MOUNTING HORSES FOR THE FIRST TIME.
Having rendered the horse quiet, given him a good mouth, and taught him
to jump, we may next proceed to mount him in the following safe and easy
manner, which, I believe, I have been the first to adopt. Put on a
snaffle bridle, and knot the reins on the animal’s neck, so that they
will not hang down. Place over the bridle a head-stall, to the off-side
D of which, attach a short leading-rein, and saddle the horse. Take a
strong cord; tie a double sheet bend in the hair of the tail with one
end of it (see Fig. 30); pass the other end through the D of the halter
on the near side; pull the horse’s head well round, and secure the cord
by a slip knot. If the animal resents his head being brought round, tie
him loosely at first, and let him go round and round, stopping him, if
necessary, by catching hold of the leading-rein until he stands still.
When he does this, he may be tied a little tighter, and so on. The
requisite extent to which the head should be turned round, will be
attained when he is tied up just short of what would cause him to fall
down, if he were allowed to go round on his own account. The outer girth
should be unloosed, passed over the cord, and buckled again, so as to
bring the cord close to the animal’s near side (see Fig. 46); or the
surcingle may be placed over it. Having taken the leading-rein in the
left hand, we should walk the horse round and round several times,
testing him as to his amenability to discipline by stopping him by means
of the leading-rein, and then pulling him round again. If he resists
these actions on our part, we may feel convinced that he is not under
proper control. In which case, we may continue
[Illustration: Fig. 46.--Horse prepared to be mounted for the first
time.]
[Illustration: Fig. 47.--Second stage in breaking a horse for riding.]
to make him revolve, or may force him to lie down, and hold him with his
head turned round, as described on page 158, until he gives in.
As many horses, especially Australian buck-jumpers, are very shy of
being touched with the heels, or even gripped closely with the knees, it
is well to try if the animal we have in hand is affected with this form
of timidity. For this object, we may gently prod the horse with the
rounded end of a pole, in the ribs, while an assistant takes him round
with the leading-rein, until he ceases to mind the touch of the pole. A
few applications of the rope-twitch (see page 113), will also have a
good effect in rendering him quiet in this respect. We may now get an
assistant to catch hold of the mane, on the near side, with his left
hand, the stirrup-iron with his right hand, and go through the various
stages of mounting, beginning with putting his left foot in the stirrup
(see Fig. 47), catching the pommel or cantle of the saddle, as he sees
fit, with the right hand, and hopping round on the right foot, while we
keep the horse revolving by means of the leading-rein. I may add that
the Australian rough-riders, who are marvellously expert at getting on
to a difficult horse, place the right hand on the pommel of the saddle,
and not on the cantle, as is the practice in other places, and
consequently place the left hand high up on the mane. As a matter of
course, the assistant should not finally throw his leg over, until the
animal ceases to resist. When the horse has got accustomed to the
presence of the man in the saddle, the rider may touch him with his
heels, lightly at first, and gradually stronger, without hurting him,
until he stands the contact unmoved. When the horse has stopped trying
to get free, we may slacken off the cord a little, take him round and
round again, and so on, until it is safe to let him loose altogether.
Before doing this, we should, as before, test his quietness, by stopping
him with the leading-rein, and then pulling him round again. When most
of the tension has been taken off the cord, we may give the
leading-rein to the rider, to hold in his right hand, so that he can
stop the horse if necessary; while we make the animal go round by
touching him lightly with the whip. After the cord has been removed, the
rider may take the reins, and keep the animal, at first, going round in
small circles, and, then, gradually enlarging them, until he can take
the horse in any direction he likes.
In all my experience with numbers of horses that had, for years,
successfully resisted the most determined efforts to mount them, I have
never failed to accomplish this object in one lesson, by means of the
method just described; nor has any horse, after I have removed the cord,
shewed the slightest return to unruliness. The method of making the
horse, by the use of the rope-twitch (see page 113), steady to mount,
which I shall describe in Chapter IX., is specially valuable for this
particular purpose; while the head and tail plan, by producing a
powerful moral effect, renders the animal not alone easy to mount, but
also quiet to ride. As I have pointed out on page 31, we should, in all
cases, confirm the habit of obedience by repetition. I may mention that
the method of tying a horse “head and tail,” with the object of making
him quiet, has been in use for many years; though I am unable to say who
was its inventor. If practised without my improvements of leading-rein
and surcingle, or girth, over the cord, it has the serious faults, that
as soon as the horse begins to revolve quickly, the operator has,
practically, no further control over him until he stops of his own
accord, or tumbles down “all of a heap,” and that it is impossible to
mount him safely. The man, if expert, and if the horse has no tendency
to hit out with his off-fore, might run in and catch him by the
head-stall, if he thought that the animal was in danger of falling, on
account of going round too fast. The conduct of such confidential
horses, I need hardly say, is not the standard by which we should gauge
the safety of any method of breaking, which, in order to be generally
useful, should not demand from the person who practises it, the
possession of exceptional activity, or foolhardiness. When the off-side
leading-rein is on, the breaker can, with perfect safety, catch it while
the horse is turning round; for, at that time, it swings entirely clear
of the fore-limb, and in a convenient position for the breaker to lay
hold of it. If a man mounts a horse tied head and tail, with the cord
unconfined by girth or surcingle, he is placed in the uncomfortable
dilemma of riding without any “grip” on the saddle, by having his left
leg pulled upwards and outwards by the cord, or of having this limb
imprisoned between the cord and the animal’s side; while, in either
case, the man is in a most dangerous position, on an animal that is
revolving round and round, with little or no control over its own
movements. We may see, therefore, that the simple head and tail method,
without the improvements I have described, is not applicable for
mounting purposes.
The plan of gaining command over a horse by tying him head and tail, and
allowing or forcing him to revolve round until he falls down, is
unworthy the consideration of educated men. It is based on the wrong
assumption that all ailments of temper spring from the same cause; the
supposed remedy is not under the control of the operator; the effect is
physical, rather than moral, and consequently is not lasting; and the
results of the violent twisting of the hocks, and of the fall, if the
animal comes down on the side to which his head is turned, as he often
does, are apt to injure him.
Professor Sample gives a thoroughly sound and rational exposition of the
head and tail method, which would well repay the attention of all
horsemen who have not already seen it. This American gentleman is
unrivalled in the marvellous power he possesses of teaching, in a
wonderfully short time, horses to perform difficult feats of obedience.