ii8 RIDING FOR LADIES. 



The voice, as an instigator and soother, is alike powerful 

 with the horse, if we only know how to use it ; and being 

 so, it is a pity that it should ever be employed for any other 

 purpose than that which is good. Teach your horse from 

 the beginning to know the sound of your voice — the various 

 tones which signify approval, warning, encouragement, and 

 reproof — and by them you can teach him to obey you, 

 just as you can with the reins. 



I do not altogether approve of speaking to strange 

 horses when mounted upon them. Were I, for instance, 

 to borrow a hunter for a day's outing, I don't think 

 I should be inclined to talk much to him ; I should 

 fear that he might not understand me, and that mis- 

 chief might consequently ensue. I have, in fact, seen 

 men get tremendous falls in the hunting field through 

 shouting at hired mounts, just when they were rising 

 at their fences — frightening the animals out of their wits 

 by so doing, and throwing them completely off their 

 balance. 



With your own horses, however, it ought to be quite a 

 different thing. You should so accustom them to the sound 

 of your voice that, no matter how it may be raised, it shall 

 have no startling effect upon them. An intelligent animal 

 will soon come to know and judge of your meaning by the 

 tone in which you speak to him, and will learn his own 

 name, too, marvellously quickly, if frequently called by it, 

 a thing that will be a great aid to you in training him. 

 He will very soon also comprehend the meaning of such 

 terms, as " Trot," '' Canter," " Stand," " Walk," and so forth, 



