It will be in vain to look for the Justness and Perfection of the Stop in a Horse that is any ways defective, the Bars being too delicate, or too hard, a thick Tongue, the Channel of his Mouth narrow, the Thropple confin'd, Neck short, Fore-hand heavy, or too low, weak Loins, or too stiff, too much Heat, or too much Flegm in his Temper, or Sluggishness; here are a Number of Faults not easily to be corrected.
A Horse, though he is strong in his Shoulders, in his Legs and Loins, yet if he is low before, will have much Difficulty to collect himself upon his Haunches, so as to make a good Stop; on the contrary, if his Shoulders and Neck are high and raised, he will have the greater Part of the Qualities requisite to it.
A Horse who is long in the Back generally stops very aukwardly, and without keeping his Head steady; a Horse that is short and truss'd, with a thick Neck, generally stops upon his Shoulders. The first finds too much Difficulty to collect his Strength so suddenly, in order to put himself upon his Haunches, and the other is not able to call it out, and distribute it with Vigour through his Limbs.—In effect, when a Horse gallops, the Strength of his Loins, of his Haunches and Hocks, is all employed in pushing the whole Machine forwards, and that of his Shoulders and Fore-legs, to support the Action: Now the Force of his hinder Parts being thus violently agitated, and approaching too near that which lies in the fore Parts, a short-body'd Horse can't find all at once, that Counterpoise, that just Equilibre which characterizes a beautiful Stop.
A Horse which can't stop readily, misemploys very often his Strength in running; examine him, and you will find that he abandons himself entirely upon his Shoulders; consider likewise the Proportions of his Neck and his Thropple, the Condition of his Feet, the Make of his Loins and Hocks; in short, apply yourself to the Discovery of his Temper, Character and Humour.—That Horse whose Neck is hollow, or Ewe-neck'd, instead of ballancing himself upon his Haunches, will arm himself against his Chest, and will thereby make his Stops harsh and disagreeable: Weak Feet, or Hocks that give him Pain, will make him hate the Stop.—He will either endeavour to avoid it, or will make it with Fear, so that he will be totally abandon'd upon the Apuy. If he carries his Nose high, and is hollow-back'd at the same time, it will be impossible for him to unite and put himself together, so as to be ready, and to present his Front, if I may be allow'd the Word, to the Stop; because the Strength of the Nape of the Neck depends upon the Chine; and his Powers being thus disunited and broken, he will make his Stop upon his Shoulders.
There is another Sort of Horses, who in hopes of avoiding the Constraint of stopping upon their Haunches, plant themselves upon their two Hind-legs; yield the Hand to them, in the Instant, and press them forward, you will insensibly correct them of their Defence, which happens only in Cases, where you stop them upon declining or uneven Ground.
There are many People, who imagining they can unite their Horses by the means of making a great Number of precipitate Stops, take little heed whether the Creature which they undertake is too weak, or has Strength sufficient for his Task.—The Horse, who, though strong, has suffer'd in his Chine, in making the first Stop, will meditate a Defence in his second or third; this will be to prevent the Rider in his Design: And being alarm'd at the slightest Motion of the Hand he will stop all at once, leaning with all his Force upon his Shoulders, and lifting up his Croupe; which is a capital Fault, and not easy to be remedied.
Thus it may happen, that a Horse may make his Stops very defectively, either from some natural or accidental Faults in the different Parts of his Body; or it may be owing to the Unskilfulness and Ignorance of the Rider, or the Effect of Faults and bad Lessons all together. Principles that are true and just will assist and reform Nature, but a bad School gives birth to Vice and Defences that are often not to be conquer'd. It behoves us then to follow with Exactness those Lessons which are capable of bringing a Horse to form a perfect Stop; that is to say, to such a Point as to be able to make his Stop short, firm, and in one time; and in which he collects and throws his Strength equally upon his Haunches and Hocks, widening and anchoring, if I may so say, his two Hind-feet exactly even on the Ground, in such a Manner that one does not stand before the other, but both are in a Line.
It would be a Proof of great Ignorance to undertake to reduce a Horse to the Justness of the Stop, before he had been work'd and push'd out in the Trot and Gallop to both Hands, or before he was so ready as never to refuse to launch out immediately into a full Gallop; for if he should happen to be restiff, should disobey the Spurs, or refuse to turn to either Hand, the Means that then must be used to fix his Head, would contribute towards confirming him in one or other of these Vices.
If your Horse has not readily obey'd in making his Stops, make him go backwards, it is a proper Punishment for the Fault. If in stopping he tosses up his Nose, or forces the Hand, in this Case keep your Bridle-hand low and firm, and your Reins quite equal; give him no Liberty, press upon his Neck with your Right-hand, till he has brought down his Nose, and then immediately give him all his Bridle; this is the surest Method to bring him into the Hand.
To compel a Horse to stop upon his Haunches, nothing is so efficacious as Ground that is a little sloping; this is of service to exercise such Horses upon as are naturally too loose in their Paces, who are heavy and apt to abandon themselves upon the Hand, by this means they become light before; you must nevertheless examine if his Feet, his Loins, his Shoulders and Legs are sufficiently able to bear it, for otherwise your Horse would soon be spoil'd: The whole therefore depends in this Case, as in all others, upon the Sagacity and Experience of the Horseman.