The Barb and the Bridle / A Handbook of Equitation for Ladies, and Manual of Instruction in the Science of Riding, from the Preparatory Suppling Exercises

by active 1866-1874 Robert Henderson

Having our pupil accoutred as before described, and taken her to a quiet farm, the instructor should pick out a line, start at a walk in front of his charge, pop his horse quietly over the fences, and see that his pupil does them with equal coolness and without rush or hurry. When she can do this well, the pace should be increased to a steady canter; and the master riding beside her should be careful that she steadies her horse three or four lengths before he takes off, always riding him well into the bridle.

This kind of practice should be continued for some days, until the pupil is quite at home at her work, and the master should then proceed to instruct her as to the mode in which to make her horse "crawl" through gaps and crooked, cramped places, and do "on and off" jumps and doubles. The animal best adapted for this sort of practice is one that is clever rather than fast. An Irish horse, out of a ditch and bank country, is preferable. But the instructor should take special care, by first doing these "on and off" jumps himself, to ascertain that the banks are sound; otherwise there is danger of just the worst kind of fall a woman can have. We have lately had a lamentable instance of this in the case of a noble lady, one of the most brilliant horsewomen in England.

For my own part, I am entirely against a lady jumping her horse in the field at any place where there can be the slightest doubt as to good foothold, unless she is preceded by a man to pilot her. If the latter gets down, he can always (assuming him to be a good workman) get clear of his steed, whereas at these rotten places a lady and her horse are likely to fall "all of a heap," and injury greater or less is a certainty to the rider.

Not long since I saw a little girl, about ten years old, riding with hounds on a mite of a pony which was as clever as a monkey. The little heroine took a line of her own (no doubt she knew the country well), and kept her place among the foremost for some time; presently she disappeared, and we found her impounded, pony and all, up to the back of the latter in a piece of rotten ground which had let them in like a "jack in the box." Neither the pony nor his plucky little rider were hurt, but (as they say in Ireland) that was more by good luck than good guiding.

I maintain that children at that age should never be left in the hunting field to their own devices, however well they may ride, and that, either in their case or that of young ladies of riper age, they should never be allowed to go with hounds, unless accompanied by a man who is not only a thorough horseman and judge of hunting, but is also well acquainted with the country he is riding over, and accustomed to pilot ladies.

After the pupil has learned to make her horse "creep" in the manner above described—to insure success in which, however, the closest watching is necessary on the part of the instructor, and directions requisite in each individual case, utterly impossible in written general instructions—she should be carefully taught to open gates for herself, because it is nearly sure hereafter to occur that she may have to ride at a pinch in a country place where her route lies through a line of bridle gates, and the attendance of a man to open them for her may not be available. Nothing is easier than for a lady to open a well-hung and well-latched gate, the hinges of which are on the off side. Bridle gates occur most frequently in great grazing countries, such as Leicestershire, Warwickshire, or Northamptonshire, by reason of the necessity of confining cattle within certain limits. The gates are generally heavy, well poised on their hinges, and opening either with wooden latching or iron spring ones, easily reached at the top.

If the gate is hung on the off side, all the lady has to do is to ride her horse with his head in an oblique direction between the gatepost and the gate, so that when she has the latter open she can continue moving on in the same slanting direction. She should first press the end of her crop down upon the latch, if it is a wooden one, keeping herself perfectly upright in the saddle, and steadily seated in it. Directly the latch lifts she should press firmly against it with the rough crook, push the gate open, and press her horse onwards in the same oblique direction, by which the animal's croup clears the gate sooner, and all risk of its closing on him is avoided. If there is a long iron spring latch to the gate, it must first be pulled open with the crop, so that the latch rests against the hasp, and a steady purchase must then be taken against the upper bar with the crop, and the gate thus quietly pushed forward: this if it opens from the rider. If the reverse, the horse's head should be kept perfectly square close to the gate post, until the latch is lifted and rested on the hasp. The gate should then be pulled open, and the horse's head inclined just the reverse way to that adopted when the gate opens from the rider. But in no case should she lean forward, or put herself out of her balance, in order to get hold of the latch or the gate itself, and she should be particularly careful that the reins do not catch against the long iron hasps so common to the gates I speak of.

Only last year, I met a lady who rides a good deal unattended, and, seeing her about to open a gate I knew to be rather an awkward one, I trotted on to assist her; but (possibly desiring to show me that she could do it unassisted) she leant forward to give the gate a lift, and in doing so she dropped the reins upon her horse's neck, when the animal immediately hooked the headstall of a single curb bridle upon a long iron hasp, and, finding himself fast to it, drew back suddenly and broke the headstall, the bit fell out of his mouth, and the lady (utterly helpless) had no alternative but to slip off as quickly as possible. Fortunately, the animal was a very quiet one, or the consequences might have been serious; as it was, we managed to change bridles, and, having spliced the broken one, went on our separate ways. But, I repeat, one cannot be too careful or methodical in opening gates. When one opens from the near side, the reins must be passed into the right hand, the crop into the left, and the greatest care taken, if the gate opens to the rider, to push it well back behind the horse's quarters before she moves on, riding with her horse's head towards the hinges. When a near-side hung gate opens from the rider, there is less difficulty, it being only necessary after lifting the latch to push against the gate with the crop, sitting quite upright, and giving swing enough to the gate to enable the rider to get clear of it. But in either case, to or from, with a gate hung on the near side the latch should first be lifted, by using the crop in the right hand, resting the latch if possible against the hasp, and then changing hands with the crop and reins as before mentioned. If this is not done, and the rider attempts to lift the latch with her left hand, she must change the direction of her horse's head when the gate is open, at the great risk of bringing it on his quarters.

These directions, like others I have ventured upon, may appear too minute; but it should be remembered that, whereas, carefully followed out, a lady on a steady horse accustomed to gates can open them with safety, any carelessness may result in a bad accident, because the steadiest horse, if "hung up" in a gate, will become furious if he cannot instantly get clear of it. When, therefore, the pupil is well practiced at this sort of work, and has learned to feel her way in cramped places as well as to do her fences at a steady canter, a fair half-speed gallop may be ventured on, the pupil setting her horse going, and pressing him if necessary with the spur, to take his fences in his stride, the spur being used, however, some distance from the fence. The master should ride beside his pupil in this lesson, carefully watching the pace of the horse and the action of the rider. A nice easy line of about a couple of miles should be taken, and the pace maintained throughout. A month of this kind of practice will form a capital introductory step to hunting: and when, in the mild misty mornings of russet-brown October, foxhounds begin to beat up the quarters of the vulpine juveniles, abjuring her "beauty sleep," the lady may with advantage, before the "early village cock proclaims the dawn," don her hunting habiliments, and, under the careful tutelage of her "pilot," trot off to covert and see the "beauties" knock the cubs about.

This is by far the best way to begin hunting in reality. There are very few people about at that early hour, and those only who are thorough enthusiasts about the sport; consequently there is more time for the new votary of Diana to get accustomed to the alteration in her horse's form of demeaning himself. For be it known to the uninitiated that even an old horse, that requires kicking and hammering along a road when ridden alone, is quite a different animal and mover the instant he sees the hounds, and will show an amount of vivacity perhaps very little expected by his rider; while a well-bred young one requires a great deal of riding on such occasions.