Horsemanship for Women/Part 1/Lesson 17

by Theodore Hoe Mead

LESSON XVII.

RIDING IN CIRCLES.— CHANGE OF LEADING FOOT.

You are now prepared to practise with profit a simple exercise, which you will find interesting to yourself, and, if carefully done, very improving to your horse. It is the riding in circles of small diameter. Mark out a number of rings of various sizes in some pasture-field with white pebbles or beans or small scraps of white paper, which may be scattered at intervals of two or three feet, so that the figures may not be remarked by the horse, but that he may receive his instruction from you only. Let the circles touch one another, so that you may change from one into the other, and thus turn to the right and left alternately. Begin at a walk, then proceed to a trot, practising first on the large circles, and then taking the smaller ones. Keep your horse "light in hand," and do not let him place his body across the line, but make him follow it accurately, with his neck and body bent around to the curve which it describes. When he is perfect in this exercise on level ground, move to some hill-side and begin again. When he can do figure 8's of a small size accurately at a smart

LEADING WITH THE RIGHT FORE-FOOT.

trot on a pretty steep slope, you may congratulate your self on having made good progress, and may begin to do the large circles on level ground at a canter. Here comes in the troublesome matter of the "leading foot," and if you do not understand it, you must not be discouraged, for many persons ride "hit or miss" their whole lives long without thinking or knowing anything about it. The expression, besides, is misleading, and you will do well to study up the subject first on straight lines. Get a friend to canter beside you, and observe the motion of his horse's feet. You will see that the two fore-feet and the two hind-feet strike the ground not only one later than the other, but one in advance of the other, and that the one which leaves the ground last steps past the other and is planted farthest forward. It is this foot taking the long stride which is called, although it moves last, the "leading foot."

It ought not to make any difference to the horse with which foot he leads, nor to his rider, if a man, so long as he follows a straight line; but whenever he has to turn, it becomes both to horse and rider of importance—if the curve is sharp, of very great importance—that he should lead on the side towards which he is to turn.

A little observation of your companion's horse when turning will make the reason clear to you. A woman's seat being on the left side of the horse, it is easier for her that the shoulder having the most motion should be on the right side, and ladies' saddle-horses are consequently trained to lead with the right foot; the result,

LEADING WITH THE LEFT FORE-FOOT.

we may remark, often being that the fore-foot which does most work gives out before the others.

The horse so trained, however, is in this way always ready to wheel to the right; but when he turns to the left, whether carrying man or woman, he must change and lead with the left foot; and if he has not sense enough to do so himself, you must teach him.

This, really, is not an easy task for an amateur, especially for the amateur feminine, who has not the efficient masculine resource of a pair of spurred heels. Even with their aid a man is often so embarrassed to make his horse comprehend that he gives up the attempt, and contents himself with "slowing down" before turning, his failure usually resulting from the insufficient previous training of the horse, coupled with his own ignorance of the successive short steps by which the latter may be led up to the performance of the wished-for act.

If you have been exact in the instruction hitherto given—if your bitting has been so thorough that your horse remains "light in hand" during all the manoeuvres described in the foregoing lessons; if he responds instantly to the pressure of the rein upon the neck, and to the touch of the heel and of the whip upon the flank, so that you can move the forehand and the croup separately or at the same time in the same or in opposite directions; if he will rise from a walk into a canter without trotting; and if, finally, your drilling in the flexions of the neck permits you to bend his head to right or left when at rest or in motion without affecting the position of the forehand—then your horse is thoroughly prepared for the present lesson; and the same tact and patience which have brought you on thus far will assuredly carry you triumphantly through it.

First, however, you should learn to tell with which foot you are leading, and you can do so by leaning forward in the saddle while cantering, when you will see that the knee of the leading leg is thrown up higher than its fellow, and by bending still farther you may see this foot planted in advance upon the ground. If your horse has never been trained, it is as likely to be one foot as the other. Now, the first step to be taken is to put your horse in such a position that it will be easy and natural for him to lead off with the desired foot, and awkward to lead off with the other. This position is with the head turned in the direction you wish to go, and with the croup advanced a little in the same direction, so that the body is placed obliquely across the line of advance. Thus, if you wish to lead with the right foot, you keep his head turned in the direction you wish to go, while with the heel you move the croup over two steps to the right; then, touching him with the heel and raising the hand, you give the signal to canter, and he will probably lead off with the right foot. If not, stop him and try again, giving him a sharp cut with your whip just behind the right shoulder. To lead with the left the process is reversed, the croup being moved two steps to the left before the signal to canter is given, a sudden dig with the heel behind the shoulder conveying to the horse the hint to hurry forward his left leg. You can now begin to canter on the circles you have marked out; you will, however, at first come down to a walk before changing from one circle to an adjoining one—which change, of course, reverses the curve, and makes it necessary to change the leading foot.

This figure eight riding, thus, $\infty \!\,$, is most useful both for horse and rider when it is carefully done. Keep the horse "light in hand," and above all, collected—viz., with his haunches well under him, and always with his feet exactly in the circle and his neck and body bent to the curve. As soon as he will lead off correctly from a walk, begin to teach him to do so from the trot; and when this lesson has been learned, practise him on the double circles, or figure 8's, beginning at a trot, and lifting him into a canter just as you pass from one circle to the other. This will accustom him to the idea of a change of movement at the time of a change in direction. Having got him to canter, continue on the same circle many times around and around, then bring him to a trot, and pass to the adjoining circle, lifting him to a canter just as you turn into it, as before, but of course leading with the opposite foot. Make your circles smaller and smaller, and continue till he has had time to appreciate the importance of leading correctly; then try to make him change at a canter, choosing for the purpose one of your smallest figure 8's, and indicating to him the change of foot on the same spot and in the same way as when you began by trotting, and you will no doubt be immediately successful.

If the horse in changing the lead of the fore-feet does not make the corresponding change with the hind-feet, he is said to be disunited. This fault must be corrected immediately, as it renders his gait not only uncomfortable to the rider, but very insecure.