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HORSEMANSHIP FOR WOMEN

by

THEODORE H. MEAD

With Illustrations by Gray Parker







New York
Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square
1887

Copyright, 1887, by Harper & Brothers.
All rights reserved.




CONTENTS.


 PART I.                                                          PAGE

 AMATEUR HORSE-TRAINING                                              1

 LESSON

    I. COMING TO THE WHIP                                           15

   II. TO HOLD THE BIT LIGHTLY (_Flexion de la machoire_),
         USING THE CURB                                             21

  III. TO HOLD THE BIT LIGHTLY, USING THE SNAFFLE                   24

   IV. TO LOWER THE HEAD                                            25

    V. TO BEND THE NECK TO RIGHT AND LEFT, WITH THE
         REINS HELD BELOW THE BIT (_Flexions de l'encolure_)        32

   VI. TO BEND THE NECK TO RIGHT AND LEFT, WITH THE
         REINS THROWN OVER THE NECK                                 35

  VII. TO MOVE THE CROUP TO RIGHT AND LEFT WITH THE WHIP            38

 VIII. MOUNTED                                                      41

   IX. MOUNTED (_continued_)                                        48

    X. THE WALK                                                     51

   XI. TO MOVE THE CROUP WITH HEEL AND WHIP (_Pirouette
         renversee_)                                                52

  XII. TO GUIDE "BRIDLEWISE"                                        55

 XIII. THE TROT                                                     58

  XIV. THE GALLOP, HAND-GALLOP, AND CANTER                          64

   XV. THE PIROUETTE, DEUX PISTES, PASSAGE                          71

  XVI. BACKING                                                      75

 XVII. RIDING IN CIRCLES.--CHANGE OF LEADING FOOT                   79


 PART II.

 ETIQUETTE IN THE SADDLE                                            87

       Dress                                                        88

       The Mount                                                    91

       Mounting                                                     92

       The Start                                                    99

       On which Side to Ride                                       100

       The Seat                                                    102

       On the Road                                                 107

       The Pace                                                    112

       Turning                                                     112

       The Groom                                                   116


 PART III.

 LEAPING                                                           118


 PART IV.

 BUYING A SADDLE-HORSE                                             132

       Parts and "Points" of the Horse, Alphabetically Arranged    135

       List of Diseases and Defects                                148

 INDEX                                                             157




ILLUSTRATIONS.


                                                                  PAGE

 Coming to the Whip                                                  6
 A good Saddle                                                      13
 A properly fitted Curb-chain                                       16
 Flexion of the Jaw--using the Curb                                 22
 Lowering the Head                                                  26
 Punishment in case of Resistance                                   27
 "Pulling the Hands steadily Apart"                                 33
 To Bend the Neck to Right or Left, with the Reins below the Bits   34
 Getting the Horse "Light in Hand"                                  35
 Pulling on the Right Rein                                          36
 Moving the Croup one step to the Right                             39
 Getting a Horse accustomed to Skirts                               42
 Showing Reins in Left Hand                                         43
 Advancing at touch of Heel                                         44
 Stopping at touch of Whip on Back                                  45
 The Walk (Colt in Training)                                        46
 Bending the Neck to Right and Left                                 49
 Moving the Croup with the Heel and Whip                            53
 Guiding Bridlewise (Turning to the Right)                          56
 The Canter                                                         65
 Ordinary Pirouette                                                 71
 Going on "Deux Pistes"                                             72
 The Passage                                                        73
 Backing                                                            76
 Reins in Hand                                                      77
 Act of changing Reins                                              77
 Leading with the Right Fore-foot                                   80
 Leading with the Left Fore-foot                                    82
 Ready to Mount                                                     94
 "One, Two, Three"                                                  95
 Placing the Foot in the Stirrup                                    96
 Position in Saddle                                                 97
 A Square and Proper Seat                                          103
 Method of holding the Reins in both Hands                         111
 Approaching a Fence                                               119
 A Water Jump                                                      121
 Rising to the Leap                                                127
 Coming Down                                                       129
 Parts and "Points"                                                136
 The sort of Horse to Buy                                          146
 The sort of Horse not to Buy                                      149




HORSEMANSHIP FOR WOMEN.




PART I.

AMATEUR HORSE-TRAINING.


"My _dear_," said my wife, "you don't mean to say you have _bought
that_ horse?"

"Why, yes, indeed," replied I; "and very cheap, too. And why not?"

"You will never get your money back," said she, "no matter how cheap
you have bought him. Don't keep him. Send him back before it is too
late."

It was a sultry July morning, and my wife stood on the farm-house
porch, in provokingly fresh attire, while I held my new acquisition
by the bridle in the scorching sun; and just recovering as I was from
illness, this conversation struck me as really anything but _tonic_ in
its character. However, bracing myself up, I replied, "But I don't want
to get my money back; I intend to train him for my own use under the
saddle."

"Oh, you can never do anything with that great horse. Why, he is the
awkwardest brute I ever saw. Just look at him now!"

In fact, his appearance was anything but beautiful at that moment. His
Roman nose, carried a long way forward and a little on one side, gave
him somewhat the air of a camel; his coat showed no recent acquaintance
with the brush; and as he stood there sleepily in the sun, with one
hind-leg hitched up, he did not present at all a picture to charm a
lady's eye. Nevertheless, he was, in fact, a reasonably well-made
horse, a full black, fifteen and three-quarter hands high, sound, kind,
and seven years old.

"He's just horrid," said my wife.

"Oh, that's nothing," said I; "that's only a bad habit he has. We will
soon cure him of such slovenly tricks. Just see what good points he
has. His legs are a little long, to be sure, but they are broad, and
have excellent hoofs; his breast is narrow, but then it is deep; and
that large nostril was not given him for nothing. You will see he will
run like a race-horse."

"If you once get him started you can never stop him," said my wife.
"You know how he pulls, and how nervous he is. He will go till he
drops. You are not strong enough to ride such a horse."

"Oh, nonsense," said I; "you can see that there is no mischief in
him. Look what a kind eye he has! The fact is, horses are often very
sensitive; and while this one may never have been cruelly treated, yet
he has been misunderstood, and his feelings hurt a great many times a
day. Human beings are the only things he seems afraid of. As for his
awkward carriage, it is no worse than that of the farm hand who has
made such a failure of trying to use him, and who is, nevertheless,
when he stands up straight, a well-made, good-looking fellow. A little
careful handling will make that animal as different from his present
self as a dandified English sergeant is from the raw recruit he once
was. What do you think of his name? It is <DW71>."

But my wife was not to be led off on any side question, and after
intimating that such a plebeian appellation struck her as quite
suitable, she continued; "Now you know that Mr. ----" (the farmer
of whom I purchased) "knows a great deal more about horses than you
do; you must admit that, for he has been buying and selling and
driving them all his life, and _he_ doesn't like him, or he wouldn't
sell so cheap; and as for training him, for my part I don't believe
horse-training can be learned out of books, as a woman would learn a
receipt for making cake. Do get him to take the horse back!"

Now I have a great respect for my wife's opinion in general, and in
this particular case all her points seemed well taken.

The horse was tall, and I was short; he was excitable, and I hadn't the
strength of a boy; he was very awkward, and I had never trained a horse
in my life. However, I had been reading up a little on the subject,
and feeling the confidence in myself which a very little knowledge is
apt to impart, I was determined to try my hand.

I had remarked that there was a certain French system which was, in
the several works I had consulted, always spoken of with respect as
a complete and original method, so I obtained a copy of the book, in
which is set forth the _Methode d'Equitation basee sur de nouveaux
Principes, par F. Baucher_, and having disentangled (no easy task)
what was really practical from the enveloping mass of conceited sham
scientific nonsense, I had numbered the margin so as to make a series
of simple progressive lessons of half an hour each. The volume in
question, which was not, by-the-bye, the present improved edition, I
now produced in a somewhat dog-eared condition from under my arm. My
wife, seeing that remonstrance was of no avail, took a seat on the
veranda, so as to be ready to advise and assist, while my excellent
friends, the farmer and his wife, came out "to see the circus," as they
said, and established themselves in suitable midsummer attitudes, with
countenances of amused expectation.

"The first few lessons must be given on foot," said I, and spreading my
Baucher open upon the "horse-block," I proceeded to carry out its first
injunction by placing myself, with riding-whip under my arm, in front
of the horse, which was already saddled and bridled, and "looking him
kindly in the face." He bore my gaze with equanimity, but when the
riding-whip was produced he started violently; and when I raised my
hand to pat his neck reassuringly he threw up his head and ran back.
This evidently was not temper, but alarm. Clearly, moral suasion was
not the kind that had been used with him hitherto. In plain English, he
had been beaten on the head; and it was some time before he got over
the impression made by such ill-treatment and ceased dodging at every
sudden motion on my part.

However, a lump of sugar gave the poor fellow more confidence, and,
avoiding all brusque movements, I went on to give