

HORSEMANSHIP. 



419 



general thing up to heavy weights or the best 

 suited for a changeable trying climate. The 

 Canadian horses are larger than the Kentuckians, 

 with less of the thorough blood in them, more 

 hardihood and strength, but are less speedy than is 

 generally shown by the blue-grass stock. As jump- 

 ers and weight carriers the Canadians excel, while 

 for health and hardihood they are unapproach- 

 able. The difference in beauty is a matter of 

 taste. The Kentuckians are undoubtedly supe- 

 rior, if fineness and delicacy are constituent parts 

 of what might be called horse beauty. As a gen- 

 eral rule, it may be set down that a saddle horse 

 should be short backed, although there are some 

 splendid specimens notably Miss Ida M. Hough's 

 high-school horse " Creed " that have very long 

 backs. Every horse has distinct gaits peculiar 

 to himself, and an animal that one rider con- 

 siders perfect is quickly condemned by some 

 other rider who may perhaps be an equally good 

 or a better horseman than the first. The only 

 way to select a saddle horse is to try him well, 

 and the assistance of a competent riding master 

 is invaluable in picking out a satisfactory animal. 



There are several distinct schools of horse- 

 back riding. The principal of these are : The 

 German school, the adherents of which stick 

 close to the saddle when riding a horse to the 

 trot ; the French school, which teaches the use 

 of very long stirrups and the thigh grip ; and 

 the English school, short stirrups and a knee 

 grip. The so-called military seat is a style of 

 riding as distinct from the practice of eques- 

 trianism in the park and ring for health and 

 pleasure as the race-track riding of professional 

 jockeys or the steeple-chase practice of break- 

 neck riders. The beginner will make the most 

 rapid and satisfactory progress in learning riding 

 if he begins under a teacher whose rule for stir- 

 rup-strap lengths is determined by the length 

 of the rider's arm. A very good point about this 

 long and short stirrup riding was recently made 

 in an article by the Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge. 

 He says that the followers of the long -stir- 

 rup-strap practice frequently shorten their straps 

 when about to jump their horses a confession 

 that their practice in general is exaggerated, to 

 say the least, because the best svstem is certainly 

 that which is most practicable in all possible 

 cases. For instance, if the man were riding a 

 life-and-death race to get away from Indians, 

 perhaps he would not wish to stop just before 

 coming to a fence or a brook which his horse 

 must jump, to shorten the stirrup straps. 



The first step in a lesson in riding under the 

 English or short-stirrup plan, is to mount your 

 horse properly. Before you can do this, you 

 must have him in hand. It seems to a practical 

 rider ridiculous to get into the saddle from a 

 block, with a groom perhaps two of them 

 holding your horse's head. When your horse is 

 brought to you saddled and bridled (there is a 

 science, by the way, about this saddling and 

 bridling, which it is wise to learn) the initial 

 step is to take the animal on the left side of the 

 head, with the left hand, by the snaffle rein. 

 Moving to the nigh foreshoulder, you will let 

 the left hand run along the left snaffle rein to 

 perhaps three quarters of its length on that side 

 of the horse. Then- by turning the fingers in 

 slightly you will be able to catch the curb rein 



in about the same part of it as you have the 

 snaffle rein, between the third and fourth fingers, 

 keeping the snaffle rein on the outside of the 

 little finger and running up through the palm 

 of the hand, the thumb being down. Now, take 

 both snaffle and curb at their longest limit in 

 the right hand, still retaining the hold on them 

 with the left, and, raising both hands nearly to 

 the horse's neck, draw the lines out taut, this 

 will enable you to get the other half of curb and 

 snaffle readily between your fingers, the off side 

 of the curb, running through between the second 

 and third fingers, and the like side of the snaffle 

 running between the first and second fingers. 

 Again tauten and throw the loose double loop of 

 curb and snaffle over the forefinger of the hand, 

 placing the thumb on top of it. Now catch a lock 

 of the horse's mane low on the neck with the right 

 hand, and, while still holding the reins in the left, 

 twist this lock of mane over the thumb of the 

 left hand. Of course the coat should be but- 

 toned up, and the whip, if the rider carries one, 

 should be held, lash downward, in the left hand. 

 Do not adjust the stirrup to the foot, but, stand- 

 ing there by your horse's left shoulder, your 

 right hand hanging by your side, raise the left 

 foot and work it into the stirrup. When you 

 have a good foothold, spring from the right foot, 

 aiding yourself slightly with your left hand on 

 the horse's mane and your right hand on the 

 back of the saddle, throw the right leg gently 

 over the horse's back, and drop easily into the 

 saddle. Then draw your whip from the left 

 hand, gently so as not' to frighten the horse, and 

 sit erect; having inserted your right foot, the 

 ball of it, in the right stirrup, and drawn your 

 left foot so that only its ball is in the stirrup 

 iron. 



To go beyond this requires practice and per- 

 sonal teaching. A riding master must show 

 you how to grip most strongly with the knees, 

 and how to sit the trot, the canter, and the gal- 

 lop. It is not wise to wear spurs until one has 

 acquired full confidence and considerable pro- 

 ficiency. Nine tenths of the horseback accidents 

 come through the improper use of spurs. Of 

 course, the rowels are absolutely necessary to 

 the finer guidance of the horse, but it requires a 

 good deal of skill to wear the little steel heels 

 and not prick the horse unnecessarily and unin- 

 tentionally. Spurs are far from being the in- 

 struments of torture they are generally con- 

 sidered. A trained saddle-horse rarely gives his 

 rider an excuse for actually pricking him, obey- 

 ing his master's wish at the touch of the calf of 

 the leg, without waiting for the sharper admo- 

 nition that he knows would quickly follow. The 

 secrets of good horsemanship are balance, grip, 

 and control. Intuition teaches a rider surely 

 when a horse is about to shy or plunge, and grip 

 and balance enable him to keep his seat on the 

 most slippery saddle, independent of the stirrups. 



One of the most difficult parts of horseback 

 riding is to sit the rising trot well. The num- 

 ber of equestrians who are really skillful in this 

 branch is very small. To see the rising trot well 

 ridden is to behold the poetry of motion at its 

 best. The features of riding a trot well are : To 

 be perfectly well balanced, to take the motion 

 from the impetus of the horse rather than from 

 the stirrups, and to keep the knees and lower 



