HOLDING AND HANDLING THE REINS.
Reins at full length.--The downward clutch.--Grecian mode of holding and
handling the reins.--The side-clutch.--The two reins crossed in the
hand.--A rein in each hand.--Turn to the right, and left.--The
hunting hand.--The rough-rider's hand.--Fixing the hands.--Use of
both bridles at once.--Shortening the reins when held, one in each
hand, mode of taught and of untaught horsemen.--Use of the whip.--Horses
swerve, turn, and refuse _only to the left_.--Fault in "the great
untaught," English, two-handed rider.
[Sidenote: Reins at full length.]
To practise the indications of the hands, take the bridle which is
attached to the chair at full length (Fig. 3), with the tips of the four
fingers of the left hand between the reins at the centre, the first and
fourth fingers detached to facilitate their working on the rein proper
to each; the hand pendant, with the back to the front, and balance the
chair on two legs.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--REINS AT FULL LENGTH.]
If the length of the rein suits, it may be so held in long rides when
the horse is going quietly at an extended walk, for directly as the
slowness of the pace is the length of the horse, and so should be the
length of the rein. The horse is at his greatest length when standing
still, and if you force him to collect himself then, he will be uneasy
and fidget.[16-*] But the reins must never be loose. The bearing on the
mouth, however lightly, must still be felt; and if the horse, in
attempting to stare about, as colts and ill-ridden horses will, should
throw his head to the right, it must be stopped by the feeling of the
tip of the fourth finger on the left rein; if he throws his head to the
left, by the feeling of the first finger on the right rein. But provided
that the bearing on the horse's mouth, and this power of keeping his
head straight, are preserved, a horse cannot have too much liberty under
the circumstances supposed. To turn to the right both reins must be
pulled, the right the strongest, by feeling the tip of the first finger
towards you; both legs must be pressed, the left the strongest; the whip
shown on the left. To turn to the left the reverse indications.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--DOWN CLUTCH.]
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--DOWN CLUTCH, REIN IN EACH HAND.]
[Sidenote: Down clutch.]
[Sidenote: Grecian mode.]
To take up the reins use the downward clutch[16-+] (Fig. 4); that is,
place the two first fingers of the right hand between the reins at the
greatest convenient distance, and slide them smoothly back. Repeat this
movement, changing from hand to hand, and keeping the chair balanced and
steady. This clutch is excellent for a straight-forward, _hot_ horse; it
shortens the reins any length at one movement, with a very low, steady
bearing. Two hands may be used (Fig. 5). I conceive this to be the
Grecian mode of holding and handling the reins (see frontispiece and
vignette, from the Elgin Marbles), except that the Greeks had one
finger between the reins instead of two; and they held the reins,
whether together or divided, between the thumb and the second finger.
The first finger was thus detached, and used only for guiding, by which
very distinct indications may be given on either rein when both are in
one hand.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--SIDE CLUTCH.]
[Sidenote: Side clutch.]
At a walk, with a quiet horse, this _down_ clutch may be turned into the
_side_-clutch (Fig. 6 and Fig. 7); it is nearly the same as the English
mode of driving, but the right rein is uppermost, which facilitates the
dividing the reins and placing them together again, and when the reins
are in the left hand, the right rein quits the hand between the second
and third finger. This allows you to hold one rein while you slip the
other, besides that the left rein is not disturbed in taking the right
rein in the right hand, and in returning it to the left hand.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--SIDE CLUTCH, REIN IN EACH HAND.]
[Sidenote: Cross.]
But the following position (Fig. 8) is the foundation of all fine
handling, and therefore of all fine riding.
And if the pupil will only thoroughly acquire this one movement he shall
have my leave to consign the rest of my book "protervis in mare Creticum
portare ventis."
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--CROSS.]
[Sidenote: Rein in each hand]
We will call this movement cross, because the reins, when in one hand,
are crossed inside the hand. Take the left rein with the three last
fingers of the left hand, so that it enters the hand outside the little
finger, and quits the hand between the first and second finger. Place
the right rein in the left hand over the first and second finger, so
that it enters the hand outside the first finger and quits the hand
between the second and third finger, so that the whole hand is between
the reins where they enter the hand, and the second finger is between
them where they quit the hand. Fig. 9 shows the rein in each hand.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--REIN IN EACH HAND.]
At every change from hand to hand the reins may be shortened to any
extent. To lengthen them they must be slipped while a rein is in each
hand, turning the two fore fingers towards you. You cannot pay too much
attention to practising the cross from hand to hand on the balanced
chair. There should be nothing approaching to a jerk or shake of either
rein. Neither rein should be for an instant loosened, but an equal
tension kept on both, and both should be of precisely equal length when
crossed in one hand. Be assured, however childish it may appear to you,
this practice will teach you the true principle of handling your horse,
and will give to the bearings and indications of your hands on his mouth
a delicate elasticity and resilience resulting from the play of every
articulation from the tips of the fingers to the shoulders. At the same
time if power is required, instead of having the left hand only, with
the fourth finger only between the reins, by taking them in the full
grasp of the hands it allows you to employ the whole strength of both
shoulders.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--TURN TO THE RIGHT.]
[Illustration: FIG. 11.--TURN TO THE LEFT.]
[Illustration: FIG. 12.--HUNTING GALLOP.]
[Sidenote: Turn to the right and left.]
[Sidenote: Hunting and rough-rider's hand.]
[Sidenote: Fixing the hands.]
The cross together with the rein in each hand should be so constantly
going on as to give the appearance of playing with the reins whenever
anything like riding and handling is required. In fact, he who can use
his reins in this manner with a riotous horse, without disturbing the
bearing is a rider, he who cannot is not. Fig. 10 shows the turn to the
right when the reins are crossed in the left hand, with the use of the
whip. Fig. 11 the turn to the left. Fig. 12 for holding the horse to a
hunting or racing gallop on a snaffle is the same as Fig. 9, but with
the fists closed. Fig. 13 is the same in a different position. It is the
rough-rider's hand for working a horse up and making him collect himself
with a snaffle. And this is the only case where a little _working_ of
the bit on his mouth (the scier le bridon of the French) is to be
allowed. Fig. 14 is the same, with the thumbs fixed on the back of a
chair. If a thumb is fixed in this way behind the lower part of each
pummel, the lady acquires a hold which no horse can force; at the same
time it gives the lowest possible and the steadiest possible bearing.
The hand should be as open as is possible and as much closed as is
necessary. Modifications of this position, with the hands closed, are
used in holding the horse to his gallop in hunting and racing.
[Illustration: FIG. 13.--ROUGH-RIDER.]
[Illustration: FIG. 14.--FIXING HANDS.]
[Sidenote: Use of both bridles at once.]
To use the two bridles at once, that is, the four reins, place the
little fingers between the reins, the snaffle inside, the curb outside.
Let them quit the hands over the first finger, the thumb on them. In the
left hand, the snaffle to the left of the thumb, the curb to the right.
In the right hand the snaffle to the right, the curb to the left. This
keeps them distinct, and allows the power of slipping or dropping
either, by pressing the thumb only on the other. The two bridles should
be always in two hands, except when placed together to shorten them. In
a _storm_, that is, till you have time for nicety, treat the two bridles
as if they were one.
[Sidenote: Two handed shortening the rein, taught and untaught.]
The mode of shortening the reins in two-handed riding, which I have seen
rough-riders use, and which I have seen recruits taught when using the
single snaffle in all riding-houses, civil or military, foreign or
English, and which is detailed in the école du cavalier in the French
cavalry ordonnance, is wholly vicious. There are no directions at all
given for this in the treatise on military equitation in the regulations
for the English cavalry, nor have I ever met with any in any book,
foreign or English, except in the French ordonnance. To shorten the
right rein on the French system, bring the thumbs together, take the
right rein with the thumb and first finger of the left hand, the thumbs
touching, raise the left hand, and let the right rein slip till the
thumbs are one inch apart. With the right rein thus, one inch shorter
than the left, when it is required to shorten the left equally, by
management you may bring the two thumbs together again without loosening
the left rein. I say, by management, you may do so, but the chances are
that the longest rein is invariably thus slackened previously to being
shortened, and consequently, that the bearing on the horse's mouth is
disturbed. But supposing it possible to manage this by an inch at a
time, it is quite impossible to manage it at a greater distance. If,
therefore, you have to shorten both reins a foot, you cannot effect it
without twenty-four operations. This is not at all an unlikely
occurrence in riding unruly horses, for such horses are commanded by
being made to bend or collect themselves. Their most frequent defence is
jerking their heads away and extending themselves; and the facility of
adjusting the length of the reins to the degree in which they extend or
collect themselves, makes the difference of whether you can ride such
horses or not. If, in riding a half-broken, hot, or violent horse, he
jerks his head down so as to draw one rein six inches longer than the
other, it is impossible to bring the thumbs together without slackening
the longest rein--at the moment you wish it tightened--four or five
inches. I need not dilate on the effect of this in riding such a horse
as I have supposed.
This French military system, then, of shortening the reins in two-handed
riding is actually ridiculous. But a ridiculous system is better than no
system at all. And except this French system, I know of _none taught_
save those which I have attempted to teach in this chapter.
What mistakes are made in this way, even by the _finest untaught_
horseman, are shown in the last paragraph of this chapter.
In all the practices enjoined above, the hand which quits the rein
should slide along it _behind_ the hand which receives the rein. And in
all these positions the hand should always be at right angles with the
reins; you then have the play of all the joints. If the hand is in the
same line with the reins, the play is only from the elbow.
The thumb should not be used where delicacy is required, since it acts
in a contrary direction to the fingers, and entirely stops the play of
all the joints of the hand and fingers. Close your thumb on your fingers
and you will see.
Where power is required, the change from the utmost resilience to the
utmost rigidity is effected in the time necessary to close the fists.
Every gradation, however, between the closed fists and the tips of the
open fingers is at the option of the rider.
[Sidenote: Use of the whip.]
Gentlemen having a leg and spur on each side of the horse to urge and to
guide him, should ride without any whip at all if the horse has been
subjected to the leg, so as to have the right hand as free for the reins
as the left: there should be no such thing as "_a bridle hand_." If a
whip is carried, it should be as light as possible. It should be held up
like a hunter or a rough-rider, not down like a jockey; and so
completely between the _hand_ and the thumb as to leave the _fingers_
free for the reins. To carry that _club_ called the handle of a hunting
whip is a frightful enormity. The excuse is, to open gates; but if you
put your horse's side against a gate, it is better opened by the hand,
but keep your leg from your horse's side. The _fingering_ of the reins
should not be impeded even by thick gloves; as thick muffettees as you
like, but no gloves thicker than kid.
[Sidenote: Horses swerve and turn only _to the left_.]
[Sidenote: Fault in English two-handed riding.]
The action of the whip, by the turn of the wrist, on either side of the
horse, is of every importance in lady's riding, in colt-breaking, in
riding the restive horse, and I had well nigh said, in hunting and race
riding. For how often do we see the race lost by a swerve _to the left_
(attributed to distress). The hunter invariably refuses by turning _to
the left_. The restive horse invariably turns _to the left_. Have all
horses joined in Holy Alliance to fight on one plan? If not, why do they
all turn _to the left_? Because the whip is only used _on the right_.
There is, however, another cause which acts in conjunction with this.
Even our finest two-handed English riders (who, in my opinion, are the
finest riders in the world), when they use the right hand on the right
rein, continue to hold both reins with the left hand, and they slip the
right rein a little through the left hand in order to place both hands
even. This is a most vicious habit. When they quit the right rein to use
the whip, or to throw the arm back at a fence (another most vicious
habit), by their system of holding and handling the reins they have not
the power to place _the lengthened_ right rein _short_ in the left hand.
Alas! poor horse! He is then pulled to the left by the left rein, driven
to the left by the whip on the right, and then abused for answering
these _natural_ indications, which he has been trained _habitually_ to
obey.
FOOTNOTES:
[16-*] This is one reason against an _unalterable_ bearing-rein.
[16-+] Have mercy on this _little_ word, _great_ reader, and do compound
a sesquipedalian clutch for me, out of digitus and ~daktylos~.