Saddles (_zin_) and Harness (_saz_).
Saddles, harness, and all leatherwork requires a good deal more care and
attention in India than in England, especially during the hot season, when
the fierce dry heat will dry up and perish all sorts of leather; and in
the rains, especially in Southern India, where the atmosphere is so loaded
with moisture that leather, put on one side and neglected for a very few
days, soon becomes covered with mildew. There are no saddle rooms in
Indian stables, and it is usual to keep them in a corner of a room in the
house on a wooden saddle-stand, called by natives a "ghorra" horse. In the
rains, a pan or brazier of burning charcoal should be kept in the room for
a few hours daily, if there is not a fire-place. Saddles are cleaned in
the same way as in England, and excellent saddle soap and dubbing is made
by the North-west Province Soap Works at Meerut, and can be obtained
almost anywhere. If this is not used, the "syces" can always make up
dubbing of their own, called "momrogan." Some people give their head
"syce" a monthly allowance to provide dubbing, soap, bathbrick, oil, etc.;
but as they frequently put lime and bleaching materials with it, I prefer
to buy it myself, and let them get the other articles. They require a
chamoise leather and a burnisher for steel-work, but one of each will do
for a stable of half a dozen horses, and very good country-made leathers
(sabur) can be got for from one to one and a half rupees. The soap is put
on to and rubbed into leather-work with the hands; but the great fault
they have is that they will put on too much, and won't work it in enough,
and one's breeches and hands will get into a great mess.
Saddle Covers (_buk bund_).
A sheet, made out of a description of coarse country cloth (karwah), is
necessary for each saddle or set of harness, to wrap it up in, and keep
the dust and dirt off. It should be sufficiently large to wrap the saddle
up in completely, and in the summer the "syce" can bring it with him to
act as a horse-cloth to throw over the quarters when standing about.
These saddle-sheets can be made by any tailor in a few hours.
Bridles.
Bridles, double (dahna), snaffle (kazai), can be hung up on the walls, but
a piece of cloth or a few sheets of paper should be fastened up behind
them; and they should be frequently taken down if not in daily use, as the
white ants are most destructive. It is best to have one or two extra
saddle-stands made with pegs on them, and to hang the bridles on them in
the middle of the room, away from the walls. This may be a little more
expensive, but a saddle-stand can be brought for Rs. 5 that will hold a
couple of dozen bridles, worth Rs. 20 apiece. At one time plated bits were
used in India, but I think steel ones are the best. "Syces" never can tell
the difference, and I have more than once found a plated bit being
industriously scrubbed and polished with sand.
Harness.
Unless particularly desired, brown harness with brass mounts is the
best--for India, at all events--for pony-harness, and it is this class of
animal that is generally used in an up-country station. Not one "syce" in
a hundred knows how to clean black harness properly, and if this is not
done nothing looks worse, whereas almost any native can clean brown
leather after a fashion, and even if it does not stand close inspection,
it will pass muster at a little distance. Fairly good brown harness is
made out of country leather, and it does well enough for rough work, but
it never has the finish of English. Country leather reins and country bits
should never be used; they are not reliable, and are most dangerous; these
should always be English.
Carriages.
The ordinary two-wheeled pony-trap or dogcart, used in an up-country
Indian station, is best varnished, not painted. The hot weather ruins
paint, and, unless in some of the very large towns, it is nearly
impossible to get them properly repainted again. Any native workman can,
however, varnish a trap with white or copal varnish. Before allowing new
varnish to be put on, the trap should be produced for inspection with the
old scraped off, as it is a favourite trick to daub new varnish over the
old, when it cannot properly set, and the first hot sun cracks and
blisters it. In the hot weather a large earthen basin, called a "naund,"
should be kept full of water under the carriage in the coach-house; the
evaporation of the water will keep the woodwork moist, and prevent its
cracking with the heat. A matting made of the fibres of the "khus khus,"
or lemon grass, should also be put round the nave of the wheel, and kept
wet, for the same purpose, as it is exceedingly likely to crack with the
heat. The shafts of the trap should not be left resting on the ground, as
they will warp and bend; they should be supported either by a wooden
trestle, or else by a couple of ropes from the beams of the roof. The
whip, when not in use, should be hung by a string at the upper part to a
nail in the wall, and a weight, such as a brick, tied to the butt end to
keep it straight; otherwise, in a very short time, it will get crooked.
Servants.
Indian "syces" are different to English grooms, as the new arrival will
soon find. They have peculiar customs of their own, which, like all
Orientals, they cling to tenaciously, and will not give up. If they are
understood they are easily managed, and work well; but if not, the
horse-owner's life is a burden to him, for no European can overcome the
passive resistance of the Oriental. In the first place, I never let any
of the house servants interfere with the stable. Many persons,
particularly those new to the country, do everything through their head
servant, or "bearer"; but I make him stick to his own work, which is the
control of the house and the house servants. I pick out one of the best
and sharpest of the "syces," changing him till I get a good man, making
him the head or "jemedar syce," and paying him a rupee a month more wages
than the rest; and he is responsible for everything connected with the
horses, and any small bills I pay to him, and him alone. The wages I pay
myself to each man regularly on the seventh of the month, for the month
previously. I never lift my hand to a servant, or fine him under any
pretext, as the fine will only be made up out of the horse's grain, but,
if fault has to be found, I do so in the presence of the head man; on the
second occasion a warning is given, and on the third the offender is
dismissed on the spot. I always keep a "syce" and a "grass-cutter" for
each horse. It is possible to get a "syce" and two "grass-cutters" to look
after two horses, by paying the "syce" a rupee a month more; but the
arrangement is not satisfactory, although many do it. If the "syce" gets
ill, which they often do, there is no one to do his work, whereas, if
there is a man to each horse, they will arrange the extra work among
themselves. In Northern India "syces" and "grass-cutters" should be
provided with warm woollen clothes in the winter. An excellent cloth for
the purpose is made by the various woollen mills, and at most of them
servant's clothes can be bought ready made up; but it is best to give the
men the materials and let them get them made up themselves, otherwise
there is certain to be something wrong with them. A "syce's" coat costs
about Rs. 4, and a "grass-cutter's," which is made out of a coarse
blanketing, Rs. 3; and these coats should last for two winters' wear. In
addition, I used to give each man a "coolie" blanket that cost Rs. 3, and
which would last three winters; and, if they had to go out much into camp,
such as taking horses out to meet me on shooting or pig-sticking
expeditions, a pair of woollen leg-bandages, or "putties." It is a mistake
not to give servants warm clothes, and a false economy, as, if they are
not properly protected against the cold, which is very severe in Northern
India, they are everlastingly getting fever; and I know no greater
nuisance than having your head man laid up for two or three days at a
stretch. In the second place, if they have not warm clothes themselves,
you can never tell if in the night they will not take the clothing off the
horses to wrap themselves up in. A constant source of squabbling amongst
Indian servants is the allotment of their huts or houses. In the older
Indian bungalows there is usually enough of both these and stabling, but
in the newer ones there is not. It is best, however, not to listen to any
such complaints, and somehow the disputants settle the knotty point
themselves. Every now and again it is advisable to see who is living in
your compound, as a most enormous number of relations will turn up, who
are known as brothers (bhai); and if you don't look out, you will find you
are giving shelter on your premises to several hundred individuals. Indian
servants are always asking leave to attend weddings, funerals, and
religious ceremonies; and I always allow them to go, provided some
arrangement is made to carry on their work. They are clannish in the
extreme, and a substitute was always forthcoming. In the hills
"grass-cutters" are not required, as grass can be bought in the bazaars.
The country people look on the sale of this as a vested right, and
naturally resent any outsider cutting it or interfering with them; and, if
they do, there is pretty certain to be a disturbance and unpleasantness.
If "grass-cutters" are preferred to purchasing the daily supply, local
hillmen should be employed, who will arrange the matter with their
neighbours, and not men brought up from the plains of India. In most hill
stations passes or licences have to be obtained to cut grass. In every
Indian station there is an official price-list of country produce
published, and should any dispute arise as to the rates charged, it is as
well to obtain it from the native magistrate (tehsildar), whose decision
in such matters is usually accepted as final, and which generally saves an
immense amount of trouble.