134 THE HORSE IN HISTORY 



controlling a horse by delicate manipulation of 

 the reins as opposed to brute force apparently 

 was not taken into consideration in the early 

 centuries, or else was not understood and conse- 

 quently not cultivated. To-day, of course, a man 

 with bad " hands" is not deemed a horseman, 

 properly speaking. 



Thus it comes that we find some of the early 

 instructors in horsemanship deliberately advising 

 the novice to catch hold of the reins tightly in 

 order to keep his seat with greater ease ! Some 

 of the early pictures, too, of men on horseback 

 show the rider with his hands firmly clenched, 

 even when the horse is walking, the reins held 

 quite tight. 



It has been argued that men sheathed from 

 head to foot in the heavy plate armour of the 

 fifteenth century could not have ridden gracefully 

 even had they wished to do so. Long before 

 armour of that pattern had come into vogue, 

 however, the riders apparently were indifferent 

 horsemen inasmuch as they had for the most part 

 bad " hands," if we are to judge from early 

 pictures and descriptions. 



Many stories to do with horses have been 

 woven round the celebrated French knight, 

 Pierre du Terrail, Chevalier Bayard, and it is 



