HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP 129 



you have fairly set him going then get hold of his head and 

 keep him up to it ; but drive him forward before you try to get 

 hold of his mouth too much, or you will very likely have him 

 up again. Spurs here are better than the whip if the horse 

 goes freely away from them, if he does not, then a whip or an 

 ash plant ; but as the rider has to ride with one hand, to use a 

 whip puts him rather at a disadvantage. If the rider has a man 

 on foot handy with a longeing whip, assistance may be given, but 

 it is desirable that the rider should do what is necessary. He 

 need never be afraid of his horse coming back with him while 

 the animal strikes out with his fore feet. As long as he does 

 that he has got his balance all right, but look out if his fore feet 

 drop down under him. The rider should then be prepared to 

 shift for himself, for the horse will very likely come over or 

 back, or down on his side. Some people appear to entertain 

 the idea that horses which are given, to rearing will in some 

 cases purposely throw themselves over so as to get rid of their 

 rider, but this is ridiculous. Although the horse finds that by 

 rearing he for the time gets away from the feeling of the bridle, 

 yet he is quite as much afraid of falling over backwards as the 

 man in the saddle is of his doing so. So long as he can keep 

 his balance and is not pulled over by the rider holding on by 

 the reins, there is not much danger of the horse going over 

 purposely. 



Of course horses which have weak loins and hocks are 

 more likely to fall than those which are strong behind the saddle, 

 but if they come down from that cause they generally come 

 down on one side, rarely straight over. The best way to deal 

 with a rearer is, then, to let him alone when he is up, but punish 

 him by driving him to his front as he is coming down, and 

 then try to keep him up to the hand ^afterwards. 



Bucking, a very nasty habit for horses to get into, is gener- 

 ally caused by bad saddling in the earlier lessons. If the saddle 

 be put on hurriedly and the girth suddenly tightened, instead 

 of being gradually drawn up hole by hole, as directed in the 

 first lessons, the young horse is very likely to blow himself out 



K 



