CHAPTER II.
THE LADY'S HORSE.
There is no more difficult animal to find on the face of the earth than a perfect lady's horse. It is not every one that can indulge in the luxury of a two-hundred-and-fifty to three-hundred-guinea hack, and yet looks, action, and manners will always command that figure, and more. Some people say, what can carry a man can carry a woman. What says Mrs. Power O'Donoghue to this: "A heavy horse is never in any way suitable to a lady. It _looks_ amiss. The trot is invariably laboured, and if the animal should chance to fall, he gives his rider what we know in the hunting-field as 'a mighty crusher.' It is indeed, a rare thing to meet a perfect 'lady's horse.' In all my wide experience I have met but two. Breeding is necessary for stability and speed--two things most essential to a hunter; but good light action is, for a roadster, positively indispensable, and a horse who does not possess it is a burden to his rider, and is, moreover, exceedingly unsafe, as he is apt to stumble at every rut and stone."
Barry Cornwall must have had something akin to perfection in his mind's eye when penning the following lines:--
"Full of fire, and full of bone, All his line of fathers known; Fine his nose, his nostrils thin, But blown abroad by the pride within! His mane a stormy river flowing, And his eyes like embers glowing In the darkness of the night, And his pace as swift as light. Look, around his straining throat Grace and shifting beauty float! Sinewy strength is in his reins, And the red blood gallops through his veins."
How often do we hear it remarked of a neat blood-looking nag, "Yes, very pretty and blood-like, but there's nothing of him; only fit to carry a woman." No greater mistake can be made, for if we consider the matter in all its bearings, we shall see that the lady should be rather over than under mounted.
The average weight of English ladies is said to be nine stone; to that must be added another stone for saddle and bridle (I don't know if the habit and other habiliments be included in the nine stone), and we must give them another stone in hand; or eleven stone in all. A blood, or at furthest, two crosses of blood on a good foundation, horse will carry this weight as well as it can be carried. It is a fault among thoroughbreds that they do not bend the knee sufficiently; but there are exceptions to this rule. I know of two Stud Book sires, by Lowlander, that can trot against the highest stepping hackney or roadster in the kingdom, and, if trained, could put the dust in the eyes of nine out of ten of the much-vaunted standard American trotters. Their bold, elegant, and elastic paces come up to the ideal poetry of action, carrying themselves majestically, all their movements like clockwork, for truth and regularity. The award of a first prize as a hunter sire to one of these horses establishes his claim to symmetry, but, being full sixteen hands and built on weight-carrying lines, he is just one or two inches too tall for carrying any _equestrienne_ short of a daughter of Anak.
Though too often faulty in formation of shoulders, thoroughbreds, as their name implies, are generally full of quality and, under good treatment, generous horses. I do not chime in with those who maintain that a horse can do no wrong, but do assert that he comes into the world poisoned by a considerably less dose of original sin than we, who hold dominion over him, are cursed with.
Two-year-olds that have been tried and found lacking that keen edge of speed so necessary in these degenerate days of "sprinting," many of them cast in "beauty's mould," are turned out of training and are to be picked up at very reasonable prices. Never having known a bit more severe than that of the colt-breaker and the snaffle, the bars of their mouths are not yet callous, and being rescued from the clutches of the riding lads of the training-stable, before they are spoiled as to temper, they may, in many instances, under good tuition, be converted into admirable ladies' horses--hacks or hunters. They would not be saleable till four years old, but seven shillings a week would give them a run at grass and a couple of feeds of oats till such time as they be thoroughly taken in hand, conditioned, and taught their business. The margin for profit on well bought animals of this description, and their selling price as perfect lady's horses, are very considerable.
In my opinion no horse can be too good or too perfectly trained for a lady. Some Amazons can ride anything, play cricket, polo, golf, lawn-tennis, fence, scale the Alps, etc., and I have known one or two go tiger-shooting. But all are not manly women, despite fashion, trending in that unnatural, unlovable direction. One of their own sex describes them as "gentle, kindly, and _cowardly_." That all are not heroines, I admit, but no one who witnessed or even read of their devoted courage during the dark days of the Indian mutiny, can question their ability to face terrible danger with superlative valour. The heroism of Mrs. Grimwood at Manipur is fresh in our memory. What the majority are wanting in is nerve. I have seen a few women go to hounds as well and as straight as the ordinary run of first-flight men. That I do not consider the lady's seat less secure than that of the cross-seated sterner sex, may be inferred from the sketch of the rough-rider in my companion volume for masculine readers, demonstrating "the last resource," and giving practical exemplification of the proverb, "He that can quietly endure overcometh." What women lack, in dealing with an awkward, badly broken, unruly horse, is muscular force, dogged determination, and the ability to struggle and persevere. Good nerve and good temper are essentials.
Having given Barry Cornwall's poetic ideal of a horse, I now venture on a further rhyming sketch of what may fairly be termed "a good sort":--
"With intelligent head, lean, and deep at the jowl, Shoulder sloping well back, with a skin like a mole, Round-barrelled, broad-loined, and a tail carried free, Long and muscular arms, short and flat from the knee, Great thighs full of power, hocks both broad and low down, With fetlocks elastic, feet sound and well grown; A horse like unto this, with blood dam and blood sire, To Park or for field may to honours aspire; It's the sort I'm in want of--do you know such a thing? 'Tis the mount for a sportswoman, and fit for a queen!"
My unhesitating advice to ladies is _Never buy for yourself_. Having described what you want to some well-known judge who is acquainted with your style of riding, and who knows the kind of animal most likely to suit your temperament, tell him to go to a certain price, and, if he be a gentleman you will not be disappointed. You won't get perfection, for that never existed outside the garden of Eden, but you will be well carried and get your money's worth. Ladies are not fit to cope with dealers, unless the latter be top-sawyers of the trade, have a character to lose, and can be trusted. There has been a certain moral obliquity attached to dealing in horses ever since, and probably before, they of the House of Togarmah traded in Tyrian fairs with horses, horsemen, and mules. Should your friend after all his trouble purchase something that does not to the full realize your fondest expectation, take the will for the deed, and bear in mind "oft expectation fails, and most oft there where most it promises."
With nineteen ladies out of every score, the looks of a horse are a matter of paramount importance: he must be "a pretty creature, with beautiful deer-like legs, and a lovely head." Their inclinations lead them to admire what is beautiful in preference to what is true of build, useful, and safe. If a lady flattered me with a commission to buy her a horse, having decided upon the colour, I should look out for something after this pattern: one that would prove an invaluable hack, and mayhap carry her safely and well across country.
Height fifteen two, or fifteen three at the outside; age between six and eight, as thoroughbred as Eclipse or nearly so. The courage of the lion yet gentle withal. Ears medium size, well set on, alert; the erect and quick "pricking" motion indicates activity and spirit. I would not reject a horse, if otherwise coming up to the mark, for a somewhat large ear or for one slightly inclined to be lopped, for in blood this is a pretty certain indication of the Melbourne strain, one to which we are much indebted. The characteristics of the Melbournes are, for the most part, desirable ones: docility, good temper, vigorous constitution, plenty of size, with unusually large bone, soundness of joints and abundance of muscle. But these racial peculiarities are recommendations for the coverside rather than for the Park. The eye moderately prominent, soft, expressive, "the eye of a listening deer." The ears and the eyes are the interpreters of disposition. Forehead broad and flat. A "dish face," that is, slightly concave or indented, is a heir-loom from the desert, and belongs to Nejd. The jaws deep, wide apart, with plenty of space for the wind-pipe when the head is reined in to the chest. Nostrils long, wide, and elastic, exhibiting a healthy pink membrane. We hear a good deal of large, old-fashioned heads, and see a good many of the fiddle and Roman-nosed type, but, in my opinion, these cumbersome heads, unless very thin and fleshless, are indicative of plebeian blood.
The setting on of the head is a very important point. The game-cock throttle is the right formation, giving elasticity and the power to bend in obedience to the rider's hand. What the dealers term a _fine topped horse_, generally one with exuberance of carcase and light of limbs, is by no means "the sealed pattern" for a lady; on the contrary, the neck should be light, finely arched--that peculiarly graceful curve imported from the East,--growing into shoulders not conspicuous for too high withers. "Long riding shoulders" is an expression in almost every horseman's mouth, but very high and large-shouldered animals are apt to ride heavy in hand and to be high actioned. Well-laid-back shoulders, rather low, fine at the points, not set too far apart, and well-muscled will be found to give pace with easy action.
He should stand low on the legs, which means depth of fore-rib, so essential in securing the lady's saddle, as well as ensuring the power and endurance to sustain and carry the rider's weight in its proper place. Fore-legs set well forward, with long, muscular arms, and room to place the flat of the hand between the elbows and the ribs. The chest can hardly be too deep, but it can be too wide, or have too great breadth between the fore-legs. The back only long enough to find room for the saddle is the rule, though, in case of a lady's horse, a trifle more length unaccompanied by the faintest sign of weakness, will do no harm. For speed, a horse must have length somewhere, and I prefer to see it below, between the point of the elbow and the stifle joint. Ormonde, "the horse of the century," was nearly a square, _i.e._ the height from the top of the wither to the ground almost equalled the length of his body from the point of the shoulder to the extremity of the buttock. Horses with short backs and short bodies are generally _buck-leapers_, and difficult to sit on when fencing. The couplings or loins cannot be too strong or the ribs too well sprung; the back ribs well hooped. This formation is a sign of a good constitution. The quarters must needs be full, high set on, with straight crupper, well rounded muscular buttocks, a clean channel, with big stifles and thighs to carry them. Knees and hocks clean, broad, and large, back sinews and ligaments standing well away from the bone, flat and hard as bands of steel; short well-defined smooth cannons; pasterns nicely sloped, neither too long nor too short, but full of spring; medium sized feet, hard as the nether millstone. If possible, I should select one endowed with the characteristic spring of the Arab's tail from the crupper. Such a horse would, in the words of Kingsley, possess "the beauty of Theseus, light but massive, and light, not in spite of its masses, but on account of the perfect disposition of them."
There is no need for the judge to run the rule, or the tape either, over the horse. His practised eye, almost in a glance, will take in the general contour of the animal; it will tell him whether the various salient and important points balance, and will instantly detect any serious flaw. When selecting for a lady who, he knows, will appreciate sterling worth rather than mere beauty, he may feel disposed to gloss over a certain decidedness of points and dispense with a trifle of the comely shapeliness of truthfully moulded form. Having satisfied myself that the framework is all right, I would order the horse to be sauntered away from me with a loose rein, and, still with his head at perfect liberty, walked back again. I would then see him smartly trotted backwards and forwards. Satisfied with his natural dismounted action, I should require to see him ridden in all his paces, and might be disposed to get into the saddle myself. Having acquitted himself to my satisfaction, he would then have to exhibit himself in the Park or in a field, ridden in the hands of some proficient lady-rider. A few turns under her pilotage would suffice to decide his claims to be what I am looking for. If he came up to my ideas of action, or nearly so, I should not hesitate--subject to veterinary certificate of soundness--to purchase. Finally, the gentleman to examine the horse as to his soundness would be one of my own selection. Certain of the London dealers insist upon examinations being made by their own "Vets," and "there's a method in their madness." When such a stipulation is made, I invariably play the return match by insisting upon having the certificate of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, where the investigation is complete and rigorous. The very name of "the College" is gall and wormwood to many of these "gentlemen concerned about horses."