The Horsewoman Part 9

is best uttered in rather a high key and in a drawling tone, when we begin to pull up a horse during movement; but we should reserve "steady," like the curb, for use in emergency, and should utter it in a threatening tone of voice. The words of command which an inexperienced rider will find most useful are a click of the tongue for a walk, trot, and canter; "whoa" to pull up; "steady" when he is going too fast, or indulging in unnecessary leaps and bounds; "go on," with a few pats on the neck, if he is nervous about pa.s.sing any object, or shying; and a quiet word or two of encouragement, with more pats on the neck, when he is in a state of nervous excitement, as, for instance, on his first day with hounds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 85.--Hunting whip.]

When visiting a horse in his stable to give him a carrot or other t.i.t-bit, his mistress should call him by his name, and he will soon neigh on hearing her voice, if she always gives him something nice; for horses, like poor relations, don't appreciate our visits unless they can get something out of us. Lady Dilke had a horse which she had trained to lick her hand. On going up to him in his box she would put out her hand and say "Lick her, dear," and the animal would give her his mute caress like a dog: it was very pretty to see how well the pair understood each other. We may see the power of the voice exemplified in cart horses, which will turn to right or left, go faster or slower, or pull up, according as they receive the word of command from the wagoner who walks beside them. The voice is also greatly used by polo players.

Horses are very catholic in their admiration for t.i.t-bits. They like all kinds of sweets and fruit, and will even crunch up the stones of plums and peaches, which require good teeth to crack. An old favourite of mine was particularly fond of chocolate and jam tarts!

WHIP.

The chief uses of a hunting whip are to help the rider to manipulate gates, and to be cracked; the former being much more necessary to a horsewoman than the latter. The crop should therefore be of a serviceable length. It is the very silly fas.h.i.+on at present to have hunting whips that are less than two feet long. Many are made of whalebone, and are covered with catgut, their special advantage being that their flexibility greatly facilitates the process of cracking. A more serviceable crop for a lady is one of stiff cane, the thick end of the handle of which is made rough, as in Fig. 85, or is provided with a metal stud, so that the handle may not slip when it is pushed against a gate. Formerly, two feet three inches was the usual length of a hunting crop for both s.e.xes. Three feet is a much better length for ladies, who cannot "get down into their saddle" like men. Besides, a fairly long crop is very useful for keeping a horse straight by the rider touching him with it on the off flank when he wants to run out to the left, which is his favourite side for refusing in the large majority of cases. A short crop is useless for this purpose, as the right hand will be fully occupied on such trying occasions in keeping the animal's head toward the obstacle, and the crop should be able to perform its share of the work by a turn of the wrist, care being taken that no jerk is communicated to the rein.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 86.--Thong properly put on.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 87.--Thong properly put on.]

The thong is about three feet ten inches long, is furnished with a lash, which is about a foot long, and is attached to the keeper, which is a leather loop at the end of the crop. Men generally like a thong of white pipe-clayed leather, but as the colour is apt to come off and soil one's habit, a brown leather thong is best for ladies.

The keeper of the modern hunting whip has a slit, near its end, through both thicknesses of leather. In attaching the thong, the loop at its upper end is placed over the end of the keeper, and it is then pa.s.sed through the slit and drawn tightly (Fig. 86). The old-fas.h.i.+oned keeper, which is still greatly in use, is a simple loop of leather, over which the loop of the thong is put, and the remainder of the thong is threaded through the opening at the end of the keeper (Fig. 87). A wrong way to put on the thong is, in the first instance, to pa.s.s the loop of the thong through (instead of over) the keeper (Fig. 88). Some authorities might take exception to the way the thong is put on in Fig. 89.

To facilitate the use of the thong, it is well to have a long keeper, as in Fig. 86. The keeper of the whip which is shown in Fig. 85, and also in Fig. 87, is too short.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 88.--Thong incorrectly put on.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 89.--Thong not quite right.]

The chief use of the thong in hunting is to recover the crop if it happens to be pulled out of the hand when opening a gate, before doing which, one or more turns of the thong are consequently taken round the hand. It also enables us to warn off hounds who approach too near our horses' legs, on which occasions the whip should be held at arm's length, with thong and lash vertical. A touch of the lash may aid in encouraging a friend's horse to go through something to which he objects, but a man would doubtless be handy to do the needful in such a case. It would be well for a lady to know how to crack her whip, if her help were required in turning hounds, or in hurrying up a laggard hound; but this art should first be learnt on foot, under the tuition of a competent man, in much the same way as Mr. Frank Ward teaches his pupils to catch the thong with precision for four-in-hand driving; and the lady's hunter must also be trained to stand having a whip cracked on his back, before any experiment of that kind is performed in the hunting field. It is a good plan to first accustom hunters to the cracking of a whip in or near their stables, letting them see the performance, and, after a ridden horse will quietly stand the whip being flicked, his rider may safely crack it, supposing, of course, she is able to wield her flail correctly, and without touching the animal; hence the necessity of acquiring precision in this art before attempting it on horseback. An experienced hunting woman tells me that women should be as useful in the field as men; but I fear that is impossible, for we cannot get on and off our horses as easily as men, to render prompt help in cases of emergency; hold open a gate on a windy day, or perform the numerous kindly acts which fall to the lot of the mere male. Besides, however active and well-intentioned we may be, we are hampered by our dress, and still more so by the want of it, in the case of an ap.r.o.n skirt. If a crop is used for hacking, say in the Row, the thong should be taken off, for it would look as much out of place there as a pink hunting coat. The whip should be always carried handle downwards, on the off-side, as if we were trying to conceal its presence, and not as though we were riding with "a rein in each hand, and a whip in the other."

In a country of hedges, like the s.h.i.+res, it is well to acquire the habit of holding the whip in such a way that the handle of the whip will point directly backwards; for if it is inclined outwards, it will be apt to catch in a branch or twig, when going through a bullfinch (Fig. 90) or straggling hedge.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 90.--A practicable Bullfinch.]

SPUR.

The spur is inapplicable to the requirements of ordinary side-saddle riding; because, in order to use it properly, it should be applied, as nearly as practicable, at right angles to the side of the horse, so as to touch him only on one spot, in which case the knee would have to be brought well away from the flap of the saddle, and the toe of the boot turned outwards. This would necessitate the use of a long stirrup leather, which would bring the rider's weight too much to the near-side, and would also render her seat insecure; because, instead of being able to get grip by the play of her left ankle joint (p. 149), she would have to draw back the left foot, and press the upper part of the thigh against the leaping head. Her forced adoption of this feeble attempt to obtain firmness of seat is due to the fact that if she raised her left knee to put pressure on the leaping head, her foot, in all probability, would come out of the iron, owing to the long leather being slack at that moment. Besides, with a leather at that length, it would be impossible for her to press her leg strongly against the leaping head by the action of the ankle joint. A lady who rides with her stirrup leather at the correct length (Fig. 79), can use the spur only in a more or less parallel direction to the animal's side, in which case, the spur, if it is sharp, will be almost certain to tear the skin, instead of lightly p.r.i.c.king it.

The entirely wrong system of handling, feeding, and leading horses almost always on the near side, teaches them to turn much more easily as a rule to that side, which is a lady's weak side, than to the right.

Consequently, when they "run out" at a fence, they almost invariably swerve to the left. In such a case, a man has his hands to turn the animal's head and neck, and his drawn back right leg to straighten the hind quarters; but the handicapped lady can supplement the action of her reins only by the whip, which she cannot use very effectively, owing to her perched-up position on the saddle. If she used a spur she would be at a still greater disadvantage, because, in order to escape the pain of the "persuader," the animal would naturally swing his hind quarters round to the right, and would consequently bring his fore-hand still more to the left, by the action of this misapplied "aid." If the lady's whip is not sufficiently long to give her mount the requisite reminder on the off flank, either by being pressed closely against it, or by the administration of a sharp tap, it will be useless for straightening him.

Lady Augusta Fane, who is one of the best horsewomen in Leicesters.h.i.+re, and who certainly rides a greater variety of hunters during a season than any other lady in the s.h.i.+res, is strongly opposed to the use of the spur. She tells me that "if a horse is so sticky as to require a spur, he is no hunter for this country; and if he is a determined refuser, no woman, spur or no spur, can make him gallop to these big fences and jump. I consider a spur a very cruel thing, and feel certain that many men would find their horses go better, and jump better, if they left their spurs at home, and many accidents would be avoided." Lord Harrington, who is well known as a fine horseman, also dislikes spurs, and has advocated their abolition in the Yeomanry. In this he should receive the support of all good riders, as they know that placid-tempered horses have better paces, higher courage, superior staying power, and greater cleverness and tact in times of danger than excitable ones. In polo, where the legs are far more required for guiding the horse than in hunting, the use of sharp spurs is forbidden, except by special permission. Whyte-Melville points out that my s.e.x are unmerciful in the abuse of the spur. He says:--"Perhaps because they have but one, they use this stimulant liberally and without compunction.

From their seat and shortness of stirrup every kick tells home.

Concealed under a riding habit, these vigorous applications are unsuspected by lookers on." I have seen more than one poor animal's side badly torn and bleeding from a lady's spur. A lady who rides a horse in the ordinary way with this instrument of torture, which she is unable to use correctly, brands herself in the eyes of her more experienced sister as an incompetent horsewoman. I have heard hunting men advocate the spur for ladies; but they would probably change their opinion if they were to try the effect of riding with one spur, and that on the left foot, especially in a lady's hunting saddle. Very few men who wear spurs are able to use them properly; Whyte Melville says not one in ten, and "the tenth is often most unwilling to administer so severe a punishment." The late George Fordham wholly repudiated "the tormentors," and said they made a horse shorten his stride and "shut up," instead of struggling bravely home. My husband, in _Riding and Hunting_, says it is the fas.h.i.+on to wear spurs with top-boots, but many good horses go much better without them. Whyte Melville remarks that "a top-boot has an unfinished look without its appendage of s.h.i.+ning steel; and although some sportsmen a.s.sure us that they dispense with rowels, it is rare to find one so indifferent to appearances as not to wear spurs." Men wear spurs in hunting because it is fas.h.i.+onable to do so, but there is no such arbitrary law laid down for ladies, and the presence of the spur certainly adds to the danger of dragging by the stirrup; for, as Whyte Melville points out, its buckle "is extremely apt to catch in the angle of the stirrup iron, and hold us fast at the very moment when it is important for our safety we should be free."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 91.--Spur-carrying whip used for high school riding.]

In Continental high school riding, a spur is a necessity, as, without its aid, the _ecuyeres_ would not be able to perform many of their _airs de manege_. These ladies, in order to apply the spur with freedom, have the stirrup leather so long that they are deprived of the immense advantage, which the play of the ankle-joint gives us, of applying pressure with the leg against the leaping head, and with the flat of the knee against the saddle flap. The "school" rider seeks to strengthen her weak seat by the employment of a very long and greatly curved leaping head, which serves to support her leg while her knee is removed from the flap of the saddle when using the spur. This leaping head, which almost encircles the left leg, would, of course, be a most dangerous thing to use when hunting. The spurred lady also has a spur clamped on to her whip, in order that she may be able to prod her horse equally on both sides. The whip-spur (Fig. 91) is like a wheel with sharp spokes and no tyre. The application of the spur by Continental _ecuyeres_, especially in obtaining the more difficult _airs_, is more or less constant, so as to keep the animal in a continued state of irritation. I went behind the scenes in a well-known circus in Paris, where I saw a lady mounted and waiting to go on and give her performance. A man was holding her horse's head, and a second attendant, with a spur in his hand, was digging the unfortunate animal on the near side under her habit, which he was holding up for the purpose. He took care to inflict the cruel punishment on a part of the horse's body which would not be seen by the public! The animal, being unable to advance, was lifting his legs up and down (doing the _piaffer_), and sighing and groaning in agony. When the circus doors were opened and relief thus came to him, he bounded into the arena like a fury, amidst the thunderous applause of the audience! I should have liked to have seen that spur-man punished for cruelty to animals, for if the performance went on, as I believe it did, every night, that horse's near side must have been in a shocking condition! It is by no means an unusual occurrence for high school lady riders to be securely tied to their saddles.

We must remember that a hunter has to carry his rider for several hours.

Hunting is not steeplechasing, and if a reluctant fencer cannot be sufficiently roused by a touch of the whip, I fail to see what is to be gained by spurring him on the near side, and thus giving him a direct incentive to refuse to the left. Besides, as it is the opinion of some of our best hors.e.m.e.n that nine out of every ten men who hunt would be better and more safely carried if they rode without spurs, I certainly think that no lady should subject her hunter to "the insult of the spur," especially as she can inflict the punishment only on the near side, and thus provoke a defensive att.i.tude which she has no compensating power to successfully resist.

Some years ago I rode in a jumping compet.i.tion at Ranelagh. There were about twenty men and one lady besides myself among the compet.i.tors. The lady found at the last moment that she had forgotten her spur, and a servant was sent to her trap for it, as she said she could not ride without it. She used her spur, but was unable to get her horse over even the first fence! Lufra, a well-known prize winner at the Agricultural Hall and elsewhere, won the Cup, after a strong contest against my horse Gustave, who was given a red rosette for being second. Gustave had never jumped in a compet.i.tion before. He was ridden in a plain snaffle, and the only mistake he made was in just tipping the raised gate with his hind legs. He was evidently unaware that it had been raised, for when I took him at it again, just to show the ladies that he could jump it, he cleared it beautifully, and his temperate style of fencing was greatly admired.

CHAPTER X.

FIRST LESSONS IN RIDING.

The walk--Turning--The halt--The trot--The canter--The gallop--Jumping-- Reining back.

THE WALK.

A horse which is held by a groom for a lady to mount, will generally start off at a walk without any given signal to do so, when the servant leaves his head, unless his rider desires him to remain at the halt, when she would give him a command, by saying "whoa!"; and when she wants him to proceed on his journey, she should say "go on," or click with the tongue. It is best to put a beginner on an animal which has been trained to await the commands of his rider, in order that she may from her very first lesson in riding, learn the rudiments of horse control. She should never jerk the reins as a signal to start, because this practice is very apt to confuse and consequently to irritate the animal, especially as the perpetrator of this _betise_ will, in all probability, use the same means for stopping him. Before she gets on his back, the instructor should show how the reins should be held, and how the horse should be given the order to walk. It is the custom in many riding schools to place the curb and snaffle reins in the rider's left hand and leave her to find out their use as best she can, but as the lady will require to devote almost the whole of her attention to her seat, and as in hunting she will ride with both hands on the reins, it is better to give her a snaffle rein to hold in each hand, and not introduce the curb until she is sufficiently secure in her seat to be able to manipulate it properly.

The unusual feeling of sitting on the back of a moving animal will often cause a lady to lean forward and grip her crutches, in order to retain her seat, especially at the turns in the school or enclosure, where she may be receiving her lesson, but the instructor should watch her carefully, and should call a halt when the pupil is observed to be riding her crutches instead of sitting well down in her saddle, and obtaining the necessary steadying power without bringing the weight of her body forward. The rider will not require to grip her crutches while proceeding in a forward direction at a walk, although their aid may be necessary when executing a turning movement, and she should also be ready to apply grip at any moment of emergency. She will at first experience some difficulty in being able to dissociate balance from grip, and as her efforts to do so may be somewhat fatiguing to her, her first lessons should be of short duration. Fig. 92 shows an easy, comfortable position when riding at a walk.

After the rider has mastered the art of sitting comfortably and firmly in her saddle at a walk, she should be given a whip to hold in her right hand, which should also hold the right rein. I think the best kind of flail for a beginner is a long cane. A cutting whip is not sufficiently stiff to be used as an indication, and it is apt to tickle the horse's sides, and make him unsteady.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 92.--Thorough-bred mare at a walk.]

TURNING.

A lady should not be initiated in the mysteries of any other pace, until she is able to turn her horse at a walk, in any direction, while maintaining a correct balance of her body, and applying only sufficient grip to aid the movement.

In turning a horse to the right, she should lower her right hand and carry it well away from his shoulder, while "feeling" the right rein, so as to give him as clearly as possible, the indication to turn; she should press the left rein against his neck, by moving her left hand to the right; she should grip her crutches, and lean to the right; and should resume her erect position when the turn is completed. If the animal answers these indications only by turning his head to the right, and does not bring his hind quarters round to the left, she should touch him lightly with the whip on the off flank, so as to make him bring his hind quarters round. In turning to the left, the opposite indications are employed; the only difference being that the whip cannot be used on the animal's left side, owing to the presence of the skirt. This inability to employ the whip on the left side is not of much consequence as a rule, because almost all horses readily bring their hind quarters round to the right, when they are turned to the left.

Having turned to the right, she may ride her horse in a circle to the right, while inclining her body slightly inwards, and keeping a nice feeling of the right rein, and a firm grip of her crutches round the circle, which at first should be large, as the smaller the circle the more difficult it will be to ride and guide one's mount. The reversed aids are used when circling to the left.

THE HALT.

In pulling up a horse from a walk, or any other pace, the rider should say "whoa," should lean back, and at the same time draw in the reins with an even, steady feeling, while keeping her hands low. If she has any difficulty in halting with precision, she should practise walking her horse short distances and stopping him at the word "whoa," which should be given to him in a tone that he can understand, for he cannot obey orders unless he knows their meaning.

THE TROT.

When learning to ride, ladies should endeavour to be thorough, and should not proceed to study a new pace, before the previous one has been entirely mastered. If the body is nicely balanced at sharp turns at the walk, with the weight evenly distributed on the saddle, and both legs kept perfectly steady and in their right position, a great deal will have been done towards acquiring a firm seat.

When the pupil is able to ride with ease and grace at the walk, she may receive a lesson in trotting. I think it is best to teach the trot before the canter, because the majority of horses trot a few steps before they strike off into the canter.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 93.--Preparing to rise at the trot, with stirrup at correct length].

As an ounce of practice is worth a ton of theory, the instructor should first of all show her pupil how the trot is correctly executed, either without a skirt or with one pinned back, so that the position of her legs may be seen. She should try to make her practical demonstrations perfectly clear, and should encourage her pupil to question her concerning any points in this difficult pace which she does not understand. It is a good plan to trot both with and without a stirrup, in order to show that the weight of the body during the rise should be placed on the right leg, and not on the stirrup. Reference to Figs. 79, 93, 94, 98, 99, 100, 102 and 104 will show that the right leg remains in precisely the same position at the walk, trot, canter, and leap. The great difficulty in trotting is to keep this leg absolutely steady, and to prevent it from working backwards and forwards with the motion of the body, which can be done only by maintaining a steady pressure against the upper crutch with the right knee. When this has been obtained, and the rise can be made with the right leg held motionless, the rider will find herself able somewhat to relax this pressure, but in a mild form it is always necessary to press the right knee against the upper crutch in trotting, so as to aid the balance and to avoid putting too much weight on the stirrup. The right leg from the knee down should lie flat and in a slanting position against the horse's shoulder (Fig. 79), the movement of the animal's limb being distinctly felt by the rider's leg which is resting against it. Having ascertained that the stirrup is sufficiently long to admit of the flat of the hand being placed between the left leg and the leaping-head when the rider is not exercising grip (Fig.

82)--which will allow the lady to clear the leaping-head when rising at the trot--she should take rather a short hold of her horse, and induce him to bear on the snaffle to aid her to rise; for a horse which will not bear on the reins is not a comfortable animal to trot with. A lady should lean slightly forward and rise when the animal's near fore leg comes on the ground. In Fig. 93 we see the horse's off fore on the ground and the lady preparing for the rise with her body inclined forward. Fig. 94 gives us the position of the rider at the rise, and that of the horse's near fore leg. As a well-executed trot can be acquired only after a great deal of practice, a lady should not be disheartened if she makes but slow progress. She will find it difficult to time the rise accurately, and until she can do this it is best for her to sit down in the saddle and b.u.mp up and down _a la militaire_, keeping her seat by the aid of her crutches, and occasionally making an effort to rise. If she rises at the wrong time, her effort will be productive of a churning movement, which should at once be discontinued, for that slipshod style of trotting is not only incorrect, but is liable to give the horse a sore back, and will prove very tiring to the rider. In making the rise she should straighten her left knee as in mounting, and bear slightly on the stirrup, executing her upward movement by the aid of the ankle-joint and by simultaneously pressing the upper crutch with her right knee, when she will return to her former position without being in any way jerked during the movement. The stirrup should always be kept in one fixed position at the ball of the foot, and both foot and stirrup should act with automatic precision, without the slightest jerk or wriggle, exactly as though the lady were making an upward step from the ground. The pressure of the foot should be directed on the inner side of the stirrup-iron, in order that the leg may lie close to the flap of the saddle. She will not require to lift herself from the saddle, for the horse will put her up to the necessary height, if she straightens her left knee and prepares to rise at the right moment. The height of the rise will vary according to the size and action of the horse. An animal of, say, 15-3, with a long, swinging trot, will cause his rider to rise higher in the saddle than a smaller horse with a short, shuffling gait. Many ponies have a short, quick trot requiring a hardly perceptible rise from the rider; but they are not, as a rule, comfortable trotters. The lady, as I have already remarked, rises when the animal's near fore leg is placed on the ground, and remains seated while the off fore leg rests on the ground, but the height and duration of the rise will depend on his power of forward reach. Some ladies exert themselves far too much in rising, and flop down on their saddles with a noise which attracts attention to their faulty riding, and which must be very uncomfortable both to them and their mounts. The chief cause of this faulty style is the adoption of a long stirrup (Figs. 95 and 96), by which the weight of the body is brought so much to the near side that the rider can rise only with great muscular exertion, and with the risk of giving her mount a sore back, by the downward drag of the saddle to this side. If the horse were to break into a canter, the lady with a long stirrup would obtain her grip by bringing back the left leg as in Fig. 97 and pressing against the leaping-head high up on the thigh, which would give her a very insecure and ungraceful seat. I have seen ladies trying to trot with the left leg, from hip to foot, swinging about like the pendulum of a clock, as if they had no knee-joint at all. When we see an effort to trot with a stiff left leg swinging along the horse's shoulder, we may safely conclude that the rider has her stirrup too long, and knows nothing about the art of trotting, or that the leaping-head of her saddle is placed so low down on the near side that she is unable to ride in it, and has to stick on as best she can. As we do not use the leaping-head in trotting, its position on the saddle may appear unimportant, but this is not the case; for, even if a lady has her stirrup at its correct length, the fact of the leaping-head being placed low down on the near side, compels her to ride with her stirrup longer than she would have to do if this crutch were properly placed. The farther it is away from the upper crutch, the greater difficulty will a lady have in rising at the trot. I have tried to ride in saddles in which I have found trotting such a tiring business, and requiring so much muscular exertion on my part, that it was much more comfortable for me not to rise, but to b.u.mp in military fas.h.i.+on. Many ladies, probably from the same reason, never rise in the trot. It is both wrong and unkind to put girls on bad saddles and then reproach them for not sitting straight at the trot, for I have found it absolutely impossible to do so in some saddles. Much of the soreness and misery which ladies suffer in their efforts to trot, would be obviated if the leaping-head of their saddles were placed as in Fig. 16.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 94.--Rising at the trot, with stirrup at correct length.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 95.--Preparing to rise at the trot, with stirrup too long.]