If a horse has been broken, so as to be obedient to the hand and leg of
a man, and steady to sights and sounds, it is considered by many that
the animal has only to be ridden with a skirt, and accustomed to strike
off without hesitation with its off legs in the canter, and it is fit to
carry a lady.
This is a great mistake. It is true that teaching it to canter
collectedly with its off legs is necessary, as well as habituating it to
the skirt, but there are other and important matters to be considered
which are too often overlooked.
In the first place, a man, to break a horse properly for a lady, must be
sufficiently well up at his craft to train the animal to obey the
lightest possible application of the aids of the leg; because a lady,
having but one leg to the horse, cannot give him the same amount of
support that can be given by a man, who applies both.
To supply the absence of the leg on the off side, in the case of the
lady, the only substitute is the whip. But all men accustomed to
breaking know that the effect of the whip is altogether different from
that of the leg, and that while the whip is occasionally necessary to
rouse a slightly lazy horse, and put him into his bridle, in the case of
one very free, or at all hot, the whip must be used with great caution
by a lady. As I have remarked elsewhere, most young horses are inclined
to strike off in the canter with the near leg, which is most unpleasant
to the fair equestrian. To correct this, the breaker applies certain
well-known aids, which it is unnecessary here to repeat. But in order to
confirm the horse in his lesson of cantering with his off leg, the man
must give the animal a considerable amount of support with both his own
and both hands. If this is continued after the horse is advanced to the
stage of breaking where the trainer begins to fit him for a lady, and
carried on until she rides him, he will be far from a pleasant mount to
her, because, missing the support of the man's legs, the horse will not
understand the light and delicate ones which the lady will use. It is
necessary, therefore, that the breaker should accustom his charge
readily to obey the slightest indication of the rider's will, and then
ride him in a side-saddle, in precisely the same way as he will
afterwards be ridden by the lady.
I remember once seeing a man, really a capital rider in his own way,
giving a lady a lesson on a horse of her own which he had broken for
her. Both master and pupil were sorely puzzled--the former because the
horse would not obey the hand and leg of the rider, as directed by the
master, and the pupil, by finding that all she was doing produced an
effect diametrically opposite to that which was intended. Perhaps the
horse, too, was as much puzzled to know what to be at as either rider or
master.
The animal was a very shapely chesnut, nearly thoroughbred, very
good-tempered, but full of courage. Evidently he was unaccustomed to
carry a lady, and was beginning to give indications that his temper was
getting up. The object was to canter him to the right round the school,
"going large," as it is technically called. He had trotted to the other
hand well enough, and the young lady had ridden him fairly; but when
turned to the reverse hand, and the word "canter" was given, he
evidently missed the support afforded by the legs of a male rider. When
pressed gently forward to a shortened rein, he stepped very high in his
trot. "Touch him on the right shoulder with the whip sharply, miss,"
said the riding master. In answer to the sharp cut of the whip, the
horse jumped off passionately in a canter, with his near legs first--a
dangerous thing when going round the school to the right. "Stop him,
miss," said the preceptor; "take him into the corner, bend his head to
the right. Now the leg and whip again." The same result followed--the
lady flurried as well as her horse. The riding master at last took the
lady off, and mounted the horse himself; but he rode with a man's seat,
not a woman's. The horse cantered collectedly and well into his bridle
when the master asked him. "You see, miss, it is easy enough," said the
master; "a little patience, and you will do it presently." But the
second essay of the lady was as unsuccessful as the first; nay more so,
as the horse was getting very angry. "What can be the reason?" at last
said the lady, halting her horse; "I must be very stupid." "It is some
peculiarity in your hand," said the master, soothingly; "it will be all
right by-and-by." "Do you think," said the lady, deferentially, "that
the difference of seat--your leg on the right side--has anything to do
with it?" "Not a bit," replied the preceptor. But it had all to do with
it, and eventually the lady had to be put upon an old school hack for
her ride in the park, leaving her own horse at the riding school.
When the lady was gone the master observed, "Most extraordinary thing! I
can't get this horse to do wrong, and Miss A. cannot get him to go a
yard." "Did you ever ride him in a side-saddle?" I inquired. "I?
Certainly not," was the answer; "no man can break a horse in a
side-saddle" (this was true enough as regards the early stages), "and,"
continued the professor, "I can't ride a bit in a side-saddle." The
latter observation settled the matter in my mind; for it has been always
clear to me that, if a man cannot acquire a true and firm seat himself
on a side-saddle, it is impossible he can teach a woman to ride. He may
teach her to sit square and upright on an old horse that has been
carrying women for years, but "going about" on such an animal is not
riding--my idea of which, as regards a lady, is, that on a horse still
full of courage and action (though not too fresh or short of work) the
rider should be able, by the application of aids sound in theory and
practice, to render the horse thoroughly obedient to her will. This is
riding. Cantering along upon an old tittuping hack is merely taking
horse exercise in a mild form.
As regards a man riding in a side-saddle, I may say that some years ago
a young friend of mine, now deceased--than whom there never was a better
man with hounds--hunted in a side-saddle for three or four seasons
before his death. He had injured his right foot so badly in a fall as to
necessitate amputation at the instep, and he preferred the side-saddle
seat to the awkward and disagreeable feeling occasioned by trusting to
a cork foot in the off-side stirrup. Some of your readers may probably
remember the dashing youngster I allude to, who was always to be seen
going true and straight in the front rank, when he hunted eighteen years
ago with the Royal Buckhounds. I can safely say that the horses he rode
in his side-saddle were the perfection of ladies' hunters, and that he
was one of the best instructors of female equitation I ever met.
I repeat, then, that before a horse can be pronounced fit to carry a
lady he should have been ridden in a side-saddle for some time by a man.
Riding in this way, the breaker's first object should be to make the
horse walk truly and fairly up to his bridle, without hurrying or
shuffling in his pace, than which nothing is more unpleasant to a lady,
especially if she is engaged in conversation with a companion. Of course
it is indispensable that a horse should be a good natural walker, but at
the same time the animal should be carefully taught to work right up to
his bit in this most important pace; action in the others can then be
easily developed.
In the trot the breaker should gradually accustom the animal to go with
the least possible amount of support from the leg. This he will easily
do by using a very long whip, and, when he feels the horse hanging back
from his work, touching him lightly on the hind quarters instead of
closing the leg.
In the foregoing I am assuming that the horse has been previously well
broken, mouthed, and balanced to carry a man. To teach a horse readily
to obey such delicate aids of hand or leg, as a lady can apply, I have
found the following method most effectual: Use a side-saddle which has
no head crutch on the off side; this gives more freedom of action to the
right hand. Ride without a stirrup; your balance is sure then to be
true. Use a long whip, and wear a spur on the left heel, furnished with
short and not very sharp rowels. Make your horse walk well, and trot
well up to his bridle, with as little leg as possible, touching him
sharply with the spur if he tries to shirk his work. The long whip on
the off side will prevent him from throwing his haunches in. Before
cantering, collect him well. Keep his forehand well up, and his haunches
under him. Keep his head well bent to the right; take him into the
corner of the school or _manege_; then, keeping him up to his work
rather by the aid of the spur and whip than by the leg, strike him
lightly off to the right. A sharp touch of the spur behind the girth,
and a light firm feeling of both reins, the inward the strongest, will
cause him to strike off true. Where no riding house or walled _manege_
is available, the above may be successfully carried out in a small
paddock, having tolerably high fences and corners nearly square.
_Manner_ in riding the horse at this stage of his breaking is of vital
importance. The hands, while kept well back, should be light and lively;
the whip and spur (never to be unnecessarily applied) should be used so
as to let the horse know that they are always ready if he hangs back
from his work; and the rider, sitting easily and flexibly in the saddle,
should ride with spirit and vivacity, making much of the horse from time
to time as he answers with alacrity to the light and lively aids
applied. A dull rider makes a dull horse, and _vice versa_. Gradually, a
well bred, good tempered animal will learn to answer smartly to the
slightest indication of the rider's will, and while giving a good
_appui_ to the hand, will convey a most enjoyable feeling from his
well-balanced elastic movement, without the necessity of strong or rough
aids. In a very brief time the long whip can be dispensed with, and all
inclination to throw the haunches in will cease. The animal has then
acquired the _aplomb_ necessary to fit him for the lady equestrian. He
should then be taught by gradually inductive lessons to walk quietly up
to his fences and jump freely, his haunches well under him; and
subsequently to execute his leap from a steady, collected canter,
without rush or hurry.
During the latter part of each lesson he should be ridden with a skirt
or rug on.
He should then be accustomed to all kinds of sights and sounds, from the
rattle of a wheelbarrow to the pattering file firing at a review, and
the loud report of a great gun; and especially he should be habituated
_to having all sorts of colours_ about him.
I well remember seeing a fine horse, that had been some time in the
breaker's hand, and was perfect in his mouth and paces, put a general
officer and his lady into a complete fix. The lady went to a review,
having been assisted into her saddle by her husband in his mufti costume
before he dressed for parade. After the review, the lady dismounted to
partake of luncheon in a marquee, and, after the repast, the general
proceeded to put his wife on her horse; but the gallant steed by no
means understood the dancing plume of red and white feathers in the
officer's cocked hat, and he would none of him. He snorted, pawed the
ground in terror, ran back, and did everything but stand still, although
he had stood the marching past and firing well enough. Unluckily the
groom had been sent home, and there was nobody in mufti on the ground
who could put the lady on her saddle. Even when the general took off his
cocked hat, the horse, having taken a dislike to him, would not let his
master come near him. Finally, as there was no carriages on the ground,
the lady had to walk a considerable distance, her horse led by an
orderly. The above goes to show that to make a horse perfect for a lady,
nothing likely to occur in the way of sights or sounds should be
overlooked. If the horse possesses the requisite power and form to fit
him for a hunter, and the lady for whom he is intended graces the
hunting field with her presence, the animal should be ridden quietly in
cubhunting time as often as possible, in long trots, _beside_ the hounds
going to covert, and accustomed gradually to the music of the "sylvan
choir," to stand quietly at the covert side, and take no heed of scarlet
coats. If the horse has been otherwise well broken, the above is simply
a question of time and patience.
Let me now say something with regard to saddlery and appointments. The
most important of these, of course, is the side-saddle, as to the form
of which considerable diversity of opinion exists.
My own experiences induce me to believe in a saddle which is as nearly
as possible _flat_ from between the pommels to the cantle; any dip in
the stretcher of the tree, while it renders the lady's seat less secure,
has also the effect of throwing her weight too much upon the horse's
forehand, and thus cramping his action. When a lady has acquired skill
and confidence in her riding, a saddle with a very low-cut pommel on
the off side is best, because it not only admits of the rider getting
her hands lower (for which occasion may frequently occur), but on the
off side it gives the lady and the horse a far better appearance, the
high off side pommel spoiling the graceful contour of figure in both.
Worked or plain off-side flaps are matters of taste, and have nothing to
do with utility. The stirrup should be a Victoria, well padded. The
leather should be fitted on the near side, in a similar manner to a
man's stirrup leather, and be quite independent of the quarter strap.
The reason for this is obvious. If you fit a lady's stirrup leather ever
so carefully after she is up, you cannot tell how much the horse "will
give up" in his girth after an hour's riding, or even less; and the
leather which takes up on the off side may give to the extent of three
or four holes, thereby greatly incommoding the rider, especially if she
is in the hunting field and has to jump her horse, as it is ten to one,
although she has the power of pulling up the leather herself, if, in the
excitement of the chase, either she or anybody else will notice the
rendering of the leather, and a drop leap may bring the rider to grief,
whereas the near side arrangement is a fixture, and always reliable. For
really comfortable riding, I believe also that it is quite as necessary
that a saddle should be made in such proportion as to _fit the lady_, as
that it should fit the horse. Even a thoroughly accomplished horsewoman
cannot ride easily in a saddle that is too short from pommel to cantle,
or too narrow in the seat. In either case, both discomfort and ungainly
appearance are the result; while to a lady of slight _petite_ figure, a
saddle too long from front to rear is equally unsightly, though possibly
not quite so uncomfortable to the rider. Broad girths of the best
materials are indispensable. There should be three of them. The quarter
strap or girth should lead from the near side fork of the tree to a
buckle piece attached to a ring on the off-side quarter, the ring giving
the quarter strap a better bearing. A crupper should never be used; a
horse that requires one is not fit for a lady. Saddle cloths are
unnecessary to a carefully-pannelled saddle, and hide the symmetry of
the horse. Breastplates or neck straps may be used for hunting, or the
fitting of martingales (necessary sometimes). But the less leather
about the horse, where it can be dispensed with, the better he will
look.
As to bridles, as a rule, I maintain that a lady's horse properly broken
should ride right into an ordinary double bridle, bit, and bridoon, the
port of the bit proportioned to the contour and setting on of the
horse's head and neck, as should also be the length of the cheek piece
and jaw of the bit; while the question of a plain or twisted bridoon or
snaffle must be regulated by the hand of the rider and the mouth of the
horse. For park or promenade riding, fashion of late years inclines to a
single rein bridle or "Hanoverian," or hard and sharp. No doubt they are
very sightly and neat in appearance; but with a high-couraged horse they
require very nice and finished hands, and in the majority of cases, in
my humble opinion, are safe only for the most accomplished female
riders.
I leave the question of bridle-fronts, bound with ribbon of pink, blue,
or yellow, to the taste of my readers; when neatly put on and fresh,
they look gay in the park. But either there or in the hunting field, I
believe more in the plain leather front, as having, if I may so express
it, a more workmanlike appearance.
Having now endeavoured to describe the best preparations on foot for the
pupil, the style of dress most suitable for her first lessons in
equitation, the stamp of horse a lady should ride, the training he
should undergo for the special service required of him, and the kind of
saddlery and equipment he will travel best in, in my next chapter I will
attempt briefly, but minutely, to detail the first step in the riding
lesson proper, namely, the form in which the pupil should approach her
horse in order to be assisted into the saddle, and the mounting motions,
all of which are of great importance, as each motion should be executed
gracefully, without hurry, and in a well defined and finished manner.
Nothing connected with riding stamps the style and _tournure_ of a lady
more than the fashion in which she mounts her horse and arranges her
habit; it ought, in fact, to be a matter as carefully looked to by the
instructor as her mode of entering a room would be to a master of
deportment.