By what has been said of Corrections, it is apparent, that the Horseman works not only upon the Horse's Understanding, but even upon his Sense of Feeling.
A Horse has three Senses upon which we may work, Hearing, Feeling and Seeing. The Touch is that Sense, by which we are enabled to make him very quick and delicate, and when he is once brought to understand the Aids which operate upon this Sense, he will be able to answer to all that you can put him to.
Though the Senses of Hearing and Sight are good in themselves, they are yet apt to give a Horse a Habit of Working by Rote and of himself, which is bad and dangerous. The Aids which are employed upon the Touch or Feeling, are those of the Legs, of the Hand, and of the Switch. Those which influence the Sight, proceed from the Switch; those which affect the Sight and Hearing both, are derived from the Switch and the Horseman's Tongue.
The Switch ought neither to be long nor short, from three to four Feet or thereabouts is a sufficient Length; you can give your Aids more gracefully with a short than a long one. In a Manage, it is generally held on the contrary Hand to which the Horse is going; or else it is held up high at every Change of Hand: By holding the Switch, the Horseman learns to carry his Sword in his Hand with Ease and Grace, and to manage his Horse without being encumber'd by it. To aid with the Switch, you must hold it in your Hand, in such a manner that the Point of it be turned towards the Horse's Croupe, this is the most convenient and easy Manner; that of aiding with it, not over the Shoulder, but over the Bending of your Arm, by removing your left Arm from your Body, and keeping it a little bent, so as to make the End of the Switch fall upon the Middle of the Horse's Back, is very difficult to execute.
Shaking the Switch backward and forward to animate the Horse with the Sound, is a graceful Aid; but till a Horse is accustom'd to it, it is apt to drive him forward too much.
In case your Horse is too light and nimble with his Croupe, you must aid before only with the Switch; if he bends or sinks his Croupe, or tosses it about without kicking out, you must aid just at the Setting on of the Tail.—If you would have him make Croupades, give him the Switch a little above the Hocks.
To aid with your Tongue, you must turn it upward against the Palate of the Mouth, shut your Teeth, and then remove it from your Palate; the Noise it makes is admirable to encourage a Horse, to quicken and put him together; but you must not use it continually, for so, instead of animating your Horse, it would serve only to lull him.—There are People who when they work their Horses, whistle and make use of their Voices; these Aids are ridiculous, we should leave these Habits to Grooms and Coachmen, and know that Crys and Threats are useless.—The Sense of hearing can serve at the most only to confound and surprize a Horse, and you will never give him Exactness and Sensibility by surprizing him.—The same may be said of the Sight; whatever strikes this Sense, operates likewise upon the Memory, and this Method seldom produces a good Effect; for you ought to know how important it is to vary the Order of your Lessons, and the Places where you give them; since it is certain, that a Horse who is always work'd in the same Place, works by rote, and attends no longer to the Aids of the Hand and Heels.—It is the same with hot and angry Horses, whose Memory is so exact, and who are so ready to be disorder'd and put out of Humour, that if the least thing comes in their Way during their Lesson, they no longer think of what they were about: The way of dealing with these Horses, is to work them with Lunettes on their Eyes; but it must be remembered, that this Method would be dangerous with Horses which are very impatient, hot, and averse to all Subjection, and so sensible to the Aids, as to grow desperate to such a degree, as to break through all Restraint, and run away headlong; it is therefore unsafe with these Horses, because they could not be more blinded even with the Lunettes, than they are when possessed with this Madness, which so blinds them, that they no longer fear the most apparent Dangers.
Having said thus much of the Aids which operate upon the Touch, Hearing and Sight, we must now confine ourselves to discourse upon those, which regard the Touch only; for as it has been already said, these only are the Aids by which a Horse can be drest, because it is only by the Hand and Heel that he can be adjusted.
The Horseman's Legs, by being kept near the Horse's Sides, serve not only to embellish his Seat, but without keeping them in this Posture, he never will be able to give his Aids justly.—To explain this: If the Motion of my Leg is made at a distance from the Horse, it is rather a Correction than an Aid, and alarms and disorders the Horse; on the contrary, if my Leg is near the Part that is most sensible, the Horse may be aided, advertised of his Fault, and even punished, in much less time, and consequently by this means kept in a much greater Degree of Obedience.—The Legs furnish us with four Sorts of Aids, the Inside of the Knees, the Calfs, pinching delicately with the Spurs, and pressing strongly upon the Stirrups. The essential Article in dressing a Horse, is to make known the Gradation of these several Aids, which I will explain. The Aid of the Inside of the Knees is given, by closing and squeezing your Knees, in such a manner, that you feel them press and grasp your Horse extremely. You aid with the Calfs of your Legs, by bending your Knees, so as to bring your Calfs so close as to touch the Horse with them.
The Aid of Pinching with the Spurs, is performed in the same manner, by bending your Knees, and touching with the Spurs the Hair of the Horse, without piercing the Skin. The last Aid, which is only proper for very sensible and delicate Horses, consists in stretching down your Legs, and pressing firm upon the Stirrups.