COMING DOWN.
The object of these instructions being to enable a lady to master the art of leaping without a regular instructor, it will not be amiss to sum up the advice already given at length, in the words of two competent authorities, “Vieille Moustache” and Mr. Sidney. The former says:
“She should take a firm hold of the upper crutch of the saddle with the right knee, sit well into the saddle—not back of it, because the farther back the greater the concussion when the horse alights—put her left foot well home in the stirrup, and press her left thigh firmly against the third crutch, while keeping the left knee flexible; lean slightly forward, avoid stiffening her waist, in order to throw the upper part of her figure backward at the right moment to preserve her balance. The hands must not move except with the body, and above all no attempt to enliven the horse by jagging his mouth as he is about to rise—a pernicious habit, practised by riders of both sexes who ought to know better. Reins too short, head too forward, and pace too violent are the ordinary faults of beginners. Women have on their saddles a firmer seat for leaping than men.”
Mr. Sidney remarks: “A sheep hurdle is quite high enough and the trunk of a tree is quite wide enough for the first steps in leaping. Balance, gripe of the pommels, and support of the stirrup must be combined; the seat as near the centre of the horse’s back as the pommels will permit; the figure erect, not rigid, with the shoulders back, ready to bend gently backward as the horse rises in the air—not leaning forward, twisted over on the near side, like a popular spirited and absurd picture (“First at the Fence”), which really shows ‘how not to do it;’ the snaffle-reins held in both hands, at a length that will enable the horse fully to extend himself, and the rider to bear on his mouth as she bends back over his croup when he is landing. All this time her eyes should be looking between the horse’s ears, so as to keep perfectly square in the saddle.”
If the reader carries out the instruction already given with care, and exercises good sense and judgment, it is very unlikely that she will have a fall. Should this happen, however, there are two things to be remembered, first to get instantly away from the horse by scrambling or rolling, and secondly to keep hold of the reins. In any event, the timid may be reassured by reflecting that a fall is usually without any serious result, it being by no means as dangerous to come down with the horse as to be thrown from him.
[PART IV.]
BUYING A SADDLE-HORSE.
The opening of the horse-market is not announced to ladies by cards of invitation, though such an innovation on the old-fashioned methods might prove a great success in the hands of a skilful dealer. Nevertheless, as soon as spring opens, all over the United States, ladies are “shopping” for horses, but by no means in their usual jaunty and self-confident way, for their eyes, which do them such good service at the silk or lace counter, take on a timid and hesitating expression in the presence of this unwonted problem. The acquisition of a saddle-horse by a young girl is usually a long and complicated operation, in the course of which her hopes are alternately raised and depressed day by day, to be at last very likely disappointed altogether. It often begins at breakfast-time, somewhat in the following fashion: “Dear papa, don’t you think I might have a saddle-horse this season? Eleanor B——’s uncle has given her a beauty, and we could ride together; and you know that is just the sort of exercise the doctor said would be good for me.” The father hesitates, and few fathers there are who do not in their hearts long to grant the request; but he is a very busy man, and does not feel as if he could take any more cares upon his shoulders; and very likely he knows little about horses, and really has not the slightest idea how to set about such a purchase; and his mind misgives him as he remembers what he has heard of the tricks of dealers. So he says, “Oh, my dear, I don’t see how we can manage it. We should be cheated, to begin with, and pay twice as much as he is worth, and he would run away and throw you off; and then he would be always sick, and finally fall lame, and would have to be given away before the season is over.” This is the critical point of this part of the little family transaction, and if the daughter has nothing more convincing to offer in reply than some vague statement that she is sure she sees plenty of good horses in the street, and that she does not see why her horse should be sick any more than any one else’s, and that there must be plenty of good men to take care of him to be had at low wages, then probably her case is lost. But suppose that she replies: “Oh yes, papa, I know a horse that will do nicely and can’t be sickly for he has worked all summer and not lost a day and he is eight years old and so has eaten all his wild oats by this time and he isn’t a very pretty color but then we can buy him cheaper for that reason and I don’t care so much for color as I do for shape and he is very well formed indeed his legs and feet are excellent and he has a broad shoulder and a pretty neck and head and we gave him a long drive the other day and he never missed a step and he isn’t afraid of anything and I drove him fast up a steep hill and jumped out at the top to give him a bunch of clover and took the opportunity to listen to his breathing and to feel his pulse and there is nothing the matter with his heart or wind I assure you and I will promise to go to the stable once a day to see him.” Then the chances are that, after laughing at the long sentence without a stop, and telling her she is a runaway filly herself, papa will say, “Well, suppose we take a look at this wonderful animal; we are not obliged to buy him, you know, unless we please, and I don’t say what I may decide finally,” and her case is won. To be able, however, to make the reply above supposed, simple as it sounds, indicates a very unusual amount of observation for a young girl.
There are many ladies who can at a glance tell real point lace from artificial, be the imitation never so good; but there are comparatively few who know the points of a horse, or can detect any but the most glaring defects or blemishes. The reason is simply want of practice, for the difference between the well-made and the ill-made horse, or between the sound animal and the spavined or foundered one, is far greater than that between the two pieces of lace above mentioned, which to most masculine eyes would appear exactly alike. With her superior delicacy of observation and quickness of perception, a woman ought to be, other things supposed equal, a better judge of horses than a man, and there must surely be a great many who, if they really believed this, would think it worth their while to master the small vocabulary of technical terms in which the information they require is always couched, and such would speedily find their reward in the opening of a new and interesting field of research. To begin with, how few ladies so much as know the names of the different parts of the animal! Head, legs, and body, eyes, ears, and tail, are about all the words in the feminine dictionary of horse lore, and whether the pasterns are not a disease of colts, the coronet a part of a bridle, and the frog a swelling in the throat, my lady knoweth not. A half-hour, however, given to the illustration on the following page, will remove once for all this preliminary difficulty, and will open the way to a consideration of the proper form and motion of the parts of which the names are here given: