ON HORSEMAN'S AND HORSEWOMAN'S DRESS, AND HORSE FURNITURE.
On bits.--The snaffle.--The use of the curb.--The Pelham.--The
Hanoverian bit described.--Martingales.--The gentleman's saddle
to be large enough.--Spurs.--Not to be too sharp.--The Somerset
saddle for the timid and aged.--The Nolan saddle without
flaps.--Ladies' saddle described.--Advantages of the hunting-horn
crutch.--Ladies' stirrup.--Ladies' dress.--Hints
on.--Habit.--Boots.--Whips.--Hunting whips.--Use of the
lash.--Gentleman's riding costume.--Hunting dress.--Poole, the
great authority.--Advantage of cap over hat in hunting.--Boot-tops
and Napoleons.--Quotation from Warburton's ballads.
If you wish to ride comfortably, you must look as carefully to see that
your horse's furniture fits and suits him as to your own boots and
breeches.
[Illustration: CURB-BIT.]
When a farmer buys a team of oxen, if he knows his business he asks
their names, because oxen answer to their names. On the same principle
it is well to inquire what bit a horse has been accustomed to, and if
you cannot learn, try several until you find out what suits him. There
are rare horses, "that carry their own heads," in dealers' phrase,
safely and elegantly with a plain snaffle bridle; but except in the
hands of a steeple-chase jock, few are to be so trusted. Besides, as
reins, as well as snaffles, break, it is not safe to hunt much with one
bit and one bridle-rein. The average of horses go best on a double
bridle, that is to say, the common hard and sharp or curb, with a
snaffle. The best way is to ride on the snaffle, and use the curb only
when it is required to stop your horse suddenly, to moderate his speed
when he is pulling too hard, or when he is tired or lazy to collect him,
by drawing his nose down and his hind-legs more under him, for that is
the first effect of taking hold of the curb-rein. There are many horses
with good mouths, so far that they can be stopped easily with a plain
snaffle, and yet require a curb-bit, to make them carry their heads in
the right place, and this they often seem to do from the mere hint of
the curb-chain dangling against their chins, without the rider being
obliged to pull at the reins with any perceptible force.
[Illustration: PLAIN SNAFFLE.]
The Pelham-bit (see cut), which is a sort of snaffle-bit with cheeks and
a curb-chain, is a convenient style for this class of horse. A powerful
variation of the Pelham, called the Hanoverian, has within the last few
years come very much into use. It requires the light hands of a
practised horseman to use the curb-reins of the Hanoverian on a
delicate-mouthed horse; but when properly used no bit makes a horse bend
and display himself more handsomely, and in the hunting-field it will
hold a horse when nothing else will, for this bit is a very powerful
snaffle, as well as curb, with rollers or rings, that keep the horse's
mouth moist, and prevent it from becoming dead (see cut). For hunting,
use the first; if the Hanoverian it should not be too narrow.
[Illustration: PELHAM-BIT.]
The Chifney is a curb with, a very powerful leverage, and one of the
best for a pulling horse, or a lady's use.
A perfect horseman will make shift with any bit. Sir Tatton Sykes and
Sir Charles Knightley, in their prime, could hold any horse with a plain
snaffle; but a lady, or a weak-wristed horseman, should be provided with
a bit that can stop the horse on an emergency; and many horses,
perfectly quiet on the road, pull hard in the field at the beginning of
a run. But it should be remembered, that when a horse runs away, it is
useless to rely on the curb, as, when once he has fully resisted it, the
longer he runs the less he cares for it. The better plan is to keep the
snaffle moving and sawing in his mouth, and from time to time take a
sharp pull at the curb.
[Illustration: HANOVERIAN-BIT.]
It is of great importance, especially with a high-spirited horse, that
the headpiece should fit him, that it is neither too tight nor too low
down in his mouth. I have known a violently restive horse to become
perfectly calm and docile when his bridle had been altered so as to fit
him comfortably. The curb-bit should be placed so low as only just to
clear the tushes in a horse's mouth, and one inch above the corner teeth
in a mare's. There should be room for at least one finger between the
curb-chain and the chin. If the horse is tender-skinned, the chain may
be covered with leather.
When you are learning to ride, you should take pains to learn everything
concerning the horse and his equipments. In this country we are so well
waited upon, that we often forget that we may at some time or other be
obliged to become our own grooms and farriers.
For the colonies, the best bridle is that described in the chapter on
training colts, which is a halter, a bridle, and a gag combined.
Bridle reins should be soft, yet tough; so long, and no longer, so that
by extending your arms you can shorten them to any desired length; then,
if your horse pokes out his head, or extends himself in leaping, you
can, if you hold the reins in each hand, as you ought, let them slip
through your fingers, and shorten them in an instant by extending your
arms. A very good sportsman of my acquaintance has tabs sewn on the
curb-reins, which prevents them from slipping. This is a useful plan for
ladies who ride or drive; but, as before observed, in hunting the
snaffle-reins should slip through the fingers.
Some horses require martingales to keep their heads down, and in the
right place. But imperfect horsemen are not to be trusted with running
martingales. Running martingales require tabs on the reins, to prevent
the rings getting fixed close to the mouth.
For hacks and ladies' horses on the road, a standing martingale, buckled
to the nose-band of the bridle, is the best. It should be fixed, as Mr.
Rarey directs, not so short as to bring the horse's head exactly where
you want it--your hands must do that--but just short enough to keep his
nose down, and prevent him from flinging his poll into your teeth. If
his neck is rightly shaped, he will by degrees lower his head, and get
into the habit of so arching his neck that the martingale may be
dispensed with; this is very desirable, because you cannot leap with a
standing martingale, and a running one requires the hands of a
steeplechase jock.
The saddle of a gentleman should be large enough. In racing, a few
pounds are of consequence; but in carrying a heavy man on the road or
in the field, to have the weight evenly distributed over the horse's
back is of more consequence than three or four pounds. The common
general fitting saddle will fit nine horses out of ten. Colonial horses
usually have low shoulders; therefore colonial saddles should be narrow,
thickly stuffed, and provided with cruppers, although they have gone out
of fashion in this country, because it is presumed that gentlemen will
only ride horses that have a place for carrying a saddle properly.
On a journey, see to the stuffing of your saddle, and have it put in a
draft, or to the fire, to dry, when saturated with sweat; the neglect of
either precaution may give your horse a sore back, one of the most
troublesome of horse maladies.
Before hunting, look to the spring bars of the stirrup-leathers, and see
that they will work: if they are tight, pull them down and leave them
open. Of all accidents, that of being caught, after your horses fall, in
the stirrup, is the most dangerous, and not uncommon. I have seen at
least six instances of it. When raw to the hunting-field, and of course
liable to falls, it is well to use the spring-bar stirrups which open,
not at the side, but at the eye holding the stirrup-leather; the same
that I recommend for the use of ladies.
Spurs are only to be used by those who have the habit of riding, and
will not use them at the wrong time. In most instances, the sharp points
of the rowels should be filed or rubbed off, for they are seldom
required for more than to rouse a horse at a fence, or turn him suddenly
away from a vehicle in the street. Sharp spurs may be left to jockeys.
Long-legged men can squeeze their horses so hard, that they can dispense
with spurs; but short-legged men need them at the close of a run, when
a horse begins to lumber carelessly over his fences, or with a horse
inclined to refuse. Dick Christian broke difficult horses to leaping
without the spur; and when he did, only used one on the left heel.
Having myself had falls with horses at the close of a run, which rushed
and pulled at the beginning, for want of spurs, I have found the
advantage of carrying one in my sandwich-bag, and buckling it on, if
needed, at a check. Of course, first-rate horsemen need none of these
hints; but I write for novices only, of whom, I trust, every prosperous
year of Old England will produce a plentiful crop from the fortunate and
the sons of the fortunate.
A great many persons in this country learn, or relearn, to ride after
they have reached manhood, either because they can then for the first
time afford the dignity and luxury, or because the doctor prescribes
horse exercise as the only remedy for weak digestion, disordered liver,
trembling nerves--the result of overwork or over-feeding. Thus the
lawyer, overwhelmed with briefs; the artist, maintaining his position as
a Royal Academician; the philosopher, deep in laborious historical
researches; and the young alderman, exhausted by his first year's
apprenticeship to City feeding, come under the hands of the
riding-master.
Now although for the man "to the manner bred," there is no saddle for
hard work and long work, whether in the hunting-field or Indian
campaign, like a broad seated English hunting saddle, there is no doubt
that its smooth slippery surface offers additional difficulties to the
middle-aged, the timid, and those crippled by gout, rheumatism or
pounds. There can be very little benefit derived from horse exercise as
long as the patient travels in mortal fear. Foreigners teach riding on a
buff leather demi-pique saddle,--a bad plan for the young, as the
English saddle becomes a separate difficulty. But to those who merely
aspire to constitutional canters, and who ride only for health, or as a
matter of dignity, I strongly recommend the Somerset saddle, invented
for one of that family of cavaliers who had lost a leg below the knee.
This saddle is padded before the knee and behind the thigh to fit the
seat of the purchaser, and if provided with a stuffed seat of brown
buckskin will give the quartogenarian pupil the comfort and the
confidence of an arm-chair. They are, it may be encouraging to mention,
fashionable among the more aristocratic middle-aged, and the front roll
of stuffing is much used among those who ride and break their own colts,
as it affords a fulcrum against a puller, and a protection against a
kicker. Australians use a rolled blanket, strapped over the pommel of
the saddle, for the same purpose. To bad horsemen who are too conceited
to use a Somerset, I say, in the words of the old proverb, "Pride must
have a fall."
The late Captain Nolan had a military saddle improved from an Hungarian
model, made for him by Gibson, of Coventry Street, London, without
flaps, and with a felt saddle cloth, which had the advantage of being
light, while affording the rider a close seat and more complete control
over his horse, in consequence of the more direct pressure of the legs
on the horse's flanks. It would be worth while to try a saddle of this
kind for hunting purposes, and for breaking in colts. Of course it could
only be worn with boots, to protect the rider's legs from the sweat of
the horse's flanks.
With the hunting-horn crutch the seat of a woman is stronger than that
of a man, for she presses her right leg down over the upright pommel,
and the left leg up against the hunting-horn, and thus grasps the two
pommels between her legs at that angle which gives her the most power.
Ladies' saddles ought invariably to be made with what is called the
hunting-horn, or crutch, at the left side. The right-hand pommel has not
yet gone out of fashion, but it is of no use, and is injurious to the
security of a lady's seat, by preventing the right hand from being put
down as low as it ought to be with a restive horse, and by encouraging
the bad habit of leaning the right hand on it. A flat projection is
quite sufficient. The security of the hunting-horn saddle will be quite
clear to you, if, when sitting in your chair, you put a cylinder three
or four inches in diameter between your legs, press your two knees
together by crossing them, in the position of a woman on a side-saddle;
when a man clasps his horse, however firmly, it has a tendency, to raise
the seat from the saddle. This is not the case with the side-saddle
seat: if a man wishes to use a lance and ride at a ring, he will find
that he has a firmer seat with this kind of side-saddle than with his
own. There is no danger in this side-pommel, since you cannot be thrown
on it, and it renders it next to impossible that the rider should be
thrown upon the other pommel. In case of a horse leaping suddenly into
the air and coming down on all four feet, technically, "_bucking_,"
without the leaping-horn there is nothing to prevent a lady from being
thrown up. But the leaping-horn holds down the left knee, and makes it a
fulcrum to keep the right knee down in its proper place. If the horse in
violent action throws himself suddenly to the left, the upper part of
the rider's body will tend downwards, to the right, and the lower limbs
to the left: nothing can prevent this but the support of the
leaping-horn. The fear of over-balancing to the right causes many ladies
to get into the bad habit of leaning over their saddles to the left.
This fear disappears when the hunting-horn pommel is used. The
leaping-horn is also of great use with a hard puller, or in riding down
a steep place, for it prevents the lady from sliding forward.
But these advantages render the right-hand pommel quite useless, a
slight projection being all sufficient (see woodcut); while this
arrangement gives the habit and figure a much better appearance. Every
lady ought to be measured for this part of the saddle, as the distance
between the two pommels will depend partly on the length of her legs.
When a timid inexperienced lady has to ride a fiery horse it is not a
bad plan to attach a strap to the outside girth on the right hand, so
that she may hold it and the right hand rein at the same time without
disturbing her seat. This little expedient gives confidence, and is
particularly useful if a fresh horse should begin to kick a little. Of
course it is not to be continued, but only used to give a timid rider
temporary assistance. I have also used for the same purpose a broad tape
passed across the knees, and so fastened that in a fall of the horse it
would give way.
Colonel Greenwood recommends that for fastening a ladies' saddle-flaps
an elastic webbing girth, and not a leather girth, should be used, and
this attached, not, as is usually the case, to the small, but to the
_large flap_ on the near side. This will leave the near side small flap
loose, as in a man's saddle, and allow a spring bar to be used. But I
have never seen, either in use or in a saddler's shop, although I have
constantly sought, a lady's saddle so arranged with a spring bar for the
stirrup-leather. This mode of attaching a web girth to the large flap
will render the near side perfectly smooth, with the exception of the
stirrup-leather, which he recommends to be a single thin strap as broad
as a gentleman's, fastened to the stirrup-leg by a loop or slipknot, and
fixed over the spring bar of the saddle by a buckle like that on a man's
stirrup-leather. This arrangement, which the Colonel also recommends to
gentlemen, presumes that the length of the stirrup-leather never
requires altering more than an inch or two. It is a good plan for short
men when travelling, and likely to ride strange horses, to carry their
stirrup-leathers with them, as nothing is more annoying than to have to
alter them in a hurry with the help of a blunt pen-knife.
"The stirrup for ladies should be in all respects like a man's, large
and heavy, and open at the side, or the eyelet hole, with a spring." The
stirrups made small and padded out of compliment to ladies' small feet
are very dangerous. If any padding be required to protect the front of
the ankle-joint, it had better be a fixture on the boot.
It is a mistake to imagine that people are dragged owing to the stirrup
being too large, and the foot passing through it; such accidents arise
from the stirrup being too small, and the foot clasped by the pressure
of the upper part on the toe and the lower part on the sole.
Few ladies know how to dress for horse exercise, although there has been
a great improvement, so far as taste is concerned, of late years. As to
the head-dress, it may be whatever is in fashion, provided it so fits
the head as not to require continual adjustment, often needed when the
hands would be better employed with the reins and whip. It should shade
from the sun, and if used in hunting protect the nape of the neck from
rain. The recent fashions of wearing the plumes or feathers of the
ostrich, the cock, the capercailzie, the pheasant, the peacock, and the
kingfisher, in the riding-hats of young ladies, in my humble opinion,
are highly to be commended.
As to the riding-habit, it may be of any colour and material suitable to
the wearer and the season of year, but the sleeves must fit rather
closely; nothing can be more out of place, inconvenient, and ridiculous,
than the wide, hanging sleeves which look so well in a drawing-room. For
country use the skirt of a habit may be short, and bordered at the
bottom a foot deep with leather. The fashion of a waistcoat of light
material for summer, revived from the fashion of last century, is a
decided improvement, and so is the over-jacket of cloth, or sealskin,
for rough weather. There is no reason why pretty young girls should not
indulge in picturesque riding costume so long as it is appropriate.
Many ladies entirely spoil the sit of the skirts by retaining the usual
_impedimenta_ of petticoats[147-*]. The best-dressed horsewomen wear
nothing more than a flannel chemise with long coloured sleeves, under
their trousers.
Ladies' trousers should be of the same material and colour as the habit,
and if full flowing like a Turk's, and fastened with an elastic band
round the ankle, they will not be distinguished from the skirt. In this
costume, which may be made amply warm by the folds of the trousers,
plaited like a Highlander's kilt (fastened with an elastic band at the
waist), a lady can sit down in a manner impossible for one encumbered by
two or three short petticoats. It is the chest and back which require
double folds of protection during, and after, strong exercise.
There is a prejudice against ladies wearing long Wellington boots; but
it is quite absurd, for they need never be seen, and are a great
comfort and protection in riding long distances, when worn with the
trousers tucked inside. They should, for obvious reasons, be large
enough for warm woollen stockings, and easy to get on and off. It would
not look well to see a lady struggling out of a pair of wet boots with
the help of a bootjack and a couple of chambermaids. The heels of
riding-boots, whether for ladies or gentlemen, should be low, but
_long_, to keep the stirrup in its place.
The yellow patent leather recently introduced seems a suitable thing for
the "Napoleons" of hunting ladies. And I have often thought that the
long leather gaiters of the Zouave would suit them.
Whips require consideration. By gentlemen on the road or in the park
they are rather for ornament than use. A jockey whip is the most
punishing, but on the Rarey system it is seldom necessary to use the
whip except to a slug, and then spurs are more effective.
A lady's whip is intended to supply the place of a man's right leg and
spur; it should therefore, however ornamental and thin, be stiff and
real. Messrs. Callow, of Park Lane, make some very pretty ones, pink,
green and amber, from the skin of the hippopotamus, light but severe. A
loop to hang it from the wrist may be made ornamental in colours and
gold, and is useful, for a lady may require all the power of her little
hand to grasp the right rein without the encumbrance of the whip, which
on this plan will still be ready if required at a moment's notice.
Hunting-whips must vary according to the country. In some districts the
formidable metal hammers are still required to break intractable horses,
but such whips and jobs should be left to the servants and hard-riding
farmers.
As a general rule the hunting-whip of a man who has nothing to do with
the hounds may be light, but it should have a good crook and be stiff
enough to stop a gate. A small steel stud outside the crook prevents the
gate from slipping; flat lashes of a brown colour have recently come
into fashion, but they are mere matters of fashion like the colour of
top boots, points to which only snobs pay any attention--that is, those
asses who pin their faith in externals, and who, in the days of
pigtails, were ready to die in defence of those absurd excrescences.
The stock of a whip made by Callow for a hunting nobleman to present to
a steeple-chasing and fox-hunting professional, was of oak, a yard long,
with a buck-horn crook, and a steel stud; but then the presentee is six
feet high.
Every hunting-whip should have a lash, but it need not be long. The lash
may be required to rouse a hound under your horse's feet, or turn the
pack; as for whipping off the pack from the fox in the absence of the
huntsman, the whips and the master, that is an event that happens to one
per cent of the field once in a lifetime, although it is a common and
favourite anecdote after dinner. But then Saint Munchausen presides over
the mahogany where fox-hunting feats are discussed. One use of a lash is
to lead a horse by putting it through the rings of the snaffle, and to
flip him up as you stand on the bank when he gets stuck fast, or dead
beat in a ditch or brook. I once owed the extrication of my horse from a
brook with a deep clay bottom entirely to having a long lash to my whip;
for when he had plumped in close enough to the opposite bank for me to
escape over his head, I was able first to guide him to a shelving spot,
and then make him try one effort more by adroit flicks on his rump at a
moment when he seemed prepared to give in and be drowned. In leading a
horse, always pass the reins through the ring of the snaffle, so that if
he pulls he is held by the mouth, not by the top of his head.
The riding costume of a gentleman should be suitable without being
groomish. It is a fact that does not seem universally known, that a man
does not ride any better for dressing like a groom.
It has lately been the fashion to discard straps. This is all very well
if the horse and the rider can keep the trousers down, which can only be
done by keeping the legs away from the horse's sides; but when the
trousers rise to the top of the boot, and the stocking or bare leg
appears, the sooner straps or knee-breeches are adopted the better.
For hunting, nothing will do but boots and breeches, unless you
condescend to gaiters--for trousers wet, draggled and torn, are
uncomfortable and expensive wear. Leathers are pleasant, except in wet
weather, and economical wear if you have a man who can clean them; but
if they have to go weekly to the breeches-maker they become expensive,
and are not to be had when wanted; besides, wet leather breeches are
troublesome things to travel with. White cord breeches have one great
convenience; they wash well, although not so elastic, warm, and
comfortable as woollen cords. It is essential for comfort that
hunting-breeches should be built by a tailor who knows that particular
branch of business, _and tried on sitting down_ if not on horseback, for
half your comfort depends on their fit. Many schneiders who are
first-rate at ordinary garments, have no idea of riding clothes. Poole,
of Saville Row, makes hunting-dress a special study, and supplies more
hunting-men and masters of hounds than any tailor in London, but his
customers must be prepared to pay for perfection.
In the coats, since the modern shooting jacket fashion came in, there is
great scope for variety. The fashion does not much matter so long as it
is fit for riding--ample enough to cover the chest and stomach in wet
weather, easy enough to allow full play for the arms and shoulders, and
not so long as to catch in hedgerows and brambles. Our forefathers in
some counties rode in coats like scarlet dressing-gowns. There is one
still to be seen in Surrey. For appearance, for wear, and as a universal
passport to civility in a strange country, there is nothing like
scarlet, provided the horseman can afford to wear it without offending
the prejudices of valuable patrons, friends or landlords. In
Lincolnshire, farmers are expected to appear in pink. In
Northamptonshire a yeoman farming his own 400 acres would be thought
presumptuous if he followed the Lincolnshire example. Near London you
may see the "pals" of fighting men and hell-keepers in pink and velvet.
A scarlet coat should never be assumed until the rider's experience in
the field is such that he is in no danger of becoming at once
conspicuous and ridiculous.
A cap is to be preferred to a hat because it fits closer, is less in the
way when riding through cover, protects the head better from a bough or
a fall, and will wear out two or three hats. It should be ventilated by
a good hole at the top.
Top-boots are very pretty wear for men of the right height and right
sort of leg when they fit perfectly--that is difficult on fat
calves--and are cleaned to perfection, which is also difficult unless
you have a more than ordinarily clever groom.
For men of moderate means, the patent black leather Napoleon, which
costs from 3_l._ 10_s._ to 4_l._ 4_s._, and can be cleaned with a wet
sponge in five minutes, is the neatest and most economical boot--one in
which travelling does not put you under any obligation to your host's
servants.
I have often found the convenience of patent leather boots when staying
with a party at the house of a master of hounds, while others, as the
hounds were coming out of the kennel, were in an agony for tops
entrusted two or three days previously to a not-to-be-found servant. In
this point of the boots I differ from the author of "A Word ere we
Start;" but then, squires of ten thousand a-year are not supposed to
understand the shifts of those who on a twentieth part of that income
manage to enjoy a good deal of sport with all sorts of hounds and all
sorts of horses.
There is a certain class of sporting snobs who endeavour to enhance
their own consequence or indulge their cynical humour by talking with
the utmost contempt of any variation from the kind of hunting-dress in
use, in their own particular district. The best commentary on the
supercilious tailoring criticism of these gents is to be found in the
fact that within a century every variety of hunting clothes has been in
and out of fashion, and that the dress in fashion with the Quorn hunt in
its most palmy days was not only the exact reverse of the present
fashion in that flying country, but, if comfort and convenience are to
be regarded, as ridiculous as brass helmets, tight stocks, and
buttoned-up red jackets for Indian warfare. It consisted, as may be seen
in old Alken's and Sir John Dean Paul's hunting sketches, of a
high-crowned hat, a high tight stock, a tight dress coat, with narrow
skirts that could protect neither the chest, stomach, or thighs, long
tight white cord breeches, and pale top-boots thrust low down the leg,
the tops being supposed to be cleaned with champagne. Leather breeches,
caps, and brown top-boots were voted slow in those days. But the men
went well as they do in every dress.
"Old wiseheads, complacently smoothing the brim,
May jeer at my velvet, and call it a whim;
They may think in a cap little wisdom there dwells;
They may say he who wears it should wear it with bells;
But when Broadbrim lies flat,
I will answer him pat,
Oh! who but a crackskull would ride in a hat!"
SQUIRE WARBURTON.
[Illustration: Rails and Double Ditch.]
FOOTNOTES:
[147-*] At an inquest on a young lady killed at Totnes in September
last, it appeared that she lost her seat and hung by a _crinoline
petticoat_ from the right hand _pommel_!