Horsemanship for Women/Part 1/Lesson 13
LESSON XIII.
THE TROT.
Writers on the horse distinguish three kinds of trot, viz., the "jog" trot, the "true" trot, and the "flying" or "American" trot. In the first the feet remain longer on the ground than in the air, and lazy animals are naturally fond of it, while spirited horses sometimes drop into it from impatience of walking. It is, however, apt to be a slovenly gait, which, though easy to the rider, should hardly be permitted.
In the flying trot the horse leaps a considerable distance through the air at each stride—evidently a mode of progression unsuited for ladies, who must attain speed in trotting by quickening the step without undue lengthening of the stride.
Your first care will be to prevent your horse from losing his "lightness," as he will be inclined to do at every change of gait or increase of speed—and this, while often by no means easy, is yet a task to be thoroughly accomplished if you wish for comfort or style in the future. You will observe in trotting, as in all other gaits, at each step a slight tug on the rein, called by some writers the appel, and this you will ordinarily yield your hand to, so as to keep a steady feeling of the mouth.
If, however, the horse begins to bear on the bit, hold your hand firmly, with the rein just so tight that at every step he will himself thrust his jaw against the curb. This will very likely bring him to his senses and restore his lightness, and if so, pat and praise him; but if not, tap him on the side with your whip, at the same time pulling on the curb for a second or two. If he does not yield to this, repeated two or three times, stop him short; and when, by the same method, you have got him to relax his gripe of the bit and arch his neck, allow him to go on again. He will dislike excessively to be stopped and started in this way, and when he finds that he will not be permitted to go in any way but the right one he will give up the attempt.
Do not try to succeed by giving a long, steady pull, nor by using force, as it will do no good, and may cause the tongue to be put over the bit—a very troublesome trick. Remember, in stopping, to lean back, and lay your whip, by a movement of the wrist, on the horse's back.
You will next turn your attention to your horse's gait. As the trot is rarely so easy that a lady can sit down to it with comfort, it is advisable to rise in the stirrup.
This is difficult and fatiguing if the stride is too long, and you will therefore prevent its extending too much by giving a little tug on the rein just as each step is made, at the same time with the heel keeping up speed and animation.
If your bitting has been thoroughly done, and your horse's mouth is fine and sensitive, you will probably find the snaffle best for trotting, and you will give a steady support with it.
Keep the step quick, elastic, perfectly cadenced, and without any rolling of the shoulders.
Should you happen to be mounted upon a horse which, from bad handling or his own faulty conformation, is disposed to "bore," or bear on his bit, you will ride with the curb, taking its reins in one hand, but in the other hand taking the snaffle, with the left rein drawn much tighter than the right. This will have an effect quite different from what one might expect, and will put a stop to this most fatiguing and annoying trick.
This recipe is not found in Baucher's book, but is said to have been given by him verbally to his pupils, and it is really "a trick worth knowing." If it does not have the desired effect, however, when practised with the left snaffle-rein, try it with the right, as the mouth—for instance, from the effect of double harness—may not be equally sensitive on both sides.
If you observe that the step of one foot is shorter than that of the other, making the horse appear lame, you may be almost sure you have fallen into the too common feminine practice of bearing too much of your weight on one side. An even balance in the saddle is of capital importance, and a rough-and-ready test is to observe whether the buttons of your habit are in the same plane as the horse's backbone, and your shoulders nearly equidistant from his ears—points of which you can judge as well as any one.
In the matter of the horse's gait you must be equally exacting, not resting so long as you can perceive the slightest irregularity or difference between the strides. It is desirable to cultivate such a sensitiveness to all the horse's movements as will enable you to know where his feet are at all times without looking, and the first step towards this is to learn to "sit close to the saddle." This firm and easy seat, coveted by every rider, is attained by some with much greater difficulty than by others. Many riders will bump about on their saddles for thousands of miles without being "shaken into their seat," because they neither abandon themselves to the instinct which correctly guides a child, nor, on the other hand, seek out and remove the cause, in the muscular contractions of the body and limbs.
A loose sack of grain set upright on horseback does not jump up and down, and, while it is not desirable to be quite so inert as a bag of grain, yet a lesson may be learned from it—which is, that the lower part of the person, from the hips to the knees, should be kept firmly and steadily, though not stiffly, in place, while the waist, with the back bent slightly inward, should be as flexible as possible, and the whole upper part of the person pliant and supple, so as to yield with a certain nonchalance to every movement.
Nervous riders, like nervous horses, are those in whom involuntary muscular contractions persist the most obstinately.
As both of the horse's strides are equal when the trot is true, it seems nonsense to talk, as some writers do, about the "leading foot" in trotting; and except that few horses are so perfectly symmetrical that both strides are equally elastic, there should be no difference to a man on which one he "rises," and he will therefore spare that foot and leg which, for any cause, he may suppose to be the weaker. A lady will without effort find the stride best suited to her.
Horses are often trained in our Western States to trot when the rider touches the back of their neck, and to single-foot or pace when he makes play gently with the curb-bit. These signals are injudicious, because in harness a slight movement of the bit sets the horse so trained to single-footing, and there is no way to communicate to him your wish that he should trot. It is better, therefore, to give the signal to trot by taking a firm hold of the snaffle, and laying your whip gently on his hind-quarter while you incite to speed with your heel.
After dismounting, observe whether your horse has interfered—that is, struck one or more of his fetlock joints with his hoofs; should the skin be knocked off, apply some healing ointment; and if the joint swells, bathe with water as hot as the hand will bear. This is the best remedy for all ordinary bruises and sprains.