GIVING HORSES GOOD MOUTHS.
Mouthing gear--Bridling and saddling a horse for the first
time--Mouthing on foot.
_Mouthing gear._--The gear I use for giving a horse a good mouth--in
other words, for teaching him to obey the indications of the rein and
leg--consists of a bridle with a heavy, smooth snaffle, which has
leather guards on each side; a standing martingale; long reins; a
driving pad, or cross-trees which prevent the reins going over the
horse’s back, and which is kept in place by a crupper and rein-bearers
hanging down on each side of the quarters (see Figs. 41 and 42).
The standing martingale is attached to the
[Illustration: Fig. 41.--Horse with driving gear on.]
[Illustration: Fig. 42.--Horse with driving pad on, new model.]
rings of the snaffle and to the girth of the driving pad, and is
lengthened out, as much as is compatible with its preventing the animal
from getting the snaffle off the bars of his lower jaw, and on to the
corners of his mouth (see page 70 and Fig. 3). The reins are 22 ft.
long, are made of 1½ inch “circular” webbing; they pass through the
rein-bearers, and buckle on to the rings of the snaffle. The reins are
separate from each other; so that, if the horse tries to bolt away when
being driven on foot, he can always be pulled round and held fast, by
letting go one rein and holding the other tight. The rein-bearers are
made about 3 ft. 6 in. long on each side for a horse about 15·2 high,
and can be taken up or let out as may be necessary.
_Bridling and saddling a Horse for the first time._--These operations
may be accomplished with great ease, by means of the rope-twitch (see
page 113), and, if necessary, by tying up one fore-leg; especially, if
the animal has been rendered quiet in the manner described in Chapter
III.
_Mouthing on foot._--After making the horse sufficiently steady to pay
attention to the instruction about to be given--if this has not already
been done--the breaker, while remaining on foot, should take the reins
in his hands, and, by gently “feeling the mouth,” “clucking” to him,
and, at times, cracking the whip, should get him to circle round him, to
the left, for instance. If the animal resents the outward rein touching
his quarters, the driver should, at first, work with this rein on the
driving pad or cross-trees, as in Fig. 41, and then, as the horse
gradually learns to bear the pressure without flinching, he should bring
it down, as in Fig. 44. By the aid of the rope-twitch (see page 113), to
be used by an assistant as may be necessary, it is very easy to overcome
any resentment the horse may evince to the rein coming against his
hind-legs. We need not, except, perhaps, in very rare cases, employ
this form of punishment here; for the horse, on finding that the rein
does not hurt him, will quickly cease from manifesting irritation at its
presence. The employment of pressure with the outward rein will teach
the horse the use of support from the rider’s outward leg.
When we have got the animal to circle quietly to the left for a few
times, we should turn him to the right with the right rein, acting on
his mouth and quarters, so as to teach him, on feeling the indication of
the rein on his mouth and side, to turn his quarters, as well as his
head and neck (see page 56). He should now be circled to the right on
the same principle. After he has learned to do his circles readily and
collectedly, with the reins hanging down, he should be made to perform
them with the outward rein on the driving pad; so as to accustom him to
the feel of the rein in the position it would occupy, when he is being
ridden, or driven in harness. If he refuses to turn when the rein is on
the pad, a cut or two with the whip will soon teach him to come round
quickly. When he is perfect in circling and turning at the trot, we
should teach him to rein back, taking care to ease the reins and allow
him to “collect” himself, after each step he takes to the rear. When
turning, stopping, restraining, or reining back the horse, our pull on
the reins--to use Mr. John Hubert Moore’s expression--should resemble
that which we would employ in drawing a cork out of a bottle, it being
free from any snatch or jerk. While circling the horse, the breaker
should stand to the side and a little to the rear of the animal (see
Fig. 43). This mouthing on foot should, I think, be confined almost
entirely to circling, with, of course, frequent changes, and occasional
reining back, and should be continued until the required softness of
mouth and suppleness of neck are attained. If the animal be found to be
“harder” on one side of the mouth, than on the other, he should be
worked more on the former, than on the latter;
[Illustration: Fig. 43.--Bird’s-eye view of position of driver.]
until he goes equally well on both. The reader need only see this method
of driving on foot practically demonstrated, to recognise its immense
utility, and to acknowledge the fact that it entirely does away with any
necessity for the objectionable process of lunging (see page 64).
American horse-tamers use the long reins, without the standing
martingale or driving pad, and pass them through rings on a specially
prepared surcingle, through the shaft tugs of ordinary single harness,
or through the irons of stirrup leathers. Men who try to mouth horses in
this manner, are apt to fail to teach their pupils to bend their necks
to the rein, and, at the same time, to go up to the bridle; for the
animal thus instructed, will always be liable to resist the action of
the mouth-piece by chucking up his head and getting the mouth-piece off
the bars, and on to the corners of the mouth. In breaking for harness,
and, especially, for fast trotting on level ground, the necessity for
teaching the horse to bend his neck, to get his hind-quarters under
him, and to moderate his speed in response to a pull on the reins, is
not nearly so imperative, as in educating the charger, hunter and
steeple-chaser, who must have always a “spare leg,” ready for any
emergency.
The principle of the specially constructed driving pad and cross-trees,
is an idea of my own, which I have found of great use. By its
employment, we have no need of the bearing reins, which some of the old
Irish breakers were accustomed to use; for, if the horse holds his head
too low down, it can be easily got up into its proper position when
circling the animal, by “playing” with the outward rein, which, in this
case, should rest on the driving pad. I cannot approve of rendering the
neck rigid by the combined employment of martingale and bearing reins.
With respect to the objections to the use of the last-mentioned
appliance, see page 55. With skittish animals that jump about much when
being mouthed, and with horses that rear, the standing martingale is of
great service in preventing the rein getting over the back, and in
giving the breaker command over these refractory subjects. Besides this,
I find that the presence of the driving pad and rein-bearers is of great
use in allowing me to shift the rein up and down as I like.
The breaker should avoid driving the horse on foot, straight in front of
him, more than he can help; for, if he does so, he can hardly escape, at
times, from keeping a “dead pull” on the animal’s mouth. The
objectionable practice of driving “youngsters” on foot for miles along a
road, as may be seen in full operation at Newmarket and other training
resorts, is the fruitful cause of the dead mouths and habit of boring
possessed by many race-horses. The young animal, to relieve the bars of
his mouth of the constant pressure of the mouth-piece, naturally, gets
his chin into his chest, in order to transfer a portion of the pull on
to the crown of his head. Instead of acting in this fashion, the
breaker, if he wants to take his pupil for a walk on foot, might, after
having mouthed him in the manner I have described, put on the
leading-rein crupper (see page 148), and lead him where he wished,
without incurring any risk of spoiling his mouth.
The whole of this mouthing on foot, might be taught the horse in one
lesson of, say, an hour’s duration. With a young animal that had never
been bridled before, the instruction might be spread over two days, a
couple of lessons of half-an-hour’s duration each, being given on each
day. In point of fact, one or two lessons will, in almost all cases, be
sufficient to teach the horse to obey the indications of the rein
properly. After that, he will require only a few days’ careful riding
and bending to make his mouth perfect.
If the animal prove headstrong or sulky, he should be brought under
control, in the manner described in the preceding chapter.
The method of mouthing which I have described, is as applicable to
“spoiled” horses, as it is to animals that have never been handled. To
my thinking, one great beauty in it--apart from its immense advantage of
never giving the animal the chance of getting the upper hand, which he
might easily do, were the rider in the saddle--is, that the breaker who
employs it, can tell at any moment how his pupil is progressing, by his
touch on the reins, and can, accordingly, with well-grounded confidence,
use his own judgment in regulating the amount of instruction. The man,
however, who trusts to tying the horse up with side-or pillar-reins to
the breaking snaffle, in order to get his mouth soft, must necessarily
work, more or less, in the dark, and by rule of thumb. Instead of tying
a horse up in a fixed position, and thereby cramping the action of his
muscles, we retain them supple and ready to respond to our slightest
touch, by keeping them in a constant state of change, from contraction
to relaxation, without, however, inducing fatigue, the effect of which,
on the nerves, is to cause the muscles to work in a slow and
ill-regulated manner.
After having broken the horse thoroughly to the snaffle, we may, if
required for special work, break him, in the same manner, to the curb,
the principles of which I have described in my book on _Riding on the
Flat and Across Country_.
When one is unprovided with a driving pad made after my pattern, one may
use, as a makeshift, a saddle, through the stirrup-irons of which one
may pass the reins (see Fig. 44); not forgetting the standing
martingale, a substitute for which may be readily made by connecting the
rings of the snaffle to the rings of a running martingale, by a loop of
leather, or cord.
Colonel Wardrop, who commands the 12th Lancers, shewed me a method he
practises, of driving horses over jumps with long ropes which pass
[Illustration: Fig. 44.--Driving on foot.]
[Illustration: Fig. 45.]
through the stirrup-irons and rings of the snaffle, and are fixed on
tightly to the girths and stirrup-irons, on their respective sides (see
Fig. 45). This excellent authority on the art of training horses to
safely negotiate the difficult lines of country met with in Ireland,
tells me that he has found this method of great use for teaching horses
to “gather themselves together” in proper style, when coming up to the
big banks and ditches that may be seen to perfection in the counties of
Kildare and Tipperary. For reasons which I have fully explained in this
book, I would advise that the horse should, at first, be thoroughly
taught to obey the indications of the rein in the manner I have
described. After that, Colonel Wardrop’s plan might be useful for giving
the horse a few practical lessons over the obstacles in question.