FIG. 66.—REARING WITH EXTENDED FORE LEGS
But the horse should not be put into the gallop until it has been drilled in the double bridle, and has been taught the various forms of collection which prepare it for that pace; and we shall hope that even the rapid trot will not be undertaken by the beginner until he is quite sure of himself at lower rates of speed, or he will acquire faults difficult to remedy. When an indifferent rider is in the habit of speeding a horse in the trot, he almost invariably takes his weight upon his spine, arches the body, holds his arms stiffly forward, loosens his knee contacts, and has about the same security in the saddle that a bag of meal laid upon it would have.
To reduce the speed in the trot or to bring the horse to a halt from that pace, the rider should close his legs against the sides of the horse, lean back slightly, and, raising the hand, increase the tension upon the reins until the animal answers his demands by reduced speed. Then the increased tension upon the reins is relieved, and the legs of the rider withdrawn from the horse, and the slower trot having been obtained, the halt may be made from it; in the latter case the animal should be first put into the walk, and then brought to a stop as before described.
Nearly every horse will shy if "a bit above himself" from want of work, and many horses, otherwise quiet, shy habitually at some favorite object, either flying paper, a high wagon, an automobile, or some such thing. If the head of the horse be turned away from that which offends it, the animal may not only be made to pass it, but it will not be nearly so apt to jump down an embankment or run into some other danger, in its efforts to avoid that which caused its fright or pretended fright.
Horses show much cunning in alarming a timid rider, and such an unfortunate is unmasked at once. Some horses will endeavor to rub a rider's knees against a wall, when they may readily be foiled by having the head drawn into the wall; others will misbehave on slippery pavement; others will refuse to go in desired directions. Indeed, their mischievous tricks are so various that it is impossible to name them. It is seldom that they even try these performances with a determined horseman, and I have heard trainers say of horses sent to them to be cured of vices, that they could find nothing wrong with the animals.
If a horse sulks and refuses to move, sticking out its nose stiffly and spreading its legs as if to brace itself against being forced forward, the rider should not resort to punishment, as it is probable that the animal would retaliate by violent misconduct. If the animal can be induced to move its croup to the right or left, the rigidity will disappear and the forward progress be obtained. I have known cases where the horse, under such a condition, has been made to go forward by being ridden into by another horseman.
A horse rears, either because there is too severe a pull upon the bit, or because it is in terror at something which faces it unexpectedly, or through an acquired vice. When a horse is about to rear through vice, it almost always "drops the bit" (that is, the rider finds there is suddenly no tension upon the reins), and then thrusts its head in air and tries to rise upon its hind legs. If the rider sends in one of the spurs before the horse is balanced upon its haunches, it will induce a movement of the hind legs which will bring the forehand down, and the horse should then be pushed forward. Often a horse which is not very keen about it will make two or three weak essays before it goes quite up, and just as it makes one of these little rises the prick of the spur is very effective in bringing the animal down and in a position that prevents rearing until it is again prepared, before which it should be driven along. But if the horse has already risen, the rider must loosen the reins and lean forward; and as soon as the forehand comes down, he should drive the horse forward in any pace or action that it will take, to procure better regulated movements later. If the rider finds by a sinking of the croup that a rearing horse is falling backward, he should release his feet from the stirrups, seize the mane and pommel, drop from the saddle, and throw himself away from the animal as it topples over. I have cured a horse, apparently confirmed in this vice of throwing itself backward, by a thorough course of suppling; and it was afterwards ridden in various games and exercises which involved the pirouette, but the reformed animal never attempted to rise higher than was demanded. Whether the horse falls back intentionally or not I cannot say. But horses that have a habit of rearing so that they fall over are not rare. In the far West those that fight the air are called sunfishers, and none are more resolute or more dangerous. I read somewhere recently that if a horse kept its fore legs bent and down, it would not fall over, but that when its fore legs were extended upward and fought the air, it would come over on its back. I have frequently seen rearing horses in both poses which did not fall and which had no intention of falling, and I have had a horse throw itself over without giving me the preliminary notice of extending its fore legs in air. The elder Henri Franconi's Johnster and Bayard, and Miss Emma Lake's Bonnie Scotland, were well-known examples of horses which reared safely with extended fore legs; the other mode is not uncommon, but the horse does not usually rise to a dangerous height while the knees are bent.