If thou would'st that I should one day save thee from the sabre.
In a case of life or death if you feel your horse's wind failing, take off the bridle if only for an instant, and strike him on the croup with a spur sharply enough to draw blood.
If after a rapid gallop you are able to give a little respite to your horse, you will know when to start again by the drying up of the mucus that issues from his nostrils.
If you would know, at the end of a day of excessive fatigue and hard riding, how far you can yet depend upon your horse, get off his back and pull him strongly towards you by the tail. If he remains unmoved as if rooted to the ground, you may still rely upon him.
On an expedition when, after great fatigue, you have only a moment for repose, take for your pillow some of the bridles of your brethren, and you will not be abandoned or forgotten, happen what may.
A horseman ought to study the habits of his horse and obtain a thorough knowledge of his character. He will then know whether, when he alights, he can have any confidence in him and can leave him in the midst of other animals, or whether he must keep an eye upon him and hobble him. Not one of these details is a matter of indifference in the presence of an enemy.
The proper season for calling on a horse to do great things, is the spring, before the great heats; or the autumn, before the intense cold.
The horse is what his work is.
Yes, give the heel to your steeds,
Learn and teach them what will be of service to you.