Bridles, double (dahna), snaffle (kazai), can be hung up on the walls, but a piece of cloth or a few sheets of paper should be fastened up behind them; and they should be frequently taken down if not in daily use, as the white ants are most destructive. It is best to have one or two extra saddle-stands made with pegs on them, and to hang the bridles on them in the middle of the room, away from the walls. This may be a little more expensive, but a saddle-stand can be brought for Rs. 5 that will hold a couple of dozen bridles, worth Rs. 20 apiece. At one time plated bits were used in India, but I think steel ones are the best. “Syces” never can tell the difference, and I have more than once found a plated bit being industriously scrubbed and polished with sand.
Harness.
Unless particularly desired, brown harness with brass mounts is the best—for India, at all events—for pony-harness, and it is this class of animal that is generally used in an up-country station. Not one “syce” in a hundred knows how to clean black harness properly, and if this is not done nothing looks worse, whereas almost any native can clean brown leather after a fashion, and even if it does not stand close inspection, it will pass muster at a little distance. Fairly good brown harness is made out of country leather, and it does well enough for rough work, but it never has the finish of English. Country leather reins and country bits should never be used; they are not reliable, and are most dangerous; these should always be English.
Carriages.
The ordinary two-wheeled pony-trap or dogcart, used in an up-country Indian station, is best varnished, not painted. The hot weather ruins paint, and, unless in some of the very large towns, it is nearly impossible to get them properly repainted again. Any native workman can, however, varnish a trap with white or copal varnish. Before allowing new varnish to be put on, the trap should be produced for inspection with the old scraped off, as it is a favourite trick to daub new varnish over the old, when it cannot properly set, and the first hot sun cracks and blisters it. In the hot weather a large earthen basin, called a “naund,” should be kept full of water under the carriage in the coach-house; the evaporation of the water will keep the woodwork moist, and prevent its cracking with the heat. A matting made of the fibres of the “khus khus,” or lemon grass, should also be put round the nave of the wheel, and kept wet, for the same purpose, as it is exceedingly likely to crack with the heat. The shafts of the trap should not be left resting on the ground, as they will warp and bend; they should be supported either by a wooden trestle, or else by a couple of ropes from the beams of the roof. The whip, when not in use, should be hung by a string at the upper part to a nail in the wall, and a weight, such as a brick, tied to the butt end to keep it straight; otherwise, in a very short time, it will get crooked.
Servants.
Indian “syces” are different to English grooms, as the new arrival will soon find. They have peculiar customs of their own, which, like all Orientals, they cling to tenaciously, and will not give up. If they are understood they are easily managed, and work well; but if not, the horse-owner’s life is a burden to him, for no European can overcome the passive resistance of the Oriental. In the first place, I never let any of the house servants interfere with the stable. Many persons, particularly those new to the country, do everything through their head servant, or “bearer”; but I make him stick to his own work, which is the control of the house and the house servants. I pick out one of the best and sharpest of the “syces,” changing him till I get a good man, making him the head or “jemedar syce,” and paying him a rupee a month more wages than the rest; and he is responsible for everything connected with the horses, and any small bills I pay to him, and him alone. The wages I pay myself to each man regularly on the seventh of the month, for the month previously. I never lift my hand to a servant, or fine him under any pretext, as the fine will only be made up out of the horse’s grain, but, if fault has to be found, I do so in the presence of the head man; on the second occasion a warning is given, and on the third the offender is dismissed on the spot. I always keep a “syce” and a “grass-cutter” for each horse. It is possible to get a “syce” and two “grass-cutters” to look after two horses, by paying the “syce” a rupee a month more; but the arrangement is not satisfactory, although many do it. If the “syce” gets ill, which they often do, there is no one to do his work, whereas, if there is a man to each horse, they will arrange the extra work among themselves. In Northern India “syces” and “grass-cutters” should be provided with warm woollen clothes in the winter. An excellent cloth for the purpose is made by the various woollen mills, and at most of them servant’s clothes can be bought ready made up; but it is best to give the men the materials and let them get them made up themselves, otherwise there is certain to be something wrong with them. A “syce’s” coat costs about Rs. 4, and a “grass-cutter’s,” which is made out of a coarse blanketing, Rs. 3; and these coats should last for two winters’ wear. In addition, I used to give each man a “coolie” blanket that cost Rs. 3, and which would last three winters; and, if they had to go out much into camp, such as taking horses out to meet me on shooting or pig-sticking expeditions, a pair of woollen leg-bandages, or “putties.” It is a mistake not to give servants warm clothes, and a false economy, as, if they are not properly protected against the cold, which is very severe in Northern India, they are everlastingly getting fever; and I know no greater nuisance than having your head man laid up for two or three days at a stretch. In the second place, if they have not warm clothes themselves, you can never tell if in the night they will not take the clothing off the horses to wrap themselves up in. A constant source of squabbling amongst Indian servants is the allotment of their huts or houses. In the older Indian bungalows there is usually enough of both these and stabling, but in the newer ones there is not. It is best, however, not to listen to any such complaints, and somehow the disputants settle the knotty point themselves. Every now and again it is advisable to see who is living in your compound, as a most enormous number of relations will turn up, who are known as brothers (bhai); and if you don’t look out, you will find you are giving shelter on your premises to several hundred individuals. Indian servants are always asking leave to attend weddings, funerals, and religious ceremonies; and I always allow them to go, provided some arrangement is made to carry on their work. They are clannish in the extreme, and a substitute was always forthcoming. In the hills “grass-cutters” are not required, as grass can be bought in the bazaars. The country people look on the sale of this as a vested right, and naturally resent any outsider cutting it or interfering with them; and, if they do, there is pretty certain to be a disturbance and unpleasantness. If “grass-cutters” are preferred to purchasing the daily supply, local hillmen should be employed, who will arrange the matter with their neighbours, and not men brought up from the plains of India. In most hill stations passes or licences have to be obtained to cut grass. In every Indian station there is an official price-list of country produce published, and should any dispute arise as to the rates charged, it is as well to obtain it from the native magistrate (tehsildar), whose decision in such matters is usually accepted as final, and which generally saves an immense amount of trouble.