THE TRAINING OF THE HORSE
We have only to consider the contingencies of service in the cavalry
to come to a conclusion that the officer or man who begins a campaign
on a well-trained horse has many chances in his favour against him who
enters it riding an indifferently-trained animal; and no more striking
instance of this can be brought forward than the circumstances of the
Prince Imperial’s death in Zululand. The horse in this case was ridden
by an excellent horseman, but it was well known to be awkward to mount,
with the result that, when suddenly attacked by a rush of Zulus, the
Prince was unable to mount and get away.
But the chance in the rider’s favour[92] is not the only consideration;
the work which a well-trained, well-balanced, equably-minded horse will
do, and the accidents of all kinds, leading to disablement and time
spent in the sick lines, which it will itself avoid and also allow its
master to help it to avoid, are well exemplified in any day s hunting
in a rough country. There is the so-called unlucky horse, who never
goes out without hurting himself or his master. This unlucky horse is
associated in our minds with a narrow forehead with a bump low down on
it, a rapidly shifting ear, and a small eye showing too much white.
The really ill-tempered horse is not fit to mount a cavalryman, whose
life may depend on the behaviour of his horse; though here it must be
confessed that some horses with very bad characters have been trained
by real masters of the art to be good and reliable animals.
Not long ago the ideal laid down in training a horse for cavalry work
was to make him as “clever across country as a good hunter, active and
handy as a polo pony, and reliable as a shooting horse.” Nor is it
advisable to lower that ideal. Major Noel Birch in his excellent book,
_Modern Riding_, tells us “the ideal is an excellent one and seldom
impossible if the training is scientific.”
A lack of imagination prevents the soldier, who has not undergone the
vicissitudes of active service, from quite grasping the situations
which cavalry work may bring about for him, since, whilst acting as a
scout, any cavalry soldier may be called upon to engage in personal
combat, to swim a rapid river, again to leave his horse standing alone
in the open whilst he creeps over a ridge to reconnoitre a valley, or
to ride for his life or freedom over stiff fences or big ditches. _À
propos_ of this, a story is related of Seydlitz. He had been telling
Frederick the Great that a cavalryman should never be taken alive. One
day the King was riding with him over a bridge, and in order to try and
prove him wrong, gave an order to the advanced guard to face about and
close one end of the bridge, and to the next files coming on similarly
to close the other end. He then asked Seydlitz what he would do now.
Seydlitz put his horse at the parapet and leapt over it into the
stream. This was a high trial for the manners of the horse as well as
the determination of the man.
Undoubtedly a good swordsman on a perfectly trained horse should
account for any three men of ordinary ability mounted on average
horses. Napoleon said that “two mamelukes could make head against three
French cavalrymen, but that one thousand French cuirassiers could
easily beat fifteen hundred mamelukes.” One showed high individual
training of man and horse in single combat, and the other collective
training as a troop or squadron. Both are difficult of attainment, and
both point to considerable trouble, forethought, and knowledge on the
part of the trainer.
In the days of the professional soldier the training of the horse was
probably at a higher standard than at present, because it was made
plain to every man’s mind that a good horse meant honour, profit, and
safety to him. There was, therefore, as much competition for a horse
which was likely to train well, and for a trained horse, as there is
nowadays for a finished hunter or polo pony trained on similar lines.
In all ages there have been some men who could do wonders on horses
quite unrideable by others, but the exceptions are not to the point. We
have to consider how to train horses in a manner suitable to cavalry
work.
In the first place, concurrently with his physical development, a point
requiring the closest attention, the squadron horse must be trained to
answer to certain conventional aids, so that any man in the squadron
who applies these will find the horse answer implicitly to them. Now,
let any one who wishes to study the aids exhaustively, and set up a
line of conduct in the training of the horse for himself, turn a fresh
young horse loose in a riding-school or enclosed manège, and keep him
on the move, with a whip, if necessary. Let him note how the horse
bears and uses his head, neck, leg, forehand, and haunches, as he bends
and turns. The most correct aids are those indications by the reins,
weight of body, legs, whip, and spur which a rider applies, so as to
produce the natural preliminary attitudes for the flexion, pace, or
movement desired.
If the observant horseman follows this line, he will find that he must
make a rule, first, not to apply unnatural aids, and secondly, not to
apply more than one aid at a time in the early stages of instruction of
either man or horse.
Now take for instance the case of a horse which turns _on his
shoulders_ at a sharp gallop; it will be noticed that he stops
immediately after turning; but if, on the other hand, he turns _on
his haunches_ at the gallop, it is with a view to going on in his
new direction at the same or a faster pace. Therefore the rider will
do well to collect his horse on the haunches as he turns at the
gallop, if that is the pace at which he wishes to continue in the new
direction. Whereas if he turns, meaning to stop, he will pull one--say
the left--rein, and (in the later stage of the training) add the aid
of the drawn-back left leg to circle the horse’s quarters round his
forehand.[93]
Such will be the outcome of his observations on the loose horse in the
manège, and following this system he will fix in his own mind, with
the assistance of the book, a list of natural aids. The fact is, that
nature has taught the horse to act in such a way as to utilize the
mechanism of his head, neck, body, limbs, and even tail to the greatest
advantage in his movements. We note these and adapt them to the aids,
which we can apply by means of our mechanical devices, such as the
reins, and by our natural devices, such as the legs and the weight of
the body.[94]
Habits of long standing have accustomed horsemen to apply, often quite
unknown to themselves, certain aids to which their horse answers. They
are often incorrect, slovenly, or not to the best advantage of horse or
man, but their owners are satisfied, and often with a very inadequate
repertoire. But when it is a question of fighting on horseback, we want
to get a lightning-like system of aids, so that we may get where the
adversary least expects us, or wishes us to be, and kill him. The man
with experience in riding, a quick eye, a blood-horse under him, which
he himself has trained, can “play with” one or two, or even three,
adversaries who have not these advantages.
Undoubtedly since 1902 steps have been made towards an improvement
in the training of the squadron horse. There are fewer “shooting
stars,” that is, horses who bolt out of the ranks, and fewer horses
who refuse to leave the ranks; the horses go better across country,
and are, generally speaking, suited for campaign riding. Under the old
Canterbury system much time was spent with a view to showing up a good
ride of _haute école_ animals, whilst the new system aims at training
a horse which will go well in the ranks, and will be generally useful
on a campaign, either in single combat or for a scout’s riding, or for
work in the ranks.
The horse is now trained a great deal in the open, whereas under the
old system it was trained almost entirely in a school or manège,
and not in the open. Whilst by no means underrating the value and
convenience of a riding-school, there is little doubt that the old
system made the horse a stupid animal and quite unable to look after
himself or his rider in a rough country.[95] Under the new system the
limited intelligence of the horse is exploited to a considerable degree.
Whilst officers of continental cavalry spend considerably more time
than English officers in the training of their remounts, this is to
some extent counterbalanced by the opportunities which the latter have
of riding to hounds over difficult country, pig-sticking, and playing
polo. For the mêlée the latter is a splendid training, whilst the two
former give an officer an eye for country, and a decision in crossing
it, unobtainable in any other fashion.
After estimating the instruction and advantages gained by cavalry
officers taking part in these and other sports, which are really a
preparation for and the “image of war,” it may be reasonably asserted
that the British Government by no means gets the worst of the
bargain.[96]
At the same time it is undoubtedly a slur on any cavalry officer that
he should be unable to train a remount. If he is not a rich man, it
is well worth his while to learn, so as to train his own polo ponies
and hunters. Many officers do so most successfully. Scores of horses,
cast as unruly animals, are, by the aid of some of our riding-school
methods, quickly brought to hand, and turn out most useful and
temperate hunters or polo ponies. A comparison of military and civilian
horsemanship is not a desirable theme, but it is surprising how many
of the horsemen of the nation, even those who ride to hounds and
between flags, are profoundly ignorant of all-round horsemanship and
horse-training. The writer recently counted only four horses, out of
some twenty running in an important race at Punchestown, a right-handed
course, which passed the stand with the right leg leading. The four who
were leading with the right leg gained at least four or five lengths at
the next fence, which is on the turn.
Very few six-year-old hunters answer to their rider’s legs, or are
really nice horses to ride. A bending lesson every day for a month in
a good military rough-rider’s hands would do them an immense amount of
good.
One of the recent innovations which has done most to improving our
squadron horses in cross-country work is the introduction of the
free-jumping lane for remounts: thanks to which horses get used to
jumping, and regard it as fun instead of a penance accompanied by jabs
in the mouth.
Another most important factor in the training of remounts is the
system of long reining. The colonel of a regiment, in which the horses
were particularly well trained, assured me that he considered this
proficiency was due principally to long reining. His system was to take
a couple of non-commissioned officers, whom he found were getting too
fat, and let them do all the long reining. When I saw them, neither of
the long reiners were much too fat; both, from long practice, at often
as many as fifteen or twenty remounts per diem, were such adepts that,
in their hands, the remounts, as yet almost unbacked, had learnt nearly
half their lessons. The value of this system no doubt depends largely
on the operator. There may be something also in the adage, “Who drives
fat oxen should himself be fat.” The patient-minded man is an asset in
this work.
A suggestion recently made that the reins should be carried from the
bit to a pulley at the highest point of the pad, and then vertically
to another pulley on the side, and so to the operator’s hands, is full
of common-sense, as it ensures the horse holding his head right whilst
there is control of the hind quarters.[97]
A system of giving prizes for the best-trained remount encourages a
very deserving class of man in cavalry regiments, and evidences to all
that the commanding officer is taking an interest in their work; the
danger is that the men sometimes confuse circus tricks with legitimate
training for campaign riding. If the commanding officer gets on the
three or four best-trained horses before awarding the prize, and
generally keeps an eye on the progress of the remounts in training, it
will have a marked effect.
Above all, rough methods, shouting in the riding school,[98] and any
attempt to hurry training should be discouraged; a horse takes a little
time to learn in good hands, but it should be remembered that most
of the gymnastics which he has to learn involve training muscles and
sinews to an unnatural extent, and that this must be done with a weight
on the horse’s back which nature did not contemplate.
If there is one thing more important than another in the training of a
squadron horse it is that he should be taught to walk well, quickly,
and freely. By constantly placing the fastest walking horses at the
head of the rides, and teaching the men to ride with a fairly loose
rein, this is soon effected. The result in a regiment where this has
been consistently done is surprising.
Once placed in the ranks the squadron leader should not lose sight
of the horse, but watch his career. There is a key to every horse’s
mouth, so it is said; certain it is that, whilst one squadron commander
will see his horses tossing their heads, poking their noses, and
going with their jaws set against one side of the bit, without in the
least knowing what is the matter, another officer would in a short
half-hour have loosened the curb there, adjusted a nose-band or added a
martingale here, and have discovered an injured jaw in two other cases.
For the latter he would order his farrier to make a carrago nose-band,
or would improvise a string bridle with ten or twelve feet of small
cord, so that the horses could go on with their work.
Let us take an instance, then, of the actual value to the State
of these two squadron commanders. In one case the horse becomes
unmanageable from pain, develops bolting propensities, injures one or
two riders, and is perhaps cast and sold for £5 as vicious. The value
of the horse (£40 by purchase at four years’ and £60 for two years’
keep, etc.) is £100. In the other case the mouth is healed and the
animal does eight or nine years’ good service. The value to the State
of an observant, skilled horse-manager as compared with an indifferent
one is some £500 per annum. On service this value may be multiplied by
5 or 10.