SIR FRANCIS HEAD ON THE HORSE. (FROM CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL.)

Otago Witness, Issue 585, 14 February 1863, Page 7

SIR FRANCIS HEAD ON THE HORSE. (FROM CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL.)

It has of late become the fashion vith not a few of > fehoss authors who have earned a great and deserved reputation among u3 «y thfir wit and humor, their i eloquence or. .their powers of story-telling, to lake to didactic writing, in other words, to lecture the British public >pretty severely.' The rap and bells are laid aside, the white bans decorously adopted, and Mr. Liston plays at length, with greater or less success. 5iS iongi-desired part of the Prince of Denmark Sir Francis Head of the 'fßfumien" and the "Emifeaht," of the "French Sticks '" and of "Stokers hhd Pokers," is the latekt addition 'to this band of Vo|unteer teaehejvs. Other authors ' have confined themselves to teaching after various fashions, the young idea to shoot ; but the baronet has gone a step further in his present volume, by teaching both old and young amongst us how to ride The horse has been an inhabitant of almost every region of the earth, and in all ases. His teeth lie in the polar ice, not for nDajstbetic purposes, but because, when he was alive, he dwelt there in company with the Siberian mammoth j in l*us Himalaya/ with lost and only lately dbtuined , genera ; and in the caverns of Ireland,-' HLvbones rest, unJess when the geologists sacreligiously disturbs them, with those of the mastodon and the eolo:sal urus. Unlike these, however, he remains on the earth's surface as well as thder it. fyri* found in all history -sacred, profane, an'd 'modern; scaring in the conquest and 'defeats, the occupation of man. When the famine was sore in the land of Egypt- rthe Egyptians g.ive him unto Joseph in exchange for bread. He was overthrown with his rider in the Red Sea. Hewa> jampant at Ninevah and in the Acropoos of Athens, as we see iv the friezes ; and have pot him in half the bquares of London with a king on his back. He is the current gift of friendship which is oflere Ito one smother by liingg up to this day, and he ia vcrthy uO b,e go. And let; how vilely the majority of inon, "from, kings to traitors treat him in return ! It is true, such persons are not aware of the cruelty they are committing, and it is to remind the thoughtless and to instruct the igDorant that Sir Francis Heid has written this book.

There is no subject, he argues, connected with tlm matter so worthy of consideration, most especially to any man wearing the n=ime of gentleman, as the use and abuse of spurs. Whatever k to be c aid— and that is very little— in favor of s-mis in the case ot animals th'ut have been voting in a Mnte of nature that never tasted corn, or been excite Ho race against 6ne another ;■ and, consequently, th tt c urnnt h ■ induced to exhaust m man's service the whole of their strength, except by punishment, with Knsilisi) horajs the conditions are quite different. " Tjcd to mangers, in which they feed on dry out*?, b"a'i«, and hay do sooner do they leave their tlaV.es than the very sight of ere ition animates the ax ; every can iage that trots by, end eveiy riiier that parses," excite-Tthei'i. When brought into condition, and then encouraged to compete against each other, their phjsic-il strength thoujrh artih.ially raised to the maximum, remains far behind their instinctive courage uitl dispcUtipn to jja tijl tiioy die in almost any service in which they maVibe employed. " Under these circunißfancos the use of tho spur la to enable roan to maintain his supremacy, and, whenever necessary, promptly and efficiently toj-uppivts mutiny in whatever form it may break out. If a restive horse objects to pass a particular post, be mu-.t be forced to do so. If he refuses to jump water he must be conquered ; but in every case of this nature a combination of cool determination, plenty of time, apd a lit tic punishment, invariably form is, more pev- 4 joanent cmc than a presu' iptlou eouapooed only Of the last ingredient ; for as axip.v, in a horse as in &:maii,- is ' a short madness, an ttnimal under its influence' is not in so goo.l a state to learn and rememoer the lesson of obedience which man is entitled to

* " The Horse aad his Bider." By Sir Francis Head, Bart. Murray, London,

impart, as when lie has tim? given to him to observe I tint tho ju<t sentenc; to which lie is sternly i equirerl J to submit, is tempered with msrey. " Hut if the use* of the spur are few, its abuses ore many. On (he raceeojrse, the eagerness a:id i;u- I petuosity of thoroughbte'l hursts to contend against i each oth-r are s>gienf, that for acon^-i leniblo thn" ! it is difficult t) pr^ent them, e--p oially t'io youn» j one:, ftom st.ii tinu ncforc the si^i.al \i ahcii As J soon as they are ' oif,' it hi-cDmes al! that « he lie it | lid 'rs in the \\oii>l can do m ».vly f> guide tliem ; to ! sttntliem would he inir-o-iblo. (k-oi-im-aily thur i veiv limbs ' bri-ak down ' in their end. avoi, to win; an i y-t, while th-\v xv cvp'ting t'iy i utm.r-- poweis ' an t strength to the &hauip of their owiurs and to j th' di'grwe of Ju> nation -the rideis are all )we I, as a t >rt of show-off, to pud tho c mtc^t >>y whipping 1 an. f-pniring. wlrch, jim- timo- out »t te-i, ha-, His i ofr "t of making th.j aol>!e>t quadnipjd in croati.-n Jr> ' whit is technically call d -.shut up,' whiu'i meins, ! th:.t the ungeiu'rous and uimrateful'puisi-liment aivl i nejradation tlut have I eon unjustly inflicted tip m hn.., Ikh-o cowed his g ilUnt s.nrit. and lu-.e biokcn an honest heart." " I

'I he hunter — nay, the horse of whatever kind who i* taken to the hunting field-will follow tin hounds till he drops, and to his own great physical detriment; so that after haviim, with appa-ent oheevfnlnes, brought his rider homo with a good appetite, socurcu by some 10 or Ii houis exercise, his own oxhan-te 1 stomach remains for h )urs, and smiptim-s days, without the smallest dc^iro for corn or bems.

"ft this plain slatempiit be correct, lei\ing humanity entirely out of the question, how ignorant arU coiitemptible ii that man who is seen, durino- a ru i, not only to be spurring hL, bor-e with both heels whenever he comes to deep-ploughed ground or to tie bottom of a ste-p hill, but Who, just as if be were singin-r to himself a little sonu, or ' for want of thought,' whistling to himself a favorite tune, tlnouuhout the run continues, as a sort of idle accompaniment to his music, to dangle, more or less S3verely, th? revel of one spur into th" &ide of a singed hu. tor, who all the time is a great de J more anxious to live with the hounds than he is."

Again, how many men, c.illing themselves sportsmen, do we see in the hunting-field, after long severe j runs, lighting their cigars, and takin? their ease upon I tl)L> backs of the very creature? whose exertions have enabled them to be •• in at the finish," and whose qualifications may even form the theme of tluir talk. '■ In the army, when a soldier who has committed an offence is sentenced to crawl, for several hours, up and down a warade ' in heavy marching or.ler/ it is justly called punishment drill.' In like ma-iuer, if an unruly horse were to be sentenced merely to stand in his stable for ten houis with a sack of heavy oats weighing at (at 42 lbs. the bushel) exactly 12 stone, the punishment or pain his muscles would undergo in bearing such a weight for so long a time would bn so severe, that by almo-t everybody it would be termed 'cruel.' But if, instead of being quiescent, the sai'k of oats could, by mechanical contrivance, be continually lifted up, and then by a series of heavy biows, dropped down upon verfebtje which have nothing but muscles co support them, tbe punishment would be condemned as excntciating ; and yet this excruciating punishment is quite unnecessarily. Kinicttd upon hunters by a lot of good-humored hoavy men, simply fiom neglecting to :efl ■« tint if tl.ey would, only even for nniiiiiue or two, cc-ca^ioiiall-utdoad their saddles, to walk a little, stand still a little, or whiie the hounds ay.) driwius, sit pi icidly Ui>on the stile or trate that is often clo 3 e'beiiiud them they would not only perform an a<-t of mercy, but (hey would impart, or rither restore, strength' tone, and activity to nmsjles which, if exluuste !, must inevitably fail when tested hy a severe run."' Sir Francis' advice, us a practical horseman, is not at all less valuable that the part of the vol iuk- which niav be called its •' huunnitv lectuivs." A ly»ise accustomed to road travelling, who^a he ,J, through the u--e of the curb bit, is raisVi above Ihe natural level, | aad who has good action, commonly earns thi elm | ne'er of btiug a capital h ick. '• A'ow, to liiatamorphose a "hack 'in to a Miunter'i; prncipaliy effected by the bridle, iind»yet the mo it difficu ty of ihe art i, to learn not how much, but how .ittle to u<-p it; in short, a considerable portion of what the bridlo has done has to be undone. Aco rdingly. inst ad of be:ng encouraged to travel on his haunch^, with his foreleg* litrklly touching the ground, the latter must h: required to bear the greater portion of the burden, which it is the duty of the hind-legs to pr pel The lieid Kis to bp brought dawn to \U proper 10.0 l ; p.-id to induce, or rat Lor to oblige, the hoi>e to make his eye.s the lantern of his fret, to study geology instead of astronomy, he >-houH be sLw'ly lidden, with a 'ooserein, over e\ery little hole, grip, or heap that would be likely to throw a hack down. \Vhene\er he can be made tostumVe— if the rider feel- that ho will not actually fail -the reins should instantly bo dropped. In like manner, he .<houl Ibo walked for seveial days over the ron<he,,t giound that can bo found, part'cularly laud thnt h"s I o 'i exe'ava^d to obtain the subatiatuid and left in lioles. With a peifectly loose rela he should hegentlv trotted, r;ei!i!y cantered, gently gaHop-r! over a Mi i face ot this description, the rider ahvujs (hopping the leiu when he blunders."

'ihe cause and cure of shying was carrninlv never trratdl of wirh gi eater judgment and humor t!mu in the following sentences : - " It often happens that a horse, brimful of qualifications of the very Lest do-ciiption, is most ltluetantlysold by his master ' because he shies so diva Ifully;' a frolic which, to a good riiier is perfectly harmless, and <vhich, if lie deems it worth the trouble, h' 1 is almost cprtnn to cure. A. timid horseman, however, iiog only believes that his horse is frightened at the little heap of stones at which lie shies, but for this very reason he becomes frightened at it himself ; whereas the truth is, tint the animal's sensations in passing it are usually compounded ps follows :—: — Of fear of the little >.crip l-10rh Offeai- of whip aui sou • 9-lUth<3 , Now if this be the case, ws>ich i\o one of experience will deny, it is evident flat the fiimple remedy to be adopted is, first, at onae to remove the qrea't cause of the evil complained of, by ceasing to apply either whip or spur; and. secondly, gradually to remove the lesser cause by a little patient management, which shall be briefly explained. " When a horse has been overloaded with a heavy charge of oats and beans, which may be termed junpiug powder, and primed by a very sho^t allowance'of work, his spiritSj %? tlm hair-trigger of a lifle, are prepared on the smalje&t touch to cause a very \ii]ent explosion, .a fact without metaplior, on the slightest occurrence he is net onW willing, but desirous, to jump for joy. The casus belli which the animal would perhaps most enjoy, would be to meet a temperance runaway awning- covered wa«gon full of stout healthy young; women in hysterics, s.lf screaming or to have a bouse fall down just iis he was passing 1 it. Howet er, as n great conqueror,' if he r-nnnot discover a large excuse for' invading tbe territory of his neighbor 4s sure to pick out a little one, 'so does the hiKii-mettled horse, has'not'lqna; tq^orj-u, proceed under b,ia rider wjth hi- eyos searching in all directions for something whioh he may pretend to be afraid of. Influenced by these explosive propensities h*> cocks his ears at a large leaf which the air had gently roused from its sleep as if were a crouching tfcjpr; and shortly afterwards a foreleg drops under I him as suddenly as if it had been carried away hy a j cannon-shot, because, in the hedge becide h kUi , a wren has just hopped Trcm one twig to another nearly an inca. . " Now, of couise, the effective cure for all these symptoms of exubeiant, pent-up spirits is along steady iiand-gallop, up and down hill, across rather deep ground. Before, however, this opportunity oilers, man Pan offer to die brute beneath him a more reasonable remedy. The instant that a hcrse at a walk soes at a s^orj; distance fcefure 'liirri say a heap ot stones, at whioh he pretends to be, or roally is afraid, instead of forcing him on he should be allowed or, if it be necessary, forced to stop, not only till he ceased to few it, but until, dead tiie i of looking at it heayeits his eyes elsewhere. While advancing tow,rJs it, so often as his fear, or pretended fc .r b-ealts our, by instantly bringing him toastand-S'iil, it should in like manner be over-appen-od " The serious advice ',v tins -vahirnj, is pleasantly interspeKod Tyitl\ «'<\ec< Wes 'of tlia,t p> moo of fox hunter.--, I homtw Asthetou Smith. Many a time has the writer of this notice scon t' aHlne old English gentleman among his favorites at Ted worth, wTipre every hunter— am! be had often as many fis 50 in fir-t-rate condition -had a loosa box to him-elf. At 6i he br u«ht his hounds for one day, by invit ition, to Leicestershire, -which hu had in o'.d times hunted himself, and no le&s that two thousand hoifiimen, »ne third of whom were iv pink, a' v Unri.-it t 0 do him honor. Untjl ei^iry yeais"cfa»e this veteran continued to .hunt, although his meot-3 were rui tai'ed to four a weeki to vault on hor.-tb.ick as u^ual, blow his horn while his hone was canying him over a firebarred gh-te, ' and "with a loose iein jrallop c|ow« the sluep-fed hill sjjes wifh tf\e alacrity of a, hoy. Since Mr->. Hmith's heqith was dulic^e, ho had ' brought Madeira to England,' by const: acting for her at 'IV I worth a magnificent conservatory or crystal pahce, 315 feet in length and 40 feet in width, in which enjoying the temperature of a warm climate, she might take walking exercioo (luring tbe winter months A Wiltshiie firmer on first seeing this buillingobseived he supposed it was for tho Squire to limit there whentvera frost btopned him in tho tlc^.l Mtwa^a lr.eftnehojy j,peei,iKsle,' Wijtes 'Sir J. tyarilley Wiinot, to see lorn Smith tiie v. inter \\ol\na his dentil, when he could no longer join his. hounds, mount one of his lavouwte hunters— liuxino, Paul Potter, or blemish — with the assistance of a chair, and take his exerci-e lor an hour at a foot's pace up and down this cou«cr\iitory, otten with s,omo f-iend at his sile to cheer him up and wile away the tlmo until he ie-enttred the house, for he was not allowed at that peiiod to S o out oi doors. Even in tbte fa-be condition, once on horseback nc > «>,^av,,l torovivG; and the llexhrilv and ens? with which ho mana^a, like a p!.i%*hinjr'. the . spipita . animal unl M him? which 1iw18.5-.rwTy left its stable for months, was most MirprUng.' " All that a man, could do. with intenfon, upon a hoite s bade Assheton Smith could do ; but the presant nlojor-GeneiM lorfce Moore did, unintentionally, even a greater thing than he. lie vo.le a horse at Wozamica, in the West Indies, cfowa a sheer precipice Ml feet high, w\ is now alive and well to tell the

story. The mnjor reooveied from the chock, the horse it via that < lied.

It ii jint fjoiier.illy Known tint the ptastice of Lipsoclrau»lit has, b?un in vcyue in tln> British army, as tbe Ibllmving extract from the " (queen's fleguldtions" informs us: —

•' In orJer that the cavalry tn.jy, upon emer^mcies ha awul.iole for tho puron-i;-, ot iliau- lit, suieh a." a>sistimaui'leiy, &c , thr.iuuh (le^nuds. ami insurtiiotuitiu^ uthar imp ViniPiits nvA ol st id- s which the c uTia^i'a of the army h iv> freqwitly to Piioountei 1 hi tho C'jinvw of mhvu beni:e, 10 men per troop are to be equipped with the tickle i>t the lasso." The Ko^al K'liinc r TV<itn— who have al-o .adopt"! tlu* fcijuth Ami lie in system of •' liob!>hn_j" their horses it the ii)-tig,tt;on of (>u.- author )mvj t'emonstratu 1 l»y p«b- !)•; I'KDeviiaent-; in this country, th'it w itli the simple i-Hiipment of the !a^o, '■ which would injure neither the eili ■iciicy o' 1 tlm appcuMiice of tlie uivalry, any ii.iinlvr ot ho.ss, whether accustomed to dinuglit or not. ;\ro eaj.ib'e of bcingr at onec harnessed to any dtsi'riutioii of carii-iye, nut only in fionfc t> draw it forward, buf in rear to hold it back, or evoii sideways to prevent ii 3 oversetting 1 - in short, that it is a nower which can he made to radiate ia :riy direction." There need b^, therefore, no more heavy g'ans sticking in quaginiies with friendly cavalry looting on, with plenty of power to help them but no nietins, as vas so oi'len the casein the JPeiiinsular war.

Finally. Sir Francis appeals with just indignation a^iiiKt the iuiuimanity of burning- a hor*e'> sinews, and cutting out his nerves without the merciful aid of chloroform.

" You aie a man of pleasure," he says, '•' save you) hoivse fiom unnecessary piiu. You are a man of business— inscribs in tluit ledger in which cveiy one of tho acts of your life is recorded, on one side how much he will gain, and on the other how very little jou will use, by tlw» evaporation of a fluid that will nol cost you the price of the shoai of tho poor animal wliomj marketable value you have determined, by excruciating aa;ony to nim, to increase.'" The excellent sense and judgment, indeed, which distinguished Sir Francis Head's advice throughout this volume, are not more worthy of consideration than his enlightened liumanify, Vh.cli deserves a bpecial medal fiom the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to the Brute Creation.'