BUCK-JUMPING.
Under this heading I shall include the minor vices of plunging and “pig-jumping.” Bucking is all but unknown among English and Eastern horses, but is seen to its highest perfection among Australian and New Zealand animals, especially those that have been allowed their liberty up to a comparatively late period of life, say, four years old. I have ridden some buck-jumping Argentine horses which were expert performers: many of the wild Russian steppe horses are very bad buck-jumpers. Some English horses, especially thoroughbreds, can give a very fair imitation of this foreign equine accomplishment. I remember riding a steeple-chase horse called Emigrant, which placed quite enough strain both on me and my girths when he was first called upon to carry a side-saddle. If a horse has any buck in him, the side-saddle will be almost certain to bring it out; for with it the animal requires to be girthed up extra tightly; the balance strap “tickles and revolts” him, the lady’s weight is farther back than on a man’s saddle, and the unusual feeling of carrying a rider whose legs are placed on one side, tends to irritate a highly sensitive horse. If an animal, on being saddled, gets his “back up,” he should not be mounted until this certain indication of the buck that is in him has been removed, which may be done by either circling him with the long reins, or letting a groom run him about a little until his back goes down. A cold saddle and a chilly day will often cause a horse to come out of his stable with his back in bucking position, and, unless a lady knows her animal well, it is best to get it down before she mounts, because he may buck as she is in the act of placing her right leg over the crutch—a part of mounting which animals that are unaccustomed to it greatly dislike, as, I suppose, they think she is going to give them a kick on the head!
As I used to do the rough-riding for my husband on his horse-breaking tours in various countries, I have had to sit a good many buck-jumpers, and, am thankful to say, I never got thrown, because, from what I have seen of men being catapulted and placed on the flat of their backs on the ground, this kind of fall must be, as Jorrocks would say, “a hawful thing.” The great difficulty in sitting a buck-jumper consists in keeping the body from being jerked forward in the saddle, and slackening the reins the moment the animal makes a vicious downward snatch at them, by ducking his head; for if the rider hangs on to his head, he will pull her forward by means of the reins, and she will be unable to sit the buck which will follow. All confirmed buck-jumpers look out for this opportunity whenever the rider draws the reins tightly. Ladies who ride with the right leg hooked back would not be able to sit a buck-jumper; for I found that the chief means which prevented me from being thrown was the ability to lean back, which the forward position of my right leg gave me. When riding bad horses at my husband’s classes, I was able to see beforehand what special defence such animals offered, and was, therefore, prepared to cope with them; but I have been taken unawares when mounted on Australian horses which dealers in India have lent me, when they have wanted to sell such animals as having carried a lady. I remember one very handsome Waler, which went like a lamb with me until suddenly, when cantering quietly along, he took it into his head to try and buck me off. He did his best to accomplish his purpose, and was encouraged in his efforts by my pith hat coming off and flopping about my head. I wished the thing could have fallen, but it was held by the elastic—we wore our hair in plaits at the nape of the neck in those days—and I had securely pinned the elastic with hairpins under my hair. This great wobbling hat only caused the horse to buck worse than ever, until he tired of his performance and came to a sudden halt. I was greatly exhausted, and suffering from mental tension, because I was entirely unprepared for this attack, and doubted the security of my stronghold, for the girths of my saddle had seen a lot of service, and the strain on them, caused by the violent bucking of this powerful sixteen-hand animal, was very great.
The bigger a horse is, the more difficult he is to sit when he bucks badly, because he can put much more force into the performance than a small animal, and he shakes the breath out of one much sooner. It is lucky for us that a wise providence has placed a limit on a horse’s bucking capabilities. I think that ten or twelve bucks, given in good style and without an interval for recuperation, is about as much as any horse can do, but possibly my Australian readers can give statistics on this point. I hope I am not offending them in saying that Australian horses are the most accomplished buck-jumpers I have met. Australian shippers send many of them over to India, and rely on the long sea voyage to quieten them down, which it does to a certain extent. Mr. Macklin, an Australian importer, told me that a horse-carrying ship was wrecked on some part of the coast, an island, I believe, between Australia and India, and that there is a big colony of wild horses to be picked up by anyone who will go and take them. I like Australian horses, because they are excellent jumpers, have beautiful shoulders and are remarkably sound in wind and limb. They are moreover handsome breedy looking animals, and those of them which are addicted to bucking, soon give up this vice, if ridden by capable people.
A lady who finds herself on a bucking horse should try her best to keep both her head and her seat, and not be in any way disconcerted by hearing the angry grunts which such animals often give with each buck they make to get her off. She should lean back and firmly grip her crutches as in sitting over a fence, and should try to imagine that she is jumping a line of obstacles placed close together. If she feels any forward displacement after one buck, she must hastily get into position to be ready for the next one, without pausing for a moment to think, because there will be no time for thought, and her recovery of balance must be done automatically, while the animal is doubling himself up for his next buck. If her hat, which is generally the first thing to leave the saddle, flies off, no notice must be taken, because the instant the rider devotes her attention to anything else but sticking on, she relaxes her grip and stands a good chance of being thrown. The most difficult of all bucking I have experienced was when hunting in Leicestershire on a young Argentine mare, which started to buck when we were galloping down hill over deep ridge and furrow. I knew her bucking propensities, because my husband broke her in and I had had a good deal of bucking practice with her, so I was able to remain, but that down hill ridge and furrow performance was extremely hard to sit. Like most young animals, she hated ridge and furrow, and her temper was upset on finding that she had to gallop down hill over this troublesome ground. The necessity of devoting careful attention to the soundness of the girth-tugs, stirrup-leather, and balance-strap when riding a horse which is likely to buck is obvious, for of course if they give way under the strain, no lady would be able to retain her seat.