Riding and Driving

It is arranged, no doubt wisely, that happiness, which is the universal aim of mankind, may be pursued by numerous roads, and that they who seek it on wheels may choose from a v...

About the year 1840, with the advent of railways in England, coaching, for a time at least, practically came to an end. Before that time, all transportation of passengers, mail,...

The harness has two fundamental functions: first, to attach the horse to the vehicle, so that he may pull it; second, to enable the coachman to guide the horse. The elements of...

So much depends upon the comfort of the horse in his harness that it is well worth the owner's time and attention to learn how the harness should be put on, how the horses shoul...

Once you have a horse and know something of his make-up inside and out, and have housed him properly, and bought his harness and learned something of its use, the next thing is...

Among my earliest recollections are those of a Shetlander, "Billy Button," upon which I used to disport myself on the gravel footwalk in front of our house. My children, also, h...

Whether it has been procured by rapine, purchase, gift, or devise, the owner of a really good saddle-horse has something from which he may derive much pleasure and satisfaction....

There must be some intelligent and rational notions in regard to a horse if you are to choose one. It is better to know what one wants, and to keep it clear in mind, in this wor...

By far the most interesting type of horse to the American is the American trotting-horse, not only for the reason that he is of our own development, but because in one way or an...

The thoroughbred is universally recognized as the finest type of the horse, excelling all other races in beauty, in stamina, in courage, and in speed; and, further, it is capabl...

Why the horse, the fossil remains of which are found so abundantly in the middle West of this country that these places are known in the Scientific world as "Equus Beds," became...

Of the comfort of the horse much has been said already, and all that has been said may well be emphasized and even repeated. He should be ready to go out, that is, not too soon...

I am convinced that nothing has been recommended in this work that is not absolutely requisite in the proper training of the saddle-horse; for the same general principles are ob...

Experience has shown that one man can care for three horses; that two men can care for seven; three men are needed for ten, and so on. But even this must be modified. Where the...

Once you have a horse, the next thing is to provide a place for him to live in. It may be better to keep a horse in a livery-stable rather than to have no horse at all, but cert...

The most important thing in horsemanship is the acquirement of a stable seat, for without it not only is the rider insecure, but it is impossible that the hand should act with l...

It is a dangerous thing for owners to doctor their own horses, unless they are practically veterinarians by experience, or profession. It is even more dangerous to leave such ma...

The English or flat saddle, is the only one fit for sport or pleasure. It gives no trouble in mounting or dismounting, it is the only form which permits every man to obtain the...

Before the horse can be taught obedience to the bit and spur it must go through a preliminary course of handling, by which the man obtains mastery over the animal. This work is...

It is a curious phase of the history of the horse in this country that the ancestors of the horse once lived in this country in large numbers, and then entirely disappeared. The...

In dealing with the horse as a source of national income, or as an opportunity for sport and pleasure, there is little to be taught Americans along the lines of harness-making,...

One horse driven in front of the other gave a University wag the opportunity to nickname two horses so driven a "tandem," from the Latin word meaning "at length," as applied to...

It has been said that the term "suppling" indicates the vanquishing of all the resistance offered by the horse, whether voluntary or involuntary. The control which this gives ov...

A very useful apparatus for teaching the horse to jump cleanly and willingly is a little gate or hurdle, about three feet wide, made with three bars; the lower one fixed at eigh...

The shoeing of horses was not known to the earliest users of horses. It is true the Romans used a sort of leather sock, with an iron plate beneath, and the extravagant Poppæa, t...

Until the publication of "The Horse in Motion," many of the movements of the horse were but little understood, and of these the gallop was prominent by reason of its importance....

With Lexington, Kentucky, as a centre one may, with a radius of thirty miles, describe a circumference which will embrace more fine horses than any area of like extent upon the...

If but one bit is used in riding, it should be the snaffle, for it has a much wider range of effects than the curb-bit, and the latter, when employed alone, tends to lower the h...

I have said that in this country until very recent years comparatively little interest was taken in riding except in some of the Southern states and in the army. This was not be...

A great deal of the neglect in training horses properly is due to the fact that most people--by very far the greater number--are deterred by the imaginary difficulties presented...

Baucher says, somewhere, that to give an indifferent horseman the spur is as bad as to give a razor into the hands of a monkey. There is not one rider in ten thousand who knows...

The saddle-horse should go backward in the walk with the same freedom and lightness as that with which it advances in that pace; and it should pass to either hand with precision...