Rearing

“ Rearing is less common than shying, but more dangerous from the risk of pulling the horse over backward. To rear he must, of course, spring up with the fore-legs, and if his intention can be divined in time it may perhaps be frustrated by a smart stroke down the shoulder; but an active animal is usually up before his rider has had time to think, and the question is how to come safe down again. ”

“ Rearing is very dangerous, and most difficult to break. It is often caused by the bit being too sharp for the horse, his mouth being tender, or perhaps sore.
When rearing, the whole weight of horse and rider being thrown perpendicularly on the animal’s hind legs, the most trifling check from the rider’s hand would cause him to fall backwards; the rider must drop his hand as before, loosen the reins, and throw his whole weight on his shoulders, at the same time catching him ’round the neck with his right hand. ”

“ Rear′ing-bit, a bit to prevent a horse from lifting his head when rearing; Rear′ing-box, in fish-culture, a fish-breeder; Rear′-line, the last rank of a battalion, &c., drawn up in open order; Rear′most, last of all; Rear′-rank, the hindermost rank of a body of troops; Rear′ward, Rere′ward, (B.) , the rear-guard, the part which comes last. [O. Fr. riere—L. retro, behind.]
Rear, rēr, v.t. to bring up to maturity: to educate: to erect: (Milt.) to lift upward, as steps: (Spens.) to carry off by force: to stir up.—v.i. to rise on the hind-legs, as a horse.—n. ”

“ Rearing is a bad vice, and in weak horses especially, a dangerous one. When the horse rears, the rider must cease to bear upon the mouth, she should lean her body well forward, towards his neck, and with her right hand take hold of the mane, to save herself from falling off, or pulling the horse backwards upon her; as the horse comes to the ground with his fore-feet, not before, she should give him a few smart cuts with the whip on his croup, to force him forward, and endeavor to pull him round two or three times, and thus divert him from his object ”

“ The various tricks of spurring, whipping, breaking a bottle of water on the horse's occiput between the ears, are not practicable, although advocated by certain masters.
Rearing is dangerous only if the horse actually does fall backward. ”

“ Rearing.—The rearer should, in the same manner, be taught to swing his quarters round, on either rein being pulled, with the outward rein kept low down; and, when he is perfect at this, the lesson should be completed, with this rein on the driving pad. If he rears, as a defence against the action of the rein, the breaker should pull all the harder. If this brings the animal “over;” so much stronger will be the effect produced. When jibbing is combined with rearing, if we find that the desired result is not obtained by the process of driving on foot, as speedily as we may wish ”

“ Abingdon Baird did in the case of a similar brute, to the first passer by! Rearing is no test of horsemanship, and the sickening sight of ladies in circuses mounted on rearers is one from which every good horsewoman would recoil with horror. ”

“ If the horse be unused to leaping, or be unwilling, the rider must be upon her guard lest he attempt to defend himself and avoid the leap, either by suddenly swerving to one side or by stopping before the object to be leaped and then backing, or rearing. ”

“ From this word must be distinguished the verb “ to rear,” used in two main senses: of a horse, to stand up on its hind legs, and to raise up or lift, of the construction of a building or of the breeding and bringing to maturity of domestic or other animals, often used also of young children. The O.E. næran, of which it is the modern representative, is a doublet of the Scandinavian reisa, which has given English “ raise,” both being causative verb forms of “ rise.” ”

“ And I have seen my lady sitting a splendid mount, with the reins caught properly in her fingers and her back as straight as a whip-staff, and I would have wagered my life that every muscle in her little body was as rigid as a rock, and her knee as numb as the conscience of a therapeutist.
Look, if you please, at the mud-stained cavalryman who has lived his days and his nights in the saddle; or the cattle drover who has never had any home but this pigskin seat, and mark you what a part of the horse he is. ”

“ The impatient rider strove in vain To rouse him with the spur and rein, For the good steed, his labours o'er, Stretched his stiff limbs, to rise no more; Then touched with pity and remorse He sorrowed o'er the expiring horse. ‘I little thought, when first thy rein I slacked upon the banks of Seine, That Highland eagle e'er should feed On thy fleet limbs, my matchless steed! Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, That costs thy life, my gallant grey!’
Then through the dell his horn resounds, From vain pursuit to call the hounds. ”

“ Roaring may be immediately detected by a brisk gallop; but the person who is to judge of its existence should be on the ground, and the horse should pass him several times, but without restraint; for I have seen horses whipped into a momentary cessation of the roaring. ”

“ The author most particularly wishes to impress upon his readers the value of riding with DOUBLE REINS for safety sake, and in order to avoid the numerous accidents arising from reins breaking, the tongues of buckles giving way, and the sewing of the reins to their bits coming undone. When there is but one rein, the rider is left quite at the mercy of an affrighted and infuriated animal ”

“ With the help of a veteran of the hunt, who had been riding well up, a cast forward set us agoing again, and brought us, still running hard, away from the Wolds to low ground of new inclosures, all grass, fenced in by ditch and new double undeniable rails. As we had a good view of the style of country from a distance, we thought it wisest, as a stranger, on a strange horse, with personally a special distaste to double fences, to pull gently, and let half-a-dozen [186] young fellows on half-made, heavy-weight four or five years old, go first. ”

“ The acquirement of the bearing upon the horse’s mouth, the turning the horse upon the proper rein, the power of collecting the horse, and retaining him on his proper balance, smoothness of indications, in the shortening of the reins, and the working together of the hand, leg, [14] and whip, are the unseen, and unappreciated foundation, upon which good riding stands; these, and not strength, nor violence commands the animal, with these, the horse will rely on the hand, comply to it, and without force on the rider’s part, he will bend to the hand in every articulation. ”

“ Down into the dip we rode, my good horse spurning in his stride the still fresh bodies of yesterday’s fighters, and spinning the empty helmets, and clattering through all the broken litter of the bitter contest, until we swept up the inland slopes into the stunted birch and hazels, and then—turning for a moment to shake my fist at the nearest of the distant Normans—I headed into the leafy shelter, and was speedily free from all chance of pursuit. ”

“ As horses very much dislike reining back, I would caution the rider not to disgust her animal by continuing it for too long a time. He should be occasionally reined back a couple of times for four or five paces, and after each rein back should be allowed to go forward, and he should be rewarded for his obedience by a few pats on the neck and some words of encouragement. ”

“ Horse and rider become one,—a new race of Centaurs,—and the charge, the stroke, the crack of carbines, are so quick, vehement, and dramatic, that we seem to be watching the joust of tournaments or following fierce Saladins and Crusaders again. ”

“ And now, while your horse is eating those few ears of corn, is the proper time to see that your halter is ready and all right, and to reflect on the best mode of operations; for in horsebreaking it is highly important that you should be governed by some system. ”

“ Should the rider unfortunately incline her body backward, and the horse rear, she would probably be unseated, and should she pull upon the reins in order to sustain herself and keep her seat, the animal would be drawn backward, and probably fall upon her. ”

“ Pick out the firmest ground; hold your horse together across ploughed land; if you want a pilot, choose not a scarlet and cap, but some well-mounted old farmer, who has not got a horse to sell: if he has, ten to one but he leads you into grief.
“In going from cover to cover, keep in the same field [168] as the hounds, unless you know the country—then you can’t be left behind without a struggle. To keep in the same field as the hounds when they are running, is more than any man can undertake to do. ”

“ For rough riding, however, of every description, the hunting seat, though infinitely less graceful, is superior to that of the cavalry of Europe, for the following reasons:—
One of the most usual devices by which a horse endeavours to, and but too often succeeds in dislodging his rider, is by giving to his back, by a sudden kick, a jerk upwards, which, of course, forces in the same direction towards the sky that nameless portion of humanity which32 was partly resting on it, and which in the cavalry cannot possibly get very far away from it. ”

“ Should you happen to be mounted upon a horse which, from bad handling or his own faulty conformation, is disposed to "bore," or bear on his bit, you will ride with the curb, taking its reins in one hand, but in the other hand taking the snaffle, with the left rein drawn much tighter than the right. ”

“ I never knew one to be much longer without turning towards me.
“At the very moment he turns his head, hold out your left hand towards him, and stand perfectly still, keeping your eyes upon the horse, watching his motions, if he makes any. If the horse does not stir for ten or fifteen minutes, advance as slowly as possible, and without making the least noise, always holding out your left hand, without any other ingredient in it than what nature put in it.” ”

“ Rarey has not only in public repeatedly demonstrated, but many who have followed his prescription have testified, that a young23 thorough-bred horse, perfectly unbroken, can, in the course of about half-an-hour, be so thoroughly conquered by the two straps which he conceives to be part and parcel of the irresistible strength of his master, that so soon as he is satisfied that his own powers of resistance are of no avail, he subserviently allows himself to be bridled, saddled, mounted, and ridden. ”

“ Should a horse at any time rear with you, throw the rein loose, sit close, and bring your whip sharply across his flank. If this is not effectual, you may give him the butt-end of it between the ears, which will be pretty sure to bring him down. ”

“ Third Exercise.—As the horse begins to understand the meaning of the use of one leg, gradually lessen the use of the rein of opposition as an open rein, until it finally becomes a direct rein, used only to turn the head slightly in the new direction. ”

“ If conquered, we need look for no mercy at their hands; if conquered—how could it be otherwise? Nine against a hundred! How could we conquer?
Up to this moment, I say, I had not thought of the result I was borne along by only one impulse—the idea of overtaking the steed, and rescuing his rider from her perilous situation. It was only within the hour that her peril had assumed a new phase; only an hour since we had learned that she had escaped from one danger to be brought within the influence of another. ”

“ A man, gliding silently out from the bushes, sprang like a panther upon the croup of his horse; and before he could turn to see who thus assailed him, a bowie-knife had gone deep into his dorsal ribs, causing him to drop dead to the ground without uttering a groan! ”

“ Some were in uniform, man and horse fully accoutred, some in their stable dress, with only watering rein and horse cloth on their chargers, but all armed to the teeth, and on the faces of all a grim, resolute expression of ferocity. ”

“ Like an unbroken colt who snorts and wheels and dashes away at the mere sight of some one emerging from the barn with a rope halter, this other farm-boy gave one look at what seemed to him the penitentiary-like pressure of conventional life and ran away with all the speed of what turned out to be a remarkably fleet pair of heels. ”

“ The rider must always bear in mind, that every [16] movement of the bridle, the leg, and of the whip, is felt, and responded to, by the sensitiveness of the horse; when she errs, the horse goes wrong, it is therefore indispensable that they should act in conjunction. ”

“ Front to rear effect.—The rider pulls on the two reins alike, without pressing them on the neck and without opening the wrists. If the horse is moving, he will decrease the gait or halt; if the horse is halted, he will move backward.
(2) Opening effect.—The rider opens the right rein by carrying the wrist to the front and right. The horse's head will be drawn to the right and he will move in that direction. This is the direct rein. ”

“ When, from restlessness, a horse endeavors to break away, the curb-reins should be taken, one in each hand, and every time he attempts to run, a sharp pull should be made upon his mouth by means of these reins ”

“ A year or more ago, I saw bodies of men marching in a way that reminded one of a comet, the head of the regiment being the nucleus, the density decreasing rapidly as you went toward the rear, and finally a straggling raft of men scattered over two or three miles of territory constituting the tail. Now you will find a column moving trimly and compactly, and the rear files often looking suspiciously over their shoulders among the dark pines through which they are passing, for sometimes, especially at nights, shots are fired into the rear. ”