to the weakest hand the power of the strongest, which most of the strongest hands cannot be trusted to wield, and which, if ladies’ hands are light, equal, and smooth, will give them the power of riding horses such as few men might venture to mount. ”

“ No chastisement should be allowed in any case. If he makes a start, you should endeavour not to make a return start. You should not, indeed, take more notice of a shy than you can possibly avoid; and unless the horse has been previously brutalised, and to re-assure him, you should not even caress him, lest even that should make him suspect that something awful is about to happen. The common error is the reverse of all this. The common error is to pull the horse’s head towards the object of his fear, and when he is facing it, to begin with whip and spur. ”

“ If the ground is hard and even, a collected [129] canter may be allowed; but if hard and uneven, a moderate trot at most. One hour’s gallop on such ground would do the soundest horse irremediable mischief. Those who boast of having gone such a distance in such a time, on the ground supposed, show ignorance or inhumanity. Such feats require cruelty only, not courage. Nay, they are performed most commonly by the very horsemen who are too cowardly or too unskilful to dare to trust their horse with his foot on the elastic turf, or to stand with him the chances of the hunting-field. ”

“ It is true, that not much is done after all with a prodigious exertion, but if that little gains six inches in a hardly contested race [58] it may make the difference of its being lost or won. Thus an easy race is no exertion to a jockey, but after a hardly contested one, he returns with his lips parched, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth, and every muscle quivering. ”

“ Set them on a finely broken horse, on a colt, or a restive horse, and they become helpless children—the powerless prisoners of the brutes they bestride. How often does one see one’s acquaintance in this distressing situation, with courage enough to dare what man dare, but without the power to do what the rough-rider has just done! First comes the false indication of the rider, then the confusion and hesitation of the horse; next the violence of the rider; then the despair and rebellion of the horse. The finish is a fractured limb from a rear or a runaway. ”

“ You should habitually choose your horse’s ground for him, for, notwithstanding his often vaunted sagacity and safety, the wisest among horses will, to avoid a moving leaf, put his foot over a precipice. This will become as easy to you as choosing your own path in walking. If your horse has made a false step, or is in difficulties, you cannot leave him too much at liberty, or be too quiet with him. The only notice to be taken is to re-assure him by caressing him, if you see that he expects chastisement from previous brutal treatment. ”

“ To make the horse advance the reins should be tightened; he should be made to collect himself, or he will advance in a loose and extended form.
On account of ease to the rider, a lady’s horse is only permitted to canter with the right leg. He should never be cantered circles to left, or turned at a canter to the left, as unless the horse shifts his leg it will be an unfair exertion to ask of him. Cantering circles to the right, in open ground, where the horse has nothing to bias him but the indications he receives from the rider, is an admirable practice for a lady. ”

“ The play of the ribs in breathing saws the sore; he is disinclined to lie down because the roller is tightened by this position. The groom puts his hand towards the ridge; the ears go back and a leg is lifted. The horse gets a kick in the stomach or a blow with the fist, and becomes shy in the stall as well as vicious. In cleaning him underneath, the groom rests his hand on the sore ridge and the horse dashes his teeth against the wall, and lashes out from pain; he becomes shy to saddle, shy to girth, shy to mount, and he hogs his back, and perhaps plunges when you are up. ”

“ The whole affair of colt-breaking is an affair of patience, you cannot have too much forbearance: put off the evil day of force. Forgive him seventy times seven times a-day, and be assured that what does not come to-day will to-morrow. The grand thing is to get rid of dogged sulks and coltishness ”

“ I should say, that the most perfect seat for the manége should be shortened for the soldier to give him power [69] with his weapons; that the military rider should take up his stirrups when he goes hunting; the hunter the same when he rides a race; and for tours de force, I consider the short stirrup-leather and the broad stirrup-iron of the East indispensable—they give, in fact, the strength of the standing instead of the sitting posture. The Cossack retains this standing posture even at a trot; few Eastern horsemen allow that pace at all, but make their horses walk, amble, or gallop. ”

“ The horse can endure no greater torture than that resulting from an uneven hand. This is known to every hack-cabman. Every hack-cabman has hourly experience that a job in the mouth will compel his jaded slave into a trot, when the solicitations of the whip have been long unanswered.
The single case in which a jerk in the mouth is admissible is when your horse is about to kick, and [42] some one is within reach of his heels. The jerk causes him to throw up his head, and he cannot without difficulty raise his croupe at the same time. ”

“ No horse becomes restive in the colt-breaker’s hands; nor do any remain so when placed in his hands. The reason is that he invariably rides with one bridle and two hands, instead of two bridles and one hand. When he wishes to go to the right he pulls the right rein stronger than the left. When he wishes to go to the left he pulls the left rein stronger than the right. These are indications which, if the colt will not obey, he will at least understand, the very first time that he is mounted, and which the most obstinate will not long resist. ”

“ The mechanical impossibility of the rider assisting his horse when falling may be demonstrated thus: no motion can be given to a body without a [53] foreign force or a foreign fulcrum. Your strength is not a foreign force, since it is employed entirely on the horse. Nor can it be employed on the foreign fulcrum, the ground, through the medium of your reins; as much as you pull up, so much you pull down. If a man in a boat uses an oar, he can accelerate or impede the motion of the boat, because his strength is employed through the medium of the oar on the water, which is a foreign fulcrum. ”

“ Warmth instead of singeing. Fine winter coats should be got by clothing and warmth, not by singeing and cold. Starvation itself is not more terrible than cold. Nature comes to the rescue of the out-door horse, but frightful enormities result from singeing horses in the winter, and leaving [121] them to shiver in the stall inadequately clothed, to say nothing of the frightful figures which result. ”

“ It is in consequence of this that we find so many restive horses; that so few thorough-bred horses—that is, horses of the highest courage—can be made hunters; that, in fact, [11] almost all high-couraged young horses become restive after leaving the colt-breaker’s hands. It is, indeed, in consequence of this that the class of people called colt-breakers exists at all. For if we all rode on their principle, which is the true principle, any groom or moderately good rider could break any colt or ride any restive horse. ”

“ To pick a whip from the ground. To pick a whip from the ground, take the pummel with the right hand, place the side of the left foot against the girth, the toe between the horse’s elbows, bring the back of the right leg on to the top of the saddle, and let yourself down to the full stretch of your right arm; this is very easy at the halt, still easier on the move, if your horse is quiet. If you fail, you only dismount on your hands instead of your feet, which on turf may be done innocuously at a canter. ”

“ A low smooth hand is the only true martingale: this will never be acquired as long as an implement is used which tends to permit harsh, high handling with impunity to the rider.
The snaffle, even of a double bridle, should be sewed to the bridle; it is safer for leading, and it is only the curb bit which you wish to have the power of changing. The reins should be thin and supple, they will last the longer for it; for reins break from being stiff and cracking, and suppleness of reins is essential to delicacy of hand. ”

“ When off, if the reins are too short, take one in each hand, turn the fore fingers towards you, and let the reins slip. If the horse goes freely up to your hand, keep a rein in each hand. If not, return the right rein to the left hand, and keep the whip ready to urge him up to his bit. If a lady has her reins at full length at a walk she should clutch, cross, canter. If the lady has her reins already crossed in the left hand at a walk, she should by two changes place them too short in the left hand before she uses the whip. ”

“ It is, no doubt, our duty to create the happiness and to prevent the misery of every living thing; but with our horse this is also a matter of policy. The colt should be caressed, rubbed, and spoken to kindly. He should be fed from the hand with anything he may fancy, such as carrot, or apple, or sugar, and be made to come for it when whistled to or called by name. ”

“ Fear not your horse suffering from cold because he is stripped to work. Do not labourers strip to work? If a horse had a coat thick enough to keep him warm when at rest in winter, he could not hunt in this without being sweated to death any more than he could with four or five blankets on him.
Fire and water are equally disastrous to the horse’s skin. Allow neither singeing nor washing above the hoof, and even this only for appearance. For there is no more reason for washing the horse’s foot when he is kept in a stable, than there is when he is kept in a paddock. ”

“ Danger does not result from power. Provided the indications from the hand are true and [84] gentle, no danger to the rider nor resistance from the horse will result from power, but on the contrary, safety to the rider and obedience from the horse. This is the only mode of accounting for the fact that there are thousands of hands which perform to admiration in driving, with the most severe bits, but which are quite unfit to be trusted in riding with anything but a snaffle bridle ”