Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of Cavalry of the Army Part 24

The back supple and never hollowed.

The upper part of the body easy, free, and erect.

The shoulders thrown back evenly.

The arms free, the elbows falling naturally.

The head erect and turned to the front, but without stiffness.

Eyes alert, well up, and directed to the trooper's front.

The reins held as heretofore prescribed.

This position may be modified by the instructor to suit varying conditions and unusual conformations. When not at attention, the head and eyes are directed so as best to favor alertness and observation.

In other respects the position should be practically unchanged.

=199.= The body and lower legs are movable and should be under the control of the trooper, either acting intermittently as aids for guiding the horse or as a means of binding the rider to the horse while following his movements.

The thighs, on the other hand, should remain fixed immovably to the saddle, except while posting at the trot. This fixity should be obtained not by the pressure of the knees but by the clinging of the b.u.t.tocks, which is secured by the suppleness of the loins and the relaxation of the thighs. It is acquired very rapidly by daily "_rotation of the thighs_," which gradually presses the large thigh muscles to the rear and permits the femur to rest solidly against the saddle.

The trooper should sit with his b.u.t.tocks well under the upper part of his body and especially avoid bowing the back by thrusting the b.u.t.tocks to the rear and the lower part of the spine to the front.

Sitting well forward in the middle of the saddle will tend to a.s.sist the trooper in avoiding the defect just referred to. If the b.u.t.tocks are thrust back too much the trooper can not conform to the movements of the horse and carries forward the upper part of his body.

If the thigh is too nearly horizontal, the trooper is doubled, up and his power of action diminished; if the thigh is too nearly vertical, the trooper is on the crotch and lacks ease.

To sum up: The trooper should take a relaxed sitting position, squarely on his b.u.t.tocks, with the thighs inclined downward.

The various defects of position are overcome by suitable suppling exercises (pars. 209-220).

=200.= _The aids._--The legs, the reins, and the weight are the means of controlling the horse in riding. They are called the aids.

=201.= =The legs=: The legs serve to urge the horse forward, to increase his pace or gait, and to engage the hind quarters or move them laterally. The legs act by the pressure of the calves. If pressure alone is insufficient the trooper increases the action by blows with his calves.

It is essential to obtain from the horse perfect obedience to the action of the legs. He should respond to the simultaneous and equal action of both legs by engaging his hindquarters and moving forward; to the predominant action of one leg by moving his haunches to the opposite side.

=202.= =The reins=: The reins serve to prepare the horse to move, to decrease or increase his pace, to change the gait, or to change direction.

=Contact= is a light bearing of the mouth of the horse on the hand of the rider. It should be constantly maintained.

The reins are held in the full hand, the thumb pressing them lightly upon the second joint of the forefinger. By means of closing and relaxing the fingers and flexing the wrist, arm, and shoulder, the trooper, while maintaining contact and keeping the reins taut, follows easily the movements of the head of the horse without antic.i.p.ating or interfering with these movements. The hand is then said to be pa.s.sive.

It is kept so as long as the trooper is not required to change the pace, gait, or direction.

=203.= =The direct rein=: When the trooper, with the hands separated and the reins adjusted, closes his fingers upon the reins without raising the hands he exercises an action from front to rear, called the effect of the direct reins. This effect, when on one rein only, is called that of the =right (or left) direct rein=.

=204.= =The leading rein=: When the trooper carries the right hand to the right and forward in a manner to preserve contact but not to increase pressure on the bit the effect is called that of the =right leading rein=.

The back of the hand should remain vertical, the wrist in prolongation of the forearm, the elbow remaining near the body.

The horse's head and neck are drawn to the right, the shoulders follow, and he turns to the right.

=205.= =The bearing rein=: When the trooper carries the right hand forward, upward, and to the left in a manner to preserve contact, but not to increase pressure on the bit, the effect is said to be that of the =right bearing rein=.

The back of the hand should remain vertical, the wrist in prolongation of the forearm.

The horse's head is =turned slightly to the right=, but the effect is to the left; the neck bends and is convex to the left and is followed by the shoulders. The horse turns to the left.

The action of the bearing rein is much more powerful than that of the leading rein, and is used to the exclusion of the latter to turn the horse when riding with the reins in one hand.

=206.= =The indirect rein of opposition=: When the trooper carries the right hand to the left in a manner to press the shoulders to the left and to produce a diagonal traction on the rein in the direction of the left shoulder or haunch the effect is called that of the =right indirect rein of opposition=.

Its effect may be produced =in front of the withers= if the hand be slightly raised; =in rear pf the withers= if the hand be slightly lowered. It is frequently used by the trooper when riding with one hand (as he must do in order to use his weapons), and its effect should be studied and practiced from, the beginning.

=207.= Manner of applying the aids: The action of the reins and legs and weight should not be continuous. The trooper alternately closes and relaxes the fingers, the hands preserving contact in the intervals between the actions. In the same manner he uses the legs, neither gripping nor releasing altogether, but preserving light contact in the intervals between the blows with the calves. The weight likewise is used in a similar manner, being quickly applied to the front, to the rear, or to a side, alternating with returns to the normal position.

If an action of the aids is prolonged the horse has opportunity to establish the corresponding resistance, but if produced by =repeated applications= the effect is very marked.

All action of the aids should diminish in intensity when obedience begins and cease entirely as soon as the desired result is secured.

Troopers must be thoroughly trained in riding with the reins in one hand.

=208.= The instructor, in teaching troopers to avail themselves of their legs and reins, is governed by the preceding considerations, and from the first watches vigilantly the action of the aids.

The hand should always be kept low. The most thoughtful care should be exercised in the combined application of the aids, so that they may not be opposed to each other in their action; that is, one favoring the intended movement, the other opposing it.

The instructor impresses upon the troopers that their hands must be kept still; that is, free from bobbing up and down, and pulling, and from giving and taking when there is no reason therefor.

Likewise their legs should remain in light contact with the horse's sides and the heels not be used to kick the horse constantly in a nervous manner.

Moreover, that the effects of the aids may be perfectly clear, and that there may be no contradiction between them, =there should never be simultaneous action of the direct reins demanding slowing up or halting and of the legs provoking a forward movement=. This condition is essential for preserving the composure indispensable to the horses of the troop.

=242.= =Posting=: Posting is habitually employed when the troopers have stirrups and understand their use.

It is executed as follows: The horse moving at a trot, the trooper inclines the upper part of his body forward, then supporting himself on the stirrups while maintaining the clinging of his knees he rises under the impulsion of the horse, maintains his position detached from the saddle while the succeeding impulse is produced, again sits down in the saddle, and continues in this way, avoiding alternate impulses.

At the beginning the mechanism of posting is made easier to the trooper by causing him to stroke the horse's neck or to grasp a lock of the mane with either hand, thus determining the forward inclination of the body.

Its proper execution requires that the seat be raised moderately, that contact with the saddle be resumed gently and without shock, that the full support of the stirrup be obtained while keeping the lower leg steady, that the ankle joint be supple, and that the heel be kept lower than the toe.

=243.= =Care of horses and saddlery=: The recruits will be given talks and practical ill.u.s.trations in every phase of the care of horses and the care of saddlery. This in addition to their daily attention to those subjects as a matter of routine.

=244.= _The use of arms, mounted._--During the period in which the instruction in the school of the trooper is held, there must be thorough instruction in the use of arms mounted. After the first few drills there should be daily instruction in some phase of this important part of the trooper's training. Progress in the more advanced steps of this instruction must necessarily depend upon the trooper's progress in horsemans.h.i.+p; but by making the dismounted instruction thorough and keeping it well in advance of the corresponding parts of the mounted program, many difficulties will be obviated and much time saved. Success with the pistol and saber will be dependent upon that familiarity with their use that can be gained only by daily practice extending over a considerable period. The dismounted instruction already prescribed in connection with the use of the weapons must be supplemented by thorough mounted work at all gaits, when pa.s.sing obstacles, etc. The trooper must learn to control his horse thoroughly with one hand while carrying and using his weapon in the other; he must learn to handle his weapon mounted with a minimum of danger to himself, his comrades, or his horse. The princ.i.p.al drill on at least one day of each week during the entire period devoted to the school of the trooper should ordinarily be devoted, to the above instruction, thus supplementing and testing the results accomplished in the shorter daily drills. At this weekly drill the troopers should habitually appear fully armed and equipped, the saddles being packed as for field service.

The employment of the saber mounted is taught as prescribed in the =Saber Exercise=; the use of the pistol in firing mounted, as prescribed in the =Small-Arms Firing Manual=.

=245.= =Manual of the Saber, Mounted=: The saber suspended from the _left_ side of the saddle--

1. =Draw=, 2. =SABER.= Pa.s.s the right hand over the reins and execute with it rapidly what is prescribed for drawing the saber on foot; place the pommel near the hip and resting on top of the thigh, flat of the blade against the point of the shoulder. This is the position of =carry saber, mounted=.