Comments on hacks and hunters

Front matter

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7 '^ xO

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Contents

CHAPTEK PAGE

I. Buying . 1

II. Conformation and Action 9

Introduction

" Four things greater than all things are, Women and Horses, Power and War."

— Kipling.

The Duke of Wellington's statement that "The Battle of Waterloo was won on Eton's cricket fields'* may possibly not apply with equal force to the last great war. It remains a fact, nevertheless, that the sportsmen of America and England were among the first to enlist, and in many cases, particularly among the horsemen, they joined the most hazardous branches of the service.

What is more important, however, than that sport should render the men of the nation fit and game fighters, is that sport may become — ^is in fact rapidly becoming — one of the meaiis of establishing more friendly international relations. International tennis tournaments, golf matches, yacht races — or the recent splendid polo match played at Hurlingham — do untold good in building up a mutual understanding, a closer feeling of fellowship, and a common interest between the peoples of the world.

It is often foolishly argued that wars are a necessary evil, without which nations would lose their virility and become soft; but what war does to maintain the stamina of a nation, sport can do, and do far better. For, whereas war not only brutalizes men, but also destroys the very manly vigor it creates, sport keeps its votaries in splendid health until advanced old age.

This last is especially true of riding, and the old say-

xiii xiv INTRODUCTION

ing, ''The outside of a horse is the best thing for the inside of a man," has been indorsed too often to need repeating. Here in America men and women are incHned to be old at sixty, but in England and Ireland, where one sees hundreds of men and women with gray hair riding hard and straight to hounds, one reaUzes that this is one of the reasons for their vigorous, rosycheeked old people. Because they have learned how to play, they have also learned how to live, and Uve long. After all, there is much truth in the old French saying: ''The gods made us all immortal; old age is a voluntary thing."

Moreover, it is not only physical fitness that is acquired by a love of sport, but also mental and moral qualities of greater importance. For the mind as well as for the body, there is nothing quite so good as the great out-of-doors. "Few evil things can Hve in the sun." As long as we are obUged to hve in human bodies, a clean, wholesome, healthy body is far more apt to house a clean wholesome mind.

The "whole problem of hfe is not to make life easier, but to make men stronger," and any study, action, emotion, or sport that can lay claim to doing this, has a right to be considered a moral factor for good. Courage, cool, steady nerves, pluck and physical endurance are not only by-products of the health induced by sport, but are particularly cultivated by such sports as racing, hunting, and polo, in which the element of danger plays a certain part. Nor is this all; sport cultivates, in fact demands, the virtues of fair play, educates the powers of observation and judgment, insists on self -discipline, patience, calmness, and the abiUty to control one's nerves and one's temper. The sportsman must be open-handed and honorable, and

INTRODUCTION xv

must be able to admire his adversary's best qualities, must be a good loser and a graceful winner, and in all things ''play the game/^ In other words, the ''true sportsman and the true gentleman are synonymous."

I thoroughly agree with Frank Sherman Peer when he says, in "Cross Country with Horse and Hound": "Nor is it too much to say that the universal love of sports in England is one of the principal causes of her greatness as a nation. Fair play is a cardinal virtue among her people. The lessons the youth of England absorbs from cricket, football, rowing, and other outdoor sports of skill and chance, have done as much to establish and maintain the supremacy of that little country among the nations of the world as have all her schools and colleges and churches combined."

What is true of men is equally true of women. Courage, and strength, and nerve are as essential to a woman as to a man, and by right-minded people as much admired in her as is tenderness and kindness and refinement in him.

"In the long years liker must they grow; The Man be more of Woman, she of man, He gain in sweetness and in moral height, Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world; She mental breadth nor fail in childward care, Nor lose the childlike in the larger mind; Till at the last she set herself to man Like perfect music unto noble words."

It is wrong to suppose that to be a sportswoman, or a fine horsewoman she must drink and swear and smoke, or that she need have the unsightly biceps of a man, look hke a scalped Indian, or be so straight and flatchested as to lose all femininity. Physical fitness and strength of character do not necessarily imply xvi INTRODUCTION

masculinity. One can have just as neat an ankle, just as graceful a figure, even a tiny mid- Victorian waist, and still ride hard to hounds and pound the whole field. The woman who can be a ^^pal" to her husband, accompany him in his sports, and tramp and ride with him cross-country, is apt to hold him longer and be less often in the divorce courts than the woman whose chief attraction is looking pretty, playing a good game of cards, and dancing the latest jazz. She will not only be a healthier, happier, more companionable wife, but a stronger, healthier mother, with stronger children, and a younger-looking more cheerful grandmother.

Unfortunately, in this country, the more intellectual people of high mental, moral, and spiritual standing do not reaUze that sport offers anything but purely physical advantages. If a man or a woman are keen about sport, or lovers of hunting and horses, they are accredited with having brains for nothing else. At dinners their non-horsey neighbors, in order to keep the ball of conversation rolling, feel in duty bound to rack their brains and remember something about their aunt's grandmother's brougham horse who once jumped a fence. To say the least, this sort of thing is an insult to one's intelUgence. Yet, that is the average serious-minded American's attitude toward the horseman or horsewoman. To be dubbed '' horsey," in this country, is to have people imply that you have the intelligence of a cabbage. As a matter of pure fact, this attitude is unfortunately sometimes justified. We are a nation of specialists, and although our average of horsemanship is very much lower than in England, we are, nevertheless, able to produce a few cracks, who do think, breathe, and eat nothing but horse, and therefore can beat England's best at their own game.

INTRODUCTION xvii

Over there every one, young and old, are sportsmen and horse lovers. It is part of a child's very education. To be a horseman over here stamps you as rather a freak; to be a horseman over there is to be normal, and does not in the least imply that you therefore belong to a certain set of people of doubtful intellectual abiUty. England's biggest statesmen, her merchants, her soldiers, her artists, and even her clergy are, most of them, sportsmen, and many of them horsemen. It is time indeed that America, also, began to realize that one can be just as great in one's business or work, and just as good in one's life, and still know how to play healthily and happily in God's great out-of-doors.

Having said so much in praise of England, I will perhaps be called upon to defend myself from the stigma of Anglomania. True patriotism is, to my mind, not so much saying that ^'everything that is American is best," but rather "the best of everything for America," and throughout this book I shall again and again quote England and England's methods, because, without the shadow of a doubt, she is as far ahead of us in matters of sport, as France and Italy are in matters of music and art. With England, sport is a national institution, and unless a thing is a national institution, it seldom becomes great. If we wish to equal England in the realms of sport, we can only do so by following her lead, and so imbuing all the young people of the land with the love of sport, and what sport stands for, that it becomes a national institution with us, as it has been with her for generations and generations.

Chapter I Buying

"The ways of a man with a maid Be strange, but tame To the ways of a man with a horse When buying or selling the same.'*

— Kipling.

A Tuscan proverb says that in buying a horse or taking a wife, shut your eyes tight and commend yourself to God. I am not so sure but that there is a whole lot of truth in it. Marriage and buying horses are both a lottery, and while it is certain that the more brains you put into the choice the better chance you run of its turning out satisfactorily, still there is no guarantee that even the wisest will not sometimes be fooled.

There are many different types of buyers and many ways of buying horses. There is, for example, the excessively rich man or woman trying to get into society via the door labelled ''Horse Shows" who desires to own a large stable, which, once they have acquired it, will cease to interest them. They will, in all probability, do their buying by giving their manager or stud-groom carte hlanche to get the best that money can buy. If the groom or manager happens to be honest, and is a good horseman, he will, by means of an unnecessarily large expenditure of money, collect a fair enough stable of animals. However, such good luck is rare. To be a really good judge of a horse requires more brains than the average stud-groom possesses. He may be a good rider and an excellent ^' caretaker ^^ of horses, but that does not necessarily imply that his opinion is worth much when it comes to picking a horse. He may talk as if he knew it all, and describe the horses his choice has fallen upon as if they were all world-wonders, but in nine cases out of ten his own self-interest is prompting him. It is a perfectly legitimate practice in all horse-dealing for a commission to pass between th*e groom and the dealer, but it is a practice that is often taken advantage of by a groom with elastic morals, who persuades his inexperienced master to consummate any sale that will accrue most to his personal advantage and from which he will derive the largest commission.

In any case, this method of leaving the choice of one's horses entirely in the hands of an employee, no matter how trusted he may be, is scarcely one that appeals to the real sportsman.

Nor can the true lover of sport indorse the practice of buying, at fabulous prices, horse-show champions as they emerge from the ring with the tricolored ribbon. Any one with sufficient ready cash can manage, by this scheme, to get together a fairly good stable of horses, but how long the occupants of such a stable continue to be champions remains to be seen. For even the fabulous price merely bought the horse and not the rider, and in more cases than one, to those '*in the know," the rider has contributed at least 50 per cent to the horse's ability to win. I know of one gentleman who used to buy and sell a great many horses for his amusement, and who hung on the wall of his exercise-ring a large sign: '^I do not sell the rider with the horse."

BUYING 3

Most of us who have been in the horse-show game for any length of tune have seen countless champions, who, after changing hands and being poorly trained and badly ridden, deteriorate so rapidly that in an unbeUevably short time they are no longer able to win even in a local show.

Champions that can be bought at the ringside are, in most cases — unless they belong to a dealer or some one who is short of this world's goods — already in their zenith, and their owners, being suspicious that their palmiest days are over, are clever enough, or mercenary enough, to sell at the moment at which the market is highest. In such cases the deterioration of the ex-champion in the hands of the imlucky purchaser is still more rapid.

In any case, even when successful, there is very little real pleasiu-e, and even less sport, to be fotind in showing horses that have been ''brought ouf and have made their initial success under others. At best, the pubUc are looking for flaws in yom* way of training and riding, and if the horse loses it is all your fault, while if he wins the credit goes to his former owner or trainer.

There is, of course, no objection to buying an occasional blue-ribbon winner if you particularly fancy him and can afford the price, but in the long run the real sport and fim of the thing comes in ''bringing out'' a yoimg one, or a green one, and having the credit for his jfirst victories.

Buying horses either through means of one's grooms or by searching the ringside for champions are temptations and failings that fortunately can only be indulged in by the very wealthy. Those who have to count their pennies and still find the "feed" bill very high have to do theu* buying in a different and more interesting way, but one equally beset with pitfalls for the unwary.

If, though ignorant of horse-flesh, they acknowledge their ignorance, they may avoid some of these mistakes; but if they are ignorant and know it not, as is usually the case, they will fall into one of two difficulties:

(1) They will be ensnared by some unscrupulous dealer whom they will try to impress with their vast knowledge, be secretly laughed at, and end by buying a ''skate."

(2) They will rely on their own "superior" knowledge and attempt to buy a horse at auction, or, worse yet, think they have acquired a bargain because they have managed to get at a low price some cast-off from a prominent show stable, that, according to the advertisement, is ''being entirely sold out because the owner has given up riding, or is going abroad."

In nine cases out of ten so-called "dispersal sales" are merely a process of weeding out the culls. The real winners, although put in the catalogue as included in the sale, are used as bait to attract buyers, and are either withdrawn before the sale or else "bought in." It is not a very honorable practice but one very commonly indulged in.

Buying at auction is at best, even for an experienced horseman, a very ticklish business. There is no way of testing, adequately, the prospective purchase before the sale. There is but Httle opportunity to learn his past except by hearsay, and it is extremely difficult to judge much of his way of going or his manners during the few short runs up and down the tan-bark at the sale. There is method in the madness of most

BUYING 5

auctions, and every little thing that is done, is done for the purpose of bamboozling the buyer into thinking the horse is better than he is. If the animal is badly made he is shown under saddle, as he will probably look better ^^ dressed up"; if, on the other hand, he is bad-mannered, he will most probably be shown in hand, thus giving him little chance to play up when led judiciously around the ring with little freedom of the head.

All horses are described glowingly in auction lists, and if one could believe half of the contents one would think that the horseman's Eldorado had been reached. The words ''safe and kind; has been hunted by a lady," interpreted by those ''in the know," suggest that the selfsame lady is now lying somewhere with her toes turned up to the roots of the daisies as the result of this hunting. The phrase "will jump anything," rightly read, might mean either that the animal will jmnp anything — ^providing, of course, that you can ever persuade him to get near enough in order to be able to jump it — or else, that he literally plunges over crags and chasms when you are merely meaning to go out for a quiet Httle hack.

Buying young or green horses from the breeders or farmers in Virginia or Canada, or picking up promising discards from the race-track is an amusing, and often fairly cheap, method of obtaining horses, but in common with importing horses from England or Ireland, it is only successful when attempted by a thoroughly experienced horseman and should never be tried by the novice.

It takes a fair degree of knowledge to pick even an ordinary hack or hunter, and to choose a show horse requires more than an exceptional eye for a horse; it needs a knowledge and experience possessed by very few even of the so-called horsemen of the day.

Therefore, don't attempt to do your own choosmg, either at a private sale or auction, unless you are a sufficiently good horseman or horsewoman to pick a horse in the rough, when he looks like a woolly bear; to detect unsoundness almost as quickly as a veterinary; or to tell if a horse will give you a comfortable ride by merely watching him move.

But enough of how not to buy a horse. Let us see rather what is the besl way for a beginner to obtain a really good animal, irrespective of whether he is destined for the show ring or merely for hacking and hunting.

On the whole, my advice is to let the choice of a horse be made by some friend who is a ''dyed in the wooP' horseman, and a man in whom you can put absolute trust and reliance. Tell him just what type of horse you want, what purpose you want to use him for, and how much you are willing to pay; but don't add a thousand and one details as to exact height, sex, color, markings, etc. Leave that to him, for it is hard enough to find a good horse anyway, without being hampered by all sorts of fooHsh and unnecessary restri(3tions. After he has picked an animal for you, even though he may have ridden the horse himself, be sure to ride him also before you close the deal. This precaution is particularly necessary if you are a woman and your adviser is a man, because many a horse that is suited in his gaits to the latter might have too Httle hock action to be comfortable for the former, or a horse that from a man's point of view merely went ''well up into his bridle," to a woman would seem to take too much of a hold to make a desirable hack.

BUYING 7

If you are not quite sure the animal suits, try something else; don't be persuaded to buy the horse at once out of fear of that mythical ^^ other party," who is supposed to be waiting just around the corner ready to snatch him up if you reject him. Horses, unless they are very exceptional ones and times are very good, don't usually sell as quickly as hot cakes.

Undoubtedly many people brought up on the principle that a man will cheat his own brother in horse-flesh, will think my suggestion to mix friendship and horse-dealing a very foolish one, and will prophesy that it is one likely to lead to trouble and a breaking off of friendly relations. But a friendship so easily broken off is not worth the having, for by ^^ friend" I do not mean mere acquaintance.

If one is not fortunate enough to possess a real friend who is also a horseman, then I think the next best thing for the novice to do is to go to a first-class, well-known and reputable dealer and frankly tell him that you don't know much about a horse and are relying on his judgment to find a good one, and nine cases out of ten he will be more apt to get you a good animal than if you go to him possessed with the illusion that you are going to be able to hoodwink him into thinking you are an expert judge.

Owing to the natural uncertainties regarding the exact quahty of the article for sale, namely the horse, the buying and selling is open to much cheating and lying and distrust on both sides. Nevertheless there are honest dealers who will treat you '^ white" if placed upon their honor and trusted. They really try to maintain a high standard of reputation, and do their best to satisfy their customers, in many cases to the extent of taking a horse back if he does not suit.

The people who have been cheated by dealers have usually not gone to reputable ones, and they have, to boot, gone with the idea that they are going to be cheated. They are also apt to be as deceitful with the dealers as to their real ability to ride, or the length of their pocket-book, as he is with them. On the whole, I have found that ^4f you trust men they will be true to you," and although the buying and selling of horses may put that faith to a stronger and more severe test than anything else, I still cling to it.

Occasionally every one will be cheated in horse-flesh, as in everything else, but on the whole if you never manage to pick up a good horse, and are always and forever being disappointed, then I can only say that the fault probably lies largely with you.

''Diving and finding no pearls in the sea Blame not the ocean; the fault is in thee."

Chapter II Conformation And Action

"A head like a snake, and a skin like a mouse, An eye like a woman, bright, gentle and brown, With loins and a back that would carry a house. And quarters to hft him smack over a town."

— Whyte Melville.

There are, as we have already said, a few fortunate people who possess an almost intuitive eye in judging a horse, but the vast majority of men, and, even more, women, never attempt to acquire any technical knowledge about a horse, and learn what little they do know only through bitter experiences and disappointments. To become a good judge of conformation requires careful study, and it goes without saying that whether we rely on the judgment of others in buying our horses, or whether we make our own purchases, the more we learn about the proper conformation, gaits, etc., of a horse the better fitted we are eventually to become finished horsemen or horsewomen.

There are certain primary observations which should always be kept in mind when judging. In choosing a horse we should endeavor to pick one in whom there is no one very weak point, or no one part of his anatomy that is disproportionately powerful to the rest. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. As it is well-nigh impossible to find absolute perfection of shape in any horse, special attention should be paid to those points of conformation which are essential for the class of work required, and to the minor failings we may close an eye. The most we can seek is an animal ^^with many good, few indifferent, and no bad points/^ It may happen, for example, that minor deficiencies are, to a certain degree, rendered less objectionable by some counterbalancing good point in the horse's anatomy. It may even be that one fault is counteracted somewhat by another fault. For example, a horse who is somewhat light in bone below the knee would be less likely to fail at that point were he also a bit light of frame. Neither of these are admirable in themselves, and yet the combination would be preferable to a horse who was Hght of bone but very heavily built as to his body.

What actually constitutes a had point depends largely on the type of work to be demanded of the horse. Good points in any animal, and particularly in the one we are studying, are based not merely on a standard of ideal beauty, but on the principles of mechanics, and certain quahfications and proper proportions are apphcable to all types of horses — from the 17-hand Percheron to the Shetland pony. Inasmuch, however, as there are special points essential for special kinds of work, each class of horse — the racer, the hunter, and the saddle horse — differ in many points of conformation and gaits, and what might be admirable in the one would be objectionable in the other, and vice versa. This is the case even in horses as closely allied in type and work as the hunter and the hack. Especial emphasis will be laid on these differences later, but for the present we will limit ourselves to a discussion of those qualifications of conformation common to both.

A well-shaped head should be fairly small and finely chiselled. The head must denote the sex of the animal; the male animal, and in particular the stallion, being

1. Forehead

2. Nose

3. Nostril

4. Chin groove

5. Jowl

6. Neck

7. PoU

8. Crest

9. Windpipe

10. Shoulder

11. Point of shoulder

12. Elbow

13. Withers

14. Forearm

15. Knee

16. Cannon-bone

17. Pastern

18. Fetlock

19. Hoof

20. Ribs

21. Belly

22. Stifle

23. Thigh

24. Gaskin

25. Hock

26. Cannon-bone

27. Coronet

28. Dock

29. Croup — or crupper line

30. Loin

31. Back less delicate and more masculine in appearance than that of a mare. Although small, the head should be wide across the forehead and between the eyes. It is a fact that some small, well-bred heads are actually wider between the eyes than large, coarse heads. As the brain matter of a horse lies in this region this is particularly important.

The angles of the jaws should be wide at the jowl to allow ample room for the windpipe.

The outline of the nose may be either straight, concave (common among Arabs), or convex. The latter is called a '^ Roman nose,'^ and is apt to denote a headstrong disposition. The nostrils should be large and wide, for a horse breathes entirely through his nose.

The eyes should be clear, mild, large, full, and prominent. Horses with sunken eyes are usually of a suspicious nature — probably because they cannot see well behind them. Small, sunken eyes (termed "pig eyes'O generally denote a vicious disposition, and should therefore be avoided. Horses who constantly look back at the rider, instead of boldly ahead, are apt to be ready for mischief; but a horse who shows the whites of his eyes, though he may be high-strung and nervous, is not necessarily vicious, as is usually supposed.

The ears are an important indication of breeding and disposition. The ideal ears are comparatively small, evenly shaped, are not noticeably curved in or out, and are placed moderately far apart. Ears kept in constant motion denote mental activity, but when the motion is restless the horse is apt to be flighty and fidgety. Ears that are frequently laid back show a mean disposition and an inclination to kick or bite. Large mule ears, although not beautiful, are often a sign of intelligence and a willing disposition, while ^'lop" ears, flopping sidewise like those of a hare, are still less beautiful, but denote a placid, generous but slightly sluggish disposition. Very small ears, that are pricked inward at the points, called '' rabbit ears," are extremely pretty, but generally belong to a hot-tempered horse with a strong will of his own.

The neck should be moderately long, and the upper outline should be convex rather than cancave. A concave neck, one that is '^put on upside down," is called a ewe neck. It is not only extremely ugly but is also, mechanically, a bad formation. Horses so formed are imsightly and difficult to control, as they are unable to flex their necks, and consequently they stick their noses in the air and are what is called ^'star gazers." On the other hand, horses whose necks are too much bent are generally apt to pull, inasmuch as they are, through this pecuHar formation, able to press their chins against their , chests whenever they feel the bit. Short thick necks are ungraceful, and render the animal unhandy to control, but then, again, horses whose necks are too thin and pUable, and too much cut out at the jowl, are apt to go wrong in the wind, owing to the fact that the breathing tubes have insufficient room. This type of neck is called a '^swan neck." The upper part of a well-shaped neck should be long, and, though thin when viewed from the side, should appear deep through when looked at from above. ^^The late Charley Wise, of Eton, the eminent dealer in the ^fifties and sixties,^ than whom no better judge existed, was wont to point out that the neck was the first place that a horse began to tire; and he used to insist upon the muscles just behind the poll being very well developed (which can be particularly well observed when seated on the animal), but that when seen sidewise the neck should appear light and elegant. Long subsequent experience has shown that he was right, and it will be noticed on the turf that no horse ever stays in long-distance races unless he possesses such conformation.'^