WHEN RIDING ON THE ROAD.
WHEN a lady has taken sufficient practice in the menage or elsewhere, so as to be able to steer and guide her horse, and particularly can stop him firm and well upon his haunches, and also knows by practice how to unite herself to the horse, provided he should stop suddenly by his own will, an instance which frequently happens, therefore it is essential that the rider should become sensible of every action of the horse by that kind of sympathy of feeling which should subsist between them, so as to know his intentions as quick as thought, in this and all other actions he may be inclined to, which are likely to offend and endanger the rider, or himself; I would earnestly recommend the lady to make herself acquainted with every help so as to [gaurd] and defend herself on all occasions, such as her horse stumbling, shying, starting, running away, running back, rearing, kicking, and plunging; yet horses addicted to any of those vices are by no means fit, or should have ladies set upon knowingly, but as a lady cannot always be so fortunate as to get the possession of one of those hackneys we call a nonpareil, tho’ every dealer you enquire of for one will say he can sell it you, therefore place not too much confidence in him you purchase your horse from, or the horse himself, even after you have rode him some time, for you scarce ever can be certain but he may play you some of those tricks, especially if his keep is above his work, as I have always found the best lady’s hackneys require constant practice to keep them in tune.
It is necessary the lady should have a sharp eye upon the road she is travelling, taking care by the gentle assistance of the bridle hand to steer and guide her horse into the best, to avoid all stones and uneven places, and never to ride near the edge of any deep ditch or sudden precipice, for altho, heaven be praised, accidents very seldom happen, yet if for the want of a little care and due management one should happen in one hundred years, that one would be one too many: the lady should pay great attention to the horse when going down a steep hill, and endeavour to put him together and upon his haunches, and to perform this, she must feel his mouth lightly and firmly with the bridle hand, at the same time making use of some of the helps used to force him to go forward, such as clicking with your voice, a gentle touch with the whip, or the heel, so she stays him a little by the bridle hand at the same time he is forced forwards by the other helps or aids and if properly timed, by doing enough without over doing, he will be put together, and of course kept on a light proper action which must be in the real action of a trot, that is with his two corner legs in the air at one time and two on the ground, by such means the horse will always be kept on a sure ballance and never be in danger of falling, on the other hand if the horse is sufferd to go loose and [unasisted] by the bridle hand, and the other aids as before described, when going down a steep hill he will most commonly go into that unnatural pace called the amble which is moving his side legs together instead of his corner legs, this pace is very unsafe notwithstanding the ancients used arts in breaking the horse to the amble, on account of its being so much easier than the trot, but as it is a known maxim in physic that giving ease and performing a cure are two different things, so here an easy pace and a safe one are as diametrically opposite, and that the amble is an unsafe pace is easy to be conceived by the horse losing so large a portion of his ballance, to prove which only try these simple experiments. Take a wooden [horse] let his two corner legs be taken away and he will stand, but take away his two sides leg and he falls, again one often sees at a farrier’s shop when a horse is wanted to be shod in haste, two smiths can work at the same time, by taking each of them a corner leg, therefore how careful should we be to keep our hackneys on a safe action, and awake under us on all occasions.
The lady should endeavour to make herself acquainted with those objects which horses are most subject to be alarmed at, and first of all is a windmill in full sail, next some can never be brought to go comfortably by a tilted waggon, especially if meeting it, others dislike asses very much, some dislike to face a man wheeling a barrow or an umbrella extended, an arch drain which is frequently seen to carry the water away thro the banks in a turnpike road, its laying low and of course presents itself very suddenly, will sadly alarm some, and any object suddenly presenting itself is almost sure to affright and alarm any horse in [spirits,] I once saw a lady get a fall, by a cow suddenly presenting its head over a hedge, yet a more steady animal never was, as I used her four years and never knew her start either before or after; let it be remembered that horses are more apt to be shy or start in the dusk of the evening than in broad day light, horses with bad eyes are almost sure to start, yet starting is not a sure sign of bad eyes, as many imagine it, I mention these few observations in regard to starting because horses which are most free from those faults, it may happen to some times; as horses like men are not alway in the same temper: never ride on a fast pace by any lane’s end, or in turning any sudden or short turn, for two reasons; first, that it is unsafe as the horse might be subject to fall for want of being supported, and put together by shortening his pace, and secondly by your not being able to discern the objects which might present themselves to you so as to disturb and alarm your horse: these little hints kept well in mind may be the means of preventing many accidents.
FINIS.
[3-*] Such as the Wild Arabs, Indians, &c.
[24-*] Used by Sir Sidney Meadows.
The following errors have been maintained.
| Page | Error | Correction |
| [4] | particulatly | particularly |
| [10] | dependance | dependence |
| [11] | iregular | irregular |
| [12] | seperately | separately |
| [14] | apendix | appendix |
| [14] | higher then | than |
| [14] | purpose, | purpose. |
| [16] | seperate; | separate |
| [16] | croud | crowd |
| [17] | thay | they |
| [20] | opeperations | operations |
| [21] | to make | to make. |
| [22] | myright | my right |
| [24] | condemed | condemned |
| [24] | upona | upon a |
| [24] | untill | until |
| [26] | more then | than |
| [27] | occured | occurred |
| [27] | manage | menage |
| [28] | asists | assists |
| [30] | more then | more than |
| [33] | nei her | neither |
| [33] | Ballance, | Ballance. |
| [36] | the reins. | the reins, |
| [36] | progressively. | progressively, |
| [38] | gaurd | guard |
| [39] | unasisted | unassisted |
| [39] | wooden horse | wooden horse, |
| [40] | spirits, | spirits. |