Book VII. FEEDING HORSES. 941 



seat ; he is chiefly to guard against the lash of the animal's hind legs, which is best done by inclining the 

 body backward. But the usual method of fixing the knees in all cases of danger only serves, in great 

 shocks, to assist the violence of the fall. To save yourself from being hurt, in these cases, you must yield 

 a little to the horse's motion ; by which means you will recover your seat, if displaced, or keep it at such 

 times as would dismount an unskilful horseman. 



6010. IJ your horse grow; unruly, take the reins separately, one in each hand, put your arms forward, and 

 hold him short, but do not pull hard with your arms low ; for, by lowering his head, he has the more li- 

 berty to throw out his heels : but if you raise his head as high as you can, this will prevent him from ris- 

 ing before or behind; nor, while his head is in this position, can he make either of these motions. Is it 

 not reasonable to imagine, that, if a horse is forced towards a carriage which he has started at, be will 

 think he is obliged to attack or run against it? Can it be imagined that the rider's spurring him on, 

 with his face directly to it, he should understand as a sign to pass it ? These rational queries are submitted 

 to the serious consideration of such as are fond of always obliging their horses to touch those objects at 

 which they are, or affect to be, frightened. 



6011. Indifferent horsemen, Lawrence observes, should never venture on horseback without spurs. Those 

 who reflect upon the predicament of being placed between a deep ditch and a carriage, at which their 

 horse shies will see the necessity of this precaution. 



6012. Previous to mounting, every person will find his account in examining the state of both horse and 

 furniture with his own eyes and hands; for, however good and careful his groom may generally be, it is a 

 maxim, that too much ought not to be expected from the head of him who labors with his hands. 

 Besides, all such sedulously avoid trouble, particularly in nice matters. For example, see that your curb 

 is right, that your reins are not twisted, that your girths, one over the other, still bear exactly alike; 

 that the pad be not wrinkled up ; but, above all, that your saddle lies exactly level upon the horse's 

 back. 



6013. On getting off the horse's badk, hold the bridle anff mane in the same manner as when you 

 mounted, hold the pommel of the saddle with your right-hand ; to raise yourself, bring your right leg 

 over the horse's back, let your right-hand hold the hind part of the saddle, and stand a moment on your 

 stirrup, just as when you mounted. But beware that, in dismounting, you bend not your right knee, 

 lest the horse should be touched by the spur. 



6014. The jockey mode of riding is practised in its fullest extent in racing. With some 

 modification it is also in use by many who esteem themselves excellent fox-hunters. 

 With still greater modification it is by its advocates practised also on the road. English 

 post-boys unite these two kinds of riding in a manner at once easy to themselves and 

 horses. True jockey riding consists in the use of a snaffle bridle, which is held firmly ; 

 and, as an advocate for it expresses himself, to enable the rider to give his horse the 

 proper pulls. To this end, the same writer recommends a firm seat, upright, and as 

 you would sit in a chair, with the knees nearly as much bent, and turned inward ; the 

 toes somewhat out and upward ; the leg falling nearly straight, and the foot home in the 

 stirrup (^^. 634.) ; elbows close to the sides ; hands rather above the horse's withers, or 

 pommel of the saddle ; and the view directed between his ears. The same writer further 

 advocates the jockey mode, by commenting on the decline of riding-house forms, and , 

 the universal preference given to expedition, which, as he says, fully confirm the superior 

 use and propriety of a jockey-seat. Indeed, our riding-schools are now, he continues, considerably 

 reformed from the stiffness of ancient practice in all respects. It was the practice formerly in the schools, 

 and indeed pretty generally upon the road, to ride with the tip of the toe only in the stirrup ; as if it 

 were of more consequence to prepare for falling with safety, than to endeavor to sit securely. Those 

 who preserve a partiality for this venerable custom, we would advise to suspend a final judgment, until 

 they have made a few more essays upon a huge cock-tail half bred, of that kind which ' cannot go, and 

 yet won't stand still,' and will dart from one side of the road to the other, as if he really desired to get 

 rid of his burden. Nor is the ball of the foot a proper rest ; chiefly because inconvenient to that erect, 

 or rather almost kneeling, posture, which is required in speedy riding. The riding-house seat is preserved 

 by the balance or equipoise of the body solely ; that recommended here by the firm hold of the knee, 

 which is obviously strengthened by the opposite directions of the knee and toe, the one in, the other 

 outward. 



Sect. XIV. Of the Feeding of Horses. 



6015. The feeding of horses generalh/, is an important feature in their management. 

 In considering the food- for horses, we are apt to locate our notions to the matters 

 around us, without taking into account that every country has its peculiar products. 

 White observes that the best food for horses is hay and oats ; and had he added for 

 English horses, it might have been just, but without such notice the assertion is much 

 too confined. In some sterile countries, horses are forced to subsist on dried fish, and 

 even vegetable mould ; in Arabia on milk, flesh balls, eggs, broth, &c. In India, 

 where the native grasses are tall, but little nutritious,' the better sorts are fed on Indian 

 corn, rice, millet, &c. ; and the poorer on rushes, sedge, leaves, &c. In the West 

 Indies on maize, Guinea corn, and sugar-cane tops; and in some instances on the 

 sugar itself, in the form of molasses. In France, Spain, and Italy, besides the grasses, 

 the leaves of limes, vines, the tops of acacia, the seeds of the carob tree, &c.are used. 



6016. The food of British horses may be divided into herbage, grain, roots, and mixtures. Of herb^ 

 age, the principal kind is the proper gramina, eaten either moist, or dried into hay. When eaten moist 

 in their natural state, such a horse is said to graze ; but when these matters are cut and carried into the 

 stable to a horse, he is said to be soiled. Hay is herbage cut during its flowering and seeding processes, 

 which being subjected to the action of the sun and air a proper time, arc then collected into large 

 masses called ricks, where a certain degree of fermentation takes place before the matter is fitted to be- 

 come wholesome or nutritious, or before it receives such alteration as fits it for resisting further decom- 

 position and decay. The judicious managementof this fermentative process forms one of the great- 

 est desiderata in hay making. Pursued to a proper extent, the remaining moisture acting on the 

 farinaceous parts, as the seeds, &c., in conjunction with the heat evolved during the process, as it were 

 malts the whole, and sugar is produced Pushed beyond this, the hay becomes carbonised, and mow 

 burnt; its nutritive properties are lessened, and its noxious qualities increased, it being found in this 

 state to excite diabetes, sweating, and extreme weakness and emaciation. (5756) The quality of the hay 

 is too little attended to, but which is of very great importance ; and more particularly so where little 

 corn but much hay is given. Hay should therefore be of the best, whether meadow, clover, or mixed. 

 Many horses thrive best on clover hay, particularly draught horses. It is very grateful to horses, 

 and it saves much waste of S4liva ; to sprinkle hay witli water, has the same effect, but it should 

 only be done as it is wanted. 



6017. Hay should never be given in lar^e quantities at a time, horses breathe on it, become disgustetl, 

 and then waste it. They also, when it is good, eat too much, and distend their stomachs, and then 



