CHAPTER VII.

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

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.