Mounted rider

“ I am no advocate for any paces other than the walk, the trot, and the gallop, these being the only movements in which the rider can obtain immediate and precise control over the actions of the horse. The riding-horse must be managed by reins and heels; no motions or signs are so exacting, so unmistakable in their demands, and it is impossible readily to obtain movements from a horse that is confused by eight or even five gaits, particularly when some of these gaits require an extension of the animal's forces incompatible with the union required in quick turns and in immediate obedience. ”

“ In making short turns, the horse should first be collected a little more closely, and as soon as the animal enters upon the new direction it should be put straight and be ridden in exactly the same form as it had before the turn was made. The turn to the left will be made in the same manner,—the left rein, guarded in its effects by the right, demanding the turn, the right leg of the rider keeping the croup upon the path. ”

“ In bringing the horse to a halt from the walk, the rider should close his legs against the animal's sides, lean back slightly, and raise the bridle-hand. This will bring the horse to a stop in a finished manner, with its hind legs under the mass, ready to furnish impulses for further movements. The tension upon the reins should then be relaxed and the legs of the rider withdrawn. ”

“ How much of this bending or this swaying of the body may sometimes be required is exhibited by the photograph of the Italian cavalry officer who rides down the face of a cliff, or by that of the rider who makes a wheel, or pirouette volte, at a rapid pace. From this seat the soldier may rise high enough to give force to the blow of his sabre; the hunter may send his feet home in the irons without lengthening the leathers, and every horseman will have the greatest security in the saddle that his skill in riding makes possible. ”

“ No one ever keeps track of broken riders, or outlaw horses of the range. The rider is likely to appear, a shuffling, nervous and watchful spectator at rodeos. In such places, perhaps a good has-been is pointed out as one who did something in the other days. ”

“ A good rider will keep the elbows close to the sides, just drawing the line finely between that pinioned look which is so disfiguring, and the detestable flapping, like the wings of an unquiet bird, in which so many riders, both male and female, so frequently indulge. ”

“ The power to effect the conditions described will be obtained by subduing all resistances; the jaw of the horse, and all those parts in front of the rider, will be made pliant and obedient to the reins; the hind quarters will be dominated by the rider's heels. ”

“ The single rider is a raw-boned male figure, 'with lank hair reaching below his cheeks,' hat drawn close over his brows, 'nose rising slightly in the middle,' of abstruse 'down look,' and large dangerous jaws strictly closed: he sings not, sits there covered, and is sung to by the others bare. ”

“ Accordingly, instead of being forced to run away, his rider is particularly afraid lest he should do so, simply because he knows that the remedy which would cure the wild horse, would probably kill him. In fact, the difference to the rider between an open and an enclosed field of battle is exactly that which a naval officer feels in scudding in a gale of wind out of sight of land, and in being caught among sandbanks and rocks in a narrow channel. ”

“ The rider having to some extent perfected herself in walking straight forward, inclining and turning to the right and to the right about, and in executing the same movements to the left, on all of which I shall have a few words to say later, and when she can halt, rein back, and is generally handy with her horse at the walk, she may attempt a slow Trot, and here her sorrows may be said to begin. ”

“ In passing upon two paths to the left, the head of the horse will be bent to the left, the forehand being led to the left, and the rider's right leg, its effects measured by the left, will carry the croup upon a parallel path, so that the body of the horse shall be diagonally disposed across the line of progress. ”

“ An expert rider never places his whole foot in the stirrup, as is the case with the Arabs, but holds it with his big toe, so as to disentangle himself readily in case of a fall. This habit gives a crooked shape to{13} the feet and legs of the rider, which peculiarity entitles him to the credit of being a good horseman. ”

“ The rider, having taken his position upon the horse, as has been described, for the seat, he will take a snaffle-rein in each hand, the loose ends toward his thumbs and held by them, the reins passing through the breadth of his hands, which are held knuckles up, close together, to assist each other, and take a gentle feeling upon the mouth of the horse. ”

“ It warps itself a thousand times about what look to be open and inviting paths, only to lure the rider into blind and impassable spine-defended "bottoms of the bag," leaving him to retreat, if he can, with the points of the compass whirling in his head. ”

“ The wretched beasts assumed a kind of hopping, jerky motion on their front legs, with a good deal of spring in their knees, which bumped the rider to such an extent that it seemed almost as if all the bones in one's body began to get disjointed and rattle. ”

“ When fairly in his stride and going comfortably, the rider, leaning slightly forward, should, with both hands on the bridle, give and take with each stroke, playing the while with the curb; she should talk cheerily to him, but the least effort on his part to gain upon the hand must be at once checked. The play of the little fingers on the curb keeps his mouth alive, prevents his hanging or boring, and makes it sensible to the rider's hand. ”

“ Now the stranger tossed on the saddle and cinched it with amazing speed, sprang onto his mount, and urged it across to the other side of the corral. Up to that moment no one in the little crowd of watchers had suspected the intention of the rider. ”

“ This is the perfection of a walking pace. By degrees any nervousness wears off, the rigid trussed appearance gives place to one of pliancy and comparative security, the body loses its constrained stiffness, and begins to conform to and sway with the movements of the horse. The rider, sitting perfectly straight and erect, approaches the correct position, and lays the foundation of that ease and bearing which are absolutely indispensable. ”

“ For instance, perhaps the very worst fall a rider can get is by his horse, at full speed, stepping on the edge of a little rabbit-hole; next comes that occasioned by one of his fore feet in his gallop dropping into a deep drain about six inches broad; next105 to that by his coming to a ditch too narrow to attract his observation, or to a stiff hedge so low that he disdains to rise at it ”

“ A rider must skirt its edge with patience, rewarded now and again by some vision of surprise, as he finds himself at a turn in the pathway on the summit of a precipice 1200 feet above the water, or in a sheltered cove where waves of céladon and malachite plash upon a tawny bed. ”

“ One never sees the photograph of a horse clearing an obstacle in which the rider's form is as perfect as it is apt to be depicted in engravings or paintings. And in some of the within illustrations of road gaits there is apparent a carelessness in both seat and reins which would scarcely do in the accomplishment of the high airs of the manège, but into which a rider is sometimes apt unconsciously to lapse. ”

“ The head has to be brought down to its proper level; and to induce or rather to oblige the horse to make his eyes the lantern of his feet, to study geology instead of astronomy, he should be slowly ridden, with a loose rein, over every little hole, grip, or heap that would be likely to throw a hack down. Whenever he can be made to stumble (if the rider feels that he will not actually fall) , the reins should instantly be dropped. ”

“ Throughout the United Kingdom, civilians of all classes, gentlemen, farmers, and yeomen, especially those who occasionally follow the hounds, adopt what is commonly called "the hunting seat," in which, instead of "the fork," the knees form the pivot, or rather hinge, the legs beneath them the grasp, while the thighs, like the pastern of a horse, enable the body above to rise and fall as lightly as a carriage on its springs.
In this attitude the rider cannot turn his body to the right or left, or look behind him as easily as he could revolve upon his "fork." ”

“ Always ride a hole or two shorter across the Country, than you do on the Road.
Ride with a Snaffle, and use your Curb only occasionally.
Choose your Snaffle full and thick in the middle, especially at the ends to which the reins are fastened. Most of them are made too small and long, and cut the Horse’s mouth, and bend back over the bars of his jaw, working like pincers.
If you ride with a Curb, make it a rule to hook on the chain yourself; the quietest Horse may bring his rider into danger, should the curb hurt him. ”

“ But, in the hunting seat, the instant the rider expects such a kick, by merely rising in his stirrups he at once raises or abstracts from the saddle the point his enemy intends to attack, and accordingly the blow aimed at it fails to reach it.
Again, on approaching a large fence, by the same simple precaution, the rider entirely avoids the concussion of that sudden jerk or effort necessary to enable the horse to clear it. In a fall, the pommel of the saddle and the horse's neck and head are much easier cleared by short stirrup-leathers than by long ones. ”

“ After the pupil has acquired a good seat at the various paces and over small fences, her further education in the guidance and control of her mount might be entrusted to a competent horseman, preferably to a good cross-country rider, and not, as is frequently the case, to an ex-military riding-master, who, having been taught that a cavalryman’s right hand has to be occupied with a sword or lance, considers that ladies should also adopt the one-handed system of riding! ”

“ For example, if a horse hangs back, or shows a disinclination to pass an object, a smart rap of the rod will usually send it along; but if there is a positive refusal, repeated applications of the whip or spur will work great harm, and the rider should [150] obtain the desired obedience by some ruse which will have a lasting good effect upon the animal. ”

“ The rider being at full speed, the moment it was thrown, the unfortunate fellow who happened to be entangled could not extricate himself, and was dragged at the heels of his adversary's horse until he was killed. ”

“ Whereas, by the old arrangement, if out of four straps any one burst at a leap, its girth instantly dangled, leaving the safety, and possibly the life of the rider, to depend on only two straps, by the rupture of either one of which he would suddenly, without his knowledge, be riding, possibly at a large fence, without any girths at all. ”

“ When excitation on that side is found to have lost its effect, it is tried very gently on the other; and thus does the wild rider proceed, until he ends the distance by coming in violently spurring with both heels at every step of a gallop, that, from sheer faintness, has dwindled down to a rate of hardly six miles an hour.
Now a civilized traveller almost invariably commits not only the unnecessary cruelty but the error of using his spurs the moment his horse, as he fancies, requires them ”

“ If there be a ditch between the rail and the fence, so much the better, for the more the horse spreads himself the easier it will be to the rider, the jerk or prop on landing the less severe. Some horses sail over the largest obstacle, land, and are away again without their appearing to call upon themselves for any extra exertion; they clear it in their stride. Hunters that know their business can be trotted up to five-barred gates and stiff timber, which they will clear with consummate ease ”

“ Almost all riding-masters are old dragoons, and what they teach is good as far as it goes, as to general appearance and carriage of the body, but generally the military notions about the use of a rider’s arms and legs are utterly wrong. ”