Equestrian order

“ The small equestrian had lost her control of her animal,—if control she had ever had,—and he had taken fright or become suddenly vicious; keeping just so far in advance of the pursuer as to avoid capture, and dancing upon his hind legs between whiles, in a manner inimical to any rider’s safety and doubly dangerous to one so young as she who still clung to her saddle, her fingers clasping the pommel in the rigidity of fear. ”

“ When a man is seen mounted on a horse’s back, seated firmly in the saddle, with limbs astride in the stirrups, body erect, and hand holding the rein—in short, everything in air and attitude required of a rider; when, on closer scrutiny, it is observed: that there is something wanting to complete the idea of a perfect equestrian ”

“ But the School-rider has this in equal degree with the uneducated horseman, coupled with a feeling of control and power and ability to perform which the mere man on horseback never attains. Moreover, all the powers of the School-rider's horse are within the grasp of his hand; and that the powers of the high-strung steed of the average equestrian are all too often resident mainly in the animal itself is shown by the chapter of accidents daily reiterated in the news-columns. ”

“ There's plenty of space for all equestrian wants, without interfering with the sylvan delights of nurserymaids, children, lovers of nature, and all sorts of lovers too. For my part, if this is not put forward as an alternative scheme, I shall vote for tunnelling under the Gardens out of simple cussedness. If the reply, authoritatively given, be that the two schemes can go and must go together, then I will vote for both, only let's have the equestrian arrangement first. ”

“ The history of equitation reaches back to remotest antiquity. The horse has always been used in combat, and here we find the origin or, more properly speaking, the cause of the equestrian art. If man had utilized the horse merely to cover long distances or to bear burdens, sufficient training for the purpose would have been an easy matter. But when he decided to fight from the horse's back he was obliged to develop a complete and logical system of steps in training and handling. ”

“ The equestrian exercises, therefore, in which they are engaged, the nature of the countries they traverse, vast plains and mountains, pure and exhilarating in atmospheric qualities, seem to make them physically and mentally a more lively and mercurial race than the fur traders and trappers of former days, the self-vaunting "men of the north." A man who bestrides a horse must be essentially different from a man who cowers in a canoe. ”

“ When the lady is seated, he should return the stirrup to its proper position and place her foot in it, after first, with his left hand, adjusting her skirt so that it will fall evenly; he should then place the curb-reins in her left hand, with the others. No gentleman is a finished equestrian, nor a desirable companion for a lady on horseback, who does not know how to assist her dexterously and gracefully to mount and dismount. ”

“ It is the groom’s duty, when the rider approaches, to gather up the reins with his left hand, smoothly and evenly, the curb rein between, and somewhat tighter than the bridoon, properly dividing them with his fore-finger. The lady advancing, on the near side of the horse, to the saddle, receives them a little more forward than the point of the horse’s shoulder, with her right hand, which still retains and passes the whip over the saddle to the off or right side. ”

“ If a horse rear, the rider should lean forward more than in the aid for the advance: but care must be taken, in this case, to perform the defence with discretion, especially with a pony, or galloway; for, should the animal rise suddenly, and the rider throw herself abruptly forward, it is not improbable that he might give her a violent blow on the face with the top of his head. ”

“ My father, however, did not accept his offer at once, wishing to see more of the stranger before he confided us to his care.
“I have a spare horse, and shall be happy if you will accompany me to Uphill,” said my father.
“I am not much accustomed to equestrian exercise, but I’ll try,” answered Mr Tidey; “and unless you have five-bar gates to leap, and the boundless prairie to gallop over, I trust that I shall stick on the back of the animal. I don’t like to be defeated, and I should not like to abandon the undertaking on account of my want of equestrian skill. Practice makes perfect ”

“ The statutes are silent on the subject, and I cannot find that our Supreme Court has ever had occasion to pass upon the question; but it has been decided in some of the States that when a traveller on horseback meets another equestrian or a carriage, he may exercise his own notions of prudence, and turn either to the right or to the left at his option.46 By common consent and immemorial usage an equestrian is expected to yield the road, or a good share of it, to a wagon or other vehicle. ”

“ For I am an equestrian—
A very fair equestrian—
With bugle blast of melody and unassuming song;
And all the thrilling ecstacy of horsemanship I feel,
Although the nag I ride upon was bred of burnished steel.
But his impatience urges me to swifter gait than you,
And so I wish you pleasure, sir, and bid a kind adieu.
[Pg 156]
Good-morning, Mr. Racer, you've a trotter that is fine;
I never would disparage him, or say too much of mine;
Your horse is full of mettle, sir, and bravely draws his load;
It must be pure deliciousness to speed him on the road. ”

“ As his fore quarters ascend, the lady is to advance forward; the back being bent inward, and the head kept upright and steady. A moment before the horse’s hind legs quit the ground, the body should be inclined backward; the rider taking care not to bear heavily on the reins, lest the horse force her hand, and pull her forward on his neck, or over his head, as he descends. When the leap is cleared, the rider should bring the horse together, if at all disunited, and resume her usual position. ”

“ In this case, it would be unwise to make the attempt: the rider would be foiled, and the horse become encouraged, by his success in the struggle, to make similar endeavours to have his own way, or dismount his rider. The better plan is, instead of endeavouring to prevent him from turning, with the left hand, to pull him sharply with the right, until his head has made a complete circle, and he finds, to his astonishment, that he is precisely in the place from which he started. ”

“ With certain horses, in certain conditions, at various speeds and gaits, certain ways of holding the reins are better than others. I have experimented widely, and I am convinced that virtually all the methods of the various masters are good in an "intelligent" hand. It is not any fixed position of the reins which gives control over the forehead of the mount, but the effects of hand and fingers on the bits. An able esquire will produce the same total effect with the snaffle or with the bit, with left hand or right hand or both. It is all a matter of equestrian tact. ”

“ All such motions of the body, the hands, the legs, and the whip, as either indicate the rider’s wishes, or, in some degree, assist the horse to fulfil them, are, in the art of riding, denominated aids; and those movements of the rider which tend to save the animal from disuniting himself, or running into danger, may, properly enough, be classed under the same title: while such as act for the preservation of the rider, against the attempts of the horse, when headstrong or vicious, are termed defences. ”

“ Rearing will probably be caused by fingering in wrong tempo; the croupade by beginning too early the alternate effect of the legs, so that the signal to lift one biped comes before the other is back on the ground, and there is a brief interval when both are on the ground.
Do not expect to secure a perfect walk of manege until after you have trained two or three horses. Be satisfied at first with a few steps at the gait, and occasional changes of direction. The great point is to perfect your own equestrian tact. When that is done, all your difficulties are easily surmounted. ”

“ All equestrian nations ride with the bended leg, or as it is commonly termed, short, simply because experience has taught them its advantages. The English jockies, fox-hunters, and steeple-chasers, who get the utmost speed out of their horse, who teach him to traverse, and assist him over the most tremendous leaps, all ride short. The South American Indians—men who live and die, as it were, on the backs of their horses—the Moors of the coast of Barbary—and the Bedouin Arabs of the Desert, all ride short. ”

“ Arrived at the house of his fair companion, the gentleman must carefully examine the entire furniture of her horse. He must test the firmness of the saddle and girths, examine well the stirrup leather, guard against the danger of any buckle allowing a tongue of leather to slip, see that the curb, bridle, headstall, and reins are in perfect order; for the entire control of the horse is lost if one of these breaks or slips. Leaving these matters to the stable-men entirely is unsafe, as the constant handling of the harness is apt to make them careless in fastening and testing it. ”

“ The pillion in this country has not yet become obsolete; being still, frequently, to be seen, on the backs of donkies and hack ponies, at watering places. During the early part of the present century, its employment continued to be general. It was fixed behind a man’s saddle, on the croup of a steady horse, trained to go at an easy though shuffling pace between a walk and a trot. The groom, or gentleman, equipped with a broad leathern belt buckled about his waist—by which the lady secured her position, in case of need—first mounted ”

“ In like manner the fair equestrian, with a little practice, can learn to count the time of her horse's canter to herself, and regulate the action of her hand accordingly.
The pupil must throw plenty of life into her riding, and, while she sits easily and flexibly as regards her whole figure on the saddle, should keep the horse equally upon his mettle. In a riding school he requires more calling upon than when out of doors, and more "pressing up," as it is technically called ”

“ Here, too, the English equestrian meets with a novelty in the pace of his horse, which has been taught to go at a kind of amble called ‘enokod,’ at which pace the beast travels about twelve miles an hour with very little fatigue to the rider. Very few of the horses trot properly, and if they do, and you attempt to rise to the trot as men do in England, you meet with so much banter that you are inclined to wish that they did not. ”

“ Men shouted and waved their topees, or shouted and performed equestrian gymnastics, and the jockeys en masse cursed their masters' presence, and the more or less mythical value of their respective mounts. ”

“ The squire's equestrian system has been attended with great success, for his sons, having passed through the whole course of instruction without breaking neck or limb, are now healthful, spirited, and active, and have the true Englishman's love for a horse. ”

“ In that arm of the service, trotting according to regulation is quite a different thing to the easy rise and fall seat practised by civilians on horseback. It is a necessity in cavalry, in order to preserve the dressing in line, that a man should sit down in his saddle at a trot, and allow the horse to shake him fair up and down in it. ”

“ About equestrian statues, as those of various kings at Charing Cross, and otherwhere about London, and of the Duke of Wellington opposite Apsley House, and in front of the Exchange, it strikes me as absurd, the idea of putting a man on horseback on a place where one movement of the steed forward or backward or sideways would infallibly break his own and his rider's neck. ”

“ Let the pupil walk the horse forward in a straight line, and at a slow rate, supporting his head in such a manner as to make him keep time in the beats of his pace; but not holding the reins so tight as to impede the measurement of his steps, or to make him break into a trot on being slightly animated. The hand should be so held, that it may delicately, but distinctly, feel, by the operation of the horse’s mouth on the reins, every beat of his action. If he do not exert himself sufficiently, he should be somewhat animated. ”

“ The majority of the ring rush to the white judge's box, and have just time to range themselves along the rude stakes and ropes that guard the run in, and the course-keeper in a shooting-jacket on a rough pony to crack his whip, and cry to half a dozen stable-lads to "clear the course," before the horses come flying towards home. ”

“ The waist should be brought forward, and the body suffered to take that inclination backward which will be produced by the spring forward of the horse. The horse’s head is to be guided towards the bar, and the reins yielded to him as he advances.
[90] The proper distance for a horse to run previous to the leap, is from ten to fifteen yards. If he be well trained, he may be suffered to take his own pace; but it is necessary to animate an indolent animal into a short, collected gallop, and urge him, by strong aids, to make the leap. ”

“ The grotesque spectacle of a rider a mile in the rear, belabouring his horse with whip and spur, like a steam-engine, is exhibited only in France and Germany. If two horses reach the post exactly at the same moment, (which frequently happens,) they must run again. The judge is upon oath, and there is no appeal from his decision. The English jockeys (who are not, as foreigners think, little boys, but often dwarfish men of sixty,) form a perfectly distinct class, and are the best practical riders I know of. ”