BIDING.] 



MODEKN VETEEINAKY P"R\rTIP'^ 



[bidiwo. 



CnAPTEU VII. 



luniMi : i.KAriNO. 



RiniNG. j 



In a treatise which lias ibr its object a full 

 tli'scription of the horse iu every situation in 

 which that noble animal ia employed, it cannot 

 be deemed out of place to devote a brief space 

 to the equestrian art, to which, more especially, 

 that quadruped was originally subjected. In 

 our observations upon training the horse, we 

 have not even alluded to what is called the 

 grand menage, but have strictly confined our- 

 selves to that branch of breaking-iu which 

 constitutes the proper education of the English 

 horse for the field and the road. Accordingly, 

 those animals which require a higher degree 

 of perfection iu the menage, we have purposely 

 left to the care of those professors of the riding- 

 schools, whose business it is to teach horses to 

 perform such feats as not only display their 

 wonderful docility, tractability and agility ; but 

 their sagacity, as well as the entire subjection 

 to which they have been reduced by the power 

 of man. Therefore the horsemanship to which 

 wo shall here confine ourselves, will be restricted 

 to that which is practised in the modern English 

 school. 



"When the horse is led out, saddled and 

 bridled, the next object of the rider ought to 

 be to examine the state of the various equip- 

 ments of his horse, and to ascertain that every 

 part of them is strong, and has been so placed 

 as to insure his own safety as well as the 

 comfort of the animal he is to ride. The first 

 object will be the bridle, to see that the head- 

 stall be of a proper length, neither too loose 

 nor too short; to see the curb-chain hooked 

 in its proper place, leaving the snafile above, 

 and clear; the fore-top hair placed under the 

 band of the bridle, and the reins untwisted and 

 even. 



The saddle should be put perfectly even 

 and centrical on the back of the horse, so as 

 not in the least to impede the motion of his 

 shoulders ; and the girths, buckled one over 

 the other, sufBciently tight to retain the 

 saddle firmly in its place. The real horseman 



inspects everything; lie loaves nothing to 

 clianco. When a groom once knows that liia 

 horse has to uiulergo the critical examination 

 of his master, it will have a tendency to make 

 him careful in bringing the animal out in a 

 perfect state. 



Mr. Lawrence thus describes the next pro- 

 ceeding : — " The nag being led out and held, 

 the jockey, that is to be, approaches the near 

 left shoulder; and gathering up the reins 

 between the fingers in his left hand, the thumb 

 upwards, at the same time weaving his fingers 

 into the mane of the horse, he acquires a hold- 

 fast and purchase. The whip is held with the 

 reins, in the left hand. With his right hand 

 he then takes hold of the stirrup, the flat aide 

 of the leather being placed towards him, and 

 into the stirrup inserts his left foot. Next, 

 placing his right hand on the cantle or after- 

 part of the saddle, and making a moderate 

 spring or vault, being cautious, at the same 

 time, to keep his foot and spur clear of the 

 horse, he seats himself, and the left hand still 

 retaining its hold of the mane, with the right 

 he adjusts the stirrup to that foot. Being 

 seated at his ease, as in a chair, and looking 

 forward between the ears of his animal, he will 

 find himself iu a square and even position with 

 him. The two forming a perfect centaur." 



His next object is to adjust the reins, sup- 

 posing tliem the bridoon or snafile, and curb, 

 which should be done by leaviug the rein of 

 the latter rather slack, the chief pressure being 

 upon the snafile rein ; the curb he reserves for 

 occasional use, when a more than ordinary 

 command over the mouth of the horse may be 

 necessary ; the curb rein may then be drawn 

 with the requisite force. The right foot being 

 fixed in the stirrup, the whip, with its handle 

 upwards, is gently withdrawn from the left to 

 the right hand, and its usual place is down 

 behind the calf of the leg. As to the seat, a 

 man will sit upright, as in his chair; but ia 

 the common, and more particularly the sporting 

 seat on horseback, the spine is bent in a 



147 



