Part 6 (1/2)
x.x.xIII.
As I think you have already mastered all that I have told you, you may begin to teach Penelope a bit. But remember that, as you are both intelligent, she will be teaching you at the same time. I notice that you have to use two hands to guide your mare, and I presume you want to learn some better way, for however necessary two hands may occasionally be, a horse must at times be managed by one. There are three methods of guiding a horse under saddle. The simplest, and the one requiring the least education, is the same which you are using, and which is the common way of driving, by holding the rein or reins of each side in one hand, and by pulling rein on the side you wish Nelly to turn to. It is possible to guide this way with one hand by a suitable turn of the wrist, but unless the horse is well collected, as few of our horses nowadays are, it is a poor reliance in any unusual case. The next method is guiding by the neck, by which the horse is made to turn to the right if you draw the rein across or lay it upon the left side of his neck, and _vice versa_. The third method combines the two others, and the horse obeys either indication. It requires the highest art in man and beast, and is superb in results when learned.
The animal may be guided by the bit with the reins held in one hand, applying the pressure by the turn of the wrist, or may be turned by the neck while the bit is used to lighten one or other side. But this requires a hand and mouth of equal delicacy, and a horse always in a state of equilibrium.
You will need only the first two to begin with, and Nelly already knows the first.
Most horses now and then require you to use both hands, and School-riding calls for their use in the more difficult feats. But an agreeable saddle beast should guide by the neck readily at all times.
Stonehenge calls this a ”highly desirable accomplishment,” but it is really only the beginning of the alphabet of the horse's education; and indeed in the School airs, though both hands be used, the forehand is constantly thrown to one or the other side by the neck pressure, the direct tension of the rein being used to give the horse quite a different indication at the same moment.
Moreover, you will not always be able to devote two hands to Nelly.
You may need one of them for something else. It would be embarra.s.sing not to be able to use your whip or crop, or to b.u.t.ton your glove, or to take off your hat, and at the same time to turn a corner or avoid a team. I have often ridden with people who so entirely relied upon both hands, that they had to draw rein for so simple a thing as the use of their handkerchief, lest their horse should fly the track while their right hand was so engaged. And while I am to a certain extent an advocate for the use of two hands, I cannot agree with the habit of the day of so constantly employing two that the horse and rider both lose the power of doing satisfactory work with one.
By all means teach Nelly to guide by the neck. When you have done this, you may resort to both hands again whenever you desire. And the habit of using both hands is certainly more apt to keep your shoulders, and hence your seat straight. But a horse who cannot be guided with one hand under all but the most exceptional conditions is not fit for saddle work on the road. In the more intricate paces of the School, indeed, the soldier uses but one hand; and though often more delicate hints can be imparted to a horse's mind by two, yet all except the greatest performances of the _manege_ can be accomplished with one, and a horse who is unable to rehea.r.s.e perfectly all the road gaits and movements with the indications of one hand and two heels is sadly lacking in the knowledge he should boast.
You very naturally ask how this is to be taught. It is by no means difficult. Have you never noticed a groom riding a horse in a halter?
Any steady horse can be so ridden. The halter rope is usually on the left side of the neck because the man has it in his hand when he jumps on, and he guides the horse by a pull on the halter rope if he wants him to turn to the left, and by laying the rope upon and pulling it across the neck pretty well up if he wants him to turn to the right.
Now you will notice that if you hold the reins far up on Nelly's neck, half way from withers to ears, and pull them across the left (near) side of her neck, she will, after a little uncertainty, be apt to turn to the right, although the pull is on the left side of the bit. Try it and see. There,--she has done it, after some hesitation. And she did it because she felt that her head was being forced to the right and she very naturally followed it. The reverse will occur if you will pull the reins across the right (off) side of the neck. Some horses seize this idea very quickly, and it is only a matter of practice to keep them doing the same thing as you gradually bring the reins farther and farther down the neck till they lie where they should be, near the withers. If Nelly will thus catch the idea, a week or ten days will teach her a good deal, and in a month she will guide fairly well by the neck;--after which, practice makes perfect. If she had not seemed to catch the idea, and had turned the other way, it would have been because the pull on the bit impressed her mind rather than the pressure on the neck acting in the opposite way. Under such circ.u.mstances you should, when you press the rein on the near side of her neck, take hold of the off rein also and force her to turn to the right, trying to make the neck pressure a little more marked than that on the bit. A horse quickly learns to appreciate the difference between the direct pull of the rein on the bit and the indirect one made across the neck. None of the neat movements of the _manege_ can be executed unless a horse has learned absolutely to distinguish between an indication to turn, and one which is meant to lighten one side in order to prepare for a School movement, or to enable him to lead or exhibit p.r.o.nounced action with that side.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE X.
TAKING-OFF AT WATER.]
At first you had perhaps better teach Penelope to guide only one way by the neck, using the rein alone for the other turn. But you can determine this by her intelligence. If there is any place where you can ride in an irregular circle or quadrangle, you can, after Nelly gets used to turning in a certain direction at the corners, press the reins on the opposite side of her neck as she is about to turn, so that she may get to a.s.sociate this pressure with the movement in the direction away from it. This is the way horses learn in a riding-school. Or if she is going towards home and knows the corners she has to turn, do not let her make them of her own accord, but hold her away from them until you give her the neck pressure. Or you can zig-zag along the road if you are in a quiet place where people will not think that you are _toque_, or that your mare has the staggers. It will thus not be long before Nelly gets the idea, and the mere idea, once caught, is quickly worked into a habit. Sometimes I have got a horse to guide pa.s.sably well by the neck in a day. Oftener, it takes a week or two, while delicacy comes by very slow degrees.
x.x.xIV.
When you have got Nelly to the point where she guides fairly well by the neck, what next?
It is evident that the muscles of your mare's neck are rather rigid, for she carries it straight, though her crest is well curved. From this rigidity springs that resistance to the bit which she so constantly shows. A neck which arches easily means, as a rule, obedience to it. It is extremely rare that a horse will arch his neck, except when very fresh, so as to bring his mouth to the yielding position and keep it there, of his own volition; and then he is apt to pull on your hands. You must not suppose that an arched neck means that the horseman is worrying his beast to make him appear proud or prance for the purpose of showing off. It is precisely this which a good horseman never does. He always uses his bits gently. It is cruelty, as well as ruin to the horse's mouth, to hold him by the curb until his neck tires, and he leans upon it, held suspended by the equal torture of the chain and the aching muscles. A horse never should pull on a curb. If your hands are light, the curb rein may be loose and still the horse's head be in its proper position, that is, about perpendicular. The well-trained horse, without the slightest effort, arches his neck to the curb or snaffle alike, and keeps it so.
It is only when his rider releases it, or chooses to let him ”have his head” that he takes it. Often, in fact, a horse will not do so when you give him the chance. Patroclus here will get tired out, certainly completely tire me out, long before his bit becomes irksome. When trotting, or when galloping across the fields or in deep snow, I am often apt to let him carry his head as he chooses on account of the change or the extra exertion. But with his well-suppled neck I always feel certain that the slightest intimation of the bit will bring his head in place instead of meeting resistance. And he generally seems to prefer to bring his head well into the bit, so, as it were, to establish agreeable relations with you. I often notice that he feels unsteady if I give him his head too much. And when tired, he seems to like the encouragement given by light and lively hands all the more.
The first thing, then, to do is to get Penelope's neck suppled. This means that the naturally rigid muscles of the neck shall be by proper exercises made so supple as to allow the mare to bring her head to the position where there can be a constant ”give and take” between your hands and her mouth. The usual outward sign of such suppleness is an arched neck, though as occasionally an habitual puller will arch his neck naturally, this is not an infallible sign. And some horses, especially thoroughbreds, however good their wind, will roar if you too quickly bring their heads in. This is because the wind-pipe of such horses is compressed too much by arching the neck. Thoroughbreds on the turf are wont to stick their noses out while running, because this affords them the best breathing power at very high speed. This habit becomes hereditary, and among them there are not a few who cannot readily be brought in by the bit. Sometimes, except as a feat, you can never supple such necks. Oftener, it only needs more time and patience,--in other words a slower process. A limber-necked thoroughbred has, however, the most delightful of mouths, except for the fact that he seems occasionally to draw or yield almost a yard of rein, owing to the length of his neck, and your hands have to be watched accordingly. If he has such a neck, the only safety, if he is high-strung, is never to let him beyond the hand.
The result of the suppling of the neck is a soft mouth under all conditions. How shall you begin to supple Nelly's neck, you ask, without the long process of the Schools?
You cannot perfectly, but you may partially do this under saddle.
Whenever you are on a walk you may, as a habit, let your horse have his head, and encourage him to keep at his best gait. A dull walker is a nuisance. A little motion of the hands or heels and an occasional word will keep him lively and at work, and get him into the habit of walking well, if he has enough ambition. The School-rider keeps his horse ”collected” on the walk at all times, and though the steps are thus shortened, they become quicker and more springy, and the speed is not diminished. I do either way, as the mood takes me, for though I incline to the method of the School-riders, I do not think that it hurts a horse to have entire freedom now and then.
Some amblers are slow walkers, but the five-mile amble takes the place of the rapid walk, and is often more agreeable. Few horses walk more than three and a half miles an hour. A four-mile walk is a good one.
Exceptionally, you may reach the ideal five miles. I once knew a horse in Ohio who walked (and not a running walk either, but a square ”heel and toe” walk) six miles in an hour, on wagers. But our confab, Tom, often gets too diffuse. Let us go on with our lesson.