If he offers to present himself to it, be it never so little, make him leave off, encourage him, and send him to the Stable; augment thus your Lessons by degrees, and examine and endeavour to discover to what his Disposition turns, that you may cultivate and improve it. The worst Effect of the Pillars is the Hazard you run of entirely ruining the Hocks of your Horse, if you don't distinguish very exactly between those Parts and the Haunches. Many People think that when the Horse goes into the Cords, he is of consequence upon his Haunches; but they don't remark, that often the Horse only bends his Hocks, and that his Hocks pain him by so much the more, as his hinder Feet are not in their due Equilibre.
The Fore-legs of a Horse are made like those of a Man, the Knees are before or without, the Hinder-legs are shaped like our Arms, he bends his Hocks as we do our Elbows; therefore if he rises before very high, he must stretch and stiffen his Hocks, and consequently can never be seated upon his Haunches; to be upon them, the Horse must bend and bring them under him, because the more his Hinder-legs are brought under him, the more his Hinder-feet are in the necessary Point of Gravity, to support all the Weight of his Body, which is in the Air, in a just Equilibre.—These Remarks are sufficient to evince the Inconveniencies that may arise from the Pillars; never quit sight of these Principles, you will find by adhering to them, the Horse that is drest according to their Tenour, will be a Proof of the real Advantages that you may draw from a Lesson, which never does harm, but when occasioned by the Imprudence or Ignorance of those who give it.
CHAP. IX.
Of Aids and Corrections.
An Aid may be termed whatever assists or directs a Horse, and whatever enables him to execute what we put him to do.—Corrections are whatever Methods we use to awe and punish him, whenever he disobeys: Aids therefore are to prevent, and Corrections to punish, whatever Fault he may commit.
The Aids are various, and are to be given in different Manners, upon different Occasions, they are only meant to accompany the Ease and Smoothness of the Horse in his Air, and to form and maintain the Justness of it; for this Reason they ought to be delicate, fine, smooth, and steady, and proportioned to the Sensibility or Feeling of the Horse; for if they are harsh and rude, very far from Aiding, they would throw the Horse into Disorder, or else occasion his Manage to be false, his Time broken, constrained, and disagreeable.
Corrections are of two Sorts; you may punish your Horse with the Spurs, the Switch, or Chambriere; you may punish him by keeping him in a greater Degree of Subjection; but in all these Cases, a real Horseman will endeavour rather to work upon the Understanding of the Creature, than upon the different Parts of his Body. A Horse has Imagination, Memory and Judgment; work upon these three Faculties, and you will be most likely to succeed. In reality, the Corrections which reduce a Horse to the greatest Obedience, and which dishearten him the least, are such as are not severe, but such as consist in opposing his Will and Humour, by restraining and putting him to do directly the contrary.—If your Horse don't advance or go off readily, or if he is sluggish, make him go sideways, sometimes to one hand, sometimes to the other, and drive him forward; and so alternatively.—If he goes forward too fast, being extremely quick of feeling, moderate your Aids, and make him go backwards some Steps; if he presses forward with Hurry and Violence, make him go backward a great deal.—If he is disorderly and turbulent, walk him strait forward, with his Head in and Croupe out; these sorts of Corrections have great Influence upon most Horses. It is true, that there are some of so bad and rebellious Dispositions, which availing themselves of their Memory to falsify their Lessons, require sharp Correction, and upon whom gentle Punishment would have no Effect; but in using Severity to such Horses, great Prudence and Management are necessary. The Character of a Horseman is to work with Design, and to execute with Method and Order; he should have more Forbearance, more Experience, and more Sagacity than most People are possessed of.
The Spurs, when used by a knowing and able Horseman, are of great Service; but when used improperly, nothing so soon makes a Horse abject and jadish. Given properly, they awe and correct the Animal; given unduly, they make him restive and vicious, and are even capable of Discouraging a drest Horse, and giving him a Disgust to the Manage; don't be too hasty therefore to correct your Horse with them.
Be patient; if your Horse deserves Punishment, punish him smartly, but seldom; for besides your habituating him to Blows, till he ceases to mind them, you will astonish and confound him, and be more likely to make him rebel, than to bring him to the Point you aim at. To give your Horse both Spurs properly, you must change the Posture of your Legs, and bending your Knee, strike him with them at once as quick and firmly as you can. A Stroke of the Spurs wrongly given is no Punishment; it rather hardens the Horse against them, teaches him to shake and frisk about his Tail, and often to return the Blow with a Kick. Take care never to open your Thighs and Legs in order to give both Spurs, for besides that the Blow would not be at all stronger for being given in this Manner, you would by this means lose the Time in which you ought to give it, and the Horse would rather be alarmed at the Motion you make in order to give the Blow, than punished by it when he felt in; and thence your Action becoming irregular, could never produce a good Effect.
The Chambriere is used as a Correction, it ought however to be used with Discretion; we will suppose it to be in able Hands, and forbear to say more about it. As for the Switch, it is so seldom made use of to punish a Horse, that I shall not speak of it, till I come to treat of the Aids.