940 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



to this, and leaving the step to be regulated by lazy, spiritless ploughmen, the loss to 

 many farmers is very considerable. 



Sect. XIII. Of the Art of Horsemanship. 



6003. Horsemanship, as an art, is unquestionably of very ancient date, and it is curious 

 how very different are the modes by vi^hich it is practised in different countries ; but 

 which differences are yet principally confined to the situation of the legs of the rider: for 

 wherever the horse is used to carry the person, it is by the rider placing himself astride 

 the animal. Horses were used in this way for centuries before any apparatus was used 

 or applied to their bodies to spare fatigue to the rider ; and we know that the first saddles 

 were mere pads strapped round the body, but without the appendages of stirrups. In 

 England, riding is systematically divided in two kinds, which are manege and jockey riding. 



6003. Manege riding, called also riding the great horse, in the strict application of the term, was formerly 

 more practised than at present; and required a system of education for both horse and rider long and 

 severe. Horses perfectly broke for the manege, were taught several paces and motions, as ambling, 

 pacing, passaging, yerking, capriole, and cornetti. The practice of these artificial cadences, it is supposed, 

 injures the natural pace of the horse; and this circumstance, united to a particular form of horse 

 (defective for other purposes) being required for the elasticity of these actions, has tended to bring 

 manege riding, as formerly practised, into disrepute. Manege riding also taught the constant application 

 of the seat of the body of the rider, to the seat of the saddle, during all the motions of the horse j and as a 

 severe education, and a particular form, had bestowed ease and elasticity to the rudeness of the manege 

 horse, the inconveniences of this seat were not felt. But when another form of horse, capable of great 

 speed over excellent roads, was in general use, this kind of riding was found hurtful to both horse and 

 rider ; fatiguing the one, and injuring the other. 



6004. The art of proper riding, as practised among experienced horsemen, is derived from a knowledge of 

 the judicious application of the aids of the bridle, as taught in our schools, and as practised in the army ge- 

 nerally : and also from a proper application or placing the body on the horse. These we certainly owe to 

 manege riding ; and a knowledge of them is as essential to the safety of the rider, as it is to the grace 

 of his appearance as a horseman. The proper art of riding embraces all that is taught in the best schools, 

 or practised on the road ; and is equally applicable to both. This is allowed to its fullest extent by those 

 who have possessed themselves of the requisite information, and practise on the subject ; but is denied by 

 those who, wedded to field riding, contend that the perfection of horsemanship consists in a snaffle bridle 

 and a jockey seat. 



6005. The use qf the curb bridle is considered in the schools to be essential to good riding : by it the 

 horse is not CMjly restrained, but he is also aided and assisted. He is alternately thrown on his hauches, or 

 forced on his forehand, by which changes fatigue is prevented to both. Great nicety, however, is required 

 in the use of the curb ; and without an inclination and ability to use it lightly and dexterously, a snaffle is 

 the best and safest bridle. The curb is to be operated by a gentle turn of the'wrist only ; and the action of 

 the hand in this respect should be as fine, and as pliable as the fishing rod and line. The force of the curb 

 should in every instance be portioned to the mouth of the horse. 



G006. The best form of saddle iar general riding is one in which the cantle is not so high as the military, 

 nor so low as the racing saddle. The pommel should be no more raised than is necessary to keep the whole 

 completely free from the withers. The stirrups should be substantial, not only to prevent breaking ; but 

 also that by their weight they may fall to the foot when accidentally slipped away ; which is of more con- 

 sequence than at first sight may appear. If they are of the spring kind, it is also desirable : but it is still 

 more so, that the spring stirrup leather should be used; which prevents the danger arising from horses 

 catching the leather in the projections of doors, gates, &c. Having saddled and bridled our horse we will 

 proceed to mount our rider. 



6007. If you would mount with ease and scffety, says Hughes, stand rather before the stirrup than be- 

 hind it; then, with the left hand, take the bridle short, and the mane together, help yourself into the 

 stirrup, with your right, .so that, in mounting, your toe do not touch the horse. Your foot being in the 

 stirrup, raise yourself till you face the side of the horse, and look directly across the saddle ; then, with 

 your right hand, lay hold of the hinder part of the saddle, and, with your left, lift yourself into it. When 

 mounted, let your position on the saddle be square, and the purchase of your bridle such as not to pull 

 your shoulders : and let your body be in such an even posture as if you held a rein in each hand. In 



holding the bridle, grasp the reins with your hand, which 

 should be held perpendicular with the reins passed, the lower 

 within the hand, and the upper, between the fore and next 

 fingers, {fig. 632. ). The reins are then brought over the 

 fore finger and firmly held by the thumb. It is often directed 

 to place the little finger between the lower reins ; the practice 

 ff/' of this may be optional with the rider, and in a very fine hand 

 is desirable. The bridle should be held at such a length as to 

 enable you if your horse stumbles, to raise his head and support 

 it with your arms ; and by throwing your body backwards at 

 the same time you frequently save a horse that would other- 

 wise fall. 



6008. A graceful and proper seat on horseback is greatly de- 

 pendent on a right disposition of the legs and thighs, which 

 should hang nearly straight down, easily, and without force or constraint : all which is brought 

 about from above ; by placing the body flat and evenly on the saddle, and opening the knees, \ 

 wJiereby the fork will come lower on the saddle, {fig. GoS. ) The thighs should be applied to 

 the saddle and to the sides of the horse by their inner surfaces, so as to bring in the knees and ^ ,, . 

 toes; and although the line may be properly broken by some little irregularities, yet the foot, \\ \ odo 

 the knee, the hip, and shoulder, should deviate but little from one perpendicular line. The 

 hall of the foot should rest within the stirrup, and should be even with the heel, or very 

 slightly elevated above it. Avoid any stiffiiess in the legs, thighs, or body ; all should be lax, 

 but in a state to be able to embrace the horse, either for support, or as aids to him. The loins 

 particularly, should be lax and pliable, as a coachman's on his box ; and for the same reasons 

 for by sitting thus loosely, the rough motions of both are broken. To depend on the embrace 

 of the knees for support, is to lose the benefit of a true equipoise of body, and is rather to 

 stick on a horse than to sit on one, 



6009. Wheri you are troubled with a horse that is vicious, which stops short, or, by rising or kickinsj, en- 

 deavors to throw you off, you must not bend your body forward, as is commonly practised in such cases; 

 because that motion throws the breech backward, and moves you from your fork, or twists and casts you 

 out of your seat : but the right way to keep your seat, or to recover it when lost, is, to advance the lower 

 part of your body, and to bend back your shoulders and upper part. In flying or standing leaps, a horse- 

 man's best security is the bending back of the body. The rising of the horse does not afl^ect the rider's 



