“Placing one hand on the horse’s mane, make him lean down to each side in succession, till he reaches to within a short distance of the ground.” “These exercises give a man a firm hold with his legs, on a horse, and teach him to move his limbs without quitting his seat. Then take him in the circle in the longe, and, by walking and trotting alternately, teach him the necessity of leaning with the body to the side the horse is turning to. This is the necessary balance. Then put him with others, and give him plenty of trotting, to shake him into his seat. By degrees teach him how to use the reins, then the leg.”
These directions for training a full-grown trooper may be of use to civilians.
HANDS AND REINS.
Presuming that you are in a fair way to obtain a secure seat, the next point is the use of the reins and the employment of your legs, for it is by these that a horseman holds, urges, and turns his horse. To handle a horse in perfection, you must have, besides instruction, “good hands.” Good or light hands, like the touch of a first-rate violinist, are a gift, not always to be acquired even by thought and practice. The perfection of riding is to make your horse understand and obey your directions, as conveyed through the reins—to halt, or go fast or slow; to walk, trot, canter, or gallop; to lead off with right or left leg, to change leg, to turn either way, and to rise in leaping at the exact point you select. No one but a perfect horseman, with naturally fine hands, can do this perfectly, but every young horseman should try.
The golden rule of horsemanship is laid down by Colonel Greenwood, in a sentence that noodles will despise for its “trite simplicity:”—“When you wish to turn to the right, pull the right rein stronger than the left.” This is common sense. No horse becomes restive in the colt-breaker’s hands. The reason is, that they ride with one bridle and two hands, instead of two bridles and one hand. “When they wish to go to the left, they pull the left rein stronger than the right. When they wish to go to the right, they pull the right rein stronger than the left. If the colt does not obey these indications, at least he understands them, even the first time he is mounted, and the most obstinate will not long resist them. Acting on these plain principles, I saw, in August last, a three-year-old colt which, placed absolutely raw and unbridled in Mr. Rarey’s hands, within seven days answered every indication of the reins like an old horse—turned right or left, brought his nose to the rider’s knee, and backed like an old trooper.
“But it takes a long time to make a colt understand that he is to turn to the right when the left rein is pulled;” and if any horse resists, the rider has no power one-handed, as the reins are usually held, to compel him.
The practice of one-handed riding originated in military schools; for a soldier has to carry a sword or lance, and depends chiefly on his well-trained horse and the pressure of his legs. No one ever attempts to turn a horse in harness with one hand, although there the driver has the assistance of the terrets, and it is equally absurd to attempt it with a colt or horse with a delicate mouth. Of course, with an old-trained hack even the reins are a mere form; any hint is enough.
The advantage of double-handed riding is, that, in a few hours, any colt and any pupil in horsemanship may learn it.
To make the most of a horse, the reins must be held with a smooth, even bearing, not hauling at a horse’s mouth, as if it were made of Indian rubber, nor yet leaving the reins slack, but so feeling him that you can instantaneously direct his course in any direction, “as if,” to use old Chifney’s phrase, “your rein was a worsted thread.” Your legs are to be used to force your horse forward up to the bit, and also to guide him. That is, when you turn to the right pull the right rein sharpest and press with the left leg; when to the left, vice versâ. Unless a horse rides up to the bit you have no control over him.
A good horseman chooses his horse’s ground and his pace for him. “To avoid a falling leaf a horse will put his foot over a precipice. When a horse has made a stumble, or is in difficulties at a fence, you cannot leave him too much at liberty, or be too quiet with him.” Don’t believe the nonsense people talk about holding a horse up after he has stumbled.