Patroclus and Penelope Part 6

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.

x.x.xV.

Here we are quietly walking along the road. Suppose you draw up the reins a bit, the curb somewhat the more. Nelly will at once bring up her head, and very naturally stick out her nose in the endeavor to avoid the pressure of the curb chain. At the same time, as you see, she will shorten her steps. Don't jerk or worry her, but still exert a gentle pressure on the curb, and keep up a slight vibrating movement of the hands, speaking to her kindly. In a moment or two, she will arch her neck, and the bit will hang loosely in her mouth. There, you see, her nose comes down, and a handsome head and neck she has! Now pat her, and speak caressingly to her, and after a few seconds release her head. When these exercises are done on the stable floor, the use of the snaffle will accomplish the same result, and this is very desirable. But if you begin these flexions on the road you must use the curb, because Nelly now understands the snaffle to be for another purpose. The use of the curb is apt to lower a horse's head, and with some horses too much. The snaffle may be employed to correct this low carriage, but this use of it involves more than I can explain to you now. If Nelly's head gets too low, raise your hands a bit.

Try it over again, and each time prolong the period of holding her head in poise. But never hold it so long that her neck will ache and she begin to lean upon the bit. If she should do so before you release her head, play gently with the rein for an instant to get her back to the soft mouthing of the bit, caress her, and then release her head.

This is on the principle that you should always have your way with a horse, and not he his. And kindness alone accomplishes this much more speedily and certainly than severity. If the occasion ever comes when you cannot have your way with Nelly, give a new turn to the matter by attracting her attention to something else, so as not to leave on her mind the impression that she has resisted you.

Notice two things, Tom, while Nelly is thus champing her bit. She has an almost imperceptible hold of your hands and her gait is shorter and more elastic. This has the effect of a semi-poised position, from which she can more readily move into any desired gait than from the extended looseness of the simple walk. This is one step towards what hors.e.m.e.n call being "in hand," or "collected;" and grooms, "pulled together," though indeed the "pulling together" of the groom but very distantly approaches the fine poise of the Schools.

Of all means of destroying a good mouth, to allow the horse to lean upon the curb is the surest. Avoid this by all means. But so long as Nell will bring in her head and play with the bit, keep her doing so at intervals. After a week or two she will be ready to walk quite a stretch with her head in position, and you will both of you have gained something in the way of schooling her mouth and your hands. You can then try her on a trot, and if you can keep your seat without holding on by the reins, she will learn to do the same thing at this gait too, and later at the canter and the gallop. But unless your own seat is firm and your hands are light, you will only be doing her future education an injury. Every twitch on her sensitive mouth, occasioned by an insecure seat or jerky hands, will be so much lost.

Moreover, your curb chain must neither be too long nor too short. If too long, Nelly will not bring down her head at all. If too short, it will worry her unnecessarily. You can judge of it by her willingness gradually to accustom herself to it without jerking her head or resisting it, and without lolling her tongue.

This suppling of Nelly's neck which you will give her on her daily ride is only of the muscles governing the direct up and down motion of the head and neck. You are not overcoming the lateral rigidities. This requires stable exercises. If you have leisure for these (and you very likely will make some when you find the strides in comfort and elegance Nelly is making), you will buy one of the manuals I have told you about. What you have taught her, however, is excellent so far as it goes, and is time well employed. It will serve its purpose upon the road, if it does not suffice for the more perfect education.

x.x.xVI.

The next step will be for you to try to supple the croup or hind-quarters of your mare. The two things can go on together, though it is well to get the forehand fairly suppled before beginning on the croup. The flexions of the croup are fully as important, if not more so, than those of the forehand, and in their proper teaching lies the root of your success. If you wear spurs, you should be absolutely sure you will never touch Nelly with them by accident. Spurs need not to be severe in any event. It is uselessly cruel to bring the blood, except in a race, where every ounce of exertion must be called for. Spurs in training or riding should never be used for punishment. They will be too essential in conveying your meaning to Penelope for you to throw away their value in bad temper. The horse should learn that the spur is an encouragement and an indication of your wishes, and should be taught to receive its attack without wincing or anger.

The old habit of the _manege_ was to force all the weight of the horse, by the power of a severe curb bit, back upon his haunches, and oblige him to execute all the airs in a position all but poised upon his hind legs. The modern dispensation endeavors to effect better results by teaching the animal to be constantly balanced upon all four legs, and, by having his forces properly distributed, to be in a condition to move any of them at the will of his rider in any direction, without disturbing this balance. Moreover, the element of severity has been eliminated from training altogether.

Suppose, then, that you are walking Nelly and are holding her head in poise. Now bring your legs gently together, so as to slightly touch her sides. You will see that she at once moves quickly towards the bit. Here she must find herself held in check by it. The result of the two conditions will be that she will get her hind legs somewhat more under her than usual. It is just this act, properly done, which produces the equilibrium desired. When a horse is what is termed "collected," or "in hand," he has merely brought his hind feet well under him, and has yielded his mouth to your hands in such a way that he can quickly respond to your demands. This he cannot do when he is in an open or sprawling position.

It were better to teach Nelly this gathering of the hind legs under her by certain preliminary exercises on foot; but you can by patient trial while mounted accomplish a great part of the same result. And between bit to restrain her ardor and spur to keep her well up to it, the mare will get accustomed to a position of equilibrium from which she can, when taught, instantly take any gait, advance any foot, or perform any duty required. She will be really in the condition of a fine scale which a hair's weight will instantly affect.

Do not suppose that bit and spur are to be used harshly. On the contrary, the bit ought to play in her mouth loosely, and with the trained horse the barest motion of the leg towards the body suffices.

The spur need very rarely touch her flank. The delicacy of perception of the schooled horse is often amazing. But the co-efficient of a balanced horse is a rider with firm seat and light hands. Either is powerless without the other. Moreover, a generous and intelligent beast, reasonably treated, learns the duty prescribed to him without the least friction. To respond to a kindly rider's wants seems to be a pride and a pleasure to him instead of a task.

Among the most agreeable incidents of horse-training is the evident delight which the horse takes in learning, the appreciation with which he receives your praise, and the confiding willingness with which he performs airs requiring the greatest exertion, and often a painful application of the spur, without any idea of resistance or resentment, even when his strength, endurance, intelligence, and good temper are taxed to the severest degree. I have sometimes wondered at a patience, which I myself could never have exhibited, in a creature which could so readily refuse the demands made upon him, as well as at the manifest pleasure he will take in the simple reward of a gentle word.

There is much difference in the nomenclature of horse-training. Unless one needs to be specific, as in describing the methods of the Haute Ecole, "in hand" and "collected" are frequently used interchangeably.

But they should really be distinct in meaning, "in hand" being the response to the bit, "collected," the response to bit and legs, and "in poise," a very close position of equilibrium, preceding the most difficult movements of the School.

Now, in order to get Penelope accustomed to respond to the pressure of the legs, you must practice bringing your legs towards her flanks while her head is well poised, at frequent intervals. Whenever she responds by bringing her hind legs under her--and you will notice when she does so by her greater elasticity and more active movement--speak a good word to her, and keep her gathered in this way only so long as she can comfortably remain so, gradually prolonging the terms during which you hold her thus "collected." You will find that her step will soon become lighter and the speed of her response to your own movements a great contrast to the sluggishness of the horse moving his natural gait in the saddle. Her carriage will begin to show the same equilibrium in which the practiced fencer stands "in guard," or more properly, it will show that splendid action of the horse at liberty which he never exhibits in the restraint of the saddle, except when trained.

Whoever has watched a half-dozen fine horses just turned loose from the stall into a pretty paddock, will have noticed that, in their delighted bounds and curvetings, each one will perform his part with a wonderful grace, ease, and elegance of action. You may see the pa.s.sage, piaffer, and Spanish trot, and even the pa.s.sage backwards, done by the untrained horse of his own playful volition, urged thereto solely by the exuberance of his spirits. Under saddle he will not do this, unless taught by the methods of the School. But so taught, he will perform all these and more, with readiness and evident satisfaction to himself.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XI.

DOING IT HANDILY.]

I must again impress upon you, Tom, that for perfect success, even in little things, you will need vastly more careful training than this; and that what I am discussing with you is but a very partial subst.i.tute for the higher education. I am indeed sorry to feel tied down to such simple instruction. But I want to tell you just enough to lead you to experiment for yourself, and to catch sufficient of the fascination of the art to study it thoroughly. I am, however, anxious that you should by no means understand me to say that you can, by any such simple means as I shall have detailed to you, perfect the education of your mare. You can improve her present condition vastly, and make her light and handy compared to what she naturally is. But the best results involve far other work.