,by the same ,author4 ,,the ,,campaign ,,of ,,chancellorsville4 ,it is not easy to say which part of this book is best1 for it is all good4--,the ,nation4 ,we do not hesitate to pronounce it one of the ablest1 fairest1 and most valuable books that we have seen4--,southern ,historical ,papers4 ,a ,,bird',s-,,eye ,,view ,,of ,,our ,,civil ,,war ,is all that could be desired3 gives perhaps a clearer1 more vivid view1 a more accurate outline than any other available record4--,london ,saturday ,review4 ,the material of the work well serves to consolidate and orient the knowledge of what was done in the ,great ,rebellion and of those who did it4--,journal ,military ,service ,institution4 ,we do not hesitate to commend the book most warmly as the work of an able1 painstaking soldier1 who has honestly endeavored to ascertain and frankly to tell the truth about the war4--,southern ,historical ,papers4 ,the book is written in a spirit of impartiality and of just discrimination concerning the merits and defects of the generals who led the armies of the ,north and ,south4--,army and ,navy ,journal4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,i4 ,,patroclus4 ,,patroclus ,,and ,,penelope ,a ,chat in the ,saddle ,,by ,,theodore ,,ayrault ,,dodge ,,brevet ,,lieutenant-,,colonel ,,united ,,states ,,army1 ,,retired ,,list2 ,,author ,,of ,,the ,,campaign ,,of ,,chancellorsville1 ,a ,,bird',s-,,eye ,,view ,,of ,,our ,,civil ,,war1 ,,etc41 ,,etc4 ,,boston ,,houghton1 ,,mifflin ,,and ,,company ,new ,york3 #aa ,east ,seventeenth ,street ,the ,riverside ,press1 ,cambridge #ahhe ,copyright1 #ahhe1 ,,by ,,theodore ,,ayrault ,,dodge4 ,all rights reserved4 ,the ,riverside ,press1 ,cambridge3 ,electrotyped and ,printed by ,h4 ,o4 ,houghton and ,company4 ,to ,,the ,,country ,,club ,,of ,,boston1 ,,which ,,has ,,fostered ,a ,,true ,,appreciation ,,of ,,good ,,horsemanship ,,in ,,our ,,city ,,of ,,beautiful ,,environments1 ,,and ,,whose ,,generous ,,and ,,able ,,administration ,,has ,,afforded ,,the ,,lovers ,,of ,,the ,,saddle ,,so ,,many ,,occasions ,,of ,,rare ,,entertainment1 ,these ,pages are ,inscribed ,,by ,a ,,member4 ,since--as it has been our fortune to be long engaged about horses--we consider that we have acquired some knowledge of horsemanship1 we desire also to intimate to the younger part of our friends how we think that they may bestow their attention on horses to the best advantage4 ,,xenophon on ,horsemanship1 ,i4 ,i4 ,transcriber's ,note3 ,the ,table of ,contents have been moved from the back of the book to the front4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,i4 ,patroclus and ,i #ai ,,ii4 ,saddles and ,seats #bb ,,iii4 ,patroclus on a ,rack #bh ,,iv4 ,the ,rack and ,single-,foot #bi ,v4 ,patroclus ,trotting #cb ,,vi4 ,thoroughbred or ,half-,bred #cc ,,vii4 ,the ,saddle ,mania #ce ,,viii4 ,park-,riding #cg ,,ix4 ,a ,fine ,horse not necessarily a ,good ,hack #ci ,x4 ,soldiers have ,stout ,seats #da ,,xi4 ,a ,gate and a ,brook #dd ,,xii4 ,the ,old ,trooper #dh ,,xiii4 ,instruction in ,riding #di ,,xiv4 ,chilly ,fox-,hunting #ea ,,xv4 ,is ,soldier or ,fox-,hunter the ,better ,rider8 #ee ,,xvi4 ,the ,school-,rider #ef ,,xvii4 ,patroclus happy #ei ,,xviii4 ,photography versus ,art #fa ,,xix4 ,a ,one-,man ,horse #fi ,,xx4 ,baucher's ,favorite ,saddle ,horse #gj ,,xxi4 ,patroclus sniffs a ,friend #gc ,,xxii4 ,riding-,schools and ,school-,riding #gd ,,xxiii4 ,is ,schooling of ,value8 #gf ,,xxiv4 ,manuals of ,training #hb ,,xxv4 ,result of ,training #hc ,,xxvi4 ,qualities of the ,horse #hf ,,xxvii4 ,dress1 ,saddles1 and ,bridles #hg ,,xxviii4 ,mounting #hi ,,xxix4 ,how to hold the ,reins #ib ,,xxx4 ,how to begin ,training #id ,,xxxi4 ,penelope's ,unrestrained ,courage #ig ,,xxxii4 ,hints before beginning to train a ,horse #ih ,,xxxiii4 ,guiding by the ,neck #ajd ,,xxxiv4 ,what an ,arched ,neck means #aji ,,xxxv4 ,flexions of the ,neck #aac ,,xxxvi4 ,flexions of the ,croup #aaf ,,xxxvii4 ,the ,canter #aba ,,xxxviii4 ,leading with either ,shoulder #abe ,,xxxix4 ,the ,horse's ,natural ,lead #aca ,,xl4 ,the ,best ,way to teach the ,lead #ace ,,xli4 ,change of ,lead in ,motion #ach ,,xlii4 ,suggestions #ada ,,xliii4 ,how to begin ,jumping #adc ,,xliv4 ,the ,reins in the ,jump #adh ,,xlv4 ,odds and ,ends of ,leaping #aeb ,,xlvi4 ,hunting and ,road-,riding #aee ,,xlvii4 ,advantages of ,true ,rack #aeg ,,xlviii4 ,who is the ,best ,rider8 #afj ,,xlix4 ,vale6 #aff ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations4 #a4 ,,patroclus ,frontispiece4 #b4 ,a ,,quiet ,,amble #ab #c4 ,,the ,,rack ,,or ,,running ,,walk #bd #d4 ,a ,,sharp ,,single-,,foot #cf #e4 ,,an ,,easy ,,canter #dh #f4 ,a ,,ten-,,mile ,,trot #fj #g4 ,,rising ,,to ,a ,,hurdle #gb #h4 ,,flying ,a ,,hurdle #hd #i4 ,,clean ,,above ,,it #if #aj4 ,,taking ,,off ,,at ,,water #ajh #aa4 ,,doing ,,it ,,handily #abj #ab4 ,a ,,twenty-,,foot ,,jump #acb #ac4 ,,about ,,to ,,land #add #ad4 ,,landing #aef ,,before ,,mounting4 ,but a few months since1 the author1 whose thirty odd years in the saddle in many parts of the world have1 he trusts1 taught him that modesty which should always be bred of usage1 was showing some of the instantaneous photographs of his horse ,patroclus to a group of ,club men4 ,most of the gentlemen were old friends1 but one of the photographs having been passed to a by-stander1 whose attire marked him as belonging to the most recently developed ,boston type of horsemen1 elicited1 much to his listeners' entertainment1 the remark that naw man can wide in a saddle like that1 ye know1 not weally wide1 ye know6 naw fawm1 ye know6 wouldn't be tolewated in our school1 ye know6 ,the author was informed by a mutual acquaintance that the gentleman was taking a course of lessons at the swellest riding academy of the city1 and had recently imported an ,english gelding4 ,in deference to such excellent authority1 whose not unkindly meant1 if somewhat brusquely uttered1 criticism may be said to have inspired these pages1 otherwise perhaps without a suitable motif1 an explanation appears to be called for1 lest by some other youthful equestrian critics the physician be advised to heal himself4 ,the exclusive use of the ,english hunting-rig and crop for all kinds and conditions of men at all times and in all places is well understood by old horsemen to be but a matter of fashion which time may displace in favor of some other novelty4 ,for their proper purpose they are undeniably the best4 ,but to the newly fledged equestrian who makes them his shibboleth1 and who discards as bad form any variation upon the road from what is eminently in place after hounds1 the author1 with an admiration for the excellencies of the ,english seat derived from half a dozen years' residence in the ,old ,country and many a sharp run in the flying-counties1 and with the consciousness that1 if tried in the balance of to-day's ,anglomania1 his own seat1 as shown in some of the illustrations1 may chance to be found wanting1 desires to explain that1 during the ,civil ,war1 outrageous fortune1 among other slings and arrows1 sent him to the rear with the loss of a leg2 but that far from giving up a habit thus become all the more essential because he could no longer safely sit a flat saddle1 he concluded to supplement his lack of grip 7as the ,marquis of ,anglesea for a similar reason had done before him7 by the artificial support which is afforded in the rolls and pads of a somerset or demi-pique1 as well as to adopt the seat best suited to his disability4 ,and it was such a saddle1 of a pattern perhaps too pronounced to suit even the author's eye1 however comfortable and safe1--particularly so in leaping1 which provoked the censure1 perhaps quite justifiable according to the light of the critic1 which has been quoted above4 ,this variation1 however1 by no means conflicts with the author's belief in1 and constant advocacy of1 the flat ,english saddle in its place4 ,but he has seen so many accomplished riders in quite different saddles1 that he became long ago convinced that the ,english tree by no means affords the only perfect seat4 ,in fact1 the saddle best suited to universal use1 that is1 the one which might best serve a man under any conditions1 approaches1 in his opinion1 more nearly the modified military saddle of to-day than the hunting type4 ,nor because a local fashion1 set but yesterday1 prescribes strict adherence to a style he cannot follow1 is the author less ready to venture upon giving a friendly word of advice to many of our young and aspiring riders4 ,there are not a few gentlemen in ,boston1 whose months in the saddle number far less than the author's years1 to whose courage and discretion as horsemen he yields his very honest admiration1 and whose stanch hunters he is happy to follow across country1 nor ashamed if he finds he has lost them from sight4 ,he regrets to say that he has also seen not a few who affect to sneer at a padded saddle or a horse with a long tail1 who seem incapable of throwing their heart across a thirty inch stone wall in a burst after hounds1 although upon the road they seek to impress one as constantly riding to cover4 ,it is unnecessary1 however1 to say that the author has too long been a lover of equestrianism per se not to admire the good and be tolerant of the bad for the total sum of gain which the horseback mania of to-day affords4 ,he is old enough to remember that human nature remains the same1 however fast the world may move1 and is firm in the belief that we shall soon grow to be a nation of excellent horsemen4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ii4 ,a ,,quiet ,,amble4 ,there is no pretense to make these pages a new manual for horse-training or for riding4 ,there are plenty of good books on horsemanship now in print2 but unfortunately there are few riders who care for anything beyond a superficial education of either their horses or themselves4 ,more than rudimentary--if viewed in the light of the ,high ,school--the hints in this volume can scarcely be considered4 ,if any incentive to the study of the real art and to the better training of saddle beasts is given1 all that these pages deserve will have been gained4 ,the plates are phototype reproductions from photographs of ,patroclus1 taken in action by ,baldwin ,coolidge4 ,their origin lay in the belief that a fine-gaited horse could be instantaneously photographed1 and still show the agreeable action which all horse-lovers admire1 and have been habituated to see drawn by artists1 instead of the ungainly positions usually resulting from the instantaneous process4 ,the object aimed at--to show an anatomically correct and artistically acceptable horse in each case--has1 it is thought1 been gained1 so far1 at least1 as motion arrested can ever give the idea of motion4 ,out of thirty photographs taken1 the fourteen herein given1 and one or two others1 much resembling some of these1 showed an agreeable action4 ,the best positions of the horse were often the poorest photographs4 ,in enlarging them by solar prints for the phototype process1 the shadows of the horse have been darkened1 or in some instances1 where a negative has been blurred or injured1 an indistinct line has been strengthened4 ,in some plates the photograph was so clear 7as ,plates ,,iv4 and ,v47 that no darkening of the shadows was necessary4 ,in others 7as ,plates ,,vii4 and ,,viii47 the negative1 though showing excellent position1 was so weak as to require a good deal of treatment4 ,but in even the most indistinct ones the outline and crude shadows were clearly shown by the negatives1 and followed absolutely in treating the solar prints4 ,the plates are thus obtained intact from the original instantaneous negatives1 and faithfully represent the action and spirit of the horse4 ,the jumping pictures were taken against the natural background1 the others against a screen or building4 ,in the latter1 the entire background has been made white1 for greater distinctness4 ,the water-jump was in reality a dry ditch of eleven feet wide from bar to bank4 ,but being hidden in the original negatives by the heaps of earth thrown up in digging it1 and several of the negatives being blurred in the foreground1 the water was added in the solar prints4 ,to preserve anatomical accuracy1 the finer results of both photography and of the phototype process have had to be sacrificed4 ,to state that the author has often witnessed the prize leaping at the ,agricultural ,hall ,horse ,show in ,london1 as well as watched the contest of many a noted ,english steeple-chase1 will absolve him from any suspicion of parading these photographs as examples of excellent performance4 ,they were all taken in cold blood on one occasion1 and ,patroclus was ridden alone over the obstacles at least a dozen times for each good picture secured4 ,every horseman knows that this is a pretty sound test of a willing jumper1 if not a crack one4 ,moreover1 the author has been acquainted with too many masters of equitation1 at home as well as abroad1 to harbor any but a very modest opinion of his own equestrian ability4 ,he would be much more sensitive to criticism of ,patroclus than of himself1 for he knows the horse to be an exceptionally good one within his limitations1 while always conscious that his own seat lacks the firmness of ante-bellum days4 ,it used to be said in the ,old ,country that an ,englishman keeps his seat to manage his horse1 and that a ,frenchman manages his horse to keep his seat4 ,the author is obliged to confess that to-day he is often reduced to the latter practice4 ,the hurdles were somewhat over four feet high2 behind each was a bar just four feet from the ground4 ,the water-jumps were from fifteen to eighteen feet from taking-off to landing4 ,on a number of occasions 7as in ,plate ,,xii47 ,patroclus covered over twenty measured feet in this jump4 ,as is manifest from a few of the plates1 it was the action of the horse1 and not the form of the rider1 which it was aimed to secure4 ,it is easy to make engravings in which the seat of the rider shall be perfect2 but in all the wood-cut illustrations of books on equitation the horse is usually anatomically incorrect1 however artistically suggestive4 ,one never sees the photograph of a horse clearing an obstacle in which the rider's form is as perfect as it is apt to be depicted in engravings or paintings4 ,and in some of the within illustrations of road gaits there is apparent a carelessness in both seat and reins which would scarcely do in the accomplishment of the high airs of the manege1 but into which a rider is sometimes apt unconsciously to lapse4 ,no one is probably better aware of what is good and bad alike in these plates than the author himself4 ,he appreciates form at its exact value1 but is constrained to believe that the true article comes from sources far removed from1 and of vastly more solid worth than the pigskin which covers a rider's saddle1 or the shears which bang his horse's tail4 ,the searching power of photography1 however1 is no respecter of form or person4 ,a word of thanks should not be omitted to ,mr4 ,coolidge1 whose excellent judgment and keen eye in taking these pictures1 without other apparatus than his lens1 is well shown by the result1 nor to the ,lewis ,engraving ,company for their careful reproductions from material by no means perfect4 ,perhaps it should be said that ,master ,tom and ,penelope1 who figure in these pages1 are as really in the flesh as ,patroclus1 and by no means mere fictions of the imagination4 ,there is no instruction pretended to be conveyed by these plates1 as there is in the similarly obtained illustrations of ,anderson's excellent ,modern ,horsemanship4 ,their purpose is less to point a moral than to adorn a tale4 ,but an apology to all is perhaps due for the very chatty manner in which the author has taken his friend1 the reader1 into his confidence1 and to experienced horsemen for the very elementary hints sometimes given4 ,the pages devoted to ,penelope are meant for young riders who1 like ,master ,tom1 really want to learn4 ,,theodore ,,ayrault ,,dodge4 ,,brookline1 ,,mass41 ,april1 #ahhe4 ,,patroclus ,,and ,,penelope4 ,a ,,chat ,,in ,,the ,,saddle4 ,i4 ,we are fast friends1 ,patroclus1 and many's the hour since1 five years ago1 ,i bought you1 an impetuous but good-tempered and intelligent three-year-old colt1 whom every one thought too flighty to be of much account1 that you and ,i have spent in each other's company upon the pretty suburban roads of ,boston4 ,and many's the scamper and frolic that we've had across the fields1 and many's the quiet stroll through the shady woods6 ,for you and ,i1 ,patroclus1 can go where it takes a goodish horse to follow in our wake4 ,i wonder1 as ,i look into your broad and handsome face1 whether you know and love me as well as ,i do you4 ,indeed1 when you whinny at my distant step1 or rub your inquisitive old nose against my hands or towards my pocket1 begging for another handful of oats or for a taste of salt or sugar2 or when you confidingly lower your head to have me rub your ears1 with so much restful intelligence beaming from your soft1 brown eyes1 and such evident liking for my company1 ,i think you know how warm my heart beats for you4 ,and how generous the blood which courses through your own tense veins your master knows full well4 ,if ,i had to flee for my life1 ,patroclus1 ,i should wish that your mighty back1 tough thews1 and noble courage could bear me through the struggle4 ,for ,i never called upon you yet1 but what there came the response which only the truest of your race can give4 ,no1 ,pat6 you've got all the sugar you can have to-day4 ,my pockets are not a grocer's shop4 ,stand quiet while ,i mount1 and you and ,i will take our usual stroll4 99 99 99 99 99 ,patroclus is said to have been sired in the ,old ,country out of a cavalry mare brought over by an ,english officer to ,quebec1 and there foaled in ,her ,majesty's service4 ,even this much ,i had on hearsay4 ,but he has the instincts of the charger in every fibre1--and perhaps the most intelligent and best saddle beasts among civilized nations belong to mounted troops4 ,as old ,hiram ,woodruff used to say1 ,patroclus makes his own pedigree4 ,i know what he is2 ,i care not whence he came4 ,no need to extol your points4 ,though there be those of higher lineage1 and many a speedier horse upon the turf1 or perchance a grander performer after hounds1 thrice your value to whoso will find fault or blemish upon you1 my ,patroclus6 ,you are blood-bay and glossy as a satin kerchief4 ,you are near sixteen hands2 short coupled enough to carry weight1 and long enough below to take an ample stride4 ,you tread as light as a steel watch-spring quivers4 ,a woman's face has rarely a sweeter or more trusting look than yours in repose2 a falcon's eye is no keener when aroused4 ,you will follow me like a dog1 and your little mistresses can fondle you in stall or paddock4 ,you have all the life and endurance of the thoroughbred1 the intelligence of the ,arab1 the perfect manners of the park1 and the power and discretion of a ,midland ,counties hunter4 ,like the old song1 you have ,a head like a snake1 and a skin like a mouse1 ,an eye like a woman1 bright1 gentle1 and brown2 ,with loins and a back that would carry a house1 ,and quarters to lift you smack over a town4 ,may it be many a year yet1 ,patroclus1 before ,i must pension you off for good6 99 99 99 99 99 ,you stand for me to mount as steady as a rock4 ,and you know your crippled master's needs so well that you would do it in the whirl of a stampede4 ,i will leave the reins upon your neck and let you walk whither your own fancy dictates1 for ,i am lazily inclined2 though indeed ,i know from your tossing head that you fain would go a livelier gait4 ,so long as you can walk your four full miles an hour1 you will have to curb your ardor for many a long stretch1 while your master chews the cud of sweet and bitter fancies4 99 99 99 99 99 ,as we saunter along1 the reflections bred of thirty odd years in the saddle come crowding up4 ,from a ,shelty with a scratch-pack in ,surrey a generation since1 to many a cavalry charge with bugle-clash and thundering tread on ,old ,dominion soil now twenty years ago1 the daily life with that best of friends1--save always one1--the perfect saddle horse1 brings many thoughts to mind4 ,what if we jot them down8 ,,ii4 ,the most common delusion under which the average equestrian is apt to labor in every part of the world is that his own style of riding is the one par excellence4 ,whether the steeple-chaser on his thoroughbred1 or the ,indian on his mustang is the better rider1 cannot well be decided4 ,the peculiar horsemanship of every country has its manifest advantages1 and is the natural outgrowth of1 as well as peculiarly adapted to1 the climate1 roads1 and uses to which the horse is put4 ,the cowboy who can defy the bucking broncho will be unseated by a two-year-old which any racing-stable boy can stick to1 while this same boy would hardly sit the third stiff boost of the ragged1 grass-fed pony4 ,the best horseman of the desert would be nowhere in the hunting-field4 ,the cavalry-man who1 with a few of his fellows1 can carve his way through a column of infantry1 may not be able to compete at polo with a ,newport swell4 ,the jockey who will ride over five and a half feet of timber or twenty feet of water would make sorry work in pulling down a lassoed steer4 ,each one in his element is by far the superior of the other1 but none of these is just the type of horseman whom the denizen of our busy cities1 for his daily enjoyment1 cares to make his pattern4 ,the original barbarian1 no doubt1 clasped his undersized mount with all the legs he had1 as every natural rider does to-day4 ,when saddle and stirrups came into use1 followed anon by spurs1 discretion soon taught the grip with knee and thigh alone1 the heels being kept for other purposes than support4 ,it must1 however1 be set down to the credit of the original barbarian that he probably did not ride in the style known as tongs on a wall4 ,this certainly not admirable seat originated with the knight in heavy armor1 and has since been adhered to by many nations1 and1 through the ,spaniards1 has found its way to every part of the ,americas4 ,but as a rule1 wild riders have the bent knee which gives the firmest bareback seat4 ,the long stirrup and high cantle must not be condemned for certain purposes4 ,when not carried to the furthest extreme they have decided advantages4 ,it is by no means sure that any other seat would be equally easy on the cantering mustang for so many scores of miles a day as many men on the plains customarily cover4 ,and though for our city purposes and mounts it is distinctly unavailable1 one must be cautious in depreciating a seat which is clung to so tenaciously by so many splendid riders4 ,it is a mistake to suppose that the ,southerners and ,mexicans1 as well as soldiers1 all ride with straight leg4 ,while you often see this fault carried to an extreme among all these1 the best horsemen ,i have generally observed riding with a naturally bent knee4 ,and it takes a great deal to convince a good rider of any of these classes that a man who will lean and rise to a trot knows the ,a ,b ,c of equestrianism4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iii4 ,,the ,,rack ,,or ,,running ,,walk4 ,whether the first saddle had a short seat and long stirrups1 a la militaire1 or a long seat with short ones1 a l',anglaise1 matters little4 ,though the original home of the horse boasts to-day the shortest of stirrups 7and even in ,xenophon's time this appears to have been the ,asiatic habit71 a reasonably long one would seem to have been the most natural first step from the bareback seat4 ,if so1 what is it that has gradually lengthened the seat of the ,englishman1 who represents for us to-day the favorite type of civilized horsemanship1 and if not the best1 perhaps nearest that which is best suited to our ,eastern wants8 ,no doubt1 in early days1 horses were mainly ridden on a canter or a gallop4 ,if perchance a trot1 it was a mere shog1 comfortable enough with a short seat and high cantle4 ,the early horse was a short-gaited creature4 ,but two things came gradually about4 ,dirt roads grew into turnpikes2 and the pony-gaited nag began1 about the days of the ,byerly ,turk1 nearly two hundred years ago1 to develop into the long-striding thoroughbred4 ,the paved pike speedily proved that a canter sooner injures the fetlock joints of the forelegs and strains the sinews of the hind than a trot1 and men merciful unto their beasts or careful of their pockets began to ride the latter gait4 ,but when the step in the trot became longer and speedier as the saddle horse became better bred1 riders were not long in finding out that to rise in the stirrups was easier for both man and beast1 and as shorter stirrups materially aid the rise1 the seat began to grow in length4 ,it has been proved satisfactorily to the ,french1 who have always been close riders1 that to rise in the trot saves the horse to a very great percentage1 put by some good authorities at as high a figure as one sixth4 ,moreover1 it was not a strange step forward4 ,that it is natural to rise in the trot is shown by there being to-day many savage or semi-civilized tribes which practice the habit in entire unconsciousness of its utility being a disputed point anywhere4 ,another reason for shortening the leathers no doubt prevailed4 ,the ,english found the most secure seat for vigorous leaping to be the long one4 ,of course a little obstacle can be cleared in any saddle2 but with the long seat1 the violent exertion of the horse in a high jump does not loosen the grip with knees and calves1 but at most only throws one's buckskin from the saddle1 as indeed it should not even do that4 ,for the knees being well in front of1 instead of hanging below1 the seat of honor1 enables a man to lean back and sustain the jar of landing without parting company with his mount1 while a big jump with stirrups too long1 if it unseats you at all1 loosens your entire grip1 or may throw you against the pommel in a highly dangerous manner4 ,moreover1 with short stirrups1 the horse is able on occasion to run and jump well away from under you1 while1 except during the leap itself1 the weight for considerable distances may be sustained by the stirrups alone1 and thus be better distributed for the horse over ground where the footing is unsteady1 as it is in ridge and furrow4 ,no better illustration of the uses of these several seats than an ,english cavalry officer4 ,on parade he will ride with the longest of stirrups compatible with not sitting on his crotch4 ,to rise in the saddle is a forbidden luxury to the soldier4 ,despite some recent experiments in foreign service1 and the fact that on the march the cavalry-man may be permitted to rise1 nay1 encouraged to do so1 what more ridiculous than a troop of cavalry on parade1 each man bobbing up and down at his own sweet will8 ,the horse suitable for a trooper is a short1 quick-gaited1 handy animal1 chosen largely for this quality1 and made still more so by being taught to work in a collected manner by the manege4 ,you can very comfortably sit him with a military saddle at a pretty sharp parade trot4 ,now1 suppose our cavalry officer is going for a canter in ,rotten ,row1--he will at once shorten his stirrup-leathers a couple of holes2 and if he were going to ride cross-country1 he would shorten them still a couple more4 ,experience has taught him the peculiar uses of each position4 ,some writers claim that one seat ought to suffice for all occasions4 ,and so it can be made to do4 ,this one seat may1 however1 not always be the best adapted to the work immediately in hand1 or to the animal ridden4 ,a slight change is often a gain4 ,every one has noticed that different horses1 as well as different ground ridden over1 vary the rider's seat in the same saddle4 ,but excellent as is the long hunting-seat in its place1 one can conceive no more ridiculous sight than the ,english swell ,i once saw in ,colorado1 who had brought his own pigskin with him1 and started out for a ten days' ride across the prairie on an ,indian pony1 the only available mount4 ,the pony's short gait was admirable for a long day's jaunt in a peaked saddle1 but so little suited to a cross-country rig1 that the swell's condition at the end of the first fifty miles must have been pitiable4 ,this unusual tenderfoot exhibition elicited a deal of very natural laughter1 and its butt1 who was an excellent but narrow-minded horseman1 though he stuck with square-toed ,british pluck to his rig for a few days1 came back to ,denver equipped a la cowboy4 ,his ,piccadilly saddle had been abandoned to the prairie-dogs4 ,,iii4 ,patroclus watches his rider's mood4 ,he has become contemplative too1 and has taken kindly to our sober pace4 ,but you shall have your turn1 my glossy pet4 ,let us get off this macadamized road where we can find some cantering ground4 ,as ,i shorten the reins1 'tis indeed a pleasure to see your head come up1 neck arched1 eye brightening1 alternate ears moving back to catch your master's word1 feet at once gathered under you1 and nerves and muscles on keenest tension4 ,every motion is springy1 elastic1 bold1 and free1 as full of power as it is of ease4 ,no wonder1 ,patroclus1 that eyes so often turn to watch you4 ,no wonder that you seem conscious that they do4 ,for though we both know that the first test of the horse is performance1 yet having that1 there is pleasure to us both in your graceful gaits4 ,to give the reins the least possible shake will send you into the most ecstatic of running walks1 as fast as one needs to go1 and so easy that it is a constant wonder how you do it4 ,this is no common amble or bumping pace1 but the true four beat rack4 ,and as you toss your head and champ your bit1 ,patroclus1 with the pleasure of your accelerated motion1 how well you seem to know the comfort of your rider4 ,,iv4 ,this running walk or rack1 by the way1 is one of the most delightful of gaits4 ,its universal adoption in the ,south by every one who can buy a racker is due to the roads1 which1 for many months of the year1 are so utterly impassable that you have to pick your way in and out of the woods and fields on either side1 and rarely meet a stretch where you can start into a swinging trot4 ,but a horse will fall from a walk into a rack1 or vice versa1 with the greatest of ease to himself and rider1 and if the stretch is but a hundred yards will gain some distance in that short bit of ground4 ,if you have a fifty mile ride over good roads in comfortable weather1 perhaps a smart trot1 if easy1 of course alternating with the walk1 is as good a single gait as you can ride4 ,but you need to trot or canter a goodly stretch1 not to shorten rein at every dozen rods1 for the transition from a walk to either of these gaits or back again1 though slight1 is still an exertion2 while from the walk to the rack and back the change is so imperceptible that one is made conscious of it only by the patter of the horse's feet4 ,here again1 the country's need1 roads1 and climate have bred a most acceptable gait4 ,but it has made the ,southerner forget what an inspiriting thing a swinging twelve-mile trot can be along a smooth and pretty road2 and you cannot give away a trotting horse for use in the saddle south of ,mason and ,dixon4 ,the rack soon grows into the single-foot1 which only differs from it in being faster1 and the latter is substituted for the trot4 ,to go a six or eight mile gait1 holding a full glass of water in the hand1 and not to spill a drop1 is the test of perfection in the racker4 ,and for a lazy feeling day1 or for hot weather1 anywhere1 it is the acme of comfort4 ,or it is1 indeed1 a useful gait in winter1 when it is too cold for a clipped horse to walk and your nag has yet not stretched his legs enough to want to go at sharper speed4 ,it must1 however1 be acknowledged that it is very rare that a horse will rack perfectly as well as trot4 ,he is apt to get the gaits mixed4 ,a rack is half way between a pace and a trot4 ,in the pace1 the two feet of each side move and come down together2 in the trot1 the two alternate feet do so4 ,in the running walk1 or in the single-foot1 each hind foot follows its leader at the half interval1 no two feet coming to the ground together1 but in regular succession1 so as to produce just twice as many foot-falls as a trot or a pace4 ,hence the one1 two1 three1 four1 patter of the horse gives to the ear the impression of very great rapidity1 when really moving at only half the apparent speed4 ,the result of the step is a swaying1 easy back1 which you can sit with as much ease as a walk4 ,rackers will go a six-mile gait1 single-footers much faster4 ,i once owned a single-footing mare1 who came from ,alexander's farm and was sired by ,norman1 who could single-foot a full mile in three minutes4 ,as a rule1 the speed is not much more than half that rate4 ,and either a rack or single-foot is apt to spoil the square trot2 or if you break a horse to trot1 you will lose the other gaits4 ,a perfect all-day racker or a speedy single-footer can scarcely be aught else4 ,v4 ,i did not mean to apply that rule to you1 ,patroclus6 ,we both of us know better4 ,for the exceptional horse can learn to rack or single-foot without detriment to his other paces1 if he be not kept upon these gaits too long at any time4 ,half a mile ahead of us is the little grass-grown lane1 where we can indulge in a canter or a frolicsome gallop4 ,shall we quicken our speed a trifle8 ,simply a ,trot1 ,pat6 and on the second step you fall into as square and level a trot as ever horse could boast4 ,i know how quickly you obey my voice1 old boy1 and but one step from my word ,i am ready to catch the first rise1 and without the semblance of a jar we are in a full sharp trot4 ,how ,i love to look over your shoulder1 ,patroclus1 and see your broad1 flat knee come swinging up1 and showing at every step its bony angles beyond the point of your shoulder2 though1 indeed1 your shoulder is so slanting that the saddle sits well back1 and your rider is too old a soldier to lean much to his trot4 ,and you will go six to--,i had almost said sixteen--miles an hour at this gait1 nor vary an ounce of pressure on your velvety mouth4 ,how is it1 ,patroclus1 that you catch the meaning of my hands so readily8 ,,vi4 ,the fancy of to-day is for the daisy-clipping thoroughbred4 ,and when they do not run to the knife-blade pattern1 they may be the finest mounts a man can throw his leg across4 ,but my fancy for the road has always been for the higher stepping half-bred4 ,granted that on the turf or across a flying country blood will tell4 ,granted that brilliant knee action is mainly ornamental4 ,still1 in ,america1 the half-bred will average much better in looks1 and vastly more satisfactory in hardy service4 ,where shall we again find the equivalent of the ,morgan breed1 now all but lost in the desire to get the typical running horse8 ,for saddle work1 and the very best of its kind1 there was never a finer pattern than the ,morgan4 ,alas1 that we have allowed him to disappear6 ,his worth would soon come to the fore in these days of saddle pleasures4 ,the thoroughbred's characteristic is ability to perform prodigies of speed and endurance at exceptional times4 ,but the strong1 every-day-in-the-year good performer is usually no more than half-bred1 if even that4 ,moreover1 you can find a hundred daisy-clippers for one proud stepper1 be he thoroughbred or galloway4 ,there is such a thing as waste of action4 ,no one wants to straddle a black ,hanoverian out of a hearse4 ,but the horse who steps high may be as good a stayer as the one who does not1 and high action is a beauty which delights men's eyes and opens their purses4 ,because the long stride of the turf is better for being low1 it is not safe to apply this rule to the road4 ,there are many more worthless brutes among thoroughbreds than among the common herd4 ,while it is easy to acknowledge that the perfect thoroughbred excels all other horses1 the fact must also be noted that he is of extremest rarity1 and even when found is infrequently up to weight4 ,if we use the word advisedly1 only the horse registered in the ,stud ,book is a thoroughbred4 ,these have no early training whatever1 except to allow themselves to be mounted1 and to run their best4 ,if they stand the initial test of speed1 they are reserved for the turf1 and there wholly spoiled for the saddle or for any other purpose of pleasure4 ,if they do not1 they are turned adrift1 half spoiled in mouth and manners by tricky stable-boys1 and may or may not fall into good hands4 ,for one thoroughbred with perfect manners1 sound1 and up to weight1 there are a score of really good half-breds1 as near perfection as their owners choose or are able to make them4 ,what we in ,america are apt colloquially to call a thoroughbred is only a horse which1 in his looks1 shows some decided infusion of good blood1 or is sired by a well-bred horse4 ,but it is to be remembered that of two horses with an equal strain of pure blood1 one may have reverted to a coarse physical type1 and the other to the finer4 ,and the one who has inherited the undeniable stamp of the common-bred ancestor may also have inherited from the other side those qualities of constitution1 courage1 intelligence1 and speed1 which sum up the value of high ,english blood4 ,not one fine-bred horse in one hundred--,i speak from the ownership of1 and daily personal intimacy for considerable periods with1 over fifty good saddle beasts1--has as many of the admirable qualities of pure blood as ,patroclus4 ,and yet 7absit omen71 he has a wave in his tail1 and though his feet and legs are perfect in shape1 and as clean as a colt's1 they are far beyond the thoroughbred's in size4 ,he shows that his ancestry runs back both to the desert and the plough4 ,in ,america1 surely1 handsome is that handsome does4 ,let us value good blood for its qualities1 not looks1 and ride serviceable half-breds1 instead of sporting worthless weeds because they approach to the clothes-horse pattern1 or have necks like camels4 ,,vii4 ,one of the most distinctly promising features of the athletic tendencies of to-day is the mania for the saddle4 ,fifteen years ago1 the boys along the ,boston streets used to hoot at your master1 ,patroclus4 ,not1 indeed1 that he had a poor seat or needed to get inside and pull down the blinds1 as the ,london cad might phrase it1 for a good or bad seat was all alike to them2 rather at the wholly unusual sight of a man on horseback--outside of politics4 ,but the number of good horsemen1 and horsewomen too1 is growing every day4 ,here comes a couple at a brisk round trot4 ,how can we notice the lad1 ,patroclus1 when the lassie looks so sweetly8 ,in her neat habit1 with dainty protruding foot and ankle1 sitting her trappy-gaited mount with ease and grace1 the bloom of health fairly dazzling you as she rushes by1 so that you doubt whether it be her pretty eye and white teeth or her ruddy skin and happy face which has set even your ancient heart a-throbbing1 how can a woman look more attractive8 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iv4 ,a ,,sharp ,,single-,,foot4 ,but the alluring sight is not long-lived4 ,following hard upon them comes1 not the first rider who has chased a petticoat1 a young ,anglomaniac4 ,he fancies that his hunting-crop1 his immaculate rig1 and his elbows out-,britishing the worst of ,british snobs1 as he leans far over his pommel1 make him a pattern rider4 ,you can see the daylight under his knees4 ,a sudden plunge would send him1 ,lord knows where6 ,haply his dock-tailed plug remembers the shafts full well and steadily plods ahead4 ,but bless his little dudish heart6 he will learn better4 ,as his months in the saddle increase1 he will find his seat as well as his place4 ,we ,americans are the making of an excellent race of horsemen4 ,it is a pleasure to see the increase in the number of promising riders who seek the western suburbs every day4 ,we shall all ride1 as we manage to do everything1 well1--after a while4 ,there is of course a lot of rubbish and imported--rot1 shall we call it8 ,but what odds8 so there is in art1 music1 politics1 religion4 ,,viii4 ,you see the corner of the lane1 ,patroclus1 while ,i have been thus musing1 and your lively ear and instinctively quickened gait rouse my half-dazed thoughts4 ,here we are4 ,shall we take our accustomed canter8 ,you always wait the word1 though you are eagerness itself1 for you do not yet know when ,i want you to start1 or which foot ,i may ask you to lead with4 ,though1 indeed1 you will sometimes prance a bit1 and change step in the alternate graceful bounds of the passage1 to invite and urge my choice4 ,the least pressure of one leg1 and off you go1 leading with the opposite shoulder4 ,and you will keep this foot by the mile1 ,patroclus1 or change at every second step1 should ,i ask you so to do4 ,you need but the slightest monition of my leg1 and instantly your other shoulder takes the lead4 ,i see you want to gallop1 boy6 ,but not quite yet4 ,you must not forget that you have been taught1 as they say in ,kentucky1 to canter all day long in the shade of an apple tree1 if so be it your master wishes4 ,you shall have your gallop anon4 ,but you must never forget that a horse who can only walk or go a twelve-mile trot or hand-gallop1 though he may lead the hunt cross-country1 is an unmitigated nuisance on the road4 ,slow and easy gaits are as valuable to the park-hack as long wind and speed to the racer4 ,and although ,boston1 as yet1 boasts no ,rotten ,row1 are not the daily rides through its exquisite environments the equivalent of the canter in that justly celebrated resort1 rather than the mere country tramp upon a handy roadster or the ride to cover on a rapid covert-hack8 ,and yet our imitation of our ,british cousins has approximated less to the pleasure ride than to the cross-country style4 ,perhaps1 in our eagerness to convince ourselves that we have learned all there is worth knowing in the art1 we have aped what is confessedly the finest of horseback sports1 and forgotten the more moderate fashion of ,hyde ,park4 ,let us remember that we can saunter on the road every day1 while riding to hounds is for most of us a rarish luxury4 ,,ix4 ,because a horse can go well to hounds1 it does not follow that he is fit for park or road work any more than the three-year-old who wins the ,derby or ,st4 ,leger is fitted for a palfrey4 ,a horse whose business it is to run and jump must have his head2 while a horse1 to be a clever and agreeable hack1 should learn that the bit is a limitation of his action1 and that the slightest movement of the hand or leg of the rider has its meaning4 ,what is impossible in galloping over ploughed fields is essential to comfort on the road4 ,in the field1 everything must be subservient to saving the horse2 the rider's comfort is the rule of the park4 ,it is every day that we may see a rider who deems his excellent hunter a good saddle beast1 when1 however clever cross-country1 he is absolutely ignorant of the first elements of the manege4 ,he forgets that each is perfect in his own place and may be useless in the other's4 ,i am the owner of a fine-bred mare1 whom ,i have as yet had no opportunity to school4 ,she is the perfect type of a twelve-stone hunter4 ,after hounds she will attract the eye of the whole field for distinguished beauty1 and ridden up to her capacity1 can always be in the first flight4 ,she has speed1 endurance1 and fine disposition1 is as sound and hardy as a hickory stick1 and in her place unsurpassed4 ,almost any of the horsemen of to-day's ,modern ,athens would select this mare in preference to ,patroclus4 ,and yet1 a four-in-hand of her type1 as she now is1 ,tantivy coach thrown in for make-weight1 are not worth one ,patroclus for real saddle work1 because she has no conception of moderate gaits4 ,she is bound to go twelve miles an hour if you let her out of a walk1 or fret at the restraint4 ,i can ride ,patroclus twenty-five miles without fatigue4 ,if ,i ride the mare ten miles1 ,i come in tired1 drenched with heat1 and probably with my temper somewhat ruffled1 while she has fretted to a lather more than once1 and we have both been so hot during the entire ride that1 if the day is raw1 it has been dangerous to ease into a walk4 ,if ,i ride ,patroclus over the same ground in the same time1 we shall both come in fresh as a daisy1 dry1 and each well-pleased with the other4 ,while this mare can gallop fast and is easy and kind1 a man must work his passage to make her canter a six-mile gait4 ,she has no more ambition than ,patroclus1 but she does not curb it to the will of her rider4 ,with a knowledge of all which1 however1 most of our young swells would select the mare for simple road-riding1 because she looks so like a thoroughbred hunter1 and rather suggests the impression that they habitually ride to hounds4 ,as well saunter in the park in a pink coat and with tops carefully dressed to the color of ,old ,cheddar4 ,x4 ,the manege need not mean all the little refinements of training which1 however delightful to the initiated1 are unnecessary to comfort or safety4 ,but no horse can be called a good saddle beast whose forehand and croup will not yield at once to the lightest pressure of rein or leg4 ,most horses will swing their forehands with some readiness1 if not in a well-balanced manner4 ,but not many are taught to swing the croup at all2 very few can do so handily4 ,the perfect saddle horse should be able to swing his croup about in a complete circle1 of which one fore foot is the immovable centre1 or his forehand about the proper hind foot1 in either direction at will4 ,he should come in hand1 that is1 gather his legs well under him1 so as to be on a perfect balance the moment you take up the reins and close your legs upon him4 ,he should in the canter or gallop start with either foot leading1 or instantly change foot in motion at the will of his rider4 ,he should have easy1 handy gaits1 the more the better1 if he can keep them distinct and true4 ,these accomplishments1 added to a light mouth and a temper of equal courage and moderation1 or1 in short1 manners1 make that rare creature1--the perfect saddle horse4 ,it is in this that the ,english err4 ,in their perfect development of the hunter and the racer they neglect the training of the hack4 ,though it be heresy to the mania of the day to say so1 it is none the less true that while you seek your bold as well as discreet and experienced cross-country rider in ,england1 you must go to the ,continent1 or among the ,british cavalry1 to find your accomplished horseman4 ,it is the general impression among men who ride to hounds1 and still more among men who pretend to do so1 that leaping is the ultima thule of equestrianism2 and that a man who can sit a horse over a four-foot hurdle has graduated in the art of horsemanship4 ,the corollary to this error is also an article of faith among men who hunt1 that is1 that no other class of riders can leap their horses boldly and well4 ,but both ideas are as strange as they are mistaken4 ,the cavalry of ,prussia1 ,austria1 and ,italy show the finest of horsemanship4 ,more than a quarter century ago1 the author spent three years in ,berlin under the tuition of a retired major-general of the ,prussian army1 and saw a great deal of the daily inside life1 as well as the exceptional parade life1 of the army4 ,he has often seen a column of cavalry1 with sabres drawn1 ride across water which would bring half the ,myopia ,hunt to a stand-still on an ordinary run after hounds4 ,why should not men whose business it is to ride1 do so well8 ,think you there was not good horsemanship at ,vionville1 when von ,bredow 7one of the author's old school friends1 by the way7 with his six squadrons1 to enable ,bruddenbrock to hold his position till the reinforcements of the ,tenth ,corps could reach him1 rode into the centre of the ,sixth ,french ,corps d',armee8 ,in slender line1 he and his men1 three squadrons of the ,seventh ,cuirassiers1 and three of the ,sixteenth ,uhlans1 charged over the ,french artillery in the first line1 the ,french infantry in line of battle1 and reached the mitrailleuses and reserves in the rear1 where they sabred the gunners at their guns4 ,what though but thirteen officers and one hundred and fifty men out of near a thousand returned from that gallant ride8 ,though no ,tennyson has sung their glorious deed1 though we forget the willing courage with which they faced a certain sacrifice for the sake of duty to the ,fatherland1 think you those men rode not well1 as a mere act of horsemanship8 ,think you that the handful of men of the ,eighth ,pennsylvania1 at ,chancellorsville1 when they charged down upon ,stonewall ,jackson's victorious and elated legions1 riding in column through the chapparal and over the fallen timber of the ,wilderness1 carving their path through thousands of the best troops who ever followed gallant leader1 sat not firmly in their saddles8 ,think you that the men who followed ,sheridan in many a gallant charge1 or ,fitz ,hugh ,lee1 forsooth1 could not ride as well as the best of us across a bit of turf1 with a modest wall now and then to lend its zest to the pleasure8 ,neither we nor our ,british cousins can monopolize all the virtue of the world1 even in the art equestrian4 ,as there is no doubt that fox-hunting is one of the most inspiriting and manly of occupations1 or that the ,english are preeminent in their knowledge of the art1 so there is likewise no doubt that equally stout riders sit in foreign saddles4 ,and though each would have to learn the other's trade1 ,i fancy you could sooner teach a score or a hundred average cavalry officers of any nation to ride well across country1 than an equal number of clever1 fox-hunting ,englishmen to do the mere saddle work of any well-drilled troops4 ,leaping is uniformly practiced and well-taught1 in all regular cavalry regiments of every army with which ,i have been familiar in all parts of the world4 ,,xi4 ,well1 ,patroclus1 you have earned your gallop4 ,i loosen in the least my hold upon the reins1 and shaking your head from very delight1 off you go like the wind4 ,never could charger plunge into a mad gallop more quickly than you1 ,patroclus4 ,your stride is long1 your gather quick1 and the reserve power in your well-balanced movements so inspiring1 that ,i would almost ride you at the ,charles ,river1 in the expectation that you would clear it4 ,but the lane is all too short4 ,steady1 sir1 steady6 and down you come in a dozen bounds to a gait from which you can fall into a walk at word4 ,but what is that8 ,a rustling in the woods beside us6 ,that sounds indeed frightsome enough to make you start and falter4 ,you are not devoid of fear1 ,patroclus4 ,no high-couraged horse can ever be4 ,but though you may tremble in every limb1 if ,i speak to you1 ,i may safely throw the reins upon your neck4 ,so1 boy6 ,to face danger oftener insures safety than to run from it4 ,to the right about1 and let us see what it means4 ,steady1 again6 ,now stand1 and let it come4 ,there1 ,patroclus1 despite your snort of fear1 it is only a couple of stray calves cutting their ungainly capers as they make their way towards home4 ,their bustle1 like that of so many of the rest of us1 far exceeds their importance4 ,was not this much better seen than avoided8 ,you would have hardly liked this pleasant lane again had we not seen the matter through4 ,i have never kept you in condition1 ,patroclus1 to stand heavy bursts after hounds1 or indeed any exceptionally long or sharp run4 ,that means too much deprivation of your daily company4 ,nor indeed1 be it confessed1 is your master himself often in the condition requisite to do the sharpest work4 ,it will generally be noticed that the clear eye and firm muscle of the rider is a factor in the problem of how to be in at the death1 as well as the lungs and courage of the hunter4 ,and yet1 ,patroclus1 you are1 within your limits1 a model jumper1 and always seem to have a spare leg4 ,no horse delights more in being headed at a wall or ditch than you1 even in cold blood4 ,for any horse worthy the name will jump after a fashion in company4 ,at the end of our lane we can take the short cut towards the great highway1 over the gate and the little brook and hedge4 ,as ,i talk to you1 ,i can see that you catch my purpose1 for as we draw near the place1 the might of conscious strength seems to course through all your veins4 ,perhaps ,i have unwittingly settled into my seat as ,i thought of the four-foot gate4 ,here we are1 and there is just enough bend in the road to ride at the gate with comfort4 ,head up1 ears erect1 eyes starting from out their sockets1 no need to guide you towards it1 my ,patroclus6 ,no excitement1 no uncertainty1 no flurry4 ,you and ,i know how surely we are going over4 ,a quiet canter1 but full of elastic power1 to within about fifty feet of the jump1 and then a short burst1 measuring every stride1 till with a ,now boy6 as you approach the proper gather1 ,i give you your head1 and you go into the air like a swallow4 ,just a fraction of a second--how much longer it seems6--and we land cleverly1 well together1 and in three strides more you have fallen into a jog again4 ,and now you look back1 lest1 perchance1 the lump of sugar or ,seckel pear which used to reward you when you were learning your lesson should be forthcoming now4 ,but no1 ,patroclus1 my good word and a kindly pat for your docility and strength must be your meed to-day4 ,canter along on the soft turf till we come to the little brook4 ,we will call it a brook1 and think of it as a big one1 though it is barely eight feet wide4 ,but never mind4 ,we can jump thrice its width just as well as across it4 ,remember1 ,patroclus1 water requires speed and well-set purpose1 as height does clean discretion4 ,at it1 my boy6 ,take your own stride4 ,there's lots of room this side and more on the other bank4 ,harden your heart1 and catch hold of the bridle1 ,steady him6 ,rouse him6 ,over he goes6 ,in the air again2 this time it seems like a minute almost4 ,there1 ,patroclus1 if it had been twenty feet of water1 you would not have known the odds4 ,now for the road and company4 ,,xii4 ,the same reasoning may be applied to saddles as to gaits4 ,to pull down a bull1 the ,texan must be furnished with a horn-pommel1 which would have been highly dangerous to his rider if ,patroclus had happened to come down over the gate just leaped4 ,indeed1 nothing but the flattest of saddles is safe to the steeple-chaser4 ,on the contrary1 the soldier rides a trot1 or uses his sabre to much better advantage with a cantle sufficiently high to lean against4 ,and any man is liable to have some physical conformation requiring a peculiar saddle4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,v4 ,,an ,,easy ,,canter4 ,the present generation of new-fledged riders would fain tie us down to the ,english hunting-seat by laws like the ,medes and ,persians4 ,this is a good pattern for our ,eastern needs1 but let us not call it the only one4 ,it is1 of course1 well when in ,rome to do as the ,romans do1 or at least so nearly like them as not to provoke remark4 ,but every one cannot do this1 and the old trooper is not apt to ride this way4 ,and yet1 there are thousands of ancient cavalry soldiers all over this country1 ,north and ,south1 who1 naked weapon in hand1 have done such feats of horsemanship as would shame most of the stoutest of to-day's fox-hunting1 polo-playing riders4 ,i do not refer to the obstacles they used to ride at1--which meant a vast deal more than merely an ugly tumble over a three-foot stone wall2 ,i refer to their stout seats in the saddle1 and the rough ground they were wont to cover when they rode down upon and over a belching wall of fire4 ,for all which1 whenever we see one of these old troopers out for a ride1 modestly 7for he is always modest7 airing his army saddle1 strong curb1 and long and hooded stirrups1 we may1 perchance1 notice the jeer of the stripling1 whose faultless dress and bang-tailed screw are but a sham which hides his lack of heart4 ,it always gives one's soul a glow of pride to see the well-known seat1 and one is fain tempted to ride up to the old comrade and grasp him by the hand4 ,a thorough rider will recognize his equal under any garb4 ,it is pretense alone which merits a rebuke4 ,you cannot make a poor rider a good one by mounting him in a fashionable saddle1 any more than you can make a worthless brute a good horse by giving his tail the latest dock4 ,,xiii4 ,until within no great time the modified military seat has been the one which formed the basis of instruction4 ,the riding-master1 ,i presume1 still insists1 with civilian and recruit alike1 on feet parallel with the horse1 heels down1 toes in1 knee grip1 and a hold of reins utterly unknown in the hunting-field4 ,and with a certain reason1 though indeed the old whip's rule of 'eels and 'ands down1 'ead and 'eart 'igh1 is the whole of the story1 after all4 ,for the man who begins with a knee grip will never forget what his knees are for1 and will not1 like the good little dude we passed a while ago1 show daylight between them and the saddle-flap at every rise4 ,but the knee grip alone will not suffice for all occasions1 despite our military or riding-school friends4 ,a madly plunging horse or a big leap will instinctively call out a grip with all the legs a man can spare4 ,moreover1 the closer you keep your legs to the horse without clasping him1 the better4 ,go into the hunting-field or over a steeple-chase course1 and you will find that the inside of your boot-tops--and not only yours1 but every other jockey's as well--have been rubbed hard and constantly against the saddle4 ,there lies the proof4 ,at ,west ,point1 and in fact at every military school1 the cadets are sometimes practiced to ride with a scrap of paper held to the saddle by the knee while they leap a bar1 and at the same time thrust or cut with the sabre at a convenient dummy foe4 ,i have seen a silver dollar so held between the knee and saddle4 ,but the bar is not a succession of high stone walls1 nor is the cadet riding a burst of several miles4 ,and with a longer stirrup it is more natural to keep the foot parallel with the horse's side4 ,to-day1 the best riders do not so hold their feet4 ,cross-country a man certainly does not4 ,the proof is forthcoming at the ,country ,club on any race-day1 or at every meet here or in ,england1 that a man riding over an obstacle of any size will use all the legs he can without digging his spurs into his horse's flanks1 in a way he could not do with the feet parallel to the horse's sides4 ,the modern dispensation differs from the old one in not being tied to the military seat4 ,the ,rev4 ,sydney ,smith objected to clergymen riding1 but modified his disapproval in those cases when they rode very badly and turned out their toes4 ,a generation ago1 a man was always thinking of the position of his feet1 as he cares not to do to-day1 if he sits firmly in the saddle1 and boasts light hands4 ,,xiv4 ,while on this subject1 one cannot refrain from indulging in a friendly laugh at the attempt to bend our unreasonable ,eastern weather to the conditions of a fox-hunting climate4 ,the hunting season is that time of the year when the crops are out of the ground4 ,in ,england1 during the winter months1 the weather is open and moist1 and the soft ground makes falling delightfully easy1 as dear old ,john ,leech has it4 ,and the little hedges and ditches of some of the good hunting counties1 or indeed the ox-fences and grassy fields of ,leicestershire1 are such as to make a day out a positive pound of pleasure1 with scarce an ounce of danger to spice it1 if you choose to ride with moderation4 ,for the best rider in the ,old ,country is not the hare-brained cockney who risks both his horse's and his own less valuable neck in the field2 it is he who chooses discreetly his course1 and makes headway with the least exertion to his hunter compatible with his keeping a good place in the field4 ,the man who appreciates how jumping takes strength out of a horse1 or who is any judge of pace1 is apt to save1 not risk him4 ,few men willingly jump an obstacle which they can readily avoid without too much delay4 ,read the legends of the famous hunting-men of ,england1 and you will find discretion always outranking valor4 ,any fool can ride at a dangerous obstacle4 ,courage of that kind is a common virtue4 ,but it takes a make-up of quite a different nature to be in1 as a rule1 at the death4 ,how many five-barred gates will a man jump when he can open them8 ,how much water will he face when there is a bridge near by8 ,does not every one dismount in hilly countries to ease his horse8 ,a good rider must be ready to throw his heart over any obstacle possible to himself and his horse1 when he cannot get round it4 ,but a discreet horseman puts his horse only at such leaps as he must take1 or which will win him a distinct advantage4 ,england is naturally a hunting country4 ,but here1 ,lord save the mark6 there are no foxes to speak of4 ,scent won't lie1 as a general thing1 with the thermometer below thirty 7though scent is one of those mysterious things which only averages according to rules1 and every now and then shows an unaccountable exception71 and the obstacles are snake fences or stone walls with lumpy1 frozen ground to land on1 or1 belike1 a pile of bowlders or a sheet of ice4 ,a bad fall means potentially broken bones or a ruined horse1 and while you are beating cover for the fox who won't be found1 you are shaking with the cold1 and your clipped or over-heated beast is sowing the seeds of lung-fever4 ,you1 ,patroclus1 were once laid up five months by landing on a snag the further side of a most harmless-looking stone wall1 and tearing out some of the coronal arteries4 ,there are plenty of good horseback sports without a resort to what is clearly out of the latitude4 ,if you wait for good hunting weather1 the crops interfere with your sport1 and our farmers have not the ,english inducement to welcome the hunt across the fields1 tilled at the sweat of their brow4 ,in the ,south1 both weather and much waste land make fox-hunting more easy to carry on4 ,but even there it does not thrive4 ,here in the ,east it will not be made indigenous4 ,not but what1 on a bright sunny day1 a meet at which equine admirers can show their neat turn-outs and glossy steeds and discuss horseflesh in the general and the particular is a delightful experience4 ,and indeed1 wherever crops and covers do not monopolize the country1 a good drag-hunt may often be had before cold weather mars the sport4 ,perchance1 in time1 ,reynard may take up his abode with us1 when vulpicide shall be punished by real ostracism4 ,for has not the ,ettrick ,shepherd proven conclusively that ,reynard loves the chase8 ,but far from underrating the caged fox or anise-seed bag1 hare and hounds would seem to afford the better sport4 ,for the hares1 an they will1 can carry you across a country where each one can choose his own course1 instead of being obliged to follow a leader through wood-paths1 and through second growth which is all but jungle1 where1 if one happens to blunder at an obstacle1 your follower will come riding down atop of you1 and where you are bound to be nowhere unless you get away with the first half-dozen men4 ,but spite of all its drawbacks1 ,patroclus1 you and ,i enjoy in equal measure a run under fair conditions as much as the best of them4 ,and let us hope the hunting fever will be kept up in healthy fashion1 for we two can select our weather1 and we are not afraid of our reputation if we drop out before the finish4 ,this kind of work soon shakes our novices into the saddle1 and its many excellencies far outweigh its few absurdities4 ,let him who runs it down try rather a run with the pack some sunny day4 ,if he does not find it manly sport1 and stout hearts in the van of the field1 he can tell us why thereafter4 ,the outcome of to-day's riding mania is well ahead of the young men's billiard-playing and bar-drinking of twenty years ago4 ,,xv4 ,there are good riders in every land and in every species of saddle4 ,facts are the best arguments4 ,the ,north ,american ,indian and the follower of the ,prophet each performs his prodigies of horsemanship1 the one bareback with hanging leg1 the other in a peaked saddle with knee all but rubbing his nose4 ,whoso has laughed over ,leech's sketches of ,mossoo1 who makes a promenade a cheval1 or indeed has watched him in the ,bois1 is fain to doubt that a ,frenchman can ride well4 ,and yet he does4 ,was not ,baucher the father of fine horsemanship8 ,a rough and tumble1 plucky rider1 or one who is experienced and discreet after hounds as well1 is more frequently found in ,great ,britain2 a highly skilled equestrian 7is the author nearing a hornet's nest87 in ,france1 or elsewhere across the ,channel4 ,but we naturally must seek the ,continental rider in the camp1 for is not the ,continent itself one vast camp8 ,it is perhaps hard to decide whether the cavalry officer who is master of the intricacies of the manege or the country gentleman who has won a reputation with the ,pytchley or the ,belvoir may be properly called the more accomplished horseman4 ,each in his place is unequaled4 ,but is it not true1 that the former can more quickly adapt himself to the habits of hunting than the latter to those of the ,haute ,ecole8 ,and do not the methods of the ,school give us more capacity for enjoying our daily horseback exercise1 than any amount of experience with hounds8 ,,xvi4 ,it is sometimes said in ,england that a ,school-rider reining in his steed never looks as if he were having a thoroughly good time1 as does the man who lets his horse go his own inspiriting gait along the road4 ,but why not8 ,is inspiration only found in excess of physical motion8 ,if so1 to use an exaggerated comparison1 why does not ,paddy at ,donnybrook ,fair1 trailing his coat and daring some one to tread on the tail of it1 enjoy himself more thoroughly than the man who quietly plays a game of chess or whist8 ,or to use a more nearly equal simile1 may not a man find as great enjoyment in a skilled game of tennis1 as in the violent rushes of foot-ball1 where two hundred and twenty pounds of mere blubber will assuredly bear down all the prowess and aptness of his own say one hundred and forty8 ,it is as certain that the pleasure of riding a trained horse is greater than that of merely sitting a vigorously moving untrained one1 as that the delight of intellectual study exceeds the excitement of trashy reading4 ,omne ignotum pro magnifico seems not to be uniformly true1 for riders unfamiliar with the training of the ,high ,school almost as invariably run down its methods1 as self-made business men are apt to discountenance a college education as a preliminary discipline for the struggles of life4 ,it is a fact that no man who has once been a ,school-rider ever abandons either the knowledge he has gained or its constant practice4 ,no one can underrate the pleasure of simple motion upon a vigorous horse4 ,but the ,school-rider has this in equal degree with the uneducated horseman1 coupled with a feeling of control and power and ability to perform which the mere man on horseback never attains4 ,moreover1 all the powers of the ,school-rider's horse are within the grasp of his hand2 and that the powers of the high-strung steed of the average equestrian are all too often resident mainly in the animal itself is shown by the chapter of accidents daily reiterated in the news-columns4 ,the ,school-man is apt to ride more moderately1 and to indulge in a bracing gallop less frequently1 because to him the pleasure of slow and rhythmic movement on a fleet and able horse is far greater than mere rapidity can ever be2 the untrained rider resorts to speed because this is the one exhilaration within the bounds of his own or his horse's knowledge4 ,i do not wish to be understood as advocating the ,school habit of always keeping a horse collected4 ,however much for some purposes ,i admire it1 ,i do not practice it4 ,i often saunter off a half-dozen miles without lifting the rein1 while ,patroclus wanders at his own sweet will4 ,i often trot or gallop at my nag's quite unrestrained gait4 ,but if ,i want to collect him1 if ,i want that obedience which the ,school teaches him to yield1 he must1 to be to me a perfect horse1 at my slightest intimation give himself absolutely to my control1 and take all his art from me4 ,i feel that ,i am a good judge of either habit of riding1 as ,i have well tried both1 and absolutely adhere to neither4 ,i pretend by no means1 in ,school-riding1 to have carried my art so far as to be even within hail of the great masters of equitation2 but ,i have not for many years been without one or more horses educated in all the ,school airs which are applicable to road-riding1 and ,i know their value and appreciate it4 ,because1 then1 the cowboy is nowhere in the hunting-field2 or because the hard-riding squire and ,m4 ,f4 ,h4 cannot drop to the further side of his horse while he shoots at his galloping enemy1 or pick up a kerchief from the ground at a smart gallop2 or because the ,frenchman has to learn his racing trade from an ,english jockey1 it will not do to say that each is not among the best of horsemen1 or that either is better than the other4 ,the style of riding is always the outgrowth of certain conditions of necessity or pleasure1 and invariably fits those conditions well4 ,with us in the ,east the ,english habit is no doubt the most available2 but it can only be made the test of our own needs or fashions1 not of general equestrianism4 ,,xvii4 ,while all this has been buzzing through your master's brain1 you1 ,patroclus1 knowing full well that the loosely hanging rein has meant liberty within reason to yourself1 have wandered away to the nearest thicket1 and begun to crop the tender leaves and shoots as peacefully as you please4 ,to look at your quiet demeanor at this moment one would scarcely think that you were such a bundle of nerves4 ,you can be as sedate as ,rosinante till called upon4 ,but when the bit plays in your mouth1 you are as full of life and action as the steeds of ,diomed with flowing manes4 ,your eye and ear are an index to your mood1 and you reflect your rider's wish in every step4 ,no man ever bestrode a more generous beast than you4 ,do you remember1 ,patroclus1 the days when you carried your little twelve-year-old mistress1 and how her first lessons in fine equitation were taken in your company8 ,and cleverly did she learn indeed4 ,do you remember how we used to put you on your honor1 though you were only a five-year-old and dearly loved to romp and play8 ,ay1 ,patroclus1 and fairly did you answer the appeal6 ,with the gentle burden on your broad1 strong back1 her golden-red hair streaming behind her in the breeze from under her jaunty hat1 you would have ridden through fire1 my beauty1 rather than betray your trust4 ,however tempted to a bound1 or however startled at some fearsome thing1 one word--a ,quiet1 ,pat6--from that soft girlish voice1 now hushed for both of us1 would never fail to keep you kind and steady4 ,and you were ever willing1 with even more than your accustomed alacrity1 to perform your airs at the slightest encouragement of the soft hands and gentle voice2 and having done so would lay back your ears and shake your head with very pleasure at the rippling laughter in which your pretty rider's thanks were wont to be expressed4 ,i knew1 ,patroclus1 that in your care the little maid was quite as safe as with her doll at home4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vi4 ,a ,,ten-,,mile ,,trot4 ,,xviii4 ,and now a word about the horse in action1 as shown by instantaneous photography1 and about the war waged between artists and photographers4 ,some disciples of ,muybridge would fain have the artist depict an animal in an ungainly attitude1 because the lens is apt to catch him at a point in his stride which looks ungainly1 there being many more such points than handsome ones4 ,it is the moving creature which we admire4 ,the poetry of motion is rarely better seen than in a proudly stepping horse4 ,but arrest that motion and you are apt to have that which the human eye can neither recognize nor delight itself withal4 ,arrested motion rarely suggests the actual motion we aim to depict4 ,the lens will show you every spoke of a rapidly revolving wheel1 as if at rest4 ,the eye1 or the artist1 shows you a blur of motion4 ,and so with other objects4 ,the lens works in the hundredth part of a second2 the eye is slower far4 ,to a certain extent photography1 quoad art1 is wrong and the limner is right4 ,there are some horses which possess a very elegant carriage4 ,in their action there are certain periods--generally those at which one fore and one hind leg are slowing up at the limit of their forward stride--when the eye catches an agreeable impression which is capable of being reduced to canvas1--though it is after all the proud motion itself which pleases1 and this can only be suggested4 ,now1 photography robs you of almost all the suggestiveness of the horse's action1 unless you select only those photographs which approach the action caught by the human eye4 ,even after long study of the ,muybridge silhouettes1 the artistic lover of the horse feels that he must reject all but a small percentage of these wonderful anatomical studies4 ,if there are periods in the horse's stride which are agreeable to the eye1 why should the artist not select these for delineation8 ,why indeed does his art not bind him to do so8 99 99 99 99 99 ,you1 ,patroclus1 are peculiarly elegant in motion4 ,it is difficult to pick a flaw in the symmetry of your gaits4 ,slow or fast1 fresh or tired1 your motion is always proud and graceful4 ,and yet out of many photographs1 few suggest your action at all1 fewer still even passably2 none convey to its full extent what all your intimates well know4 99 99 99 99 99 ,to photograph well1 a horse must have a good deal1 but not an excessive amount of action1 and with unquestioned grace of curves4 ,the reason why horses in very rapid motion photograph illy is to be found in the too extreme curves described by their legs in the powerful strides of great speed1 any position in which1 arrested by the lens1 looks exaggerated1--sprawling4 ,the reason why1 on the other hand1 the photograph of a daisy-clipper moving slowly looks tame is the lack of action to suggest the motion which the eye follows in real life4 ,many of the best performers are plain in action4 ,some of the most faultless movers1 so far as results or form are concerned1 even when agreeable to the eye1 will show unsightly photographs4 ,let any one who desires to test this matter have a half-dozen instantaneous photographs of his pet saddle beast taken4 ,he will surely be convinced that a horse must be extremely handsome in motion to give even a passable portrait4 ,if he gets one picture in four which shows acceptably1 he may be sure that he owns a good-looking nag4 ,among the silhouettes in the ,stanford ,book1 scarcely one in twenty shows a handsome outline4 ,this seems to be owing1 as above explained1 to the speed exhibited in almost all the performances2 and in the slow gaits1 to the want of action in the subjects4 ,still1 if the pictures had shown the light and shade which instantaneous photography is now able to give1 many of the plates would have made artistic pictures4 ,there are certainly many minutiae in which the artist can learn from the photograph4 ,to give an instance3 before reaching the ground1 the leg in every gait must be stiffened1 and the bottom of the foot brought parallel to the surface traveled over1 or a stumble will ensue4 ,this1 at first blush1 may look awkward2 but it is not really so4 ,the artist often forgets that a horse must sustain his weight on stiff legs1 and that these straighten from their graceful curves to the supporting position in regular gradation1 and reach this position just before the foot comes down4 ,some in other respects most attractive sketches fail in this4 ,often one sees the picture of an otherwise handsomely moving horse whose fetlock joint of the foot just being planted is so bent forward as to make a drop inevitable4 ,this is certainly without the domain of true art4 ,the origin of such drawing lies probably in the fact that the eye catches the bent rather than the straight position of the fetlock1 because the former occurs when the foot is higher above the ground1 while the latter position is not so noticeable as being more out of the line of sight4 ,but such stumbling pictures are as much a worry to the horseman's eye as the ugliest of the ,muybridge gallopers is to the artist's2 and they are wholly unnecessary4 ,there are many such minor points of criticism of the usual artistic work1 which the artists should not deem beyond consideration4 ,it is quite possible to make the truthful and the artistic go hand in hand4 ,except1 perhaps1 in the gallop4 ,this most disheartening gait will not be reduced to what we have been taught to like4 ,there is but one of the five times of the gallop which suggests even tolerable speed1--the one when all four feet are in the air and gathered well under the horse4 ,at the instant when one of the hind legs is reaching forward to land1 there is sometimes a suggestion of great speed and vigor4 ,but the successive stilted strides when the straightened legs in turn assume the body's weight oppress the very soul of the lover of the ,racing ,plates4 ,it must fain be left to the wisest heads1 and perhaps better to time1 to bring daylight from this darkness4 ,the late ,john ,leech1 as far back as the forties1 essayed to draw running horses as his very keen eye showed him that they really looked2 but he was laughed out of the idea1 and thenceforth stuck to the artist's quadruped1 though he had been1 in his new departure1 much more nearly approaching anatomy than any one was then aware4 ,and thirty years ago1 on ,epsom ,downs1 it was revealed to the author1 as it has no doubt been to thousands of others1 that it is the gathered and not the spread position of the racer which is impressed upon the eye4 ,this is most clearly shown by watching the distant horses through a glass4 ,but still we stick to the anatomically impossible spread-eagle stride of the turf1 and feel that it conveys the idea of speed which is not compassed by the set fac-similes of photography4 ,it has been alleged that a horse never does1 nor can take the spread position of the typical racer of the artist4 ,this is true enough1 for he never does extend himself to so great a degree4 ,but at one part of the leap he may do this very thing1 though by no means to the extent usually depicted 7see ,plate ,,xi474 ,it is1 however1 certain that he cannot do so at all in the gallop4 ,at the only time when all his feet are off the ground in this gait1 they are all close together under his girths4 ,at all other times there are one or more feet on the ground1 with legs straight1 and at greater or less inclination to the body4 ,from front to rear the legs move almost like the spokes of a wheel4 ,what the pictures of the turf in the future may be it is hard indeed to say4 ,and yet1 the longer one examines the many hundred silhouettes of running horses1 so well grouped for anatomical study in the ,stanford ,book1 the more reconciled to what there is of truth in them one may become4 ,many years ago1 ,i sat during the forenoon in the ,turner ,room of the ,national ,gallery in ,london1 in the company of a friend1 herself no mean artist1 and of decidedly strong artistic taste and correct judgment1 whose ideas of ,turner had been founded solely on what she had read1 or seen and heard in ,america1 and whose prejudice against his apparently overwrought work was excessive4 ,for a full hour few words were passed4 ,then1 rising to go3 ,if ,i sit here any longer1 ,i shall end by liking the man6 quoth she4 ,it seems to me that the power in these ,muybridge photographs grows upon you4 ,it is universally acknowledged that one does not see the running horse as he is usually drawn2 in other words1 that the artist's run is incorrect4 ,now1 if the retina has anything impressed upon it1 it must assuredly be either one of the positions actually taken by the galloping animal1 or else a mere blur of motion4 ,the artist draws a blurred wheel because he sees it blurred1 and it suggests rapid motion4 ,but he will not draw blurred legs1 because such drawing will not suggest what he desires to convey in his picture4 ,and yet1 if he is true to what his eye has seen1 he must draw some of the positions the horse has been in1 and not positions which he cannot by any possibility have passed through in this gait4 ,i take it for granted that the eye catches the gathered positions1 and these are the ones in which the horse is entirely in the air1 with his legs under his girths1 and with hind feet reaching forward to land4 ,why should not the artist draw these positions1 in their thousand variations1 in lieu of the one single impossible position now universally in vogue8 ,without alleging that he should do so1 will the artist tell me why he should not8 ,for unless it be assumed that the usually drawn position is a sort of geometrical resultant of the rapid series of positions passed through1 and is hence adopted because the eye mathematically and unconsciously reduces these positions to the resultant1 where is the truth which the artist aims to produce8 ,for ,i understand art to be the reproduction of what the eye can see1 or at least its close suggestion4 ,and though there may be room to doubt what the eye may see1 there is no room to doubt what the horse actually does in the gallop4 ,it is probable that the spread-eagle position is a mere outgrowth of the canter1 which in a slight degree approximates to the action of the artist's run1 and that the latter has been exaggerated as a means of conveying the idea of increased speed4 ,i have yet heard no allegation that the eye catches any but the gathering positions of the horse's gallop4 ,now1 given this1 given an artist equal to and interested in the task1 and the anatomical results of photography1 and it would seem as if a sincere desire to reconcile the eye with positions which the retina must certainly catch as the horse bounds by might evoke more satisfactory results4 ,here is a life-work worthy of the best of animal painters4 ,who will take it up8 ,i plead for more light4 ,,xix4 ,to return to our muttons1 it is not too much to aver that any well-trained horse knows much more than the average good equestrian4 ,it requires a light and practiced hand to evoke ,patroclus' highest powers4 ,he has never refused an obstacle with his master1 or failed to clear what he fairly went at4 ,but the least uncertainty betrayed in the hand1 and ,patroclus knows something is wrong1 and acts accordingly4 ,i learned a good lesson about spoiling him for my own comfort not long ago1 when asked the privilege of riding him over a few hurdles on my lawn by a friend who had an excellent seat in the saddle1 but liked1 and had been used to a horse who seized hold of the bridle4 ,patroclus took the first1 but to my own and my friend's surprise quite refused the second1 and could by no means be persuaded to face it4 ,on my friend's yielding me the saddle1 ,i mounted1 and walked ,patroclus up to the hurdle with a firm word of encouragement2 and though he wavered1 he took it on a standing jump4 ,the slight reward of a tuft of grass and a pat made him do better on the second trial1 but for weeks afterwards he was nervous at that particular hurdle1 though at anything else he went with his accustomed nerve4 ,my friend and ,i were both unaware of how his hands had erred1 but the horse's fine mouth had felt it4 ,patroclus is essentially a one-man horse4 ,he will always serve well for the wage of kindness1 but it would take a hard taskmaster but a short week to transform him into the semblance of the ,biblical wild ass's colt4 ,he will change his gaits at will from any one to any other4 ,but his rider's hands must be steady and as skilled as his own soft mouth1 or how can the lesser mind comprehend8 ,he may1 at the bidding of uncertain reins1 change from gait to gait and foot to foot1 seeking to satisfy his ignorant rider1 who1 meanwhile1 unable to catch his meaning1 will dub him a stupid1 restless brute4 ,a well-trained horse needs an equally well-trained rider4 ,,xx4 ,there are two kinds of perfectly trained saddle horses4 ,one is the well-drilled cow of the riding-schools1 fit only to give instruction to class after class of beginners1 and who is safe because worked beyond his courage and endurance4 ,the other is the ,school-horse1 of perfect vigor and fine manners1 who is obedient to the slightest whim of the clever rider1 but who is so entire an enigma to the untrained one1 that he is unable to ride him at even his quiet gaits4 ,one of my friends in ,touraine used in his youth to be a pupil of the famous ,baucher4 ,he once told me how1 at the instigation of his classmates1 he begged hard for many days to be allowed to ride the master's favorite horse1 with whom he was apt to join his higher classes4 ,my friend flattered himself that he could manage any horse1 as he had long ridden under ,baucher's instruction4 ,as an example to the class1 the master finally gave way4 ,but the experiment was short4 ,my friend soon found that he was so much less accomplished than the high-strung beast that he was utterly unable to manage or control him1 much less to perform any of the ,school airs1 and he was by no means sorry when his feat of equitation was terminated by so dangerous a rear that ,baucher deemed it wise to come to the rescue4 ,my friend's hands1 though well-drilled1 were so much less delicate than the horse's mouth1 that the latter had at first mistaken some peculiar unsteadiness as the indication for a pirouette1 to which he had obediently risen2 but then1 on feeling some additional unsteadiness of the reins1 he had1 in his uncertainty and confusion1 reared quite beyond control4 ,yet under the master this horse's habit of obedience was so confirmed that he was apparently as moderate as any courageous horse should be1 though actually of a hyper-nervous character4 ,nothing but time will make a thorough horseman2 but a few months will make a tolerable horseman of any man who has strength1 courage1 intelligence1 and good temper4 ,if a man confines his ambition to a horse whom he can walk1 trot1 and canter on the road in an unbalanced manner1 and who will jump an ordinary obstacle1 so as to follow the hounds over easy country1 it needs but little time and patience to break in both man and beast to this simple work4 ,if a man wants what the ,high ,school calls a saddle beast1 a full half year's daily training is essential for the horse1 and to give this the man must have had quite thrice as much himself4 ,fix the standard at an 'alf and 'alf 'unter and your requirements are soon met4 ,raise the standard of education to a horse well-balanced1 who is always ready to be collected and always alert to his rider's wants and moods1 and who can do any work well1 and you need much more in both teacher1 pupil1 and rider4 ,no horse can be alike perfect in the field and in the park4 ,but the well-trained road horse can always hunt within the bounds prescribed by his condition1 speed1 and jumping ability2 the finest hunter is apt to be either a nuisance on the road or too valuable for such daily work4 ,it will not do to quote this as an invariable rule4 ,but it certainly has few exceptions4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vii4 ,,rising ,,at ,a ,,hurdle4 ,moreover1 a hunter requires many weeks to be got into fine condition1 and can then perform well not exceeding half a dozen days a month1 and needs a long rest after the season4 ,and it is not the average man who is happy enough to own a stable so full or to boast such ample leisure as to tax his horseflesh to so very slight an extent4 ,,xxi4 ,but what is that1 ,patroclus8 ,up goes your head1 your lively ears pricked out1 with an inquisitive low-voiced whinny4 ,what is it you sniff upon the softly-moving air8 ,well1 well1 ,i know4 ,that neigh and again a neigh betrays you4 ,as sure as fate it is one of your stable-mates coming along the road4 ,perhaps our young friend ,tom1 upon his new purchase1 ,penelope4 ,we will go and see1 at all events4 ,i never found you wrong1 and ,i never knew your delicate nose to fail to sniff a friend before the eye could catch him1 or your pleasant whinny fail to speak what you had guessed as well4 ,sure enough1 there he comes and ,nell has heard you too4 ,both ,tom and she are out for the lesson which either gives the other4 ,now for a sociable tramp and chat in the company you like so well4 ,and you and ,i will try to give ,penelope and ,master ,tom a few hints which he has often asked1 and of which all young horses and riders are apt to stand in need4 ,,xxii4 ,good-morrow1 ,tom1 and how are you1 sleek ,nelly8 ,a fine day this for a tramp4 ,patroclus sniffed you a long way off1 and now is happy to rub his nose on ,nelly's neck1 while she1 forsooth1 much as she likes the delicate attention1 lays back her ears with a touch-me-not expression characteristic of the high-bred of her sex4 ,a lucky dog are you to throw your leg across such a dainty bit of blood6 ,you1 ,tom1 are one of numberless young men who want to learn that which they have not the patience to study out of technical books and will hardly acquire in a riding-school2 who1 in other words1 rather than learn on tan-bark1 have preferred to purchase a horse and teach themselves4 ,a man may do well in a school or on a horse hired in a school1 and yet not know how to begin the training of a horse which has been only broken in to drive1 as most of our ,american colts are1 however eager to improve him for the saddle4 ,let us compare notes as we saunter along the road4 ,do not understand me to depreciate the value of riding-schools1 nor the training which they inculcate4 ,on the contrary1 ,school-training carried far enough and properly given is just what ,i do advocate4 ,but between the riding-school and ,school-riding1 there is a great gulf fixed4 ,the capital letter is advisedly used4 ,a horse which has been given a good mouth1 and has been taught as far as the volte and demi-volte1 simple and reversed 7though indeed the riding-school volte and the volte of the ,haute ,ecole are different things71 certainly knows a fairish amount1 and may be able to teach his rider much of what he knows4 ,but riding in a school is not road-riding1 although a school-horse may have profited well by his education4 ,leaping a school hurdle is not riding to hounds4 ,a thoroughly good riding-school horse may be a very brute when in the park4 ,perfect manners within four walls may disappear so soon as the horse gets a clear mile ahead of him4 ,assuredly1 it is well enough to learn the rudiments at a good riding-school4 ,but if you ever want to become a thorough horseman and have equally good horses1 study the art for yourself1--there is no mystery about it1--and learn what a horse should know and how to teach him4 ,when you have done this1 you will have a satisfactory saddle beast4 ,if you expect a groom or a riding-school master to train your horses for you1 you will not have a perfect mouth or good manners once in a hundred times4 ,if the master is expert1 he will be too busy to do your horses full justice short of an exorbitant honorarium4 ,the groom is1 as a rule1 both ignorant and impatient1 if not brutal4 ,,xxiii4 ,i know of no better foundation for a man to begin upon than the breaking-in to harness1 which an ,american horse has usually received at the hands of an intelligent farmer1 before he is brought to the city for sale4 ,starting with the horse1 then1 say at five years old1 if you will learn how to give him his saddle education1 and do it yourself1 you will have1 in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred1 a better saddle beast in six months than any groom can1 or any riding-master is apt to make4 ,there is somewhat of a tendency among the ,english1 and much more among their ,american imitators1 to decry as unnecessary the training of horses beyond a mouth somewhat short of leather and two or three easy road gaits2 or1 in hunters1 the capacity to do well cross-country4 ,but there is vastly more to be said on the side of ,high ,school training4 ,by a three months' ,school course stubborn horses may be made tractable1 dangerous horses rendered comparatively safe1 uncomfortable brutes easy and reliable4 ,vices may be cured1 stumbling may be made far less dangerous1 if the habit cannot be eradicated1 physical defects1 unfitting a horse for saddle work1 may often be overcome1 and the general utility of the average horse vastly increased4 ,all this1 and much more1 may be done1 without touching upon the gain in ease to the rider1 the pleasure to be derived when both man and beast are enabled to work in unison1 the ability schooling gives to the weakest hand to hold the most high-strung horse1 and the great variety of motions1 speeds1 and paces which may be taught to subserve the comfort and delight of the rider4 ,whoso will claim that the reader of the last ,french play enjoys as great a privilege and pleasure as the student of ,hamlet1 or that the day laborer is the equal of the skilled artisan1 may deny the utility of schooling the horse for saddle work4 ,no reference is here intended to be made to racing-stock1 or to hunters kept as such4 ,these stand in a class by themselves1 requiring different aptitudes and treatment4 ,an interesting proof of the general value of training has been recently developed in the ,sixth ,u4,s4 ,cavalry1 stationed in ,new ,mexico4 ,in some of the troops the horses have been drilled to lie down and allow the men to fire over them1--a most valuable bit of discipline1 peculiarly suited to ,indian warfare4 ,from the course of training necessary to bring about this end has resulted an unexpected but very natural docility in the horses1 which are ,californian bronchos1 and a poor class of animal4 ,horses formerly considered dangerous have become quite gentle1 and the entire condition of the command has been changed4 ,so far as the belief goes that what are called the ,high ,school airs are unessential1 it is easy to agree with the ,english opinion2 but it is clear that the saddle horse should have far more training than he generally receives in ,england1 and certainly than he receives here4 ,it would seem that the better position lies midway between the ,haute ,ecole of the ,continent and the half and half training of ,great ,britain4 ,i do not mean to imply that there are not many beautifully trained saddle beasts in ,england4 ,you see in ,rotten ,row1 among a vast lot of brutes1 probably more fine mounts than you will find in any other known resort of fashion1 more than anywhere in the world outside of cavalry barracks4 ,but the ordinary run of ,english hacks are taught to trot and canter1 and there their training ceases4 ,and so entirely is the education of horses left to grooms and riding-masters1 that even the most elaborate ,english works on equitation1 while they say that a horse should be taught to do thus and so1 and give excellent instructions for riding a trained horse1 afford no clue to the means of training4 ,on the other hand1 the ,high ,school manuals go far beyond what most men have patience to follow or a desire to learn1 excellent as such an education may be for both horse and rider4 ,i should be sorry indeed to be understood to underrate the horsemanship of ,england4 ,i do not suppose that the excellence and universality of the equestrianism of ,englishmen has any more sincere admirer than myself4 ,but it is true that equitation as an art exists only among the military experts of the ,old ,country1 and that the training of ,english horses is not carried beyond bare mediocrity among civilians for road work4 ,for racing or hunting1 the ,english system is perfect4 ,the burden of my song is that we ,americans shall not too closely imitate one single ,english style for all purposes4 ,if we will truly imitate the best ,english methods1 each in its appropriate place1 and not pattern ourselves solely on the fox-hunting type1 we shall do well enough2 though in riding1 as in all the arts1 it is wisest1 as well as most ,american1 to look for models in every direction1 and select the best to follow4 ,what ,i wish to protest against is the dragging of the hunting-field into the park1 and what ,i wish to urge is the higher education of--horses4 ,one has only to go back to the thirties in ,england to find all the niceties of the ,haute ,ecole in full bloom4 ,not only the young swells1 but the old politicians and the celebrated generals1 used to go titupping down the ,row1 passaging1 traversing1 and piaffing to the admiration of all beholders4 ,but the age which1 in the race for the greatest good to the greatest number1 has brought about simplicity in men's dress1 and has reduced oratory to mere conversation2 which has given the layman the right to abuse the church1 and the costermonger the privilege of running down royalty1 has changed all this4 ,and as we have doubtless gone too far in many directions1 in our desire to make all men free and equal1 may we not have also gone too far in discarding some of the refinements of equestrianism8 ,and is it not true1 and pity1 that the old-fashioned outward courtesy to women 7for the courtesy of the heart1 ,dieu merci1 always remains to us71 whose decrease is unhappily so apparent to-day1 and among the young is being supplanted by a mere camaraderie1 is being swept from our midst by the same revulsion towards the extremely practical1 which has discarded the beruffled formalities of our forebears and the high airs of equitation8 ,we have1 in the ,east1 been so imbued with an imitative mania of the hunting style of ,england1 that if one rides a horse on any other than an open1 or indeed an all but disjointed walk1 trot1 or canter1 he is thought to be putting on airs1 in much the same measure as if he should dress in an unwarranted extreme of fashion upon the street4 ,but if we are to ape the ,english1 why not permit on ,commonwealth ,avenue--or by and by1 we trust1 the ,park--what is daily seen in ,rotten ,row8 ,no one who has tasted it can deny the exhilarating pleasure given you by a horse who is fresh enough to bound out of the road at any instant1 who conveys to you in every stride that glorious sense of power which only a generous heart as well as supple muscles ever yield1 and who is yet well enough schooled to rein down to a five-mile canter1 with his haunches well under him2 while1 though he is burning with eagerness to plunge into a gallop1 he curbs his ambition to your mood1 and rocks you in the saddle with that gentle combination of strength and ease to which an uneducated gait is no more to be compared than ,pierce's cider 7good as it is in its place7 to ,mumm's ,cordon ,rouge4 ,when one is riding for the pleasure of riding1 why not use all the art which will add zest to your pleasure1 rather than aim to give the impression that you are sauntering to cover1 well ahead of time1 and don't want to tire your horse1 because you expect to tax him severely during the day with the ,myopia beagles across the pretty country near ,weld ,farm8 ,a celebrated ,english horseman says3 ,the park-hack should have1 with perfection of graceful form1 graceful action1 an exquisite mouth1 and perfect manners4 ,he must be intelligent1 for without intelligence even with fine form and action he can never be pleasant to ride4 ,the head should be of the finest ,oriental type2 the neck well arched1 but not too long4 ,the head should be carried in its right place1 the neck gracefully arched4 ,from the walk he should be able to bound into any pace1 in perfectly balanced action1 that the rider may require4 ,and yet such a horse1 though esteemed a prize in ,rotten ,row1 would be all but tabooed on the streets of ,boston1 because he is not the type of a fine performer to hounds4 ,,xxiv4 ,there are so many manuals of the equestrian art from which any aspiring and patient student of equitation may derive the information requisite to become an expert horseman1 that beyond a few hints for the benefit of those who1 like you1 ,tom1 know nothing and want to learn a little about the niceties of horseback work1 it would be presumptuous to go4 ,if a man desires to learn how to train a horse thoroughly1 he must go back to ,baucher1 or to some of ,baucher's pupils4 ,all the larger works which cover training contain the elements of the ,baucher system4 ,the recent work of ,colonel ,e4 ,l4 ,anderson1 late of ,general ,george ,h4 ,thomas' staff1 written in ,england and published by ,david ,douglas of ,edinburgh1 is a most excellent work4 ,i have found as a rule that abstruse written explanations are very difficult to understand4 ,in a recent excellent book on riding-school training 7not ,school-riding mind you71 though ,i know perfectly well what the riding-school volte and demi-volte are1 as well as the ,school-volte and demi-volte1 simple and reversed1 ,i have read certain paragraphs dozens of times1 without being able to make the words mean what the movement really is4 ,colonel ,anderson's book is very clear1 though it goes fully into the refinements of the art1 except the quasi-circus tricks and airs1 and from it1 with time and patience1 a man can make himself an accomplished rider and his steed equal to any work--outside the sawdust ring4 ,but you1 ,tom1 do not aspire to go so far in the training of ,penelope4 ,,xxv4 ,you must not suppose that a man who teaches his horse all the airs of the ,haute ,ecole constantly uses them1 any more than an eminent divine is always in the act of preaching1 or a prima donna assoluta is at all times warbling or practicing chromatic scales1 when each ought to be engaged in the necessary but prosaic details of life4 ,the best results of ,school-training lie in the ability of the horse and rider to do plain and simple work in the best manner4 ,because a horse can traverse or perform the ,spanish trot1 his rider need not necessarily make him traverse or passage past the window of his inamorata1 while he himself salutes her with the air of a grandee of ,aragon4 ,for this would no doubt be bad style for a modern horseman in front of a ,beacon ,street mansion2 though truly it might be eminently proper1 as well as an interesting display of horsemanship1 for the same rider to traverse past his commanding general while saluting at a review on ,boston ,common4 ,nor because a horse can perform the reversed pirouette with perfect exactness will a ,school-rider stop in the middle of a park road and parade the accomplishment4 ,but this same reversed pirouette is for all that the foundation of everything that a well-trained horse should be able to do1 and if he knows it1 he is ready to make use of it at all times for the greater ease1 safety1 and pleasure of his master4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,viii4 ,,flying ,a ,,hurdle4 ,you may ask of what use it can ever be4 ,suppose you were riding with a lady1 on her left1--which is the safe and proper1 if not the fashionable side1--and her saddle should begin to turn1 say toward you1 as it is most apt to do4 ,if your horse minds the indication of your leg1 you can keep him so close to your companion's as to afford her suitable assistance1 even to the extent of bodily lifting her clear of her saddle4 ,if your horse is only half trained1 you cannot1 perhaps1 bring him to the position where you want him in season to be of any service at all4 ,have you never seen a man who was trying to open a gate at which a score of impatient1 not to say objurgatory1 riders were waiting1 while the field was disappearing over the hills and far away1 and who could neither get at it nor out of the way1 because his crack hunter didn't know what the pressure of his master's legs meant1 and fought shy of the gate1 while keeping others from coming near it8 ,have you never stood watching a race at the ,country ,club1 with a rider beside you whose horse took up five times the space he was entitled to1 because he could not be made to move sidewise8 ,has not every one seen occasions when even a little training would have been a boon both to himself and his neighbors8 ,talking of opening gates1 one of the best bits of practice is to unlock1 open1 and ride through a common door and close and lock it after you without dismounting4 ,let it be a door opening towards you4 ,if your horse will quickly get into and stand steady in the positions necessary to enable you to lean over and do all this handily at any door1 gates will cease to have any terrors for you4 ,nor must you suppose that every schooled horse is of necessity kept in his most skilled form at all times4 ,as few college graduates of twenty years' standing can construe an ode of ,horace1 though indeed they may understand the purport and read between the lines as they could not under the shadow of the elms of ,alma ,mater1 so ,patroclus1 for instance1 is by no means as clever in the intricate steps of his ,school performances as he was when fresh from his education4 ,but the result is there2 and for all the purposes of actual use in the saddle1 the training he has had at all times bears its fruit4 ,after this weary exordium of theory1 ,tom1 for which my apologies1 let us turn to a bit of practice4 ,,xxvi4 ,and first about the horse himself4 ,if you buy one1 do so under such advice as to get soundness1 intelligence1 courage1 and good temper4 ,our ,american horses1 unless spoiled1 generally have all these in sufficient measure1 and can be made everything of4 ,you have been exceptionally fortunate in your purchase of ,penelope4 ,she is light gaited1 not long and logy in her movements1 and carries her own head4 ,she has remarkable good looks1 an inestimable quality after you get performance2 but beware of the ,may-bird which has good looks alone4 ,she is fifteen three1 nearly as high at the rump1 and with tail set on right there1 fine-bred1 but with barrel enough to weigh about a thousand and twenty pounds4 ,she looks like a thoroughbred hunter1 ,tom1 every inch of her4 ,this is a good height and weight for you1 who ride pretty heavy for a youngster1 and are apt soon to run up to twel' stun eight4 ,you say ,penelope is six years old4 ,from five to eight is the best age1 the nearer five the better4 ,an old horse does not supple so readily4 ,and she was well broken to harness8 ,a good harness training is no harm to any horse1 nor occasional use in light harness1 whatever pride one may take in a horse which has never looked through a collar4 ,in fact1 many hunters in the ,old ,country are purposely used as tandem1 or four-in-hand leaders during the summer1 to give them light work1 and bring them towards the season in firmer condition than if they had run at large and eaten their heads off4 ,it is only the pulling or holding back of heavy weights which injures saddle gaits1 and this because a saddle beast should be taught to keep his hind legs well under him1 and remain in an elastic equilibrium2 and dragging a load brings about the habit of extending the legs too much to the rear1 while holding back gives a habit of sprawling and stiffening which is sadly at variance with a collected action4 ,,xxvii4 ,you ask about dress4 ,wear anything which is usual among riders4 ,enamel boots as now worn are convenient to the constant rider1 as the mud does not injure them as it does cloth1 and water at once cleanses them4 ,but plain dark trousers1 cut a mere trifle longer than you wear them on the street1 and strapped under the feet1 are excellent to ride in4 ,if cut just right they are the neatest of all gear for park riding in good weather4 ,the simpler your dress the better4 ,gentlemen to-day dress in boots when riding with ladies1 and fashion1 of course1 justifies their use now as it did fifty years ago4 ,but within half that term1 in ,england1 a man who would ride in boots with a pretty horsebreaker considered trousers de rigeur1 if he was going to the ,park with his wife or daughters4 ,to saddle and bridle your horse1 you must know your own needs and his disposition and mouth4 ,but the ,english saddle and a bit and bridoon bridle1 such as you have1 are the simplest1 and meet most wants1 providing they fit the back and mouth4 ,we do not have to suit such varying tempers and mouths in this country as they do abroad4 ,our horses are singularly tractable4 ,it is rather a stunning thing to be mounted on the fashionable type of horse who won't stand a curb1 you know1--and there are some such1--but1 as a fact1 ninety-nine ,american horses out of one hundred will work well in a port and bridoon bridle properly adjusted4 ,always buy good things4 ,cheap ones are dear at any price4 ,your saddle should fit so that when you are in it you can thrust your riding-whip under the pommel and to the cantle along the horse's backbone2 otherwise you may get sore withers4 ,the bits should hang in the mouth just above where a horse's tush grows4 ,penelope's sex1 you see1 ,tom1 precludes her having any4 ,,xxviii4 ,when you bought ,penelope1 she knew nothing of saddle work1 and ,i told you to ride her a few times on a walk or a trot1 anywhere and anyhow1 so as to get used to her1 and her used to you1 before you began to teach her anything4 ,she had presumably always been ridden to and from the blacksmith's shop1 and worked kindly under saddle4 ,you have got good legs1 ,tom1 and any man with average legs can keep his seat after a fashion on a decently behaved horse4 ,you were afraid you could not sit ,penelope when you first bought her1 and had not ridden for so long that you felt strange in the saddle4 ,so ,i advised you to hire an old plug for a few rides until you were sure you would feel at home when you mounted her1 meanwhile exercising her in harness4 ,the better part of valor will always be discretion1 now as in ,falstaff's time1 while the best of horses will get a bit nervous if kept long in a half-dark stable4 ,regular exercise is as essential to a horse as oil is to an engine1 if either is to work smoothly4 ,you ask me the proper way to mount4 ,let us stop while you dismount1 and ,i will show you the usual way4 ,it is simple work4 ,stand opposite ,nelly's near shoulder1 a foot or so away from her1 and facing towards the cantle of your saddle4 ,gather up your snaffle reins just tight enough to feel1 but not pull on her mouth1 and seize a part of her mane with your left hand4 ,insert your toe in the stirrup1 just as it hangs1 using your right hand if necessary4 ,then seize the cantle of the saddle with your right hand1 and springing from your right foot1 without touching the horse's flank with your left toe1 raise yourself into the stirrup1 pause a moment1 and then throw the leg across the horse1 moving your right hand away in season4 ,if you were shorter1 you might have to spring from your foot before you could touch the cantle4 ,as in everything else1 there are other and perhaps better ways to mount1 and pages can be written upon the niceties of each method4 ,but the above suffices for the nonce4 ,you can choose your own fashion when you have tried them all4 ,an active youngster1 like yourself1 should be able to vault into the saddle without putting the left foot into the stirrup at all4 ,in all ,continental gymnasiums1 this is one of the usual exercises1 on a horse-block with imitation saddle1 and is an excellent practice4 ,by all means learn it4 ,,xxix4 ,you do not seem to hold your reins handily1 ,tom4 ,of all the methods of holding reins ,i prefer the old cross-country way of a generation back1 still recommended1 ,i was pleased to see1 in the very excellent article ,horse of the edition of the ,cyclopaedia ,britannica now publishing1 and ,i fancy yet much in vogue4 ,the ,school method is different2 but the ,school requires that the curb and snaffle shall be used for different indications or aids to convey the rider's meaning to the horse1 and not at the same time4 ,in ordinary saddle work it is generally convenient to employ the reins together4 ,gather your reins up with me4 ,the near curb outside little finger1 near snaffle between little and third fingers1 off snaffle between third and middle1 off curb between middle and index1 all four gathered flat above index and held in place by thumb1 knuckles up4 ,or easier1 take up your snaffle by the buckle and pass the third finger of left hand between its reins2 then take up the curb and pass the little1 third1 and middle fingers between its reins4 ,the snaffle reins1 you see1 are thus inside the curb reins1 each is easily reached and distinguished and you can shift hold from left hand to right1 or vice versa1 more readily than in any other way1 by merely placing one hand1 with fingers spread to grasp the reins1 in front of the other4 ,by having the loop of each rein hanging separate so that the free hand can seize it quickly1 either can be shortened or lengthened at will1 or they may be so together4 ,moreover1 this hold affords the easiest method of changing from one to both hands and back4 ,for if you insert your right little finger between the off reins1 and your third finger inside the snaffle rein1 and draw the off reins from your left hand slightly1 you have a very handy means of using both hands1 with the additional value that you can either drop the right reins by easing the length of the left ones to equalize the pressure on the horse's mouth2 or by grasping the left reins with right middle finger over snaffle and first finger over curb1 you can shift to the right hand entirely4 ,when in this position you can again use the left hand by inserting its fingers in front of the right one and closing upon the reins1 as already indicated4 ,in fact1 without lengthening the near reins1 but merely by placing the right hand in any convenient way on the off ones1 you may be ready to use both hands in entirely proper fashion4 ,and in this day of two-handed riding1 it is advisable to be able to follow the fashion quickly4 ,for ,school airs1 this also affords an easy way of using separately curb and snaffle1 as is often necessary4 ,if you are riding with single reins1 you will place them on either side of third or little finger1 or embracing little1 third1 and middle fingers and up under thumb in similar manner4 ,a single rein may be held in many ways4 ,with all other double-rein methods1 except the one described1 you have to alter the position of reins in shifting from hand to hand4 ,with this one the order of reins and fingers remains the same4 ,any other system of holding the reins which you prefer will do as well1 if you become expert at it4 ,i have tried them all1 from ,baucher's down1 and have always reverted to what was shown me thirty odd years ago4 ,your curb chain should be looser than it is1 ,tom4 ,a horse needing a stiff curb is unsuited to any but an expert rider1 and must have a great many splendid qualities to make up for this really bad one4 ,some people like a mouth they can hold on by1 but they do not make fine horsemen4 ,never ride on your horse's mouth1 or1 as they say1 ride your bridle4 ,many men like a hunter who takes hold of you1 but this won't do on the road1 if you seek comfort or want a drilled horse4 ,you see that ,nelly keeps jerking at the curb4 ,let out a link1 at least4 ,an untrained horse seeks relief from the curb by poking out his nose1 the trained one by giving way to it and arching his neck4 ,it is better at first only to ride on your snaffle rein1 leaving your curb rein reasonably loose2 or else you may use only a snaffle bit and single rein for a while4 ,but unless you very early learn that your reins are to afford no support whatever to your seat1 you will never be apt to learn it4 ,don't use a martingale unless your horse is a star-gazer1 or else tosses his head so as to be able to strike you4 ,it tends to make you lean upon the rein and confines your horse's head4 ,,xxx4 ,you have now been out a half-dozen times with your new purchase1 ,tom1 and you have managed to get along much to your own satisfaction4 ,you have neither slipped off1 nor has ,penelope misbehaved4 ,but you are intelligent enough to see that there is something beyond this for you and her to learn4 ,i do not know how ambitious you are4 ,if you want to make ,nelly's forehand and croup so supple that you can train her into the finest gaits and action1 you must go to work on the stable floor with an hour a day at least of patient teaching1 for a number of weeks4 ,for this purpose you must have a manual of instruction1 such as ,i have shown you1 and quite a little stock of leisure and particularly of good temper4 ,the ordinary ,english trainer thinks that a good mouth may be made in two weeks1 by strapping a colt's reins to his surcingle for an hour or two daily1 and by longeing with a cavesson4 ,but excellent as cavesson work may be1 this means alone will by no means produce the quality of mouth which the ,baucher method will make1 or which you should aim to give to ,nelly4 ,still ,i know that you have but limited time1 ,tom1 and that you want your daily ride to educate both yourself and your mare4 ,this can be accomplished after a fashion2 but it is only what the primary school is to the university1--good1 as far as it goes4 ,the trouble with beginning to supple a horse's neck when in motion is that you ask him to start doing two things at once1 that is1 move forward at command and obey your reins1 and he will be apt to be somewhat confused4 ,he will not as readily understand what you want him to do1 as if standing quiet and undisturbed4 ,with plenty of courage1 ,tom1 ,penelope seems to have a very gentle disposition4 ,almost all of our ,american horses have4 ,they are not as apt to be spoiled in the breaking-in as they are abroad4 ,and ,i fancy she is intelligent4 ,you should have no difficulty in training her1 and in teaching her a habit of obedience which she will never forget4 ,it is all but an axiom that an unspoiled horse will surely do what he knows you want him to do1 unless he is afraid to do it1 or unless1 as is generally the case1 you yourself are at fault4 ,the difficulty lies in making him understand you4 ,remember this1 and keep your patience always4 ,if a horse is roguish1 as he often will be1 it is only a moment's play1 and he will at once get over it1 unless you make it worse by unnecessary fault-finding4 ,i generally laugh at a horse instead of scolding him4 ,he understands the tone if not the words1 and it turns aside the occasion for a fight or for punishment4 ,never invite a fight with a horse4 ,avoid it whenever you can accomplish your end by other means4 ,never decline it when it must come4 ,but either win the fight or reckon on having a spoiled horse on your hands1 who will never thoroughly obey you4 ,and remember that a horse who obeys from fear is never as tractable1 safe1 or pleasant as one who has been taught by gentle means1 and with whom the habit of obeying goes hand in hand with love for his master and pleasure in serving him4 ,i do not refer to those creatures which have already been made equine brutes by the stupidity or cruelty of human brutes4 ,one of these may occasionally need more peremptory treatment1 but under proper tuition even such an one needs it rarely4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ix4 ,,clean ,,above ,,it4 ,,xxxi4 ,let us have a trot1 and see how ,penelope moves1 and how you sit4 ,you1 ,tom1 will take your pace from me4 ,there is nothing more unhorsemanlike and annoying than for a rider to keep half a horse's length in front of his companion4 ,your stirrup should be even with mine4 ,a gentleman can be a foot or two in front of a lady1 for safety and convenience1 but men should ride as they would walk1 all but arm in arm4 ,now you can see the effects of education4 ,penelope insists on trotting a twelve-mile gait1 and no wonder1 for she has such fine1 open action1 that a sharp gait is less effort to her than a slow one4 ,on the contrary1 ,i1 who1 as the senior1 have the right to give the pace1 am satisfied with two-thirds that speed2 and ,patroclus1 who1 as you well know1 can easily out-trot1 or1 ,i fancy1 out-run your mare1 and would dearly like to try it1 yields himself to my mood without an ounce of pull or friction4 ,look at his reins4 ,they are quite loose4 ,now look at yours4 ,nelly is pulling and fretting for all she is worth1 while you are working your passage4 ,two miles like that will take three out of her and five out of you4 ,she will fume herself into a lather soon1 while ,pat will not have turned a hair4 ,she certainly is a candidate for training4 ,you appear to need all the strength of your arms to pull her down to a walk1 whereas a simple turn of the wrist1 or a low-spoken word1 should suffice4 ,by the way1 always indulge in the habit of talking to your horse4 ,you have no idea of how much he will understand4 ,and if he is in the habit of listening for your words1 and of paying heed to what you say1 he will be vastly more obedient as well as companionable4 ,patroclus and ,i often settle very knotty questions on the road4 ,we think we helped elect ,cleveland4 ,and ,i must confess that occasionally a passer-by fancies that ,i am talking to myself1 whereas1 if he but knew the meaning of ,patroclus' lively ears1 he would see what a capital comrade ,i have1 and one1 moreover1 who1 like one's favorite book1 is never impertinent enough to answer back1 or flout you with excessive wisdom4 ,it is certainly a very pleasant study to see how many words or phrases a horse can learn the meaning of1 and act intelligently when he hears them4 ,,xxxii4 ,what1 then1 shall you do first in the way of education8 ,well1 let us see4 ,as ,nelly has been broken to harness1 she can probably only walk and trot4 ,you1 yourself1 seem to stick fairly well to the saddle4 ,but how about your own position8 ,your leathers are a trifle long4 ,they should be of just such length that1 when you are in the middle of the saddle1 on your seat1 not your crotch1 with the ball of your foot in the stirrups1 your feet are almost parallel with the ground1 the heel a trifle lower than the toes4 ,your toes are below your heels1 you see4 ,you should be able to get your heels well down when you settle into your saddle4 ,the old rule of having the stirrups just touch the ankle-bone when the foot is hanging is not a bad one4 ,the arm measure is unreliable1 and physical conformation1 as well as different backed horses1 often require1 even in a sound man1 odd lengths of leathers4 ,you should not attempt to ride with your feet home until you can keep your stirrup under the ball of your foot without losing it1 whatever your horse may do2 and when you do ride home1 you should occasionally change back to the ball of your foot1 so as to keep in practice4 ,moreover1 you can train a horse much more easily1 riding with only the ball of the foot in the stirrup1 for you can use your legs to better advantage4 ,my disability obliges me to ride home at all times1 and ,i have always found it much more difficult to teach a horse the right leg indications than the left4 ,i have to employ my whip not infrequently1 in lieu of my leg4 ,your stirrup should be larger and heavier1 for safety4 ,i don't like your fine1 small stirrups2 and your saddle should have spring bars1 which you should always keep from rusting out of good working order4 ,they have saved many a man's collar-bone4 ,be in the habit of using your knees and thighs alone for grip1 though the closer you clasp the saddle without getting your legs around the horse1 the better4 ,in the leap1 or with a plunging horse1 you may use the upper part of the calf1 or as much more as your spurs will allow you to use4 ,but of all equestrian horrors the worst is the too common habit of constantly using the calves instead of the knees to clasp the saddle-flaps4 ,to such an extent is this often carried by a tyro 7and no man gets beyond this stage who does it71 that you can see an angle of daylight between the points where his thigh and calf touch the saddle1 showing that his knee1 which ought to be his main and constant hold1 does not touch the saddle at all4 ,the stirrup-leathers1 especially if heavy1 as they should be1 often hurt the knee1 if you are new to the saddle1 and perhaps are the main inducement to this execrable habit4 ,but you must either get your knees hardened1 or else give up the saddle4 ,keep a steady lookout for this4 ,you will never ride if you don't use your knees4 ,if you do use them properly1 your feet will look after themselves4 ,ride with the flat of the thigh and the knee-bone at all times close to the saddle4 ,sit erect1 but avoid rigidity4 ,it is good practice to sit close1 that is1 without rising1 on a slow jog-trot4 ,let us try4 ,sit perfectly straight and take the bumping4 ,on a jog-trot1 it is an unpardonable sin to lean forward at all4 ,you will find that shortly it does not bump you so much1 and by and by it will not at all4 ,but don't lean back either4 ,that is the country bumpkin's prerogative4 ,nelly is evidently easy enough1 only she has not been taught to curb her ambition4 ,nothing shakes a man into the saddle better than this same jog-trot4 ,nothing is more absurd than the attempt to rise when the horse is only jogging1 or1 as it were1 the attempt to make your horse begin to trot by beginning to rise4 ,it looks like an attempt to lift yourself up by your boot straps4 ,teach him some other indication to start a trot4 ,it is useless to rise unless a horse is going at least a six-mile gait4 ,some ,school-riders taboo the jog1 but all the cavalry of the world use it2 it is the homeward gait of the tired hunter1 and it does teach a man a good1 easy1 safe seat4 ,it is true that a horse who won't walk at speed1 but who falls from a slow walk into a jog whenever you urge him1 is a nuisance4 ,moreover1 the uneducated jog is neither a fashionable nor a desirable gait4 ,but a schooled jog1 which the horse does under your direction and control1 is quite another thing1 and a jog greatly relieves a tired horse4 ,it seems to be unjustly tabooed4 ,unless1 then1 you are ultra-fashionable1 make a habit of jogging now and then4 ,by this ,i mean jogging with your horse collected1 so that you have not an ounce of hold on his mouth1 and he is still under your absolute control1 your seat meanwhile being firm and unshaken4 ,but never let the horse jog of his own motion4 ,that may spoil his walk4 ,make him jog only when you want him to do so1 and when walking1 do not let him fall into a jog unbidden4 ,the jog ,i mean should be almost a parade gait2 too slow to rise to1 but still perfect in action1 and so poised that from it your horse can bound into any faster gait at word4 ,your hands are too high4 ,they want to be but a couple of inches above the pommel1 better lower than higher4 ,a man whose reins wear out the pigskin on his pommel is all right4 ,a horse who carries his head high needs lower hands4 ,some low-headed horses require the hands to be held a bit higher to stimulate the forehand4 ,it is difficult to say thus much without saying a great deal more2 for this is but a hint of what is essential to correct such a physical defect as a low-carried head4 ,but what ,i tell you will whet your appetite for a thorough knowledge1 and this you will find in the books of ,baucher's followers4 ,the use of snaffle and curb1 each for its best purpose1 is very delicate4 ,let me again repeat1 of all things never hang on your horse's mouth4 ,you may have to do so on ,penelope's1 or rather ,penelope may hang on your hands1 till you get her suppled1 but you must try to do that soon4 ,you don't want to be a three legged rider4 ,if you cannot learn to ride at any gait and speed smoothly and well1 with your reins so loose that you might as well not have them in your hands1 you will never do anything but ride the bridle4 ,this applies to your seat1 not to ,penelope4 ,it is not wise habitually to ride with reins too loose2 you should always feel your horse's mouth4 ,but you can feel it without a tight rein4 ,good driving horses often pull4 ,a good riding horse should never do so4 ,nelly seems to be sure-footed4 ,if she is apt to stumble1 sell her4 ,your neck is worth more than your pocket4 ,by ,school-training and its consequent habit of keeping the hind legs well under him1 a stumbler will learn instinctively to bring up the succeeding hind foot to the support of the yielding fore foot1 so as to save himself a fall2 but you don't want an imperfect horse1 ,tom4 ,if ,nelly can trot without stumbling1 it is excellent practice for you to tie the reins in a knot on her neck1 and to ride along the road without touching them4 ,when you feel as secure this way as any other1 your seat is strong4 ,you do not want to do this en evidence4 ,but get off on the country roads and practice it4 ,this is one advantage of a careful riding-master and a good school2 a pupil is taught the seat apart from and before the uses of the reins4 ,,xxxiii4 ,as ,i think you have already mastered all that ,i have told you1 you may begin to teach ,penelope a bit4 ,but remember that1 as you are both intelligent1 she will be teaching you at the same time4 ,i notice that you have to use two hands to guide your mare1 and ,i presume you want to learn some better way1 for however necessary two hands may occasionally be1 a horse must at times be managed by one4 ,there are three methods of guiding a horse under saddle4 ,the simplest1 and the one requiring the least education1 is the same which you are using1 and which is the common way of driving1 by holding the rein or reins of each side in one hand1 and by pulling rein on the side you wish ,nelly to turn to4 ,it is possible to guide this way with one hand by a suitable turn of the wrist1 but unless the horse is well collected1 as few of our horses nowadays are1 it is a poor reliance in any unusual case4 ,the next method is guiding by the neck1 by which the horse is made to turn to the right if you draw the rein across or lay it upon the left side of his neck1 and vice versa4 ,the third method combines the two others1 and the horse obeys either indication4 ,it requires the highest art in man and beast1 and is superb in results when learned4 ,the animal may be guided by the bit with the reins held in one hand1 applying the pressure by the turn of the wrist1 or may be turned by the neck while the bit is used to lighten one or other side4 ,but this requires a hand and mouth of equal delicacy1 and a horse always in a state of equilibrium4 ,you will need only the first two to begin with1 and ,nelly already knows the first4 ,most horses now and then require you to use both hands1 and ,school-riding calls for their use in the more difficult feats4 ,but an agreeable saddle beast should guide by the neck readily at all times4 ,stonehenge calls this a highly desirable accomplishment1 but it is really only the beginning of the alphabet of the horse's education2 and indeed in the ,school airs1 though both hands be used1 the forehand is constantly thrown to one or the other side by the neck pressure1 the direct tension of the rein being used to give the horse quite a different indication at the same moment4 ,moreover1 you will not always be able to devote two hands to ,nelly4 ,you may need one of them for something else4 ,it would be embarrassing not to be able to use your whip or crop1 or to button your glove1 or to take off your hat1 and at the same time to turn a corner or avoid a team4 ,i have often ridden with people who so entirely relied upon both hands1 that they had to draw rein for so simple a thing as the use of their handkerchief1 lest their horse should fly the track while their right hand was so engaged4 ,and while ,i am to a certain extent an advocate for the use of two hands1 ,i cannot agree with the habit of the day of so constantly employing two that the horse and rider both lose the power of doing satisfactory work with one4 ,by all means teach ,nelly to guide by the neck4 ,when you have done this1 you may resort to both hands again whenever you desire4 ,and the habit of using both hands is certainly more apt to keep your shoulders1 and hence your seat straight4 ,but a horse who cannot be guided with one hand under all but the most exceptional conditions is not fit for saddle work on the road4 ,in the more intricate paces of the ,school1 indeed1 the soldier uses but one hand2 and though often more delicate hints can be imparted to a horse's mind by two1 yet all except the greatest performances of the manege can be accomplished with one1 and a horse who is unable to rehearse perfectly all the road gaits and movements with the indications of one hand and two heels is sadly lacking in the knowledge he should boast4 ,you very naturally ask how this is to be taught4 ,it is by no means difficult4 ,have you never noticed a groom riding a horse in a halter8 ,any steady horse can be so ridden4 ,the halter rope is usually on the left side of the neck because the man has it in his hand when he jumps on1 and he guides the horse by a pull on the halter rope if he wants him to turn to the left1 and by laying the rope upon and pulling it across the neck pretty well up if he wants him to turn to the right4 ,now you will notice that if you hold the reins far up on ,nelly's neck1 half way from withers to ears1 and pull them across the left 7near7 side of her neck1 she will1 after a little uncertainty1 be apt to turn to the right1 although the pull is on the left side of the bit4 ,try it and see4 ,there1--she has done it1 after some hesitation4 ,and she did it because she felt that her head was being forced to the right and she very naturally followed it4 ,the reverse will occur if you will pull the reins across the right 7off7 side of the neck4 ,some horses seize this idea very quickly1 and it is only a matter of practice to keep them doing the same thing as you gradually bring the reins farther and farther down the neck till they lie where they should be1 near the withers4 ,if ,nelly will thus catch the idea1 a week or ten days will teach her a good deal1 and in a month she will guide fairly well by the neck2--after which1 practice makes perfect4 ,if she had not seemed to catch the idea1 and had turned the other way1 it would have been because the pull on the bit impressed her mind rather than the pressure on the neck acting in the opposite way4 ,under such circumstances you should1 when you press the rein on the near side of her neck1 take hold of the off rein also and force her to turn to the right1 trying to make the neck pressure a little more marked than that on the bit4 ,a horse quickly learns to appreciate the difference between the direct pull of the rein on the bit and the indirect one made across the neck4 ,none of the neat movements of the manege can be executed unless a horse has learned absolutely to distinguish between an indication to turn1 and one which is meant to lighten one side in order to prepare for a ,school movement1 or to enable him to lead or exhibit pronounced action with that side4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,x4 ,,taking-,,off ,,at ,,water4 ,at first you had perhaps better teach ,penelope to guide only one way by the neck1 using the rein alone for the other turn4 ,but you can determine this by her intelligence4 ,if there is any place where you can ride in an irregular circle or quadrangle1 you can1 after ,nelly gets used to turning in a certain direction at the corners1 press the reins on the opposite side of her neck as she is about to turn1 so that she may get to associate this pressure with the movement in the direction away from it4 ,this is the way horses learn in a riding-school4 ,or if she is going towards home and knows the corners she has to turn1 do not let her make them of her own accord1 but hold her away from them until you give her the neck pressure4 ,or you can zig-zag along the road if you are in a quiet place where people will not think that you are toque1 or that your mare has the staggers4 ,it will thus not be long before ,nelly gets the idea1 and the mere idea1 once caught1 is quickly worked into a habit4 ,sometimes ,i have got a horse to guide passably well by the neck in a day4 ,oftener1 it takes a week or two1 while delicacy comes by very slow degrees4 ,,xxxiv4 ,when you have got ,nelly to the point where she guides fairly well by the neck1 what next8 ,it is evident that the muscles of your mare's neck are rather rigid1 for she carries it straight1 though her crest is well curved4 ,from this rigidity springs that resistance to the bit which she so constantly shows4 ,a neck which arches easily means1 as a rule1 obedience to it4 ,it is extremely rare that a horse will arch his neck1 except when very fresh1 so as to bring his mouth to the yielding position and keep it there1 of his own volition2 and then he is apt to pull on your hands4 ,you must not suppose that an arched neck means that the horseman is worrying his beast to make him appear proud or prance for the purpose of showing off4 ,it is precisely this which a good horseman never does4 ,he always uses his bits gently4 ,it is cruelty1 as well as ruin to the horse's mouth1 to hold him by the curb until his neck tires1 and he leans upon it1 held suspended by the equal torture of the chain and the aching muscles4 ,a horse never should pull on a curb4 ,if your hands are light1 the curb rein may be loose and still the horse's head be in its proper position1 that is1 about perpendicular4 ,the well-trained horse1 without the slightest effort1 arches his neck to the curb or snaffle alike1 and keeps it so4 ,it is only when his rider releases it1 or chooses to let him have his head that he takes it4 ,often1 in fact1 a horse will not do so when you give him the chance4 ,patroclus here will get tired out1 certainly completely tire me out1 long before his bit becomes irksome4 ,when trotting1 or when galloping across the fields or in deep snow1 ,i am often apt to let him carry his head as he chooses on account of the change or the extra exertion4 ,but with his well-suppled neck ,i always feel certain that the slightest intimation of the bit will bring his head in place instead of meeting resistance4 ,and he generally seems to prefer to bring his head well into the bit1 so1 as it were1 to establish agreeable relations with you4 ,i often notice that he feels unsteady if ,i give him his head too much4 ,and when tired1 he seems to like the encouragement given by light and lively hands all the more4 ,the first thing1 then1 to do is to get ,penelope's neck suppled4 ,this means that the naturally rigid muscles of the neck shall be by proper exercises made so supple as to allow the mare to bring her head to the position where there can be a constant give and take between your hands and her mouth4 ,the usual outward sign of such suppleness is an arched neck1 though as occasionally an habitual puller will arch his neck naturally1 this is not an infallible sign4 ,and some horses1 especially thoroughbreds1 however good their wind1 will roar if you too quickly bring their heads in4 ,this is because the wind-pipe of such horses is compressed too much by arching the neck4 ,thoroughbreds on the turf are wont to stick their noses out while running1 because this affords them the best breathing power at very high speed4 ,this habit becomes hereditary1 and among them there are not a few who cannot readily be brought in by the bit4 ,sometimes1 except as a feat1 you can never supple such necks4 ,oftener1 it only needs more time and patience1--in other words a slower process4 ,a limber-necked thoroughbred has1 however1 the most delightful of mouths1 except for the fact that he seems occasionally to draw or yield almost a yard of rein1 owing to the length of his neck1 and your hands have to be watched accordingly4 ,if he has such a neck1 the only safety1 if he is high-strung1 is never to let him beyond the hand4 ,the result of the suppling of the neck is a soft mouth under all conditions4 ,how shall you begin to supple ,nelly's neck1 you ask1 without the long process of the ,schools8 ,you cannot perfectly1 but you may partially do this under saddle4 ,whenever you are on a walk you may1 as a habit1 let your horse have his head1 and encourage him to keep at his best gait4 ,a dull walker is a nuisance4 ,a little motion of the hands or heels and an occasional word will keep him lively and at work1 and get him into the habit of walking well1 if he has enough ambition4 ,the ,school-rider keeps his horse collected on the walk at all times1 and though the steps are thus shortened1 they become quicker and more springy1 and the speed is not diminished4 ,i do either way1 as the mood takes me1 for though ,i incline to the method of the ,school-riders1 ,i do not think that it hurts a horse to have entire freedom now and then4 ,some amblers are slow walkers1 but the five-mile amble takes the place of the rapid walk1 and is often more agreeable4 ,few horses walk more than three and a half miles an hour4 ,a four-mile walk is a good one4 ,exceptionally1 you may reach the ideal five miles4 ,i once knew a horse in ,ohio who walked 7and not a running walk either1 but a square heel and toe walk7 six miles in an hour1 on wagers4 ,but our confab1 ,tom1 often gets too diffuse4 ,let us go on with our lesson4 ,,xxxv4 ,here we are quietly walking along the road4 ,suppose you draw up the reins a bit1 the curb somewhat the more4 ,nelly will at once bring up her head1 and very naturally stick out her nose in the endeavor to avoid the pressure of the curb chain4 ,at the same time1 as you see1 she will shorten her steps4 ,don't jerk or worry her1 but still exert a gentle pressure on the curb1 and keep up a slight vibrating movement of the hands1 speaking to her kindly4 ,in a moment or two1 she will arch her neck1 and the bit will hang loosely in her mouth4 ,there1 you see1 her nose comes down1 and a handsome head and neck she has6 ,now pat her1 and speak caressingly to her1 and after a few seconds release her head4 ,when these exercises are done on the stable floor1 the use of the snaffle will accomplish the same result1 and this is very desirable4 ,but if you begin these flexions on the road you must use the curb1 because ,nelly now understands the snaffle to be for another purpose4 ,the use of the curb is apt to lower a horse's head1 and with some horses too much4 ,the snaffle may be employed to correct this low carriage1 but this use of it involves more than ,i can explain to you now4 ,if ,nelly's head gets too low1 raise your hands a bit4 ,try it over again1 and each time prolong the period of holding her head in poise4 ,but never hold it so long that her neck will ache and she begin to lean upon the bit4 ,if she should do so before you release her head1 play gently with the rein for an instant to get her back to the soft mouthing of the bit1 caress her1 and then release her head4 ,this is on the principle that you should always have your way with a horse1 and not he his4 ,and kindness alone accomplishes this much more speedily and certainly than severity4 ,if the occasion ever comes when you cannot have your way with ,nelly1 give a new turn to the matter by attracting her attention to something else1 so as not to leave on her mind the impression that she has resisted you4 ,notice two things1 ,tom1 while ,nelly is thus champing her bit4 ,she has an almost imperceptible hold of your hands and her gait is shorter and more elastic4 ,this has the effect of a semi-poised position1 from which she can more readily move into any desired gait than from the extended looseness of the simple walk4 ,this is one step towards what horsemen call being in hand1 or collected2 and grooms1 pulled together1 though indeed the pulling together of the groom but very distantly approaches the fine poise of the ,schools4 ,of all means of destroying a good mouth1 to allow the horse to lean upon the curb is the surest4 ,avoid this by all means4 ,but so long as ,nell will bring in her head and play with the bit1 keep her doing so at intervals4 ,after a week or two she will be ready to walk quite a stretch with her head in position1 and you will both of you have gained something in the way of schooling her mouth and your hands4 ,you can then try her on a trot1 and if you can keep your seat without holding on by the reins1 she will learn to do the same thing at this gait too1 and later at the canter and the gallop4 ,but unless your own seat is firm and your hands are light1 you will only be doing her future education an injury4 ,every twitch on her sensitive mouth1 occasioned by an insecure seat or jerky hands1 will be so much lost4 ,moreover1 your curb chain must neither be too long nor too short4 ,if too long1 ,nelly will not bring down her head at all4 ,if too short1 it will worry her unnecessarily4 ,you can judge of it by her willingness gradually to accustom herself to it without jerking her head or resisting it1 and without lolling her tongue4 ,this suppling of ,nelly's neck which you will give her on her daily ride is only of the muscles governing the direct up and down motion of the head and neck4 ,you are not overcoming the lateral rigidities4 ,this requires stable exercises4 ,if you have leisure for these 7and you very likely will make some when you find the strides in comfort and elegance ,nelly is making71 you will buy one of the manuals ,i have told you about4 ,what you have taught her1 however1 is excellent so far as it goes1 and is time well employed4 ,it will serve its purpose upon the road1 if it does not suffice for the more perfect education4 ,,xxxvi4 ,the next step will be for you to try to supple the croup or hind-quarters of your mare4 ,the two things can go on together1 though it is well to get the forehand fairly suppled before beginning on the croup4 ,the flexions of the croup are fully as important1 if not more so1 than those of the forehand1 and in their proper teaching lies the root of your success4 ,if you wear spurs1 you should be absolutely sure you will never touch ,nelly with them by accident4 ,spurs need not to be severe in any event4 ,it is uselessly cruel to bring the blood1 except in a race1 where every ounce of exertion must be called for4 ,spurs in training or riding should never be used for punishment4 ,they will be too essential in conveying your meaning to ,penelope for you to throw away their value in bad temper4 ,the horse should learn that the spur is an encouragement and an indication of your wishes1 and should be taught to receive its attack without wincing or anger4 ,the old habit of the manege was to force all the weight of the horse1 by the power of a severe curb bit1 back upon his haunches1 and oblige him to execute all the airs in a position all but poised upon his hind legs4 ,the modern dispensation endeavors to effect better results by teaching the animal to be constantly balanced upon all four legs1 and1 by having his forces properly distributed1 to be in a condition to move any of them at the will of his rider in any direction1 without disturbing this balance4 ,moreover1 the element of severity has been eliminated from training altogether4 ,suppose1 then1 that you are walking ,nelly and are holding her head in poise4 ,now bring your legs gently together1 so as to slightly touch her sides4 ,you will see that she at once moves quickly towards the bit4 ,here she must find herself held in check by it4 ,the result of the two conditions will be that she will get her hind legs somewhat more under her than usual4 ,it is just this act1 properly done1 which produces the equilibrium desired4 ,when a horse is what is termed collected1 or in hand1 he has merely brought his hind feet well under him1 and has yielded his mouth to your hands in such a way that he can quickly respond to your demands4 ,this he cannot do when he is in an open or sprawling position4 ,it were better to teach ,nelly this gathering of the hind legs under her by certain preliminary exercises on foot2 but you can by patient trial while mounted accomplish a great part of the same result4 ,and between bit to restrain her ardor and spur to keep her well up to it1 the mare will get accustomed to a position of equilibrium from which she can1 when taught1 instantly take any gait1 advance any foot1 or perform any duty required4 ,she will be really in the condition of a fine scale which a hair's weight will instantly affect4 ,do not suppose that bit and spur are to be used harshly4 ,on the contrary1 the bit ought to play in her mouth loosely1 and with the trained horse the barest motion of the leg towards the body suffices4 ,the spur need very rarely touch her flank4 ,the delicacy of perception of the schooled horse is often amazing4 ,but the co-efficient of a balanced horse is a rider with firm seat and light hands4 ,either is powerless without the other4 ,moreover1 a generous and intelligent beast1 reasonably treated1 learns the duty prescribed to him without the least friction4 ,to respond to a kindly rider's wants seems to be a pride and a pleasure to him instead of a task4 ,among the most agreeable incidents of horse-training is the evident delight which the horse takes in learning1 the appreciation with which he receives your praise1 and the confiding willingness with which he performs airs requiring the greatest exertion1 and often a painful application of the spur1 without any idea of resistance or resentment1 even when his strength1 endurance1 intelligence1 and good temper are taxed to the severest degree4 ,i have sometimes wondered at a patience1 which ,i myself could never have exhibited1 in a creature which could so readily refuse the demands made upon him1 as well as at the manifest pleasure he will take in the simple reward of a gentle word4 ,there is much difference in the nomenclature of horse-training4 ,unless one needs to be specific1 as in describing the methods of the ,haute ,ecole1 in hand and collected are frequently used interchangeably4 ,but they should really be distinct in meaning1 in hand being the response to the bit1 collected1 the response to bit and legs1 and in poise1 a very close position of equilibrium1 preceding the most difficult movements of the ,school4 ,now1 in order to get ,penelope accustomed to respond to the pressure of the legs1 you must practice bringing your legs towards her flanks while her head is well poised1 at frequent intervals4 ,whenever she responds by bringing her hind legs under her--and you will notice when she does so by her greater elasticity and more active movement--speak a good word to her1 and keep her gathered in this way only so long as she can comfortably remain so1 gradually prolonging the terms during which you hold her thus collected4 ,you will find that her step will soon become lighter and the speed of her response to your own movements a great contrast to the sluggishness of the horse moving his natural gait in the saddle4 ,her carriage will begin to show the same equilibrium in which the practiced fencer stands in guard1 or more properly1 it will show that splendid action of the horse at liberty which he never exhibits in the restraint of the saddle1 except when trained4 ,whoever has watched a half-dozen fine horses just turned loose from the stall into a pretty paddock1 will have noticed that1 in their delighted bounds and curvetings1 each one will perform his part with a wonderful grace1 ease1 and elegance of action4 ,you may see the passage1 piaffer1 and ,spanish trot1 and even the passage backwards1 done by the untrained horse of his own playful volition1 urged thereto solely by the exuberance of his spirits4 ,under saddle he will not do this1 unless taught by the methods of the ,school4 ,but so taught1 he will perform all these and more1 with readiness and evident satisfaction to himself4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xi4 ,,doing ,,it ,,handily4 ,i must again impress upon you1 ,tom1 that for perfect success1 even in little things1 you will need vastly more careful training than this2 and that what ,i am discussing with you is but a very partial substitute for the higher education4 ,i am indeed sorry to feel tied down to such simple instruction4 ,but ,i want to tell you just enough to lead you to experiment for yourself1 and to catch sufficient of the fascination of the art to study it thoroughly4 ,i am1 however1 anxious that you should by no means understand me to say that you can1 by any such simple means as ,i shall have detailed to you1 perfect the education of your mare4 ,you can improve her present condition vastly1 and make her light and handy compared to what she naturally is4 ,but the best results involve far other work4 ,,xxxvii4 ,you tell me that ,nelly can only trot and walk1 and you want to teach her the canter and hand-gallop4 ,many horses will naturally fall into a canter if you shake the reins2 but some who come of trotting stock will not do so without considerable effort2 and still such a horse is often the best one to buy4 ,now the easiest way to get ,nelly into a canter1 if she persists in trotting1 is to push her beyond her speed1 for which purpose you should select a soft piece of ground4 ,so soon as she has broken into a gallop1 unless she has been trained to settle back into a trot1 you can readily slow up without changing her gait4 ,if it has been attempted to train her as a trotter1 you will have harder work to do this4 ,but there is a little vibrating movement of the hands1 sometimes called lifting1 which tends to keep a horse cantering1 just as a steady pull keeps him trotting4 ,this movement is in the little what the galloping action of a horse is in the great4 ,the hands move very slightly forward and upward1 and pass back again on an under line4 ,apparently1 ,nelly has been broken in the usual way1 for she trots naturally on a steady rein or on the snaffle4 ,now1 you will find that a moving rein or the curb is apt to break her trot1 and make her do something else1--either prance1 or trot with high unsettled steps1 or canter4 ,it is for your own hands1 when she gets to the canter1 to hold her there4 ,this may take you some time1 but you can certainly do it by repeated trials4 ,having accomplished it1 you may1 between curb bit and spurs1 both gently used1 mind you1 gradually teach her to carry her head properly at this pace1 and get her haunches well under her2 and it will give you pleasure to notice how much more natural it is for her to come in hand than on the trot4 ,as the canter is the natural gait of the horse1 you will find ,nelly soon keep to it if she understands that you so desire4 ,but remember that you should canter or gallop habitually only on soft ground4 ,hard roads soon injure the fore feet and fetlock joints if a horse is constantly cantered or galloped upon them1 because the strides are longer and the weight comes down harder1 and always more upon the leading fore foot than upon the other4 ,moreover1 the canter with the hind legs well gathered is apt to be somewhat of a strain to the houghs of the horse unless it is properly--rhythmically--performed1 and unless the animal is gradually broken in by proper flexions4 ,but to canter is one thing4 ,you have yet to teach ,penelope to canter on either foot at will1 leading off with left or right and changing foot in motion4 ,this is quite another matter1 and you will find that it will take some time and a vast deal of patience in both of you4 ,let us suppose that you have brought ,nell down to a fairly slow canter4 ,until you can1 without effort to her or you1 rein her down to quite a slow one1 she does not know the rudiments of the gait4 ,to canter properly1 she must1 without resistance1 pull1 or fret1 come down to a canter quite as slow as a fast walk1 even slower1 and not show the least attempt to fall into a jog2 all this while so poised that she can bound into a gallop at the next stride4 ,any plug can run4 ,few of the saddle horses you meet on the road seem to canter slowly1 and yet it is one of the most essential of gaits and a great relief from a constant trot1 especially for a lady4 ,it may perhaps look more sportsmanlike--,i don't like to use the word horsey--for a lady always to trot2 but no lady1 apart from this1 begins to look as well upon the trot as when sitting the properly timed park canter of a fresh and handsome horse4 ,moreover1 it requires vastly less art to ride the trot usually seen with us than to bring a high-couraged horse down to a slow parade canter and keep him there1 not to dilate upon the gloriously invigorating and luxurious feeling of this gait when executed in its perfection4 ,some lazy horses find that they can canter as easily as walk and nearly as slowly1 but this disjointed1 lax-muscled progress is a very different performance from the proud1 open action of the generous horse1 whose stride is so vigorous that you feel as if he had wings1 but who curbs his ardor to your desires1 and with the pressure of a silken thread on the bit will canter a five-mile gait4 ,,xxxviii4 ,you have probably noticed that ,nelly sometimes canters with one shoulder forward and sometimes with the other4 ,almost all sound horses will change lead of their own accord1 but not knowing why4 ,when a horse shies at a strange object1 or hops over anything in his path1 or gets on new ground1 or changes direction1 he will often do this4 ,if a horse does not frequently change1 it is apt to be on account of an unsound foot1 hough1 or shoulder1 which makes painful or difficult the lead he avoids4 ,but occasionally a sound horse will always lead with the same leg1 until taught to change4 ,for a lady the canter is generally easier with the right shoulder leading1 and some horses are much easier with one than the other lead4 ,in fact1 on the trot1 many horses are easier when you rise with the off than when you rise with the near foot1 or vice versa2 and some writers have said that a horse leads with one or other foot in trotting4 ,but as the trot should be a square and even gait1 the peculiarity in question is owing to excess of muscular action in one leg and not to anything approaching the lead in the canter or the gallop4 ,it is possible to teach a horse to start with either or to change lead in the canter without more flexing of the croup than you can give him on the road2 but it is worth your while to put ,nelly through some exercises which ,i will explain to you4 ,it will save time in the end4 ,their eventual object is so to supple the croup as to render the hind-quarters subject to the rider's will1 and absolutely under the control of the horse as directed by him4 ,the flexions of the croup are in reality more important than those of the forehand4 ,unless a horse's hind-quarters are well under him and so thoroughly suppled as to obey the slightest indication of the rider's leg1 he is lacking in the greatest element of his education1 if he is to be made a ,school-horse4 ,at the same time a supple croup and a rigid forehand cannot work in unison4 ,both should be elastic in equal degree4 ,for the purpose of beginning the croup flexions1 you can best use the stable floor1 or other convenient spot1 say after mounting as you start1 or before dismounting as you return from your ride1 or1 better1 both4 ,and this is what you should do4 ,suppose you are standing on the stable floor1 mounted4 ,any other place will do1 but you want to be where you are quite undisturbed4 ,bring ,nelly in hand by gathering up the reins quietly1 so as not to disturb her equanimity or her position4 ,perhaps you had better hold the reins in both hands for these exercises4 ,at all times1 indeed1 it is well that a horse should be kept acquainted with the feel of the two hands4 ,in many respects1 and for many purposes1 ,i am an advocate of two hands in riding4 ,do not misunderstand me on this point4 ,my plea is for such education that one hand may suffice for all needs1 when the other can be better employed than with the reins2 but ,i myself often use both my hands1 perhaps even half the time4 ,nelly being collected1 gently press one foot towards her flank1 if need be till the spur touches her4 ,she will naturally move away from it by a side step with her hind feet4 ,you should have kept her head so well in hand that she will not have moved her fore feet4 ,so soon as she makes this one side step1 stop and caress her4 ,try once more with the same foot4 ,same result1 and you will again reward her with a kind word4 ,do not at first try to make her take two steps consecutively4 ,if you do so1 she may1 having failed to satisfy you with one step1 and imagining that you want something else1 try to step towards the spur instead of away from it1 and you will have thus lost some ground4 ,a horse argues very simply1 and if one course does not seem to comply with his rider's will1 he almost always and at once tries the other4 ,after a few days1 you will find that ,nelly will side step very nicely1 one or two steps at a time1 and before long she will do so in either direction4 ,you cannot1 however1 consider her as perfect until she can handily complete the circle1 with the opposite fore foot immovably planted1 in either direction at will1 and without disturbing her equilibrium4 ,but this is much harder to do1 and if you propose to give ,nelly a college education you must first qualify yourself as professor4 ,you should now at the same time test how well you have taught ,penelope to guide by the neck4 ,if you will use the pressure of your legs judiciously1 so as to prevent her from moving her hind feet at all1 you should be able to describe part of a circle about them by such use of the reins as to make her side step with the fore feet4 ,when she can take two or three steps with fore or hind feet to either side quickly1 and at will1 keeping the hind or fore feet in place1 you have made a very substantial gain in her training4 ,there can be1 of course1 only one pivot foot4 ,it is the one opposite the direction in which you are moving the croup or forehand4 ,but to teach ,nelly to use the proper pivot foot you must begin much more carefully1 and it is perhaps not necessary1 if you aspire only to train her for road use1 to be so particular4 ,properly speaking1 you ought about this time to give ,nelly a little side suppling of the neck1 so as to make the parts respond readily to your will4 ,this is done first on foot1 by gently turning the mouthpiece of the curb bit in a horizontal plane1 so as to force her head to either side and make her arch her neck1 without allowing her to shift feet4 ,later1 it is done by drawing one curb rein over her neck so as to bring her head sidewise down towards the shoulder1 while steadying her with a less marked pressure on the other rein4 ,to do this properly1 the ,baucher diagrams1 or a longer description1 would be useful4 ,when the neck is in this exercise perfectly flexed1 she will be looking to the rear4 ,with some little practice ,nelly will thus readily1 at call1 bring her head way round to the saddle-flap1 with neck arched1 and mouthing her bit4 ,later still1 you can practice this flexion mounted1 by holding both reins1 and pulling a trifle more strongly on one curb than on the other1 and steadying her by voice and leg to prevent her from moving4 ,this exercise will make it physically easier for ,nelly by and by to respond to your demands1 for her neck will be flexible enough for her to hold her head in any desired position without undue effort4 ,and the same thing can be done in motion1 if this is not too rapid4 ,as already said1 the circular movement described 7termed a pirouette about the hind1 and a reversed pirouette about the fore feet7 should be made on one absolutely unmoved fore or hind foot as pivot4 ,for1 plainly1 both feet cannot act as one pivot without twisting the legs4 ,this pirouette is really a low pirouette1 the pirouette proper being a movement by the horse poised on his hind legs alone1 describing the circle with fore legs in the air1 which is a vastly finer performance4 ,it will suffice for you1 though1 ,tom1 if ,nelly will make the pirouette1 simple or reversed1 without substantially shifting the position of the two pivot feet4 ,but you must remember that if you start with a half-and-half education1 it is more difficult to perfect the training than if you start in a more systematic manner2 and ,i do not pretend that these are the proper1 but only easy methods4 ,it is by the union of the side steps of forehand and croup1 the former always a trifle in advance1 that a horse is taught to traverse1 that is1 to move sideways at a walk1 trot1 or gallop4 ,but the traverse is a ,school gait rarely needed on the road1 and a horse may be trained to entire usefulness without being able to traverse1 as a gait1 if he can willingly make a few quick side steps in either direction4 ,moreover1 to properly traverse1 a horse should be taught the passage1 which is a gait in which the feet are raised much higher1 by the inducement of the spur and the indication of the rein1 than the horse would naturally lift them4 ,the passage is put to use in very many of the airs of the manege4 ,,xxxix4 ,to revert now to the canter1 for which the pirouettes are preparations4 ,there are two or three ways of teaching a horse to lead with either foot1 but the best way is to begin with the flexions which ,i have just described to you1 and the more perfect these are1 the easier and quicker the progress1 and the more satisfactory the result4 ,if you have not patience to wade through all these1 you may try the following plan1 which is founded on the natural instincts and balance of the horse1 but for the execution of which1 with your load on his back1 he has not been prepared4 ,a horse will lead with the off foot most readily if he is going round a circle to the right2 with the near foot1 if circling to the left4 ,in other words1 the foot which will quickest sustain his weight against the centrifugal motion is the one which is planted first1 that is1 the foot not leading4 ,the way a horse is taught in a riding-school to lead with either foot is by associating the proper indication to do so with the lead he naturally takes as he canters around the right or left of the ring1 or changes direction in what are called the voltes in teaching pupils4 ,but ,i have seen many horses who would do this very readily inside school walls1 who were very stupid or refractory on a straight bit of road4 ,i think this is universally true1 in fact1 and that is why ,i recommend road teaching whenever practicable4 ,it cannot be alleged that every horse will always use the proper foot in the lead4 ,a horse unused to cantering with a rider's weight upon his back may do all kinds of awkward things which at liberty1 or when trained1 he will not attempt to do4 ,but the above way of leading is the natural thing1 and that which a horse generally does when at liberty2 and it is not hard to induce him to do what comes naturally to him1 nor by practice to strengthen the habit4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xii4 ,a ,,twenty-,,foot ,,leap4 ,the action of the legs of the leading side is higher in the canter and the gallop than that of the other pair4 ,a horse is said to be false in his canter or gallop if he turns with a wrong lead1 that is1 if he turns to the right until he alters his lead to the right shoulder1 unless he is already so leading1 or vice versa4 ,this is true of sharp turns1 which may indeed cause a dangerous fall if false1 but a horse can safely make turns with a long radius and good footing without altering his lead1 and this is often convenient to be done4 ,but if the ground is slippery1 it is a risk to turn a sharp corner with a wrong lead4 ,i have often seen men punish a horse for slipping at such a turn1 when it was solely owing to the false lead that he did so2 and the false lead was either the lack of education in the horse or the rider1 or both4 ,sometimes a horse will be leading with one shoulder1 and following with the alternate hind leg4 ,he is then said to be disunited1 or disconnected4 ,the leg or spur1 applied on either side to bring him to the proper lead1 will soon correct this error1 as it is equally disagreeable to horse and rider1 and it is a relief to both to change it4 ,now1 acting on this theory of the horse having a natural lead1 suppose you canter ,nelly about in a circle small enough to induce her to use the proper leg in the lead4 ,a circle fifty feet in diameter will do4 ,at the same time apply a constant but slight pressure of your leg on the side opposite her leading shoulder4 ,she will by and by associate this pressure with what you want her to do4 ,stick to one direction long enough1 say three or four days1 to impress the idea on her mind1 and she will be rather apt to keep it in memory4 ,then try the other direction with opposite pressure1 and you will gradually get the opposite result4 ,again1 a horse canters best with off shoulder leading1 if moving along the side of a hill which slopes up to his right1 and vice versa4 ,thus1 if you keep on the left side of most roads1 where the grade slopes towards the gutter1 you will find that ,nelly will lead best with her right shoulder4 ,this is for the same reason4 ,she wishes to plant quickest that foot which will keep her from slipping down hill4 ,if she is on the right of the road she will lead best with the left shoulder4 ,she will1 perhaps1 not do this as readily as on the circle1 but she will be apt to do it4 ,if you should watch a horse in the circus ring1 you would notice that this is apparently not true4 ,but the slanting path of the circus ring is really not on a slant at all1 when we calculate the centrifugal force of the motion around so small a circle4 ,it is as if a horse were moving on a horizontal plane1 for he is really perpendicular to the slanting path2 and its tipped position is governed by the same mathematical rule as the road-bed of a railroad curve4 ,you may utilize this slanting instinct also in the same fashion as the circle first mentioned for getting the elementary idea into ,nelly's head that pressure on one side means leading with the opposite shoulder4 ,moreover1 the side of the road1 which is the slope most handy1 has the additional advantage of being generally the softest cantering ground4 ,there is an upward play of the rein1 which can be explained only to the student who has advanced some distance in the art1 which tends to lighten1 or invigorate one or the other side of a horse1 and thus induce him1 coupled with other means1 to make the long strides1 that is1 lead1 with the lightened or active shoulder4 ,but you1 ,tom1 will not be able to use this until you have devoted more time to study as well as practice4 ,after you have tried the circle to your satisfaction1 try cantering in a figure eight of sufficient size4 ,nelly will thereby learn instinctively to change step as she comes to the loops4 ,you can probably find a field or lawn somewhere on which you can practice4 ,out-of-door instruction is always preferable to riding-school work1 if equally good1 both for man and beast4 ,and such instruction as these hints are intended to enable you to give1 will teach you more than the average riding-school ever does4 ,i by no means refer to those schools which teach equitation as a true art1 instead of merely drilling you in the bald elements of riding4 ,nor is there any better place to give ,nelly proper instruction than a riding-school1 unless it be the lawn or field4 ,what you teach ,nelly out-of-doors you will find her much more willing and able to put into use on the road than if she had gone through the same drill in a school4 ,,xl4 ,the above is1 of course1 the crudest of methods compared with the best ,school systems1 but if you have taught ,nelly her side steps 7or pirouettes71 as ,i have described them to you1 or in other words have to a certain extent suppled her forehand and croup by the proper flexions1 you can start in a more certain way4 ,you must not expect to succeed at once4 ,success depends upon ,nelly's intelligence1 your own patience1 and the delicate perceptions of both4 ,i assume that you will have already taught ,nelly to canter whenever you wish her to do so1 though she may have been selecting her own lead4 ,now1 you can1 of course1 see1 when you want her to canter1 that if you keep her head straight with the reins and press upon her near flank with your leg1 she will throw her croup away from your leg1 and be for the moment out of the true line of advance4 ,this is bad for the walk or the trot1 but just what you want to induce her to start the canter with the off shoulder leading4 ,for if you can keep her in this position until she takes the canter1 she will be more apt to lead off with her right shoulder1 because the forcing of her croup to the right has also pushed this shoulder in advance of the other4 ,if at the same time she is traveling along a slope which runs up from her right1 say the left side of the road1 or on a circle turning to the right1 she will be all the more apt to do this4 ,you can aid her also by a little marked play with the right rein1 which will tend to enliven that side1 and by giving it increased action1 aid in bringing it forward1 even if not done with entire expertness4 ,a number of ,english writers state that the proper indication for the lead with the right foot is a tap of the whip on the right side1 but this appears to be lacking in good theory1 and might prove very confusing to a horse1 despite the fact that the animal can be made to learn anything as an indication4 ,a tap of the whip under the right elbow would be more consistent with the horse's action1 although it is quite possible1 as a feat1 to teach a horse to lead with the off shoulder by pulling his off ear1 or his tail1 for the matter of that4 ,but indications are best when they tally with a sound theory of the horse's motions4 ,reverse causes will induce ,nelly to lead with the left shoulder4 ,not1 of course1 at once4 ,for though she will do it in a circle or figure eight1 on the road she may still be often confused4 ,it requires much time and practice to make her perfect4 ,but once ,nelly catches the idea1 you can surely succeed in impressing it on her for good and all1 and though she will blunder often enough1 she will in the end learn it thoroughly4 ,when you start out to make ,nelly lead off with one shoulder1 be sure you accomplish your object4 ,if she leads off with the other1 stop her at once1 and try again4 ,always succeed with a horse in what you undertake4 ,if you cannot1 on any given day1 make ,nelly lead right1 do not let her canter at all1 but keep her on a trot or a walk4 ,it requires a number of successful trials to make it plain to the intelligence of a horse that he has done what you want1 and is to do it again on similar indications4 ,it is1 therefore1 well for him not to have to learn too many new lessons at once4 ,,xli4 ,to change lead in motion is harder for the horse and rider both to learn1 and there is no better test of a well-trained horse than an immediate and balanced change of lead on call4 ,a canter is a gait somewhat similar to the gallop1 though the feet move and come down in different progression4 ,but at certain times one or more of the four feet are successively sustaining the weight1 and there is an interval when the horse is unsupported in the air1 or has only one hind foot upon the ground4 ,it is this last period which the horse chooses in which to change his lead4 ,now1 suppose you are cantering with ,nelly's right shoulder leading1 and want her to change to the left4 ,if you press upon her right flank with your leg1 she will want to shift her croup to the left4 ,this will incline her naturally to turn her head to the right1 which inclination you must counteract with as little motion as possible of the reins4 ,nelly will thus find that she is cantering uncomfortably to herself1 and if you will keep along in this way for a few strides1 she will very likely shift to her left lead1 because the constraint of your leg and the bit are irksome while she continues to lead with the right1 and she will try what she can do to get rid of the restraint4 ,she certainly will change after a while1 particularly if aided by the circle or slope1 even if she does it because she does not know what else to do4 ,and by rousing or lightening the left shoulder by a play of the left rein you will materially aid the change4 ,so soon as she has changed1 reward her by a few words1 and canter along on the new lead4 ,the reverse accomplishes a similar result4 ,it will probably take you many weeks to bring about all this4 ,if you do it in a few weeks1 you will succeed far beyond the average4 ,but the process of teaching an intelligent horse1 if you are patient1 is as pleasant as the result of the lessons is agreeable1 after they have had their due effect4 ,a horse should be so well trained as to be ready to turn with a false lead if you ask him to do so4 ,left to himself1 he should take the proper lead at the moment of turning4 ,but he must obey you to the extent of doing what he would otherwise not do1 and should properly not do1 if you give him the indication4 ,and this without becoming confused1 so as to fail to do the proper thing on the next occasion4 ,though ,i by no means hold up ,patroclus to-day as a model performer of ,school-paces1 which ,i am perhaps too lazy to keep him as perfect in as ,i ought to do1 the results of good training still remain4 ,i sometimes1 when out of sight1 canter him quite a stretch1 say quarter of a mile1 changing lead1 first every fourth stride1 then every third stride1 then every second1 in regular rhythmic succession4 ,if ,patroclus fails to do this feat with exactness1 ,i can always recognize my own error in too late an indication1 rather than his in obeying it4 ,it is possible to canter him very slowly with a change of lead at every stride1 but such work is very exhausting to a horse1 and ,i have not often done it4 ,this latter feat must be done so slowly that the gait is properly not a canter2 but ,patroclus can perform the true canter1 and change at every second step readily for several hundred yards4 ,there are undoubtedly many well-trained horses in ,boston1 very likely more highly trained ones than ,i am aware of2 but certainly the great majority of saddle beasts possess scarcely the rudiments of an education4 ,this seems to be a pity1 when it requires so little labor to give them one1 if their owners will but learn how to do so4 ,not long ago a friend of mine1 and an old rider too1 was exhibiting to me a recently purchased horse1 for whom he had paid a high price1 because he was said to have come fresh from the hands of some noted trainer4 ,the horse would fall into a canter with his own lead readily enough1 but when1 after a struggle of some hundred yards1 he was made to lead with the foot selected by the rider1 it was thought to be a triumph of cleverness4 ,is not this a common case8 ,and would it not be well to rectify it8 ,,xlii4 ,there are a number of little exercises which you ought by no means to omit1 as1 for instance1 practicing ,nelly in backing quickly1 handily1 and without losing her balance4 ,this is only to be done by slow degrees1 a few steps at a time1 and by generously rewarding progress as she increases her number of backward steps4 ,never force her4 ,use persuasion only4 ,in doing this1 watch that she is always well poised4 ,otherwise she cannot back properly4 ,you must also teach her1 by that use of the reins and legs which you will already have learned1 to change direction as she backs1 as easily as she does in moving forward4 ,these necessary things she has already been crudely taught in her breaking-in4 ,if ,nelly has the pride of a courageous horse1 as ,i should judge by her bright eye that she had1 she will be fairly greedy of kind words and caresses4 ,and ,i trust you will never allow her to become afraid of the whip4 ,you should be able to switch your whip all about her face without her heeding it4 ,reward goes much farther than punishment4 ,the latter needs very rarely to be resorted to4 ,i have never used it1 barring in isolated cases1 but what afterwards ,i was ashamed of it1 and not infrequently ,i have made most sincere apology and amends to the sufferer4 ,but the harm done has always been hard to eradicate4 ,an impatient man quickly loses his standing in the confidence and affection of an intelligent horse4 ,in your training1 a whip will be much more useful than a crop4 ,the latter is but a badge of fashion1 of absolutely no use on the road1 and of but little in education4 ,now1 ,tom1 ,i have suggested to you a number of very crude rules for training your mare4 ,like ,captain ,jack ,bunsby ,i ought to add that the bearings of this observation lays in the application on it4 ,but by the patient aid of even these simple methods1 intelligently used1 you will have given ,nelly an easy mouth1 you will have suppled her forehand and croup1 and you will have taught her to canter with either foot in the lead4 ,everything which ,i have told you can be put to use by a lady as well as a man4 ,but a lady needs preliminary teaching in a school1 because it is neither pleasant nor safe for her to be on the road quite untaught4 ,but having acquired a seat and some little control of her horse1 she can apply all the rules ,i have given you1 using her whip as a man would use his right leg4 ,the short skirts of the day enable her to use her left leg as readily as you can4 ,the gallop comes of itself1 and needs but care that your own position is good and does not lose firmness or interfere with your hands4 ,better sit down to the gallop4 ,the jockey habit of galloping in the stirrups is rarely of use except as a means of changing your own seat and sometimes of easing your horse across ploughed fields or bad ground4 ,it is never proper for the road4 ,,xliii4 ,having got thus far1 you will surely want to teach the mare to jump and yourself to sit her firmly when she does so4 ,perhaps you may choose to defer the tedious processes described and go at jumping at once4 ,if you think you can sit a fairish jump1 probably the best plan is to follow the hounds in a quiet way some day1 if it happens to be in their season4 ,a great many horses will jump imitatively when in company and do pretty clean simple work4 ,there is a bit of a chance for a blunder this way1 because a horse unused to jumping cannot gauge his work and may come down4 ,but by taking him slowly at his fences1 perhaps at a walk1 there is comparatively little risk4 ,it is the exceptional horse who will jump well in cold blood1 like ,patroclus in the illustrations4 ,but any horse can be taught to do so in a measure1 and no horse can be called a hunter unless he will do so cleverly4 ,if you first go out with the hounds1 there is some danger that if your seat is insecure you will drag ,nelly back from her leaps1 and worry or confuse her so much that you will lose a deal of ground4 ,though1 indeed1 she will be less readily spoiled if she gets excited by the chase1 than if put at equally high jumps as a lesson1 because her eagerness to keep up with the other horses will exceed her annoyance at your unsteady hands4 ,i would advise you1 on the whole1 to have a little practice in some quiet spot all by yourself4 ,a horse who will only jump in company is far from perfect in this accomplishment4 ,a well-trained horse should jump a three and a half foot gate or an eight foot ditch at any time as willingly as start into a sharp gallop4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xiii4 ,,about ,,to ,,land4 ,i assume that ,nelly knows nothing of leaping4 ,wander off into the fields somewhere4 ,find a place where there is a gate or fence of several bars4 ,let all these down but one or two1--leaving enough in height for ,nelly to step over if she lifts her feet way up1--say twenty inches4 ,a fallen log is an excellent thing to try on4 ,make her cross and recross the bar or log a number of times1 by persuasion only4 ,any horse will step over a high bar if you stand him in front of it and encourage him4 ,don't scold or strike her4 ,nothing disheartens the learning or courageous horse so much4 ,from the days of ,xenophon down1 any one who loses his temper in training a horse1 or uses any but gentle means1 violates the precept1 practice1 and experience of all successful horsemen4 ,but never to approach a horse in a fit of anger is the one great precept and maxim of conduct in regard to the treatment of a horse2 for anger is destitute of forethought1 and consequently often does that of which the agent must necessarily repent4 ,xen4 ,horsemanship1 vi4 #ac4 ,curiously enough1 in spite of this rule1 ,xenophon advocates the use of the whip and spur in teaching a horse to leap--the gravest error1 ,i think1 of this exceedingly sensible horseman4 ,it has been said that you should not make a horse keep on jumping the same obstacle1 because he sees no reason for doing it1 and feels that you are making a fool of him4 ,but my experience is that a horse likes to jump at any well-known thing1 if he has been petted or rewarded for cleverly clearing it4 ,a horse who has been given a bit of sugar or apple after jumping is far from feeling that he has been made a fool of1 even if he is jumped a dozen times over the same obstacle4 ,and every horse goes with double confidence at a thing he has leaped before4 ,it is the horse who knows the country who makes easiest headway and quickest after hounds1 and is oftenest in at the death4 ,at the same time it is true that a horse can be spoiled by leaping him in cold blood much more easily than when in the company of many others4 ,and it is also true that if a horse is ridden at different things in succession1 if such can be readily found1 he learns to take whatever comes in his path more handily than if he is confined to only one jump4 ,still1 after once learning to jump any one obstacle1 the lesson is easily carried farther by riding across simple bits of country4 ,as soon as ,nelly walks right over the bar without hesitation or any pause longer than enough to lift her feet1 walk or jog her up to it a bit faster4 ,she will soon find that it is less exertion for her to rise to it with both feet at once1 and hop over it1 than to lift her feet so high4 ,as soon as she has caught this idea1 reward her with a nibble of something1 for she has made her first step in learning the lesson4 ,a little sugar1 salt1 or a bit of apple1 or a green leaf or two1 or a bunch of grass you will find to be wonderful incentives4 ,don't raise the bar too soon or too much4 ,when ,nelly is quite familiar with the small jump at a slow gait1 trot her at it4 ,most horses can jump well from a trot4 ,in fact some of the best riders always trot up to timber4 ,it is a temptation of ,providence to try to fly a stiff bit of timber1 unless you have a wonderful jumper who knows you well1 or unless you are at the beginning of a run1 when your horse is in his best condition2 and ,providence should never be tempted except when a considerable result lies trembling in the balance4 ,when ,nelly takes the obstacle cleverly from a trot1 canter her at it1 and gradually she will take pleasure in hopping over it1 particularly if she now and then gets a tidbit at the other side4 ,moreover1 this tidbit will accomplish another object4 ,it will teach your mare not to rush as soon as she clears her fence1 which a horse who is whipped at his jumps almost always does4 ,by insensible degrees and within a few weeks you will get ,nelly to jump three feet high1 or even three and a half4 ,if she can do this in cold blood1 clane and cliver1 she will be able to do anything within reason which you need when in company4 ,you can try her in just the same way at small1 then at large ditches1 always keeping to the familiar place and rewarding success1 until ,nelly learns what jumping in the abstract is4 ,after that1 try her at all kinds of things in moderation4 ,there is more than a grain of good sense in the idea that a horse does not want to be made to jump unnecessarily4 ,and it is true that some horses get stubborn if always put at the same obstacle without an object4 ,but if a horse associates praise and reward with jumping1 he will be ready for it at any proper time4 ,you should1 however1 avoid making a tired horse leap except when it is absolutely necessary4 ,let him do this work when he is fresh4 ,you of course know that a really stanch horse is usually fresher after five or ten miles of average speed than at the start4 ,the best of stayers are often quite dull until they get their legs stretched and their bodies emptied4 ,this particularly applies to aged horses4 ,and perhaps the very worst time to jump a horse is when he is just out of the stall4 ,,xliv4 ,how about holding the reins in the jump8 ,well1 now we come to debatable ground4 ,to-day's fashion tells you to use both hands4 ,the old-fashioned ,english habit1 as well as the necessary habit of the soldier and of all other riders who have work to do1 is to use the bridle hand alone4 ,i prefer the latter habit4 ,only a half-trained horse needs both hands4 ,a good jumper ought to want to jump1 not have to be steered and shoved over an obstacle4 ,i am willing to allow that some brutes have to be so steered2 but if a horse is well-taught1 likes to leap1 and can be safely ridden at an obstacle with one hand1 why use two8 ,if a man is astride a horse who must be steered1 let him use both4 ,if he can teach his horse to be true at his jumps with but one hand1 both will have gained a point1 and be one hand better off4 ,for two hands may be used at any time1 if called for4 ,a sound and vigorous horse1 who has been properly taught to jump1 will take anything which he feels that his rider himself means to go over4 ,if you want utterly to spoil your ,nelly1 ride her at things you yourself feel uncertain about clearing4 ,she will quickly find out your mood from your hands4 ,the only rule for keeping your mare true to her work is never to ride at anything which you have not made up your mind to carry her over4 ,be true to yourself in your ambition to jump1 and ,nelly will be true to you4 ,it is usually the horses that have been fooled by uncertain hearts and tremulous hands who fail you at the critical moment1 or who have to be steered over their fences4 ,so long as your horse has jumping ability1 and you have a warm heart and a cool head1 you can go anywhere4 ,a generation ago no one was ashamed of even letting his right arm fly up now and then1 for it was not in olden times the extremity of bad form which it is now pronounced to be4 ,look over ,doyle or ,leech for proof of this4 ,but the main argument against the unnecessary use of two hands is that you may absolutely require your right hand for something else1 while it certainly argues a poor training or character in a horse to make it a sine qua non for you to employ both at every leap4 ,of what avail would a trooper be in a charge1 with his horse bounding over dismounted companions1 dead1 or1 worse still1 wounded and struggling horses1 and all manner of obstacles1 if he had to steer his horse with his sword-hand8 ,and not infrequently you will find1 in the peaceful charge after harmless ,reynard1 that your right arm is better employed in fending off blows from stray branches or in opening a passage through a close cover1 than in holding on to one of your reins4 ,have you never been through a bullfinch where you must part the clustering branches if you were to scramble through and avoid the wondrous wise man's bramble-bush experience8 ,have you never felt your hat going at the instant your horse was taking off8 ,have you never seen just the neatest place in the hedge obstructed by a single branch1 which your right arm could thrust aside as you flew over8 ,have you never1 ,o my hunting brother1 had to make an awfully sudden grab at your horse's mane8 ,and while ,i am happy to defer to the opinion of some of the most noted steeple-chasers and first-flight men in this controversy1 when they call single-hand jumping a hateful practice1 and ascribe to it half the bad habits of the hunter and the crooked seats of the rider1 ,i am satisfied to look at the portraits of such wonderful equestrians as ,captain ,percy ,williams1 or ,tom ,clarke1 huntsman of the ,old ,berkshire1 and a dozen others that could be instanced1 all using the bridle hand alone1 and some of them even forgetting that it is bad form to let the right elbow leave the side4 ,bad form1 forsooth6 ,these portraits would scarcely have been thus painted if the habit had met the disapproval of the celebrated horsemen in question4 ,so far as you are concerned1 ,tom1 you will learn while ,penelope is learning4 ,use your snaffle bit alone4 ,a man needs light hands to jump with a curb1 or else his horse must have a leather mouth4 ,whenever ,nelly has made up her mind to jump1 let her have her head4 ,don't try to tell her when to take off4 ,leave that to her1 and don't flurry her while she is making up her mind when and where to do it4 ,leave that to the very experienced rider4 ,if she is jumping from a stand1 or slow trot1 you can say a word of encouragement to her1 but by no means do so at a gallop1 when within a stride or two of the jump4 ,be ready1 however1 to draw rein sufficient to give her some support as soon as she has landed4 ,you will find that when ,nelly jumps1 the strong and quick extension of her hind legs will throw you into the air and forward4 ,to obviate this settle down in your seat1 in other words1 curl your sitting bones under you1 use your legs 7not your heels71 and lean back just enough not to get thrown from your saddle4 ,don't try any of the fancy ideas about first leaning forward to ease her croup while she takes off4 ,you will come a cropper if you do4 ,lean back4 ,it will not take you long to find out how much1 and the leaning forward will come of itself4 ,,xlv4 ,it is often alleged by old cross-country riders that the best hunters land on their hind feet4 ,many no doubt land so quickly and so well gathered that they give to the eye the appearance of so doing4 ,but ,i doubt if photography would really show them to land other than on one fore foot1 instantly relieved by the second one planted a short stride farther on1 and followed by the corresponding hind ones in succession4 ,plate ,,xiv4 shows what ,i mean1 and the same thing appears in all the ,muybridge photographs4 ,but your eye can by no means catch ,patroclus in this position4 ,his hind legs seem to follow his fore legs much more closely2 and he always lands cleverly and so well gathered as to make not the slightest falter in his new stride4 ,it is also said that the best water-jumpers skim and do not rise much to the jump4 ,but ,i fancy that every horse rises more to water than the fancy drawn pictures show4 ,gravitation alone1 it seems1 would make this necessary4 ,photography would prove the fact1 but there are probably not enough such photographs extant to-day to decide upon the question4 ,you may read a dozen volumes about jumping1 ,tom1 but a dozen jumps will teach you a dozen times as much as the printer's ink4 ,and remember that a standing or an irregular jump1 even if small1 or that the leap of a pony1 is harder to sit than a well-timed jump of twice the dimensions on a full grown horse4 ,i have been nearly dismounted in teaching a new horse much oftener than in the hunting-field4 ,it is only when your horse comes down1 or when a bad jumper rushes at his fence and then swerves or refuses suddenly1 that there is any grave danger of a fall in riding to hounds4 ,don't be afraid of a fall4 ,it won't hurt you much in nineteen cases out of twenty4 ,if you find you are really going and can't save yourself1 don't stiffen4 ,try to flop1 the more like a drunken man the better4 ,it is rigid muscles which break bones4 ,this is a hard rule to learn4 ,many falls alone teach its uses4 ,a suggestion will by no means do so4 ,but hold on to your reins for your life1 ,tom1 when you fall4 ,this is one of the most important things to remember4 ,it has saved many a man from being dragged4 ,a man who brags that he has never had a fall may be set down as having never done much hard riding4 ,many a time and oft have the very best riders and their steeds entered the next field in ,tom ,noddy's order3 ,tom ,noddy #a4 ,t4 ,n4's b4g4 ,dan #b4 ,and yet how few bones there are broken for the number of falls4 ,a good shaking up is all there is to it1 as a rule4 ,when a man mellows into middle life--7how much farther on in years middle life is when we are well past forty than when we are twenty-five67--he is apt to feel discreet1 because conscious that a bad spill may hurt him worse than in his youth1 and he will look upon a hog-backed stile as a thing requiring a deal of deliberation1 if not a wee bit jumping-powder4 ,he will avoid trying conclusions whenever he can4 ,but at your age and with your legs1 on that mare of yours1 ,tom1 you should go anywhere1 if she will learn to jump cleverly4 ,your feet should be home in the stirrups1 and you will naturally throw them slightly backward as you hold on1 toes down1 because it both gives you the better grip and keeps your stirrup on your foot4 ,in this particular1 ,tom1 ,i bid you heed my precept1 and not study my example1 which is by no means of the best1 as ,i am reduced to jumping with a straight leg1 and to fastening my stirrup to my foot1 lest ,i should not find it when ,i land4 ,,xlvi4 ,the ,englishman's method and seat for cross-country riding is undeniably the best1 and perhaps is hardly to be criticised4 ,but a good seat or hands for hunting are not necessarily good for all other saddle work4 ,that firmness in the saddle which will take a man over a five-foot wall may not be of the same quality as will give him absolutely light hands for ,school-riding4 ,for as a rule1 ,englishmen prefer hunters who take pretty well hold of the bridle1 and work well up to the bit4 ,and for this one purpose1 perhaps they are right4 ,such a hold will not1 however1 teach a man the uses of light hands in the remotest degree4 ,in a sharp run to hounds1 a horse must have his head4 ,for high pace or great exertions of mere speed1 the horse must be free4 ,a twitch on the curb may check him at a jump and give him a bad fall4 ,as in racing1 a horse has to learn that his duty is to put all his courage1 speed1 and jumping ability into his work1 subject only to discreet guidance and management4 ,but on the road1 the exact reverse should be the rule4 ,there is surely less enjoyment in your ,penelope1 who to-day can only walk1 or else go a four-minute gait without constant friction1 than there will be when she can vary her gaits and keep up any desired rate of speed1 from a walk to a fifteen-mile trot or a sharp gallop1 at the least intimation of your hands and without discomfort to herself4 ,i know of nothing more annoying than to be forced by a riding companion of whichever sex into a sharper gait than either of you wish to go1 because mounted on a fretting horse1 who cannot be brought down to a comfortable rate of speed until all but tired out4 ,in the hunting-field you expect to go fast for a short time1 and it is alone the speed and the occasional obstacle which lend the zest to the sport4 ,but for the ride on the road1 which to many of us is a lazy luxury1 you need variety in speed as well as gaits for both comfort and pleasure4 ,patroclus here will walk1 amble1 rack1 single-foot1 trot1 canter1 gallop1 and run1 or go from any one into any other at will2 and every one of these gaits is unmistakably distinct1 crisp1 and well performed4 ,nor have ,i ever found him any the less accomplished cross-country1 within his limitation of condition and speed1 for having had a complete education for the road4 ,when ,i give him his head and loosen my curb1 ,i find him just as free as if ,i had never restrained him from choosing his own course4 ,who can deny that the pleasure to be derived from such a horse for daily use does not exceed that to be got from one who can only trot on the road1 or run and jump in the field8 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xiv4 ,,landing4 ,perhaps ,nelly will never learn so much1 for ,patroclus is an exceptionally intelligent and well-suppled horse4 ,but she can learn a good deal of it4 ,patroclus had no idea of any gait but a walk or trot when ,i bought him1 nor did he start with any better equipment than ,penelope2 and in less than a year he knew all that he knows now1 and much that he has forgotten4 ,for in the many ,high ,school airs which he once could at call perform1 he is altogether rusty from sheer lack of usage4 ,but the moral may remain1 though the fable may have long since passed from the memory4 ,,xlvii4 ,some horses1 who trot squarely1 will go naturally from a walk into a little amble or pace1 which is sometimes called a shuffle4 ,often this is an agreeable and handsome gait1 but not infrequently far from pleasant4 ,often1 too1 it will spoil the speed of the walk1 as the horse will insensibly fall into it if pushed beyond his ease4 ,a slower rate at a faster pace is always easier to a horse than the extreme of speed at the lesser gait4 ,it is scarcely worth while in the ,east to try to teach a horse to amble or rack if he does not naturally do so1 though it can often be done4 ,apart from the agreeable and useful side of the true rack as a gait1 it has not a few further advantages4 ,in coming from a canter to a walk1 a horse may be taught to slow up into a rack1 and then drop to the walk1 or to stop in the same manner4 ,this enables him to come down without the least suspicion of that roughness which almost all horses show when stopping a canter1 particularly if done quickly2 unless1 indeed1 they be poised before being stopped1 as a ,school-ridden horse always is from every gait4 ,moreover1 when you rein a cantering horse down within the slowest limit of his speed at that pace1 as to allow a team to pass1 or for a similar purpose1 if he knows how1 he will fall into a rack1 from which he can with much more comfort to himself and you resume the canter1 than if he had fallen into a walk4 ,a rack is not an interruption of the canter1 as is a jog or walk1 but a mere retardando1 as it were4 ,still a rapid walk1 a trot which varies from six to ten miles1 and a well-collected canter suffice for any of our ,eastern needs4 ,these1 and the gallop1 moreover1 are considered the only permissible paces by the ,school-riders of ,europe4 ,in our ,southern ,states rackers are bred for1 and the instinct is confirmed by training4 ,in many warm countries1 ambling is bred for4 ,i do not think that any horse with practically but a single gait1 as is usually the case with the ambler or racker1 comes up to the requisite standard of usefulness4 ,of the two1 ,i should give my preference1 in our latitude1 to a mere trotter1 if easy1 who had a busy walk beside4 ,but in addition to the trot and canter1 any comfortable gait may often be a relief1 and it is eminently desirable1 if the horse can learn it without spoiling his proper paces4 ,such a gait adds vastly to a horse's value for the saddle4 ,i cannot agree with the ,school-riders that a rack may not be a good ,school gait4 ,patroclus' rack1 when collected1 is certainly as clean a performance as any of his other gaits4 ,from it he will drop back to a walk1 or fall into a canter or gallop with either lead1 or into a square trot4 ,and this more quickly than from another gait1 for if1 in a canter1 the indication to trot be given him out of season1 he may be obliged to complete one more stride before he can execute the order2 whereas1 from a rack1 which is always a mid-stride for any gait1 he can instantly fall into the one commanded4 ,the indication and execution are often all but instantaneous from the rack4 ,he is really more neatly collected on the rack proper than on any other gait1 except the canter2 and though the rack is unrecognized as a ,school pace1 ,i feel certain that ,i could convince any master of the ,haute ,ecole that within proper limits it is an addition1 not a loss1 to the education of a horse4 ,what ,school-riders mean when they exclude the rack from ,school-paces is that a racker has rarely any other gait2 and in the usual loose-jointed rack of the ,south a horse is certainly not well enough poised for use in ,school performances4 ,,xlviii4 ,to come back to our original text1 then1 it is quite impossible to say1 as a whole1 what seat is intrinsically the best1 or what nation furnishes the best of riders4 ,it appears to me that there is such a thing as a natural seat4 ,such a seat is clearly shown on the frieze of the ,parthenon1 and in a less artistic way may be seen among any horsemen riding without stirrups4 ,although ,xenophon has been misunderstood in this particular1 ,i feel convinced that his description calls for what ,i understand to be the natural seat4 ,and the best military riders make the nearest approach to this position4 ,by military seat ,i by no means intend to convey the idea of a straight leg1 forked radish style4 ,that is not the military seat proper4 ,it is only in spite of such a seat1 or in spite of the short stirrup of the ,east1 and because they are always in the saddle1 that the ,mexican gaucho and the ,arab of the desert both ride as magnificently as they do4 ,the best military rider should1 and does1 carry the leg as it naturally falls when sitting on his breech1 not his crotch1 on the bare back of a horse4 ,the steeple-chaser1 or cross-country rider1 for perfectly satisfactory reasons1 has a much shorter stirrup4 ,but on the road1 he should1 and generally does1 come back more nearly to the natural length4 ,the main advantage in the very long stirrup which obtains among so many peoples lies in the possibility of sitting close on a trot with greater ease1 and of using the lasso or whip1 or in having a free hand for their sundry sports or duties4 ,and a high pommel and cantle are advantageous in helping the rider preserve his seat when he might be dragged--not thrown--from it in some of his peculiar experiences4 ,but the perfectly straight leg always bears a suggestion of the parting advice of the groom to a ,sunday rider just leaving the stable3 ,look straight between his hears1 sir1 and keep your balance1 and you can't come hoff4 ,on the other hand1 the advantages of an extremely short stirrup1 such as prevails in the ,orient1 are very difficult to be understood at all4 ,the military riders of every civilized country1 where enlistments are long enough1 and where proper care is given to the instruction in equestrianism1 are excellent4 ,it would be curious indeed if men who devote their lives to the art should not be so4 ,some of our old army cavalry officers rode gloriously4 ,our volunteer cavalry1 late in the war1 rode strongly1 though not always handsomely4 ,during the past twenty years the severe work and long marches of our regular mounted troops have militated greatly against equestrianism as an art4 ,some of the most accomplished riders ,i have ever known have been in the ,united ,states ,army4 ,philip ,kearny1 that preux chevalier1 the one-armed devil1 was in every sense a superb rider4 ,i have seen him with his cap in one hand1 his empty sleeve blowing outward with his speed1 and his sword dangling from his wrist1 ride over a ,virginia snake fence such as most of us would want to knock at least the top rail off4 ,how he strode his brown steed6 ,how we saw his blade brighten ,in the one hand still left1--and the reins in his teeth6 ,he laughed like a boy when the holidays heighten1 ,but a soldier's glance shot from his visor beneath6 ,and a man who could not follow him did not long remain upon his staff4 ,one of my lost opportunities occurred for such a reason during ,pope's campaign1 when ,general ,kearny1 who had dispatched right and left all his aides1 beckoned to me at dusk one evening to ride out and draw the fire of some of the enemy's troops supposed to be on the edge of a wood1 some half a mile or so distant4 ,my own horse had been shot1 and my equipments lost4 ,i had captured an old farm-horse without a saddle1 and had extemporized a rope bridle4 ,the course lay athwart some open fields1 with a number of fences still standing4 ,my desire to do this work stood in inverse ratio to my steed's ability to second me4 ,and no sooner had ,i ridden up and touched my cap for orders1 than the general had gauged the poverty of my beast and rig1 and speedily selected a better mounted messenger4 ,during the war1 among the volunteer troops1 we used in some of the divisions to organize steeple-chases during a long term of inactive operations1 and good ones we frequently had2 the old style steeple-chase over an unknown course being the fashion1 and the steeple generally a prominent tree1 at a distance of a couple of miles4 ,often the course was round a less distant tree and back again4 ,not a few good riders and horses were forthcoming to enter for such an event1 and ,i have rarely seen better riding than there4 ,an unknown course over ,virginia fences1 and through patches of ,virginia second growth1 especially after heavy rains1 when mere gutters became rivers for a number of hours1 and the ground was much like hasty-pudding1 could be a test to try the best of horses and horsemen4 ,these are but isolated examples1 instanced only as showing that every species of hard saddle work is very naturally apt to be cultivated among men whose duty keeps them in the saddle the better part of every day4 ,and it is well known that ,english army officers are among the very best cross-country riders1 and not a few have occupied the dignity of ,m4 ,f4 ,h41 and done it credit4 ,surely such a rider1 trained in the niceties of the manege1 as well as experienced in riding to hounds1 may fitly be placed at the head of the equestrian roll of honor4 99 99 99 99 99 ,after excluding professionals1 then 7and exceptional individuals71 ,i am afraid ,i must brave criticism in calling the officers of civilized mounted troops distinctly the best class of riders4 ,next--perhaps you will say in the same category--comes that class in ,england which makes its one pleasure the prosecution of the most splendid of all sports1 fox-hunting1 and has reached perfection in the art4 ,excluding all riders who do not belong to the classes available for our imitation1 there comes next1 longo intervallo1 the civilian rider everywhere4 ,it is impossible to draw any comparison between the above classes and even our own cowboys1 whose peculiar duties and untamed mustangs prescribe their long leathers and horned pommel4 ,nor can the equatorial style be fairly contrasted with what meets the wants of the denizens of the civilized cities of the temperate zone4 ,in this country1 the ,southerner is the most constantly in the saddle1 and a good rider in the sunny ,south is a thoroughly good rider4 ,but ,i have often wondered at the number of poor ones it is possible to find in localities where everybody moves about in the saddle4 ,many men there1 who ride all the time1 seem to have acquired the trick of breaking every commandment in the decalogue of equitation4 ,using horses as a mere means of transportation seems sometimes to reduce the steed to a simple beast of burden1 and equestrianism to the bald ability to sit in the saddle as you would in an ox-cart4 ,i think ,i have seen more graceful equestriennes in the ,south than anywhere else1--than even in ,england4 ,but ,i must admit that all women who ride well possess such attractions for me as perhaps to warp my judgment in endeavoring to draw comparisons4 ,who but a ,paris could have awarded the apple8 ,although the ,southern woman refuses to ride the trot1 she has a proper substitute for it1 and her seat is generally admirable4 ,though ,i greatly admire a square trot well ridden in a side-saddle1 it is really the rise on this gait which makes so many crooked female riders among ourselves and our ,british cousins4 ,this ought not to be so1 but ladies are apt to resent too much severity in instruction1 and without strict obedience to her master1 a lady never learns to ride gracefully and stoutly4 ,in the ,south1 ladies ride habitually1 and moreover a rack1 single-foot1 and canter are not only graceful1 but straight-sitting paces for a woman4 ,it is not to-day risking much1 however1 to prophesy that within the lapse of little time our ,eastern cities will boast as many clever ,amazons as are to be found in the ,south4 ,who can contend that our ,yankee women have not the intelligence1 courage1 vigor1 and grace to rank with the riders of any clime8 ,,xlix4 ,and now1 ,master ,tom1 let me again impress upon you that ,i have been giving you only the most rudimentary idea of how to train your mare4 ,by no means expect that ,nelly will ever execute the traverse1 pirouette1 ,spanish trot1 or piaffer1 let alone trot or gallop backwards1 as these airs should be performed1 by any such superficial education4 ,but you will certainly find her more agreeable1 more tractable1 safer1 and easier1 and you will have both enjoyed the schooling4 ,and ,i feel assured that having gone so far you will not stop short of the next step1 the study and practice of the art in its true refinements4 ,i may1 moreover1 safely assume that after you have once owned a ,school-trained horse1 you will never again be content with what might be appropriately termed the perfect saddle horse of commerce4 ,our roads part here1--yours towards the studious shades of ,harvard1 mine towards the rolling uplands of ,chestnut ,hill4 ,fare you well6 99 99 99 99 99 ,,patroclus ,,and ,,penelope ,a ,,chat ,,in ,,the ,,saddle ,,by ,,theodore ,,ayrault ,,dodge ,,brevet ,,lieutenant-,,colonel ,,united ,,states ,,army 7,,retired ,,list72 ,,author ,,of ,,the ,,campaign ,,of ,,chancellorsville1 ,a ,,bird',s-,,eye ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,civil ,,war1 ,,etc41 ,,etc4 ,,illustrated ,,with ,,fourteen ,,phototypes ,,of ,,the ,,horse ,,in ,,motion ,since--as it has been our fortune to be long engaged about horses--we consider that we have acquired some knowledge of horsemanship1 we desire also to intimate to the younger part of our friends how we think that they may bestow their attention on horses to the best advantage4 ,,xenophon on ,horsemanship ,,houghton1 ,,mifflin ,,and ,,company ,,boston ,,and ,,new ,,york ,,patroclus ,,and ,,penelope3 ,a ,chat in the ,saddle4 ,by ,,theodore ,,ayrault ,,dodge1 ,brevet ,lieutenant-,colonel1 ,u4,s4,a4 7,retired ,list71 author of ,the ,campaign of ,chancellorsville1 ,a ,bird's-,eye ,view of the ,civil ,war1 etc4 ,illustrated with fourteen phototypes of the ,horse in motion4 ,in one volume1 octavo1 gilt top1 half roan1 #c4jj4 ,,contents3 ,patroclus and ,i2 ,saddles and ,seats2 ,patroclus on a ,rack2 ,the ,rack and ,single-,foot2 ,patroclus ,trotting2 ,thoroughbred or ,half-,bred2 ,the ,saddle ,mania2 ,park-,riding2 ,a ,fine ,horse not necessarily a ,good ,hack2 ,soldiers have ,stout ,seats2 ,a ,gate and a ,brook2 ,the ,old ,trooper2 ,instruction in ,riding2 ,chilly ,fox-,hunting2 ,is ,soldier or ,fox-,hunter the ,better ,rider8 ,the ,school-,rider2 ,patroclus ,happy2 ,photography versus ,art2 ,a ,one-,man ,horse2 ,baucher's ,favorite ,saddle ,horse2 ,patroclus sniffs a ,friend2 ,riding-,schools and ,school-,riding2 ,is ,schooling of ,value8 ,manuals of ,training2 ,result of ,training2 ,qualities of the ,horse2 ,dress1 ,saddles1 and ,bridles2 ,mounting2 ,how to hold the ,reins2 ,how to begin ,training2 ,penelope's ,unrestrained ,courage2 ,hints before beginning to train a ,horse2 ,guiding by the ,neck2 ,what an ,arched ,neck means2 ,flexions of the ,neck2 ,flexions of the ,croup2 ,the ,canter2 ,leading with either ,shoulder2 ,the ,horse's ,natural ,lead2 ,the ,best ,way to teach the ,lead2 ,change of ,lead in ,motion2 ,suggestions2 ,how to begin ,jumping2 ,the ,reins in the ,jump2 ,odds and ,ends of ,leaping2 ,hunting and ,road-,riding2 ,advantages of ,true ,rack2 ,who is the ,best ,rider8 ,vale6 ,this book is written from an experience extending over thirty years1--in the ,english hunting-field1 the ,prussian army1 the plains of the ,west1 active service during the ,civil ,war1 and daily riding everywhere4 ,the author has studied equestrianism as an art1 and1 although believing in the ,haute ,ecole of ,baucher1 enjoys with equal zest a ride to hounds or a gallop on the western prairies4 ,the experienced equestrian will be delighted by the author's breezy talk and thorough knowledge of his subject4 ,the young horseman who may have purchased a colt just broken to harness can by the use of its hints make him as clever as ,patroclus4 ,even the man who rides but a dozen times a year will be interested in the book1 while the every-day reader will be charmed by its simplicity1 geniality1 and heartiness4 ,,notices ,,of ,,the ,,press4 ,the reader must feel that he is in distinctively good company4 ,it is a running commentary on saddle-riding1 and gives the reader much the same advantages he would have from a season's riding in company with a gentleman who has ridden in all countries1 on all sorts of animals1 and under all sorts of conditions4444 ,one of the most attractive of recent books4--,boston ,advertiser4 ,we all love ,isaak ,walton's talks about fish or ,john ,burroughs's essays on birds2 in the same spirit is this delightful book of ,col4 ,dodge's4444 ,it is a familiar chat of a man who knows all about horsemanship and can tell you how to mount or ride1 what saddle or bridle to use1 and1 at the same time1 touch upon life in the saddle with words which will make your blood tingle4--,saturday ,evening ,gazette 7,boston74 ,it consists of a series of essay-like chapters written in a lively1 chatty1 conversational manner which makes it charming reading4 ,the advice is full of hints and suggestions to the experienced horseman as well as of instructions of the utmost value to the new initiate in the equestrian art4 ,we are in sympathy with the author before the first page is turned4--,yale ,literary ,magazine 7,new ,haven74 ,the volume consists of a most charming series of chats about horses and horsemanship by a man who is thoroughly in the spirit of his subject1 and who is not a hidebound partisan of any school of equestrianism1 holding to the catholic belief that there are good riders in every land and in every species of saddle4--,army and ,navy ,journal 7,new ,york74 ,it abounds in excellent suggestions1 the fruit of sound experience1 accurate observations1 and good common sense4 ,it is an excellent book for the amateur4 ,withal it is told in a pleasant1 easy way1 as if it had been written in the saddle instead of at the desk4--,christian ,register 7,boston74 ,col4 ,dodge combines to an altogether uncommon degree the merit of a close acquaintance with and real enthusiasm in his subject1 and the quality of a trained literarian4 ,the aspiring equestrian will gain instruction from the lips of a masterly instructor4--,christian ,union 7,new ,york74 ,col4 ,dodge has given the beginner in the art of horsemanship the best possible introduction to his pleasurable task4 ,the author has had a much wider store of practical experience in horsemanship than his predecessors in this field of instruction4--,new ,york ,evening ,post4 ,the practical horseman cannot fail to admire the firm1 easy seat which the beginner will do well to copy4 ,patroclus is ably described1 and1 if up to what is said of him1 must be a gem of the first water4--,new ,york ,times4 ,one who has had some experience in the saddle will derive from it the same sort of profit and entertainment which might be expected from an accomplished1 observant1 clear-headed1 and good-natured companion on the road4--,new ,york ,tribune4 ,col4 ,dodge rode his horse at the time the photographs were taken1 and his skill in horsemanship is exhibited by a seat that was undisturbed by even the most violent exertions of his steed4--,sporting and ,dramatic ,news 7,london74 ,his horse ,patroclus is his hero1 his mare ,penelope his heroine1 and the adventures undertaken with the aid of these two good animals make a story which will fire the blood of every reader4--,brooklyn ,union4 ,col4 ,dodge has succeeded in giving much excellent advice on the management of the horse1 while at the same time holding the reader's attention by the interest of the narrative4--,herald-,crimson 7,cambridge74 ,the beginner who will follow the excellent and simple rules of training given by our author will be sure to win success in the art and a great deal of pleasure by the way4--,the ,nation 7,new ,york74 ,considerable as is the space allotted to jumping1 it is not too great in view of the popularity of cross-country riding4 ,we find in it nothing to criticise4--,philadelphia ,record4 ,written in a pleasant1 sympathetic vein and in almost conversational form1 it has an abundance of keen hints and graceful thoughts on horseback riding as an art4--,cincinnati ,commercial ,gazette4 ,he covers the whole ground of good horsemanship1 not as an amateur or theorist1 but as one who knows all the facts with which he deals4--,san ,francisco ,chronicle4 ,col4 ,dodge is an expert in all the finesse and paraphernalia of horses and horseback-riding4444 ,the advice is sound and simple and very direct4--,the ,critic 7,new ,york74 ,the chapters on the training of horse and rider are full of sound information1 clearly stated1 and practical to the last4--,journal of ,military ,service ,institution 7,new ,york74 ,a lover of horses will find in this volume a book which will give him unlimited pleasure4--,the ,book-,buyer 7,new ,york74 ,this book will be given an enthusiastic welcome by all lovers of equestrianism4--,chicago ,journal4 ,the hearty animal spirits which gallop through its pages are catching4--,new ,york ,mail and ,express4 ,col4 ,dodge is a charming teacher4--,boston ,herald4 ,,houghton1 ,,mifflin ,,and ,,company1 ,publishers1 ,,boston ,,and ,,new ,,york4