The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hints on Horsemanship, to a Nephew and Niece, by George Greenwood This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Hints on Horsemanship, to a Nephew and Niece or, Common Sense and Common Errors in Common Riding Author: George Greenwood Release Date: April 12, 2009 [EBook #28563] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP *** Produced by Julia Miller and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) Transcriber’s Note Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. A list of these changes is found at the end of the text. Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been maintained. A list of inconsistently spelled and hyphenated words is found at the end of the text. The following less-common characters are used in this text. If they do not display properly, please try changing your font. δάχτυλοςκ HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP. Engraved by W. Finden HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP, TO A Nephew and Niece. BY AN OFFICER OF THE HOUSEHOLD BRIGADE OF CAVALRY. Engraved by W. Finden. LONDON. EDWARD MOXON & Co. DOVER STREET. 1861. HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP, [i] [ii] [iii] TO A Nephew and Niece; OR, COMMON SENSE AND COMMON ERRORS IN COMMON RIDING. BY COLONEL GEORGE GREENWOOD, Late Lieut.-Col. commanding 2nd Life Guards. NEW EDITION. LONDON: EDWARD MOXON & CO., DOVER STREET. 1861. LONDON BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. MILITARY RIDING NOT FIT FOR COMMON RIDING. PAGE Throughout Europe there is only one style of riding taught 2 That is the soldier’s one-handed style 2 Two hands should be used to the reins 5 A soldier’s horse must turn on the wrong rein 7 Common riders generally turn their horses on the wrong rein 9 Result of this with colts or restive horses 10 Indications are not aids 12 CHAPTER II. HOLDING AND HANDLING THE REINS. Reins at full length 14 The downward clutch 16 The Grecian mode of holding and handling the reins 18 The side clutch 20 The two reins crossed in one hand 21 A rein in each hand 23 Turn to the right, and left 26 The hunting hand 26 The rough-rider’s hand 27 Fixing the hands 28 Use of both bridles at once 30 Shortening the reins when held one in each hand, system of taught, and of untaught horsemen 30 Use of the whip 34 [iv] [v] [vi] Horses swerve and turn only to the left 34 Fault in “the great untaught,” two-handed, English rider 35 CHAPTER III. EFFECT OF INDICATIONS. Retaining, urging, and guiding indications 36 To make a horse collect himself 37 Canter, right turn, right pass 38 Left shoulder in 38 Bearing on the mouth 39 The horse must be made to collect himself in turning 42 And should not be turned on one rein only 43 Lady’s canter 44 The quicker the pace, the greater degree of collection 44 French and English mistake in this 45 The shy horse 46 The restive horse 48 Truth may be paradoxical 49 CHAPTER IV. MECHANICAL AID OF THE RIDER. The rider cannot raise the falling horse 50 Harm is done by the attempt 51 The bearing-rein 54 Mechanical assistance of the jockey to his horse 56 Standing on the stirrups 58 Difference between the gallop and the leap 58 Steeple-chases and hurdle-races unfair on the horse 59 The rider should not attempt to lift his horse at a fence 61 CHAPTER V. THE SEAT. There is one direction which applies to all seats 65 Different seats for different styles of riding 65 The manège and the Eastern seats are the extremes 66 The long stirrup is necessary for cavalry to act in line 67 Medium length of stirrup for common riding 69 CHAPTER VI. MOUNTING AND DISMOUNTING. Directions to place a lady in her saddle 70 Directions to mount at a halt 71 To mount in movement 71 To dismount in movement 71 To vault on or over in movement 72 To vault on at a halt 72 Circus for practising these movements 72 To pick a whip from the ground 72 To face about in the saddle 73 CHAPTER VII. THE BIT. Place of the bit in the horse’s mouth 74 Principle of the bit 74 Action of the common bit 76 Action of the Chifney bit 77 The loose eye 77 The nose-band 77 The horse’s defence against the bit by the tongue 78 Effect of the porte against this defence 78 [vii] [viii] Defence of the horse by the lip 80 Defence by the teeth 80 Bar of the military and driving bit 81 Martingale 81 Danger does not result from power 84 CHAPTER VIII. THE SADDLE AND SIDE-SADDLE. A side-saddle should have no right hand pummel 86 The leaping-horn 86 Surcingle 88 Stirrup-leather 89 Stirrup-iron 90 Girthing 90 To avoid riding on the buckles of the girths 91 CHAPTER IX. THE SHORT REIN. The short rein should be used when one hand is occupied 93 Its use to a soldier 94 Its use with the restive horse 94 It should not be used in hunting, or in swimming a horse 95 Objection to it for common riding 95 Used by postilion 96 Short rein of the Eastern horseman 96 CHAPTER X. COLT-BREAKING. Colt-breaking is the best possible lesson for the rider 97 The head-stall 98 The snaffle 99 Longeing 101 Saddling 102 Mounting 102 Sermon to the colt-breaker 103 The noblest horse resists the most 103 The horse has a natural right to resist 103 The colt wants no suppling 105 He wants to be taught the meaning of your indications 105 And to be brought to obey them 110 The leaping-bar 110 Fetch and carry 113 CHAPTER XI. THE HORSE AND HIS STABLE. Condition depends on food, work, and warmth 115 So does the difference between the breeds of horses 116 The terseness of the Arab is the result of hard food 116 So is that of our thorough-bred horse 117 Different breeds result from different natural conditions 118 Crossing only necessary where natural conditions are against you 119 We do not attend enough to warmth 120 We should get fine winter coats by warmth, instead of singeing 120 No fear of cold from fine coats 121 The horse’s foot should be stopped with clay 121 The sore ridge 122 Stable breast-plate 124 The head-stall 125 Never physic, bleed, blister, or fire your horse 126 Food for condition 126 Rest for strains 126 Nature for wounds 126 [ix] [x] Miles for shoeing 127 The horse should have water always by him 127 And should stand loose 128 No galloping on hard ground, either by master or man 128 He who cripples the horse kills him 128 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Frontispiece To face Title. Vignette Title. FIG. PAGE 1.—Strict Regimental 3 2.—Varied Regimental 4 3.—Reins at full length 15 4.—Down clutch 17 5.—Down clutch, rein in each hand 18 6.—Side clutch 19 7.—Side clutch, rein in each hand 20 8.—Cross 22 9.—Rein in each hand 23 10.—Turn to the right 25 11.—Turn to the left 26 12.—Hunting gallop 27 13.—Rough-rider 28 14.—Fixing hands 29 HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP. CHAPTER I. MILITARY RIDING NOT FIT FOR COMMON RIDING. Throughout Europe there is only one style of riding taught; that is, the soldier’s one-handed style.—Two hands should be used to the reins.—A soldier’s horse must turn on the wrong rein.—Common riders generally turn their horses on the wrong rein. Result of this with colts or restive horses.—Indications are not aids. When you wish to turn to the right pull the right rein stronger than the left. This is common sense. The common error is precisely the reverse. The common error is, when you wish to turn to the right to pass the hand to the right. By this the right rein is slackened, and the left rein is tightened, across the horse’s neck, and the horse is required to turn to the right when the left rein is pulled. It is to correct this common error, this monstrous and perpetual source of bad riding and of bad usage to good animals, that these pages are written. England is the only European country which admits of more than one style of riding. But in all Europe, even in England, there is but one style of riding taught, as a system; that style is the manége or military style. The military style is, and must ever be essentially a one-handed style, for the soldier must have his right hand at liberty for his weapons. The recruit is indeed made to ride with a single snaffle in two hands, but only as a preparatory step to the one-handed style. His left hand then becomes his bridle hand, and that hand must hold the reins in such a manner as will require the least possible aid from the sword hand [xi] [xii] [1] [2] Only one style of riding taught. That is, a one- handed style. to shorten them as occasion may require. This is with the fourth finger only between them (Fig. 1). FIG. 1.—STRICT REGIMENTAL. For these reasons, as far as soldiers are concerned, I do not see how the present system can be altered for the better, unless it be by placing the three last fingers of the left hand between the reins (Fig. 2), instead of the fourth finger only. The reins held in this way are as easily and as quickly shortened, by drawing them with the right hand through the left, as if they were separated by the fourth finger only. I always adopted this mode myself when my sword was in my hand; and I should think it worth trial for all soldiers. My two last chargers had been notoriously restive horses, and I could not have ridden them in the strictly regimental mode. FIG. 2.—VARIED REGIMENTAL. But I see no reason why, because soldiers are compelled to guide their horses with the left hand only, and with the fourth finger only between the reins, that ladies and civilians should be condemned to the same system. On the contrary, I would have ladies as well as gentlemen use both hands to the reins, whether of the curb or of the snaffle, somewhat as the rough-rider or colt-breaker uses the reins of a single snaffle; but the reins should enter the hands outside instead of inside the fourth fingers, and they should quit the hands between the first and second fingers instead of between the first finger and thumb, as will be explained in the next chapter. Fasten the end of a rein to the upper part of the back of a chair; pull the reins enough to raise two of the legs off the ground, and to keep the chair balanced on the other two. Take your reins as ladies and soldiers are taught to take them (Fig. 1), both grasped in the left hand, the fourth finger only between them, and (I quote from the regulations of the English cavalry) “the top of the thumb firmly closed on them—the upper part of the arm hanging straight down from the shoulder—the left elbow lightly touching the hip—the lower part of the arm square to the upper—little finger on a level with the elbow—wrist rounded outwards—the back of the hand to the front—the thumb pointing across the body, and three [3] [4] [5] Two hands should be used to the reins. [6] inches from it.” In this position we are taught that “the little finger of the bridle-hand has four lines of action—first, towards the breast (to stop or rein back); second, towards the right shoulder (to turn to the right); third, towards the left shoulder (to turn to the left); fourth, towards the horse’s head (to advance).” Try the second motion: you will find it a very nice operation, and that you are capable of shortening the right rein only in a very slight degree; you will also find that, if the hand ceases to be precisely opposite the centre of the body, the moment it is passed to the right the right rein becomes slackened, and the left rein is pulled. This is still more the case when the horse’s neck is between the reins; the left rein is then instantly shortened across the neck. I will not assert that the art of riding thus is impossible, though it has ever been so to me; and though, in my own experience, I never saw a cavalry soldier, rough-rider, riding-master, or any horseman whatever, who turned his horse, single-handed, on the proper rein. But I may assert that it is an exceedingly nice and delicate art. It is the opera-dancing of riding. And it would be as absurd to put the skill of its professors in requisition in common riding or across country, as to require Taglioni to chasser over a ploughed field. For single-handed indications, supposing them to be correctly given—which, as I have said, I have never known; but supposing them to be correctly given—they are not sufficiently distinct to turn a horse, except in a case of optimism. That is, supposing for a short time a perfectly broken horse, in perfect temper, perfectly on his haunches, going perfectly up to his bit, and on perfect ground. Without all these perfections—suppose even the circumstance of the horse being excited or alarmed, or becoming violent from any other cause; that he is sluggish or sullen; that he stiffens his neck or pokes his nose—single-handed indications are worth nothing. But as for riding a horse perfectly on his haunches through a long day’s journey, or in rough or deep ground, or across country, one might as well require infantry to make long forced marches at ordinary time, and to strictly preserve their touch and dressing; or, still to compare it to opera-dancing, Coulon to go through a day’s shooting with the pas de zephir. But correct single-handed indications, with the fourth finger only between the reins, will not be obeyed by one horse in ten thousand. Try them in driving. There the terret-pad prevents their being given incorrectly, and a bearing-rein, a severe bit, and a whip, give you every advantage in keeping your horse collected; yet you will find them wholly inefficient. The soldier, who is compelled to turn to the right by word of command, when the correct indication is unanswered, in despair throws his hand to the right. The consequence is, that no horse is a good soldier’s horse, till he has been trained to turn on the wrong rein. Without the same excuse for it, the same may be said of all ladies and civilians who ride with one hand only, and of almost all who ride with two hands. For, strange to say, in turning, both hands are generally passed to the right or left, and I have known many of what may be called the most perfect straight-forward hands; that is, men who on the turf would hold the most difficult three-year-old to the steady stroke of the two-mile course, and place him as a winner to half-a-length—who in the hunting- field would ride the hottest, or the most phlegmatic made hunter, with equal skill, through all difficulties of ground, and over every species of fence, with admirable precision and equality of hand—or who on the exercise ground would place his broken charger on his haunches, and make him walk four miles an hour, canter six and a half, trot eight and a half, and gallop eleven, without being out in either pace a second of time, but who marred all by the besetting sin of side-feeling—of turning the horse on the wrong rein. The consequence is, that they can ride nothing but what has been trained to answer the wrong indications. This is something like steaming without steering. Set them on a finely broken horse, on a colt, or a restive horse, and they become helpless children—the powerless prisoners of the brutes they bestride. How often does one see one’s acquaintance in this distressing situation, with courage enough to dare what man dare, but without the power to do what the rough-rider has just done! First comes the false indication of the rider, then the confusion and hesitation of the horse; next the violence of the rider; then the despair and rebellion of the horse. The finish is a fractured limb from a rear or a runaway. The poor brute is set down as restive and in fact becomes more or less a misanthrope for the rest of his days. I have seen the gentle and brave, under such circumstances, act very much like the cruel and cowardly; that is to say, first rough an innocent animal for their own fault, and then yield to his resistance. It is in consequence of this that we find so many restive horses; that so few thorough-bred horses—that is, horses of the highest courage—can be made hunters; that, in fact, almost all high-couraged young horses become restive after leaving the colt-breaker’s hands. It is, indeed, in consequence of this that the class of people called colt-breakers exists at all. For if we all rode on their principle, which is the true principle, any groom or moderately good rider could break any colt or ride any restive horse. No horse becomes restive in the colt-breaker’s hands; nor do any remain so when placed in his hands. The reason is that he invariably rides with one bridle and two hands, instead of two bridles and one hand. When he wishes to go to the right he pulls the right rein stronger than the left. When he wishes to go to the left he pulls the left rein stronger than the right. These are indications which, if the colt will not obey, he will at least understand, the very first time that he is mounted, and which the most obstinate will not long resist. But as may be supposed, it takes a long time to make him understand that he is to turn to [7] A soldier’s horse must turn on the wrong rein. [8] [9] Common riders turn on the wrong rein. [10] Result of this with colts or restive horses. [11] the right when the left rein is pulled, and to the left when the right rein is pulled. And it is only the meek- spirited and docile who will do this at all. Such, however, is the general docility of the half-bred horse, that a great proportion of them are, after long ill-usage, taught to answer these false indications, in the same way that a carthorse is brought to turn right or left by the touch of the whip on the opposite side of the neck, or the word of the driver; and indeed such is the nicety to which it may be brought, that you constantly hear people boast that their horses will “turn by the weight of the reins on the neck.” This, however, only proves the docility of the horse, and how badly he has been ridden. For a horse which has been finely broken should take notice only of the indications of his rider’s hands on his mouth, not of any side-feeling of the reins against his neck. By indications generally, I mean the motions and applications of the hands, legs, and whip, to direct and determine the paces, turnings, movements, and carriage of the horse. I have used the word throughout instead of aids, as being more explanatory and certainly less liable to abuse. For common sense tells us that a horse receives no aid from a pull in the mouth with a piece of iron, or a blow with a whip, or a kick in the side with an armed heel, however these may indicate to him the wishes or commands of his rider. I have also used the term bearing on the horse’s mouth instead of appui, since to those who do not understand French appui will convey no meaning at all,—and to those who do understand French it will convey the false ideas of the necessity and power of the rider to support his horse. I promise my pupil every aid and support from his horse. But I beg him not to think of offering either aid or support to his horse. I beg him to believe that the horse carries the rider, and not the rider the horse. But this we will discuss in another chapter. That the horse supports the rider is common sense: that the rider supports the horse is the common error. CHAPTER II. HOLDING AND HANDLING THE REINS. Reins at full length.—The downward clutch.—Grecian mode of holding and handling the reins.—The side-clutch.— The two reins crossed in the hand.—A rein in each hand.—Turn to the right, and left.—The hunting hand.—The rough-rider’s hand.—Fixing the hands.—Use of both bridles at once.—Shortening the reins when held, one in each hand, mode of taught and of untaught horsemen.—Use of the whip.—Horses swerve, turn, and refuse only to the left.—Fault in “the great untaught,” English, two-handed rider. To practise the indications of the hands, take the bridle which is attached to the chair at full length (Fig. 3), with the tips of the four fingers of the left hand between the reins at the centre, the first and fourth fingers detached to facilitate their working on the rein proper to each; the hand pendant, with the back to the front, and balance the chair on two legs. FIG. 3.—REINS AT FULL LENGTH. If the length of the rein suits, it may be so held in long rides when the horse is going quietly at an extended walk, for directly as the slowness of the pace is the length of the horse, and so should be the length of the rein. The horse is at his greatest length when standing still, and if you force him to collect [12] Indications are not aids. [13] [14] Reins at full length. [15] [16] himself then, he will be uneasy and fidget.16-* But the reins must never be loose. The bearing on the mouth, however lightly, must still be felt; and if the horse, in attempting to stare about, as colts and ill- ridden horses will, should throw his head to the right, it must be stopped by the feeling of the tip of the fourth finger on the left rein; if he throws his head to the left, by the feeling of the first finger on the right rein. But provided that the bearing on the horse’s mouth, and this power of keeping his head straight, are preserved, a horse cannot have too much liberty under the circumstances supposed. To turn to the right both reins must be pulled, the right the strongest, by feeling the tip of the first finger towards you; both legs must be pressed, the left the strongest; the whip shown on the left. To turn to the left the reverse indications. FIG. 4.—DOWN CLUTCH. FIG. 5.—DOWN CLUTCH, REIN IN EACH HAND. To take up the reins use the downward clutch16-† (Fig. 4); that is, place the two first fingers of the right hand between the reins at the greatest convenient distance, and slide them smoothly back. Repeat this movement, changing from hand to hand, and keeping the chair balanced and steady. This clutch is excellent for a straight-forward, hot horse; it shortens the reins any length at one movement, with a very low, steady bearing. Two hands may be used (Fig. 5). I conceive this to be the Grecian mode of holding and handling the reins (see frontispiece and vignette, from the Elgin Marbles), except that the Greeks had one finger between the reins instead of two; and they held the reins, whether together or divided, between the thumb and the second finger. The first finger was thus detached, and used only for guiding, by which very distinct indications may be given on either rein when both are in one hand. [16] Down clutch. [17] [18] Grecian mode. [19] [20] FIG. 6.—SIDE CLUTCH. At a walk, with a quiet horse, this down clutch may be turned into the side-clutch (Fig. 6 and Fig. 7); it is nearly the same as the English mode of driving, but the right rein is uppermost, which facilitates the dividing the reins and placing them together again, and when the reins are in the left hand, the right rein quits the hand between the second and third finger. This allows you to hold one rein while you slip the other, besides that the left rein is not disturbed in taking the right rein in the right hand, and in returning it to the left hand. Man with reins in both hands FIG. 7.—SIDE CLUTCH, REIN IN EACH HAND. But the following position (Fig. 8) is the foundation of all fine handling, and therefore of all fine riding. And if the pupil will only thoroughly acquire this one movement he shall have my leave to consign the rest of my book “protervis in mare Creticum portare ventis.” Side clutch. [21] Cross. FIG. 8.—CROSS. We will call this movement cross, because the reins, when in one hand, are crossed inside the hand. Take the left rein with the three last fingers of the left hand, so that it enters the hand outside the little finger, and quits the hand between the first and second finger. Place the right rein in the left hand over the first and second finger, so that it enters the hand outside the first finger and quits the hand between the second and third finger, so that the whole hand is between the reins where they enter the hand, and the second finger is between them where they quit the hand. Fig. 9 shows the rein in each hand. Man with a rein in each hand FIG. 9.—REIN IN EACH HAND. At every change from hand to hand the reins may be shortened to any extent. To lengthen them they must be slipped while a rein is in each hand, turning the two fore fingers towards you. You cannot pay too much attention to practising the cross from hand to hand on the balanced chair. There should be nothing approaching to a jerk or shake of either rein. Neither rein should be for an instant loosened, but an equal tension kept on both, and both should be of precisely equal length when crossed in one hand. Be assured, however childish it may appear to you, this practice will teach you the true principle of handling your horse, and will give to the bearings and indications of your hands on his mouth a delicate elasticity and resilience resulting from the play of every articulation from the tips of the fingers to the shoulders. At the same time if power is required, instead of having the left hand only, with the fourth finger only between the reins, by taking them in the full grasp of the hands it allows you to employ the whole strength of both shoulders. [22] Rein in each hand [23] [24] FIG. 10.—TURN TO THE RIGHT. FIG. 11.—TURN TO THE LEFT. FIG. 12.—HUNTING GALLOP. The cross together with the rein in each hand should be so constantly going on as to give the appearance of playing with the reins whenever anything like riding and handling is required. In fact, he who can use his reins in this manner with a riotous horse, without disturbing the bearing is a rider, he who cannot is not. Fig. 10 shows the turn to the right when the reins are crossed in the left hand, with the use of the whip. Fig. 11 the turn to the left. Fig. 12 for holding the horse to a hunting or racing gallop on a snaffle is the same as Fig. 9, but with the fists closed. Fig. 13 is the same in a different position. It is the [25] Turn to the right and left. Hunting and rough-rider’s hand. [26] rough-rider’s hand for working a horse up and making him collect himself with a snaffle. And this is the only case where a little working of the bit on his mouth (the scier le bridon of the French) is to be allowed. Fig. 14 is the same, with the thumbs fixed on the back of a chair. If a thumb is fixed in this way behind the lower part of each pummel, the lady acquires a hold which no horse can force; at the same time it gives the lowest possible and the steadiest possible bearing. The hand should be as open as is possible and as much closed as is necessary. Modifications of this position, with the hands closed, are used in holding the horse to his gallop in hunting and racing. FIG. 13.—ROUGH-RIDER. FIG. 14.—FIXING HANDS. To use the two bridles at once, that is, the four reins, place the little fingers between the reins, the snaffle inside, the curb outside. Let them quit the hands over the first finger, the thumb on them. In the left hand, the snaffle to the left of the thumb, the curb to the right. In the right hand the snaffle to the right, the curb to the left. This keeps them distinct, and allows the power of slipping or dropping either, by pressing the thumb only on the other. The two bridles should be always in two hands, except when placed together to shorten them. In a storm, that is, till you have time for nicety, treat the two bridles as if they were one. The mode of shortening the reins in two-handed riding, which I have seen rough-riders use, and which I have seen recruits taught when using the single snaffle in all riding-houses, civil or military, foreign or English, and which is detailed in the école du cavalier in the French cavalry ordonnance, is wholly vicious. There are no directions at all given for this in the treatise on military equitation in the regulations for the English cavalry, nor have I ever met with any in any book, foreign or English, except in the French ordonnance. To shorten the right rein on the French system, bring the thumbs together, take the right rein with the thumb and first finger of the left hand, the thumbs touching, raise the left hand, and let the right rein slip till the thumbs are one inch apart. With the right rein thus, one inch shorter than the left, when it is hand. [27] Fixing the hands. [28] [29] Use of both bridles at once. [30] Two handed shortening the rein, taught and untaught. [31] required to shorten the left equally, by management you may bring the two thumbs together again without loosening the left rein. I say, by management, you may do so, but the chances are that the longest rein is invariably thus slackened previously to being shortened, and consequently, that the bearing on the horse’s mouth is disturbed. But supposing it possible to manage this by an inch at a time, it is quite impossible to manage it at a greater distance. If, therefore, you have to shorten both reins a foot, you cannot effect it without twenty-four operations. This is not at all an unlikely occurrence in riding unruly horses, for such horses are commanded by being made to bend or collect themselves. Their most frequent defence is jerking their heads away and extending themselves; and the facility of adjusting the length of the reins to the degree in which they extend or collect themselves, makes the difference of whether you can ride such horses or not. If, in riding a half-broken, hot, or violent horse, he jerks his head down so as to draw one rein six inches longer than the other, it is impossible to bring the thumbs together without slackening the longest rein—at the moment you wish it tightened—four or five inches. I need not dilate on the effect of this in riding such a horse as I have supposed. This French military system, then, of shortening the reins in two-handed riding is actually ridiculous. But a ridiculous system is better than no system at all. And except this French system, I know of none taught save those which I have attempted to teach in this chapter. What mistakes are made in this way, even by the finest untaught horseman, are shown in the last paragraph of this chapter. In all the practices enjoined above, the hand which quits the rein should slide along it behind the hand which receives the rein. And in all these positions the hand should always be at right angles with the reins; you then have the play of all the joints. If the hand is in the same line with the reins, the play is only from the elbow. The thumb should not be used where delicacy is required, since it acts in a contrary direction to the fingers, and entirely stops the play of all the joints of the hand and fingers. Close your thumb on your fingers and you will see. Where power is required, the change from the utmost resilience to the utmost rigidity is effected in the time necessary to close the fists. Every gradation, however, between the closed fists and the tips of the open fingers is at the option of the rider. Gentlemen having a leg and spur on each side of the horse to urge and to guide him, should ride without any whip at all if the horse has been subjected to the leg, so as to have the right hand as free for the reins as the left: there should be no such thing as “a bridle hand.” If a whip is carried, it should be as light as possible. It should be held up like a hunter or a rough-rider, not down like a jockey; and so completely between the hand and the thumb as to leave the fingers free for the reins. To carry that club called the handle of a hunting whip is a frightful enormity. The excuse is, to open gates; but if you put your horse’s side against a gate, it is better opened by the hand, but keep your leg from your horse’s side. The fingering of the reins should not be impeded even by thick gloves; as thick muffettees as you like, but no gloves thicker than kid. The action of the whip, by the turn of the wrist, on either side of the horse, is of every importance in lady’s riding, in colt-breaking, in riding the restive horse, and I had well nigh said, in hunting and race riding. For how often do we see the race lost by a swerve to the left (attributed to distress). The hunter invariably refuses by turning to the left. The restive horse invariably turns to the left. Have all horses joined in Holy Alliance to fight on one plan? If not, why do they all turn to the left? Because the whip is only used on the right. There is, however, another cause which acts in conjunction with this. Even our finest two-handed English riders (who, in my opinion, are the finest riders in the world), when they use the right hand on the right rein, continue to hold both reins with the left hand, and they slip the right rein a little through the left hand in order to place both hands even. This is a most vicious habit. When they quit the right rein to use the whip, or to throw the arm back at a fence (another most vicious habit), by their system of holding and handling the reins they have not the power to place the lengthened right rein short in the left hand. Alas! poor horse! He is then pulled to the left by the left rein, driven to the left by the whip on the right, and then abused for answering these natural indications, which he has been trained habitually to obey. 16-* This is one reason against an unalterable bearing-rein. 16-† Have mercy on this little word, great reader, and do compound a sesquipedalian clutch for me, out of digitus and δάκτυλος. [32] [33] Use of the whip. [34] Horses swerve and turn only to the left. [35] Fault in English two-handed riding. [36]