Complete Works of Xenophon (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) (158 page)

If anyone thinks that we are repeating ourselves, because we are referring to matters already dealt with, this is not repetition. For we recommended the purchaser to try whether the horse could do these things at the time of buying: but now we say that a man should teach his own horse; and we will show how to teach him.
[3]

When a man has a raw horse quite ignorant of leaping, he must get over the ditch himself first, holding him loosely by the leading-rein, and then give him a pull with the rein to make him leap over.
[4]
If he refuses, let someone strike him as hard as he can with a whip or a stick: whereupon he will leap, and not only the necessary distance, but much further than was required. In future there will be no need to beat him, for if he merely sees a man approaching behind him, he will leap.
[5]
As soon as he has grown accustomed to leap in this way, let him be mounted and tried first at narrow, and then at wider ditches. Just as he is on the point of springing touch him with the spur. Similarly he should be taught to leap up and to leap down by a touch of the spur. For if he does all these things with his body compactly gathered, it will be safer for the horse as well as the rider than if his hind-quarters lag in taking a leap over, or in springing upwards or jumping downwards.
[6]

Going down hill should first be taught on soft ground; and in the end, when the horse gets used to this, he will canter down more readily than up hill. If some fear that horses may put out their shoulders by being ridden down hill, they may take comfort when they understand that the Persians and Odrysians all ride races down hill, and yet keep their horses just as sound as the Greeks.
[7]

Nor will we omit to state how the rider is to assist in all these movements. If the horse springs suddenly, he should lean forward; for so the horse is less likely to slip away and throw the rider off. But in pulling him up short he should lean back; for so he himself will be less jolted.
[8]
When jumping a ditch or riding up hill it is well to take hold of the mane, that the horse may not be burdened by his bridle and the difficulty of the ground at the same time. When going down a steep incline, he should throw his body back and support the horse with the bridle, that neither rider nor horse may be tossed headlong down hill.
[9]

It is correct also to exercise the horse sometimes in one place, sometimes in another, and to make the exercises sometimes long and sometimes short; for this is less irksome to the horse than being exercised always in the same place and for the same length of time.
[10]

Since it is necessary that the rider should have a firm seat when riding at top speed over all sorts of country, and should be able to use his weapons properly on horseback, the practice of horsemanship by hunting is to be recommended where the country is suitable and big game is to be found. Where these conditions are lacking, it is a good method of training for two riders to work together thus: one flies on his horse over all kinds of ground and retreats, reversing his spear so that it points backwards, while the other pursues, having buttons on his javelins and holding his spear in the same position, and when he gets within javelin shot, tries to hit the fugitive with the blunted weapons, and if he gets near enough to use his spear, strikes his captive with it.
[11]
It is also a good plan, in case of a collision between them, for one to pull his adversary towards him and suddenly push him back again, since that is the way to dismount him. The right thing for the man who is being pulled is to urge his horse forward; by doing this the pulled is more likely to unhorse the puller than to be unhorsed himself.
[12]

If at any time when an enemy’s camp lies in front there is a cavalry skirmish, and one side presses the pursuit right up to the enemy’s line of battle, but then retreats hastily to its own main body, it is well to know in that case that so long as you are by your friends, it is proper and safe to be among the first to wheel and make for the enemy at full speed; but when you come near the enemy to keep your horse well in hand. For in this way you have the best chance of injuring the enemy without coming to harm yourself.
[13]

Now, whereas the gods have given to men the power of instructing one another in their duty by word of mouth, it is obvious that you can teach a horse nothing by word of mouth. If, however, you reward him when he behaves as you wish, and punish him when he is disobedient, he will best learn to do his duty.
[14]
This rule can be stated in few words, but is applies to the whole art of horsemanship. He will receive the bit, for example, more willingly if something good happens to him as soon as he takes it. He will also leap over and jump out of anything, and perform all his actions duly if he can expect a rest as soon as he has done what is required of him.

9.
So far we have described how to avoid being cheated in buying a colt or a horse, how to avoid spoiling him in usage and how to impart to a horse all the qualities required by a cavalryman for war. It is time perhaps to give directions, in case one has to deal with a horse that is too spirited or too sluggish, for the correct way of managing either.
[2]

First, then, it must be realised that spirit in a horse is precisely what anger is in a man. Therefore, just as you are least likely to make a man angry if you neither say nor do anything disagreable to him, so he who abstains from annoying a spirited horse is least likely to rouse his anger.
[3]
Accordingly, at the moment of mounting, the rider should take care to worry him as little as possible; and when he is mounted, he should let him stand still longer than is otherwise usual, and then direct him to go by the most gentle aids. Then let him begin at a very slow pace and increase the speed with the same gentle help, so that the horse will not be aware of the transition to a quicker motion.
[4]
Any sudden sign disturbs a spirited horse, just as sudden sights and sounds and sensations disturb a man. It is important to realise that a horse too is flurried by anything sudden.
[5]
If you want to correct a spirited horse when he is going too fast, do not pull him suddenly, but quietly check him with the bit, soothing him, not forcing him, to a quiet pace.
[6]
Long rides rather than frequent turnings, calm horses; and quiet ones lasting long soothe and calm a spirited horse and do not excite him.
[7]
But if anyone supposes that he will calm a horse by frequent riding at a quick pace so as to tire him, his opinion is the opposite of the truth. For in such cases a spirited horse does his utmost to get the upper hand by force, and in his excitement, like an angry man, he often causes many irreparable injuries both to himself and to his rider.
[8]
One must prevent a high-spirited horse from going at his top speed, and of course, entirely avoid letting him race with another horse; for as a rule the most highly spirited horses are also most eager for victory.
[9]

As for bits, the smooth are more suitable than the rough; but if a rough one is used, it should be made to resemble a smooth one by lightness of hand. It is also well to accustom oneself to sit still, especially on a spirited horse, and to touch him as little as possible with anything other than the parts that give us a safe seat by contact.
[10]

It should also be known that a horse can be taught to be calm by a chirp with the lips and to be roused by a cluck with the tongue. And if from the first you use with the cluck aids to calm him, and with the chirp aids to rouse him, the horse will learn to rouse himself at the chirp and to calm down at the cluck.
[11]
Accordingly, if a shout is heard or a trumpet sounds, you must not allow the horse to notice any sign of alarm in you, and must on no account do anything to him to cause him alarm, but as far as possible let him rest in such circumstances, and, if you have the opportunity, bring him his morning or evening meal.
[12]
But the best advice is not to get an over-spirited horse for war.

As for a sluggish beast, I may be content with the remark that in everything you must do the opposite of what we advise for the treatment of a high-spirited one.

10.
If a man wants to make a useful war-horse look more stately and showy when ridden, he must avoid pulling his mouth with the bit, and using the spur and whip, means by which most people imagine that they show off a horse. In point of fact the results they produce are the very opposite of what they intend.
[2]
For by dragging the mouth up they blind their horses instead of letting them see ahead, and by spurring and whipping, flurry them so that they are startled and get into danger. That is the behaviour of horses that strongly object to being ridden and that behave in an ugly and unseemly fashion.
[3]
But if you teach the horse to go with a slack bridle, to hold his neck up and to arch it towards the head, you will cause the horse to do the very things in which he himself delights and takes the greatest pleasure.
[4]
A proof that he delights in them is that whenever he himself chooses to show off before horses, and especially before mares, he raises his neck highest and arches his head most, looking fierce; he lifts his legs freely off the ground and tosses his tail up.
[5]
Whenever, therefore, you induce him to carry himself in the attitudes he naturally assumes when he is most anxious to display his beauty, you make him look as though he took pleasure in being ridden, and give him a noble, fierce, and attractive appearance. How we think that these effects may be produced we will now try to explain.
[6]

To begin with, you should possess two bits at least. One of these should be smooth and have the discs of a good size; the other should have the discs heavy and low, and the teeth sharp, so that when the horse seizes it he may drop it because he objects to its roughness, and when he is bitted with the smooth one instead, may welcome its smoothness and may do on the smooth bit what he has been trained to do with the aid of the rough one.
[7]
In case, however, he takes no account of it because of its smoothness, and keeps bearing against it, we put large discs on the smooth bit to stop this, so that they may force him to open his mouth and drop the bit. It is possible also to make the rough bit adaptable by wrapping it up and tightening the reins.
[8]
But whatever be the pattern of the bits, they must all be flexible. For wherever a horse seizes a stiff one, he holds the whole of it against his jaws, just as you lift the whole of a spit wherever you take hold of it.
[9]
But the other kind of bit acts like a chain: for only the part that you hold remains unbent, while the rest of it hangs loose. As the horse continually tries to seize the part that eludes him in his mouth, he lets the bit drop from his jaws. This is why little rings are hung in the middle on the axles, in order that the horse may feel after them with his tongue and teeth and not think of taking the bit up against the jaws.
[10]

In case the meaning of the terms flexible and stiff as applied to a bit is not known, we will explain this too. “Flexible” means that the axles have broad and smooth links so that they bend easily; and if everything that goes round the axles has large openings, and does not fit tight, it is more flexible.
[11]
“Stiff,” on the other hand, means that the pieces of the bit do not run over the axles and work in combination easily.

Whatever the pattern may be, the same method of using it must be carried out in all the points that follow, assuming that you want your horse to have just the appearance I have described.
[12]
The mouth must neither be pulled so hard that he holds his nose in the air, nor so gently that he takes no notice. As soon as he raises his neck when you pull, give him the bit at once. Invariably, in fact, as we cannot too often repeat, you must humour you horse whenever he responds to your wishes.
[13]
And when you notice that high carriage of his neck and lightness of hand give him pleasure, you should not deal hardly with him as though you were forcing him to work, but coax him as when you want to stop; for thus he will break into a fast pace with most confidence.
[14]
There is plain proof that a horse takes pleasure in going fast: for when he breaks loose a horse never goes at a walking pace, but always runs. He instinctively takes pleasure in this, provided he is not compelled to run too far for his strength. Nothing in excess is ever pleasing either to horse or man.
[15]

When your horse has progressed so far as to bear himself proudly when ridden, he has, of course, already been accustomed in the early exercises to break into a quicker pace after turning. Now if after he has learnt this you pull him up with the bit and at the same time give him one of the signs to go forward, then being held back by the bit and yet roused by the signal to go forward, he throws his chest out and lifts his legs from the ground impatiently, but not with a supple motion; for when horses feel uncomfortable, the action of their legs is not at all supple.
[16]
But if, when he is thus excited, you give him the bit, then, mistaking the looseness of the bit for a deliverance from restraint, he bounds forward for very joy with a proud bearing and supple legs, exultant, imitating exactly in every way the graces that he displays before horses.
[17]
And those who watch the horse when he is like that call him well-bred, a willing worker, worth riding, mettlesome, magnificent, and declare his appearance to be at once pleasing and fiery.

And here we conclude these explanations addressed to those who want this sort of thing.

11.
But in case anyone wants to own a horse suitable for parade, with a high and showy action, such qualities are by no means to be found in every horse: but it is essential that he should have plenty of spirit and a strong body.
[2]
Many suppose that an animal that has supple legs will also be capable of rearing his body. That, however, is not the case: rather it is the horse with supple, short, strong loins that will be able to extend his hind-legs well under the forelegs. By “loins” we do not mean the parts about the tail, but those between the flanks and haunches about the belly.
[3]
Now, if when he is planting his hind-legs under him you pull him up with the bit, he bends the hind-legs on the hocks and raises the fore-part of his body, so that anyone facing him can see the belly and the sheath. When he does that you must give him the bit that he may appear to the onlookers to be doing willingly the finest things that a horse can do.
[4]
Some, however, teach these accomplishments by striking him under the hocks with a rod, others by telling a man to run alongside and hit him with a stick under the gaskins.
[5]
We, however, consider that the lesson is most satisfactory if, as we have repeatedly said, the rider invariably allows him relaxation when he has done something according to his wishes.
[6]
For what a horse does under constraint, as Simon says, he does without understanding, and with no more grace than a dancer would show if he was whipped and goaded. Under such treatment horse and man alike will do much more that is ugly than graceful. No, a horse must make the most graceful and brilliant appearance in all respects of his own will with the help of aids.
[7]
Further, if you gallop him during a ride until he sweats freely, and as soon as he prances in fine style, quickly dismount and unbridle him, you may be sure that he will come willingly to the prance.
[8]