lab CENTAUR'S MANUAL.* CONSIDERING that a genuine i love of

horses is the Englishman's national heritage, it is extraordinary how little, apart from stable management, in which this country admittedly leads the world, the average Briton knows about man's noblest servant, especially in the matter of training and temperament. This humiliating reflection applies not merely to the general public, but with equal, or proportionately greater, force to the section of society whose chief occupation is hunting and racing. Take any " field " in even a fashionable country where the best horse- flesh in the three kingdoms is to be found : the number of mounts which are properly " balanced," which carry themselves correctly at the various paces with their head as well as their heart in the right place, and above all which can be relied upon to jump off their hocks, can be counted with ease ; and rarer still are the horsemen who alone show themselves worthy of the name by a knowledge of how to " present " their horses in proper style at their various obstacles. In fact, it is safe to say that where an exception occurs in the case either of horse or of man, nine out of ten have been through the mill of instruction in a cavalry riding-school. The majority of hunting men are content if their horses can scramble, one way or another, over a three-foot fence, irrespective of how they take off or land, and will stand 'com- paratively still at a gate or while waiting their turn at a gap. A horse which fulfils this humble standard is deemed to be " well-mannered," though his one aim at a walk may be to get his nose, poll, and withers as nearly as possible in the same straight

• Hints on Horsemanship. By Lleut.-Colonel M. F. Meraggaxt, D.8.0. London : Heinemann. [U. 6d. net.1

line, though he firmly refuses to let his rider save him fatigue by varying diagonals at the trot, and though he invariably changes lege when taking off at a jump—which is just as glaring a misuse of language as to apply the same epithet to a human being for refraining from eating peas with a knife.

Any attempt at further education is usually derided as faddism : nobody wishes to attract attention by hacking to a meet on a " circus " horse—one, in other words, which has mastered the rudiments of equine deportment—and as regards the rider, hardened indeed against ridicule must be the cavalier who dares to " sit up " with the small of his back drawn in— the position which automatically takes the weight of his arms off the horse's mouth by bringing the elbow flat against the ribs, closes the knee upon the saddle, and causes the lower part of the leg to hang at the one angle where it can be of use, immediately behind the girth. Yet, as Colonel M. F. McTaggart points out • under the heading of "Bridling" in the stimulating, and indeed fascinating, volume of notes on horsemanship which he amused himself by compiling and illustrating in the dreariness of a German prison-camp,

" The training of horses• and men is singularly alike. Before we can get a man obedient to the word of command he must be drilled. We have to get him balanced before he can move. 'The exact squareness of the shoulders and body to the front is the first position of a soldier. . . . The weight of the body must be on the fore part of the feet,' and until we get him in that position he is incapable of carrying out commands quickly and well. Imagine trying to get a ploughman who was in the habit of standing with his back rounded and feet far apart, his chin stuck forward, and his hands awkwardly placed, to

about turn ' smartly on the word of command. We know it would be impossible."

Elsewhere, when speaking of the disdain general in hunting circles for the wholly misnamed " trick " work of jumping competitions, he writes :-

" As long as the hunting public affect to contemn the training necessitated by successful show-ring work, and to look down upon the skill it demands, there is no hope for themselves to improve. There is no ' trick' in teaching a horse to jump a gate, nothing but patience and perseverance is required, and with what object ? Nothing else than training both horse and rider to cross a country. Surely a praiseworthy endeavour, whichever way you look upon it."

The case of the young Seydlitz, quoted in an earlier chapter, is very much to the point.

Colonel McTaggart has original views on many matters in which we are too much inclined to accept tradition as axiomatic, rather for the reason that it is incapable of proof than because none is required. As regards the immemorial precept, for instance, that the young idea can never be caught too young, he says : " Riding as a youth is not essential to good horseman- ship. But I go much further than that. I consider that, if not actually harmful, it may be productive of much more evil than good "—a proposition which he successfully establishes by arguments too lengthy for quotation. The instructional advan- tages of riding without stirrups are another time-honoured fallacy which he demolishes. The " perfect snaffle mouth " is a third :—

" Nearly every horse can be controlled in a snaffle," he writes, " if the rider has sufficient strength to do so, and in that way we can, perhaps, place all horses in that category. But if it means that the horse in question will bridle and collect himself in a snaffle as well as in a double bridle, then, I can say, I have never met such a horse, and I don't expect I ever shall "- a remark which the reviewer is prepared to endorse to the extent of saying that he has never seen a horse with his head correctly.placed in a snaffle at any pace intermediate between a

standstill and a gallop. "Hands" Colonel McTaggart heretically but incontrovertibly declares to be " made, not born," and completes the laicization of this false shrine by adding, with reasons, that " the so-called gift of hands is far more common than people suppose. It is the education which is lacking, not

the capacity in a very great number of cases." Furthermore, he has the courage to maintain—obstopui, ateteruntque comae—

that a first-rate horseman need not necessarily " hang a good boot," and that, if anything, he positively prefers that anathema of riding-masters, a short, round leg—adducing very cogent arguments in support of the proposition.

The one point on which the reviewer ventures to disagree with an authority of such weight is his advocacy of standing martin- gales. Granted that the running martingale is rather an article of dress than of use, still the mere fact that it does allow a horse to throw up his head is a safeguard against heavy hands, which, when assisted by a standing martingale, may unconsciously inflict considerable pain on a tender mouth without the possi- bility of protest by the victim—protest which in the case of any one worthy to put a leg across a saddle would be followed by amendment.

Continuous training accompanied by unfailing kindness is

the author's watchword :-

"Faults are nearly always those of the rider and not of the horse. . . . I do not believe in the whip, or in any form of punishment whatsoever. . . . If horses are impatient and pull, or fret, then see if the situation cannot be improved by exercise or feeding, but don't put cruel bits into their mouths or start hitting them over the head."

It is painful, however, to reflect that the latter injunction should be necessary in this country, but necessary it is.

There are few horsemen who will not be able to learn some- thing from Colonel MeTaggart's " Hints," which, in addition to their admirable matter, can be strongly recommended on the score of sheer readableness. Moreover, the illustrations by the

author would in themselves be sufficient to justify the volume, even if the text were of a lower level, for they possess the rare quality of really illustrating, in spite of the drawback of having been executed behind barbed wire without reference to living models.