Of The Bridle Hand.
THE knowledge of the different characters, and different natures of horses, together with the vices and imperfections, as well as the exact and just proportions of the parts of a horse’s body, is the foundation upon which is built the theory of the art of horsemanship; but this theory will be useless and even unnecessary if we are not able to carry it into execution.
This depends upon the goodness and quickness of feeling; and in the delicacy which nature alone can give, and which she does not always bestow. The first sensation of the hand consists in a greater or less degree of fineness in the touch or feeling; a feeling in the hand of the horseman, which ought to communicate and answer to the same degree of feeling in the horse’s mouth, because there is as much difference in the degrees of feeling in men as there is in the mouths of horses.
I suppose then a man, who is not only capable to judge of a horse’s mouth by theory, but who has likewise by nature that fineness of touch which helps to form a good hand; let us see then what are the rules which we should follow in order to make it perfect, and by which we must direct all its operations.
A horse can move four different ways; he can advance, go back, turn to the Right and to the Left; but he cannot make these different movements except the hand of the Rider permits him, by making four other motions which answer to them; so that there are five different positions for the hand. The first is that general position from which proceed the other four.
Hold your hand three inches breadth from your body, as high as your elbow, in such a manner that the joint of your little-finger be upon a right line with the tip of your elbow; let your wrist be sufficiently rounded so that your knuckles may be kept directly above the neck of your horse; let your finger nails be exactly opposite your body, the little finger rather nearer to it than the others; your thumb quite flat upon the reins, separated as before described, and this is the general Position.
Does your horse go forwards, or rather would you have him go forwards? yeild to him your hand, and for that purpose turn your nails downwards, in such a manner as to bring your thumb near your body, and your little-finger then from it, and bring it to the place where your knuckles were in the first position. Keeping your nails directly above the neck of your horse.—This is the second Position.
Would you make your horse go backwards, quit the first position; let your wrist be quite round, your thumb in the place of the little finger in the second position, and the little-finger in that of the thumb, turning your nails quite upwards, and towards your face, and your knuckles will be towards your horse’s neck.—This is the third Position.
Would you turn your horse to the Right? leave the first position; carry your nails to the right, turning your hand upside down, in such a manner that your thumb be carried out to the left, and the little-finger brought in to the Right.—This is the fourth Position.
Lastly, would you turn your horse to the Left? quit again the first position, carry the back of your hand a little to the left, so that the knuckles come under a little, that your thumb may incline to the right, and the little-finger to the left.—This makes the fifth Position.
These different Positions, however, alone are not sufficient; we must be able to pass from one to the other with readiness and order.
Three qualities are necessary to the hand. Viz. Firm, Gentle, and Light: I call that a firm hand, or steady hand whose feeling corresponds exactly with the feeling in the horse’s mouth, and which consists in a certain degree of steadiness, which constitutes that just correspondence between the hand and the horse’s mouth, which every horseman wishes to find.
An easy or gentle hand. I call that which, relaxing a little of its strength and firmness, eases and mitigates the degree of feeling between the hand and horse’s mouth, which I have already described.
Lastly, the light hand is that which lessens still more the feeling between the rider’s hand and the horse’s mouth, which was before moderated by the Gentle Hand.
The hand, therefore, with respect to these properties must operate in part, within certain degrees, and depends upon being more or less felt, or yeilded to the horse, or with-held.
It should be a rule with every horseman not to pass from one extreme to another; from a firm hand to a slack one; so that in the motion of the hand on no account jump over that degree of sensation which constitutes the Easy or Gentle Hand: were you once to go from a firm strong hand to a slack one, you then entirely abandon your horse; you would surprise him, deprive him of the support he trusted to, and precipitate him on his shoulders; supposing you do this at an improper time. On the contrary, were you to pass from the slack to the tight rein, all at once, you must jerk your hand, and give a violent shock to the horse’s mouth; which rough and irregular motion would be sufficient to falsify and ruin a good mouth; it is indispensably necessary, therefore, that all its [opeperations] should be gentle and light, and in order to this, it is necessary that the Wrist alone should direct and govern all its motions, by turning and steering it as it were, through every motion it is to [make]
In consequence then of these principles, I insist that the wrist be kept so round that your knuckles may be always directly above the horse’s neck, and that your thumb be always kept flat upon the reins. In reality were your wrist to be more or less rounded than in the degree I have fixed, you could never work with your hand but by means of your arm, and besides it would appear as though you were lame; again were your thumb not to be upon the flat of the reins, pressed hard upon your fore finger, they would be constantly slipping away, and lengthened, and in order to recover them you would be obliged every minute to raise your hand and arm, which would throw you into disorder and make you lose that justness without which no horse will be obedient and work with readiness and pleasure to himself.
It is nevertheless true, that with horses well dressed one may take liberties; these are motions called descents of the hand; either by dropping the knuckles directly and at once upon the horse’s neck, or by taking the reins in the right hand about four inches above the left, letting them slide through the left, dropping your right hand at the same time upon the horse’s neck, or else by putting the horse under the button as it is called: that is by taking the end of the reins in your right hand, quitting them intirely with your left hand and letting the end of them fall upon your horse’s neck, these motions however, which give grace to the horseman, never should be made but with great caution, and exactly when your horse is well together and in hand; and take care in counterbalancing by throwing back your body, that the weight of the body lie upon his haunches.
The Bit and Snaffle were they to be kept constantly in one place in his mouth, would of course dull the sense of feeling, and become benumbed and callous; this shews the necessity of continually yeilding and drawing back the hand to keep the horse’s mouth fresh and awake. It is therefore self evident that a heavy handed horseman can never break a horse to any degree of nicety, or ride one which is already broke to any degree of exactness.
Besides these rules, there are others not less just and certain; (but whose niceness and refinement is not the lot of every person to taste and understand) my hand being in the first position, I open my two middle fingers, I consequently ease and slacken [myright] rein; I shut my hand, the right rein operates again, resuming its place as before, I open my little finger and carrying the end of it upon the right rein, I thereby slacken the left and shorten the right; I shut my hand entirely and immediately open it again, I thereby lessen the degree of tension and force of the two reins at the same time; again I close my hand not quite so much, but still I close it.
It is by these methods and by the vibration of the reins, that I unite the feeling in my hand with that in the horse’s mouth, and thus I play with a fine and MADE mouth, and freshen and relieve the two bars in which the feeling resides.
Therefore, it is that correspondence and sensation between the horse’s mouth and the hand of the rider, which alone can make him submit with pleasure to the constraint of the bit.
Having thus explained the different positions and motions of the hand, permit me in a few words to shew the effects which they produce in horsemanship?
The hand directs the reins, the reins operate upon the branches of the bit; the branches upon the mouth-piece and the curb, the mouth-piece operates upon the bars, and the curb upon the chin of the horse.
So far for the management of the bridle hand upon thorough-broke and well-dressed horses. But in breaking young horses for any purpose, the reins in all cases ought to be separated, nothing so unmeaning, nothing so ineffectual as the method of working with them joined or held in only one hand, this is very evident in the instances of colts, and of stiff necked, and unworked horses of all kinds, with them it is impossible to do anything without holding a rein in either hand, which rein operates with certainty and governs the side of the neck to which it belongs, and surely this is a shorter way of working than to make, or rather attempt to make the left rein determine the horse to the right, and the right guide him to the left. In the above instances of stiff awkward horses this can never be done; and altho it is constantly practised with those which are Drest, yet it is certain they obey, and make their Changes more from docility and Habit, than from the influence of the outward rein, which ought only to act, to balance and support, while the inner bends, inclines, and guides the horse to the hand to which he is to go.
This can never be done so fully and truly with the reins joined, as when they are separated into each hand, and if double or Running reins were used instead of single as with a snaffle or[24-*] Meadow’s bit, they would afford more compass and power to the horseman to bend and turn his horse.
The manner of holding the reins high as [condemed] by some writers, possessing themselves with a notion that they ruin the hocks of the horses. For my own part I do not know what those writers mean, unless by them we are to understand the haunches; and then this method instead of ruining, will work and assist them, for the head and fore quarters are raised up, his weight of course is thrown upon his haunches, for one end being raised the other must be kept down.
It is nothing more than a natural cause, which will always produce a natural effect, for instance, ballance a pole [upona] wall so that it acts in equilibrium, only raise one end, the other of course must be lowered, it is the same with a horse, as you cannot rise his fore parts but by bringing his haunches more under him. I would here wish to remark that horses should never be compelled by force [untill] they know what you wish from them, for let them be however disobedient in their disposition, yet are all of them more or less sensible of good and bad usage from their masters; the best method then to convey your intention to them so that they shall understand you, is to reward them when they do well, and to punish them when disobedient, this rule though contained in few words yet is of universal use in horsemanship.
And Xenophon, who wrote a treatise on Horsemanship, more than two thousand years ago, among other notable remarks, when speaking on horse-breaking, wherein he concludes thus: “But there is one rule to be inviolably observed above all others; that is, never approach your horse in a passion; as anger never thinks of consequences and forces us to do what we afterwards repent.”
Begging pardon for this short but useful digression, I again observe that such are the principles upon which the perfection and justness of the aids of the hand depend; all others are false and not to be regarded.—Thus far for the bridle hand, and its effects.
LECTURE on HORSEMANSHIP.
Addressed to the Ladies.
AMONG all the various writers on the art of horsemanship, notwithstanding, side-saddles have been known and in use in England more [then] six hundred years ago, even in Richard’s time, for in the reign of this prince side-saddles were first known here, as it will appear from the following anecdote, by a Warwick historian, in which he says.
“And in his days also began the detestable custom of wearing long pointed shoes, fastened with chains of silver, and sometimes gold, up to the knees, likewise noble ladies then used high heads, and robes with long trains, and seats or side-saddles on their horses, by the example of the respectable queen Anne, daughter of the king of Bohemia, who first introduced this custom in this kingdom: for before, women of every rank rode as men do, with their legs astride their horses.”
Thus says our Warwick historian, so that side saddles appear to have been used many centuries ago, and that formerly the female sex took the fashion of riding like men, for which they are reprehended, by a Greek historian, and hard indeed is the equestrian situation of the ladies, for if they are to be accused of indelicacy for riding after the manner of men, they are greatly to be pitied in hazarding their safety as they do, in riding after the manner of Women.
However as no one hath ever yet lent a helping hand in putting pen to paper on the subject, by way of adding, if possible, to the ladies, elegance, ease and safety on horse back; I shall without any other apology then assuring those ladies who may please to read what I write on the matter, is well meant, and are such ideas that have [occured] to me in many years study, and practice in the [manage.]