220 RIDING 



lock of the mane to assist in securing the seat. Old and infirm 

 persons were assisted upon their horses by menials who bent 

 down to make a mounting-block of their bodies ' in the Persian 

 fashion ; ' and sometimes, for those who had not the agility 

 to vault into the saddle, the horses were taught to kneel. We 

 find that it was the duty of certain officers to see that stones 

 were placed along the highways to give the riders aid in 

 mounting. 



It appears from the sculptures that the Greeks were ac- 

 customed to cut the manes of their horses, but Xenophon 

 decries the practice, and says that the mane and tail should be 

 combed out and allowed to grow. 



The Greeks were in the habit of taking all sorts of leaps, 1 

 'across ditches, over walls, upon and from banks.' That the rider 

 should be able to pass over all kinds of ground, wild beasts- 

 were hunted by horsemen ; 2 and to give firm seats and to teach 

 the ready control of the horse, warlike games were played. 



We have only to read the various movements suggested for 

 the cavalry and for single riders to see how highly trained were 

 the horses, how skilful were the riders in the days of Xenophon. 

 The circles in the gallop ; the rapid courses and the sudden 

 halts and sharp turns ; the collected state necessary for the 

 demi-pesade, all give evidence of a high state of the equestrian 

 art. 3 



The Greeks were ideal horsemen. Light, active, hardy, and 

 courageous, they were eminently fitted for the exercise in which 

 they excelled. A touch upon the neck of the horse, an easy 

 spring from the ground, and the rider was in the saddle, with a 

 hand skilled to guide, and a will to control the headlong course. 

 Here was no shortening of stirrup-leathers, no fumbling with 

 straps and buckles, no struggle to reach a stiff and awkward 

 seat that required the brace of rigid hands. 



In a time two thousand three hundred years before this our 

 day of perfect things, we find the horse trained to the state of 



1 Horsemanship, chap. iii. sect. 7. 2 Ibid. chap. viii. sect. 10. 



3 Hipparchus, of Xenophon, written in the early part of the 4th century B.C. 



