The Barb and the Bridle Part 11

I respectfully recommend the spring run then, by all means; and, if I may venture so far to infringe the imperious laws of fashion, I would venture to suggest that hunters might be allowed just a little bit more tail, for the purpose for which nature intended it--namely, to keep off the flies, which in summer will find them out, in or out of the stable.

Extremes in fashion as to the tr.i.m.m.i.n.g of horses are nearly as absurd as one sees from time to time in the dress of ladies and gentlemen, and quite as devoid of sense or reason. Who has not seen the old racing pictures in which Diamond or Hambletonian figure with a bob tail, and who has not laughed at the grotesque figure (according to modern notions of a racehorse) of these "high-mettled ones," all but denuded of their caudal appendages?

As a matter of taste and good feeling, therefore, I venture to plead for a trifle more tail for hunters than is at present allowed. To a good stableman it gives no trouble, and in spring and summer time it is of great use to the horse. When the latter is brought up from the spring run, the question of restoring his hunting form (if, indeed, he can be said to have lost any of it) is simple enough; in fact, there are few subjects on which more twaddle is talked than about the "conditioning of hunters," stablemen being particularly oracular and mysterious about it.

Roomy, clean, and well-ventilated boxes, good drainage, four and five hours' walking exercise every day, the best oats procurable given _whole, not crushed_, with a moderate allowance to old horses of good beans, and a fair allowance of good old hay or clover, perfect regularity in exercise and stable times, the attendance of a thoroughly good-tempered cheery lad who knows his business, and the total prohibition of drugging or physicking of any sort, unless by order of a veterinary surgeon--these are the arcana of the much talked-of "conditioning." Some tell you that a hunter should have scarcely any hay. I have yet to learn why not, because I am quite sure that really good hay a.s.sists a horse to put up muscle. Of course he is not supposed to gorge himself with it, as some ravenous animals would do if allowed.

But the same thing may be said of a carriage horse or a charger. Waste of forage is one thing, the use of it another; and as there has been considerable discussion of late as to the cost of feeding a horse, I beg to say that on a fair average those even in training, requiring the best food, can be kept, when oats are 32s. or 33s. a quarter, for 15s. a week. I speak of course of the absolute cost of forage of the best kind.

Where horses are delicate feeders, and this is the case with some who are rare performers in the field, the appet.i.te should be coaxed, by giving small quant.i.ties of food at short intervals, making the horse, in fact, an exception to the ordinary stable rule of feeding four times a day. A really good groom will carefully watch the peculiarities of such a horse as regards feeding, and come in due course to know what suits the animal, the result being plenty of good muscle, equal to that of more hearty "doers." But stimulating drugs, I repeat, should never be permitted. Carrots as an alterative are good, but they should be given only when ordered by a veterinary surgeon, in such quant.i.ties as he orders. They should be put in the manger whole, never cut up, as there is nothing more dangerous than the latter practice in feeding, because numerous instances are on record of horses choking themselves with pieces of carrot.

When hunting time approaches, a little more steam as regards pace at exercise may be put on. Trotting up hills of easy ascent serves materially to "open the pipes," and, despite a very general prejudice to the contrary, I maintain that, for some weeks before hunting commences, a horse is all the better for a steady canter of moderate length every morning. A very good reason why stud grooms as a rule object to this is, simply because it involves a great deal more work in the stable.

If horses are only walked or trotted at exercise, one man generally can manage very well to exercise two horses, riding one, and leading the other with a dumb jockey or bearing reins on him; but, if the horse is to be cantered, there must be a man or boy to every horse, and, consequently, exercise would occupy considerably more time.

It is quite clear that the horse will have to gallop when hunting begins, and, as all training should be inductive, it is absurd to say that he should do nothing up to the 31st of October but walking and trotting, while on the first day of November his owner may come down from town and give him a rattling gallop with hounds. Surely such extremes are not reconcilable with common sense!

Let me now say a word about washing horses, about which also considerable diversity of opinion exists, some maintaining that the brush and wisp alone ought to keep the horse's skin in proper form, and others advocating washing partially.

In my time I have tried all sorts of stable management, and I believe the truth is as follows: Nothing is more conducive to a horse's health than washing, with either cold or tepid water. But if you adopt the cold water system, you must be sure that it is done in a place where there is no draught. It should be commenced in summer time. There should be two thoroughly good stablemen in the washing box, and a boy to carry water from the pump. The horse's head and neck should be thoroughly washed, brushed, sc.r.a.ped, sponged, and leathered, and a good woollen hood put on. His body washed thoroughly in the same way, and a good rug put on.

Then his legs equally well done, and bandaged. Let him then be put into his box for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, stripped and dressed by a man who will let his shoulder go at him, not one who will play with him. When thoroughly dressed his coat will shine like new satin, and his whole manner will tell you how refreshed he is by his bath. The washing cannot be done too quickly consistent with thorough good work. Two good men and a smart boy ought to wash, clothe, and bandage a horse in five minutes, or they are not worth their salt.

If the cold water system is begun in summer, and regularly followed up, it can be carried on throughout the winter, no matter how severe the weather may be, and an incalculable advantage of the system is that a horse so treated is almost impervious to cold or catarrh.

But to carry the treatment out, a lot of first-cla.s.s stablemen are indispensable, men who--no "eye servants"--do their work _con amore_, and take a genuine pride in their horses. If the thing is negligently done, or dawdled over, it is likely enough to be productive of mischief.

Where the stable staff is limited in number and not first-rate in quality, if washing is resorted to, tepid water must be used, because one smart man can wash a horse in tepid water in a proper washing house una.s.sisted. But a special veto should be put upon washing a hunter's legs, as is too often done, outside in the yard, the horse tied to a ring in the wall, with the cold night air blowing on him. No matter if warm or cold water is used, whether or not mischief follows is mere matter of chance if the foregoing bad treatment is permitted.

Briefly, then, it may be said, if you have good men about you and enough of them use cold water, beginning in the summer and continuing it regularly. If you are short of really good stablemen, use tepid water; but use it in a washing box built for the purpose, and never let it be done out of doors.

CHAPTER XIX.

Having endeavoured to mark out the course of equitation from the preparatory suppling practices to the orthodox conventionalities of the hunting field, I conclude this series of papers with a few hints which I trust will be useful to ladies about to proceed to India or the colonies.

In the first place, as regards riding habiliments, I recommend ladies going to India to procure everything in the shape of habits, trousers, and hats in this country. In India they cost a hundred per cent. more than at home, and the natives can only make them by pattern. Riding boots can be procured in the East quite as well made and as durable as those made in England, and at a fifth of the price.

Saddlery should be taken out from England. It is also just a hundred per cent. dearer in India. One good side-saddle, such as I have previously described, will with care last a lady many years. Of bridles she should take at least half a dozen double ones (bit and bridoon). Horse clothing of any sort as used in England is not required in India.

As regards the horse itself on which the fair emigrant to the East will take her health-preserving morning gallop at gun-fire, I must say little. I have endeavoured elsewhere to give some idea of what Arab horses are; and, as every lady going to India is certain to know some male friend who is well up at buying a lady's horse, I need only say that, if the animal purchased is a young unbroken one, the best plan is to send him to the nearest cavalry or horse artillery station, and have him broken precisely in the same form as an officer's charger. The Arab dealers from whom the horse, if unbroken, is most likely to be purchased, know nothing, and care less, about breaking, and the people about them have the very worst hands upon a horse I have ever seen.

All riding in India, except in cases of absolute necessity, should be done very early in the morning. The lady should be in the saddle soon after gun-fire (five o'clock). By the time she arrives at the galloping ground (in a large station or cantonment generally the racecourse) the sun will be up, so quickly does it rise, with scarcely any twilight, in India; but its rays are not then vertical, nor is the heat either oppressive or injurious until much later in the day.

A couple or three hours' riding is sufficient for health, and the great thing is to go home quite cool; the bath and breakfast are then most enjoyable. Evening promenades are as a matter of fashion, and indeed, of reason, usually attended by ladies in carriages. There are many, however, who prefer riding on horseback again in the latter part of the day; but experience proves that evening riding on horseback is not good, as a rule, for ladies. Exposure to the sun on horseback, or indeed in any way, should be specially avoided, as should also violent exercise of any kind, that on horseback not excepted. The rattling gallop, which is not only exhilarating but healthful in Leicestershire, is inadmissible in most parts of India, where extremes of any kind are injurious.

Finally, I would respectfully impress upon every lady who is likely to go to India, those especially who, having been born there, have been sent home for their education, that they should avail themselves of every opportunity in this country of becoming efficient horsewomen. To be able to ride well is very desirable for a lady who is to pa.s.s her life in Europe, in India it is absolutely indispensable; and if the lady's equitation is neglected in early days at home, she will find herself sadly at a loss when she arrives in India; for although there are plenty of thoroughly competent men there who could instruct her, their time is taken up with teaching recruits at the early time of the day at which a lady could avail herself of their services. As regards riding in Australia, the Cape, New Zealand, Canada, or the West Indies, briefly it may be said that again it is best to take out saddlery from this country, because, although it can be procured in any of the above-named colonies far cheaper than in India, it is still considerably dearer, and generally not so good as at home. At the Cape, in Australia, and in New Zealand--the two former colonies especially--long journeys have frequently to be done by ladies on horseback; and if a thoroughly practical education in the saddle is necessary to health, as regards a sojourn in India; it is equally so as a matter of convenience in other of the British dependencies abroad.

Let me, then, close my humble efforts at carefully tracing out the readiest way for a lady to become a thorough horsewoman by again recommending them all to begin early, and to pay implicit attention to the tuition of a first-cla.s.s instructor; always to throw their whole heart into their riding, fixing their minds rigidly on it while learning, and never, however proficient or confident they may be, venture, unless upon a life-and-death emergency, upon half-broken horses. During the Indian mutiny instances occurred in which ladies owed their lives to their nerve and courage in mounting horses ill-adapted to carry them, and by dint of sheer determination urging them into top speed and safety to the fair fugitives. In such desperate emergencies there is no alternative but to accept the lesser risk; but in ordinary cases my advice (the result of long experience) is to all lady riders, never mount an untrained horse, and never allow your horse to become too fresh for want of work.

A casualty which may be attended with trifling consequences to a man may have the most serious results in the case of a lady; while I am firmly of opinion that no such thing as an accident ought ever to occur to her on horseback if due care and foresight are exercised by those about her, and if the lady herself will be careful whenever or under whatever circ.u.mstances she approaches or mounts a horse to be always on her guard, to _ride_ all the time she is on him, to remember that in all matters that relate to riding the homely old adage, "Afterwit is not worth a penny an ounce" is strictly applicable, and that the golden rule is, "Never give away a chance to your horse."