The horse

Contents

Page Introduction 9

CHAPTER I. How to approach a horse — Bridling — Saddling — Mounting

— Dismounting — An episode near Lake Tahoe 11

Chapter II

Balance — How to keep it — Experience with bucking horses — Correct length of stirrup — Grip — How it counteracts inertia — European cavalry man's experiment — Seat — What it means in the saddle — "The End of the Trail." 19

Chapter III

How the rider controls his horse — Bits, and how they work — The Martingale — Spurs — Whips — Balance — How to start and stop a horse — How to make a horse slide — Backing a horse — Changing direction — Changing leads at a gallop — Teaching the horse to trot and to walk — Riding without reins 26

Chapter IV

Reining a horse — Use of different bits — How his mouth is made — The natural gaits — The walk, the trot and the canter — Natural gaits more useful than acquired gaits — Popularity of five-'^aited horses for show purposes — Jumping and swimming 34

Chapter V

Riding up and down hill or on a pavement — The right and wrong ways of doing so — Xenophon's comments about ancient hill riders — Opening a gate when on horseback — Talking to horses — Efficacy of a well-spoken word — The art of falling off — How best to escape injury — A midnight runaway and a drop in the darkness 42

Chapter VI

Racing and race horses — Early training — Reasons for the light bit and the short stirrup — Use and misuse of the whip in racing — Horse show ethics — Looks are everything — Satisfy the judge — Importance of etiquette — Polo ponies — They just happen and are not bred — Difficulty of finding them — Amenities of the polo pony trade — What constitutes a perfect polo pony,.; 50

Chapter VII

Page Habits of the horse, natural and acquired — Getting up and Lying down — Balking — A useful method of treating it — Rolling — How to prevent it — Pawing — Rearing — Striking — Kicking — Biting — Cinch Binding — Shying — How to make a shying horse go past the object of his terror — Stumbling — Falling — Prancing — Plunging — Crow-hopping — Bucking, buck jumpers and how to ride them — Some general remarks about equine idio syncrasies

CHAPTER VIII. Running away — A dangerous habit and difficult to cure

Story of an incorrigible runaway and his fate 69

Chapter IX

Breaking a colt to the saddle — A short method of taming and training — How the colt is taught to tolerate handling — How he is saddled and cinched the first time — How he is ridden 75

Chapter X

Buying a saddle horse — Age shown by the teeth — How to detect poor vision and other defects — Splints, ringbone, spavin — Sore backs, what they indicate — Shoulder lameness and navicular disease — Laminitis or founder — Testing a horse for wind — How to recognize a wind-sucker or crib-biter 86

Chapter XI

Teaching children to ride — Cannot begin too young — An old plug better than a pony — Experience the best riding master — Psychology of the horse — He has not the power of deduction — Trick horses — How they are made to appear to have reasoning faculties — They only obey commands 92

Introduction

The horse in its prehistoric species was indigenous to the five great continents. In America the rock formations, antedating the glacial period, give us an approximate idea of the animal in its early stages of development. With the glacial period, the species became extinct in America. Not until the sixteenth century did the horse again make its appearance on the Western Continent, and then only in its domesticated form, with the advent of the Conquistadors and gold-seekers from the Old World.

Indian massacres and other disasters to various mounted expeditions sent out by the invaders resulted in many of the horses brought across the seas by the Europeans coming into the possession of the Indians. Others, escaping the pursuit of the sometimes victorious aborigine, ran wild and multiplied in the fertile valleys of Mexico and in that portion of America which is now the southwestern part of the United States.

At the present time, several States in the western part of America gave forage to the untamed horses that have flourished in those localities since their ancestors sought refuge there in the turbulent pioneer days.

Science encroaching upon nature has reduced to a mechanical basis nearly all lines of human endeavor, but the horse can never be entirely replaced by a machine. The horse can carry a man over many places where it would be impossible for a machine to go, and in many places where machines can be operated the horse is used for economy.

The horse, being a living thing, embodies a kind of perpetual motion, of which no mechanical production is susceptible.

Range riding, mountain trails, cavalry, horse artillery, hunting to hounds, and polo belong to the horse alone, and it is reasonable to suppose that in the future, as in the past, the horse will hold his place as the animal most useful to man.

In the following pages it is sought to give the reader some practical information and advice about the saddle horse, where he comes from, how to ride him, his habits and idiosyncrasies, how to handle him for such various purposes as racing, polo, and the horse show, how to break him in for use as a saddle horse, and many other matters of analogous import.

The chapters devoted to the actual technique of riding are intended, principally and necessarily, for the instruction of persons not already proficient in horsemanship. They point out the right way of doing most things that are customarily associated with equitation, from first approaching a horse to falling off its back.

Therefore it is hoped that, as well as being of some interest to the seasoned horseman, the book may prove of some primary and instructive value to the amateur.

Chapter I

How to approach a horse — Bridling — Saddling — Mounting — Dismounting — An episode near Lake Taboe.

Approaching. — The safest way to approach any horse is to do so from a point off his near shoulder, with the hand extending toward the animal's neck. It is advisable always to make a horse aware of one's presence before he is touched. The near side of the horse has been used since the time of Simo, said to be the earliest writer upon horsemanship, for nearly all purposes such as approaching, mounting and dismounting. The physical character of horse and man make easier a friendship that is begun on this side. To handle a horse on the off side would be as unsatisfactory to the average horseman as trying to eat with the left hand would be to most people.

When a vicious horse is approached, it is possible for him to cow-kick, strike or bite, and the part of the shoulder one should approach is that point which is most difficult for the animal to reach with fore feet and hind feet, so that there will be some uncertainty in the horse's mind which weapon he may best use. While he is reflecting in this manner, the shoulder can, perhaps, be stroked.

Xenophon's "Treatise on Horsemanship," written in the fourth century, B. C, emphasizes this essential in approaching a horse:

"But whoever is employed about a horse, ought to know that to do these things, and everything else that he has to do, he must come as little as possible near the face and the tail ; for if a horse is inclined to be vicious, he has in both these parts the advantage of the man. But a person who approaches him at the side can manage the horse with least danger to himself, and with the most power over the beast."

Bridling. — Hold the whole bit with the left hand directly under and within a foot of the horse's lower jaw. Take the reins in the right hand, slip them over the head, letting the buckle joining the reins together rest on the neck immediately behind the ears, then pull the reins with the right hand tight around the neck, and hold them together with the right hand resting directly under the horse's jaw. The purpose of doing this is to facilitate bridling, in as much as the horse's head may be pulled toward the one who bridles by the reins. Move the bit upward toward the right hand, so that the fingers of the right hand may support it for a moment, while the left hand releases the bit and grasps the headstall at its uppermost point, which is the middle of the band behind the ears. Then, releasing the bit with the fingers of the right hand, let it hang suspended from the headpiece, while the left hand carries the whole bridle forward to a point directly in front of the horse's head.

Now bring the left hand toward the horse's head until it touches the upper part of the nose in such a way that either side of the cheekpieces hang on their respective sides of the horse's face. Now the right hand may be released from the reins and it should be brought quickly to change places with the left hand holding the headpiece. The left hand simultaneously is dropped so that it grasps the left side of the bit above the mouth-bar, with the forefinger protruding in such a way as to hold the curb chain extended.

The horse's head is now halfway into the bridle, and the movement of the head may be more or less directed by the pressure of the cheek straps. When the horse's head is stationary, the bridler quickly raises the bit forward and directs the middle of the mouth-bar toward the center point between the animal's teeth; meanwhile, with the fingers of the left hand, he pries open the jaws of the animal. This is done by exerting pressure upward and downward at a point on the near side of the animal's mouth to the right of his incisor teeth. The pressure of the left hand on the side of the bit is now directed in such a way as to bring the bit into the horse's mouth; meanis while the right hand takes up the slack of the cheekstraps, and at the same time pulls the headpiece over the ears of the horse. The left hand may then release the bit, and pull the browband to its proper position directly in front and below the ears of the now nearly bridled horse.

To complete the operation, reach under the neck with the left hand and take the buckle of the neckstrap, which should be hanging on the right side of the horse's head ; pull it under the animal's neck and, with the right hand, pull the near side of the neckstrap through the buckle and its proper keeper.

Saddling. — Place the saddle blanket well forward on the animal's withers, and then pull it a few inches back. This insures the hair lying smooth underneath and helps to prevent sore backs. Take the pommel of the saddle with the right hand, holding the left stirrup and the cinchstrap in the left hand, and swing the saddle upward toward the withers of the horse with sufficient force to make the right stirrup and the complete cinch swing clear over the horse's back. Then, releasing the saddle with the left hand, put this hand under the saddle blanket immediately above the horse's withers, and pull the blanket upward toward the fork, so that the part of the saddle blanket immediately under the fork will not touch the horse.

Continuing to hold the saddle and saddle blanket in this way, move them forward toward the horse's neck, and then with the right hand taking the cantle-flap and saddle blanket immediately under it, pull the blanket and saddle toward the tail of the horse until the proper place is reached on the horse's back. This leaves the saddle sitting with its forepart over the animal's withers.

Cinch the horse carefully, being sure that the cinch and strap are not turned, and pull the cinch tight enough so that the saddle cannot be moved easily to either side. A very loose cinch is likely to chafe the horse's girth, and a very tight cinch may cause a swelling and probably impede his action.

Mounting. — To mount, stand facing the horse at a point about a foot away and opposite his near shoulder. Take the reins in the left hand so that the length of the right and left reins, respectively, are the same from the bit to the hand. Place the hand, holding the reins, on the neck of the horse, immediately above the withers, and draw the lines through the fingers so that a slight feel of the horse's mouth may be maintained. Take the left stirrup in the right hand and pull it forward until it almost touches the horse's foreleg. The rider should partially turn his left shoulder toward the horse and place the toe of his left boot into the stirrup, then releasing the stirrup with his right hand he should move this hand over the middle of the saddle and take a firm grasp of any protruding leather on the saddle's right side, or the pommel itself if the saddle is Mexican. Now put the weight of the body into the left stirrup, keep the toe of the right boot on the ground until a balance is arrived at, then springing from the ground with the right foot, swing it clear of the back and cantle, straightening the left leg until the rider's weight is placed evenly in the middle of the saddle ; put the right foot through its stirrup, release the right hand, and the horse is mounted.

Dismounting. — To dismount, lean forward in the saddle and place the palm of the left hand on the animal's neck above the withers, at the same time holding the reins with this hand so that a slight feel of the horse's mouth is maintained.

In this position the thumb of the left hand should be pointed toward the saddle and the fingers pressing the reins against the animal's neck. The rider should now take a firm grasp of any protruding leather on the right side of the saddle near its center, or the pommel itself if the saddle is Mexican, and loosening the right foot in the stirrup, swing the right leg backward and over the cantle to the near side, meanwhile allowing the toe of the left foot to pivot so that it points toward the horse's girth. Then place the right foot on the ground about one foot from the horse's near shoulder, release the left foot from its stirrup and bring it also to the ground, so that a standing position is assumed facing the animal's near shoulder, as in mounting.

On a vicious horse that is likely to kick, the rider can, by giving a jump from his left foot, just before the right foot reaches the ground, throw himself several feet from the horse, and, incidentally, out of reach of his legs.

Near Lake Tahoe, California, I saw one day a cowboy mounted upon a notoriously vicious horse. An Indian was standing by who wore very long spurs. The cowboy dismounted and requested that he be allowed to borrow these enormous rowels. He then remounted his animal, and, in order to see how these spurs worked, he tickled his mount in the ribs with them. Thereupon the animal, with ai wild scream, leapt into the air and did some skyscraping bucks.

The cowboy, being ill-advised, was taken by surprise, and having slightly lost his seat from the first leap into the air, seemed unable to regain it. With his right hand he seized the lariat rope, which was firmly attached to the off side of the saddle, and was suddenly thrown toward the ground off the near side of the now thoroughly enraged animal. His right spur caught the back of the cantle, and by still grasping the lariat rope he succeeded in keeping his head a foot or two off the ground.

His head by this time was at the point which, in another chapter, we have discussed as being the most efficacious place to approach a horse. The animal, surprised at being grappled in this manner, suddenly ceased his gyrations and stood for a moment perfectly still. The rider hung motionless. Any effort he might make to regain the saddle would certainly fail and mean certain injury, because at the man's first movement, the horse, whose eyes were now red, would give him a terrible fall with bucks and kicks, which from his position he would be powerless to avoid. Therefore, as he explained to me afterwards, the rider decided to dismount. So, suddenly, he let himself drop and rolled out of the line of danger a mere fraction of a second before the horse struck out wildly with his legs and, kicking and bucking, disappeared into the neighboring pine trees.

Some argument then arose between the interested spectators as to whether the episode they had just been regarding should be described as a man dismounting from or a man falling off his horse. The cowboy sought to dispel all doubt on this issue by maintaining, with typical profanity, that he merely figured it desirable to dismount. Personally, I think the cowboy was right, only I would call it dismounting under pressure.

Chapter II

Balance — How to keep it — Experience with backing horses — Correct length of stirrup — Grip — How it counteracts inertia — European cavalry man's experiment — Seat — What it means in the saddle— "The End of the Trail."

Balance depends upon the proper adjustment of weight, and is arrived at by the employment of stirrups, seat and hands. The reins should never be used as an aid to balance. If they are used for this purpose it is an evidence of very bad horsemanship. Unfortunately, this evidence is not rare.

The reins being attached to the bit, if pressure is brought upon them, for any purpose other than guiding or steadying one's mount, it naturally has a disorganizing and confusing effect upon the horse; also, frequent pressure in this way has a tendency to make the animaFs mouth less sensitive, and upsets the general well-being of the horse when in use.

From a standing position, if the horse jumps forward, balance is best achieved by leaning the weight forward at the moment of movement, with the legs forcing the stirrups in the general direction of the horse's tail, and at this moment by pressure in the stirrups the rider's body is held forward on the horse's back. This counteracts the tendency of the rder to become unseated by the horse jumping forward from under him.

If a fast-moving horse stops suddenly, balance is best maintained by either a knee grip, with the stirrups held slightly backward by the legs and the weight thrown forward, or by the rider's body being held well backward on the back of the horse and the stirrups held forward by the legs, at the same time receiving the pressure of the rider's weight which would necessarily prevent his body coming forward when the horse stops.

In lateral balance, if the rider's weight is overbalanced to the near side of the horse, pressure is put against the left stirrup, which has a tendency to push the rider's body toward the point of balance, and the pressure of the right leg, which is in a forked position with the knee as apex, is brought to bear upon the off side of the horse's body, which has the tendency to pull the rider back in place, in which way his balance is maintained. Losing his balance toward the right side, it would naturally follow that the above principles would apply, merely substituting right for left.

In difficult or unexpected moments, an aid to balance may be had by placing pressure against the horse's neck with the hand or hands.

Rough riding on a ranch is one of the quickest ways of learning balance. The discomfort occasioned by falling from a half-broken mustang is a big incentive to the rider to let his thoughts dwell on the best way of maintaining equilibrium. In this case proper length of stirrups plays an important part. The practice of using very short stirrups is indicative of the rider depending more upon balance than upon grip, or, in other words, allowing a greater scope for the employment of balance, since, by the judicious use of short stirrups the rider may lean farther from the horse and maintain his balance.

It is true, however, that most expert horsemen ride more by grip than balance.

At the beginning of my riding experience on a ranch I started to use very long stirrups, so that when seated in the saddle my legs were nearly straight, with but the toes of my boots touching the stirrups. The first bucking horse I mounted threw me with great rapidity over his head. I realized, when thinking over the matter, that I had lost my stirrups first and my balance shortly afterwards, so I took up the stirrups of the saddle one hole before riding the next bucking horse. I was once more, without delay, precipitated over the animal's head. Again I noticed that I had lost my stirrups immediately.

After about eight of these unpleasant experiences my stirrups were considerably shorter than at the outset. Subsequently, though I was sometimes bucked over the head of a particularly rough-going horse, I invariably lost my seat before my stirrups, which proved that I had finally succeeded in bringing the stirrups to the proper length, at least for my individual requirements. This is not a pleasant method to be followed in order to determine what the length of one's stirrups should be, since most persons of less optimism would become discouraged before they found the proper length.

The correct length of the stirrups for any rider, in real action, is that length which would permit his boots to rest in the stirrups with average pressure if his legs were bent to the natural position that would be assumed by that rider in clinging to a fast-turning horse bareback.

When at rest or at the steady paces of a horse, a longer stirrup is usually found more comfortable, and with a longer stirrup the rider unquestionably makes a better appearance.

Grip. — Broadly speaking, grip is a pulling force which, when applied by a rider, assists in keeping him and the saddle together. Taking hurdles or riding a fractious horse requires particularly the application of grip. The chief factors in its application are the heel, leg, knee and thigh. If the horse catapults from the ground, whether to clear some obstacle or owing to the exuberance of spirits, it is necessary for the rider to cease the upward movement simultaneously with the horse and to descend firmly seated upon his back in order to avoid receiving a very unpleasant jolt in a sitting position.

When the horse has reached in the air that theoretically stationary moment before his return to earth, grip is most necessary to the rider. The force that has carried the rider upward, suddenly is taken away, and the tendency of the rider would be to continue upward until gravity counteracts inertia. Grip applied at this moment, with sufficient force, has the desired result and makes possible a uniform return with the horse to the ground.

The kind of grip most effective, needless to say, depends entirely upon the physical attributes of the rider.

A foreign cavalry man paid me a visit once at Stockdale Ranch. He examined the Mexican saddles with interest, having never previously seen equipment of this kind, and was particularly pleased with the horn. He ventured the opinion that by the judicious use of this instrument for a handhold he could not be thrown off.

A horse was led out, which was able, with provocation, to buck. I made a noose with my riata around the animal's flanks, and the officer, having seated himself upon the animal, firmly grasped the horn with both hands, without troubling himself about the reins. On being informed all was in order, I pulled the rope and the horse leapt into the air with one terrific buck. The soldier held firmly to the horn of the saddle, but the rest of his body continued upward until he had assumed the position of standing on his head above the horn of the saddle. As the horse rose from the ground a second time the officer's body toppled and meeting the neck of the horse with his own back, his hands were pried loose and he was left in a heap on the ground ; which helps to prove that grip, no matter how firmly taken, can be an entirely minus quantity unless it is had in conjunction with a proper balance

Seat. — A seat, when spoken of in regard to a mounted person, is an expression of a rather intangible character. A good seat, however, is a matter of fundamental importance in horsemanship. To a rider, a seat kept or lost is as important as a battle won or lost to a general.

Innumerable positions can be assumed upon the back of a horse, but these positions all depend upon the correct appliance of the principles of balance and grip, founded upon an intelligent knowledge and anticipation of the movements of a horse.

A seat when partially lost is difficult to regain. It is easier to keep a perfect seat all the time than to lose one's balance and regain it later. The personal equation enters largely into the correct seat of an individual, and the rider's individuaUty is more strongly demonstrated by the seat than in any other way.

The average natural seat is depicted in a marvelous manner by the silhouettes of the famous warriors of the Horse Indians, such as Sioux and Comanche, which have been given to us by observation or by the paintings of Remington and his contemporaries.

A statue by James Earle Fraser, "The End of the Trail," depicts an Amerind, the last of his tribe, exhausted at the completion of a terrible ride, still seated upon his jaded horse, with nothing further to look forward to, and with weary miles of trial and hardship behind, the lines of his natural grace giving evidence of a perfect seat, which alone made it possible for horse and man to have in reality reached "The End of the Trail."

Chapter III

How the rider controls bis horse — Bits, and how they work — The Martingale — Spurs — Whips — Balance — How to start and stop a horse — How to make a horse slide — Backing a horse- Changing direction — Changing leads at a gallop — Teaching the horse to trot and to walk — Riding without reins.

Control. — The four principal factors through which the rider maintains control over his mount are the reins, whip, spurs and balance.

Bits. — The two basic principles of practically all bits are snaffle pull and shank leverage. A snaffle is a bar bit broken in the middle, held up in the mouth by the headpiece and prevented from being pulled from the side of the mouth by the chinstrap. The force of the bit applied in this way, for the purpose of control, is the pressure of the broken bar on the tongue and the lower jaw. The leverage bit — for example, the Pelham — controls the horse by the upward pressure of the chinstrap and the downward pull of the straight mouthpiece, which, when force is exerted, has the tendency to hold the lower jaw in a kind of vise, and the back pressure of the reins has a deterrent effect and a tendency to hold the horse back. The severity of this kind of a bit depends especially upon the ratio between the length of that part of the shank extending from the mouthpiece to the rein inception ring and the length of the part from the mouthpiece to the curbstrap ring.

The first part of this ratio we shall call "A** and the second part "B." It will easily be understood that the difference between the length of "A" and "B," if "A" is the greater, will determine the severity of the bit. In other words, the greater the length of "A" as compared to "B," the greater the severity of the bit.

These principles we have just considered are the most important in regard to all bits.

Port, Spade and Ring bits are primarily dependent upon the above principles, and added to them have their specific values, such as, in the case of a Spade, prying the horse's mouth open as well as exerting the forces already discussed.

The bit I like best for general use is the double-reined Pelham. It is not as cumbersome as the bit and bridoon, but it practically combines the forces of the snaffle and leverage bits.

Some horses with sensitive mouths need only the pressure of the snaffle on ordinary occasions. If, however, it is desired to secure instant control of a horse that is in an excited condition, the leverage bit may be used to advantage, either alone or in conjunction with the snaffle. For a hard-mouthed horse, a suitable bit should have '*A," the length of the shank from the mouthpiece to the rein inception ring, at least twice that of **B/' the length from the mouthpiece to the curbstrap ring.