Xenophon On The Art Of Horsemanship: about riding

XENOPHON

Xenophon - On The Art of Horsemanship (Greece 360.B.C.)

6. about riding

Now the rider has received the horse for mounting. Now I want to describe what he has to do, to make himself and his horse most comfortable, when riding. First of all the reins: He shall take the rein which is fastened to the chaw-band or the nose-band, skilled with the left hand, but so loose that he neither when mounting by taking the mane nor, if he jumps on horseback using the spear, will disturb the horse in the mouth. But with the right hand he shall take the reins together with the mane on the withers, for not to pull the horse in any way when mounting.

When he now has risen in order to get seated, he shall pull his body up with the left hand and stretching the right he shall lift himself at the same time up. When he mounts in this way he will also from behind not offer an ugly view. He shall not first put the knee on horseback with the leg bent, but throw the shinbone immediately onto the other side, and when he has swung over his foot, then sit his buttocks down on the horse.

When the rider leads the horse with the left and holds the spear with the right is would be good, if he also was trained to mount from the right-hand side. Therefore is nothing more to learn than doing, what he before has done with the right parts of his body, now with the left ones and reverse.This mounting from each side has to be recommended, because the rider must always be quickly ready, when he must suddenly fight the enemy.

Now he is mounted either on bare horseback or on a cloth. But a seat like on a chair, with lifted knees, I can praise in no way. The rider sits properly when he sits upright on horse, such as he would stand with both legs astride. In this way he will better hold himself on horseback, he rides with better contact, and as he is upright, he has more power to throw the spear or strike on the enemies. From knee downwards he must let hang the shinbone without tension. If he held the leg stiff, then he would break the leg when pushing against anything. But if the shinbone is flexible, it can give way without moving the upper part of the leg.

The rider has also to train his body above the hips to be as flexible as possible. So he will still be able to stand more fatigue and when somebody pushes or pulls him he is less likely to be thrown off the horse.

Now, when seated, first he must teach the horse to stand quiet until he has organized his cloths and adjusted the reins to the same length and put his spear in a proper position. Then he shall bend the left arm to be ready to ride. Those reins are best which are totally even, not to thin nor too thick or even slippery, so the hand in case of emergency can also hold the spear.

Now the rider can give the horse the sign to move forward. He shall start with walk, because this is the most calm way to go. If the horse carries his head too low, he shall hold the reins with the hands higher, if too high, a little lower. Doing so he will present the head in the most beautiful way.

When he then breaks into natural trot, he will stretch his body, totally without hurting himself and like to come to gallop. As it is the custom to start left-hand side, one will do so, the rider giving the signal for gallop in the moment when the horse is treading with the right fore. When turning left he will also start jumping lefthandside.. For it is the nature of horse to lead with the right when turned to the right and when left with the left.

But the exercise which is called circle has to be recommended because it trains the horse to let him turn on both jaws. Also the changes in this exercise are good for making both jaws equal in both variants of the exercise. Further one has to recommend the elliptic ring more than the circle, so the horse can be turned when he is tired of the straight course. Here he can learn to run straight and turn at the same time.

One has to collect the horse when turning, because it is neither easy nor sure for the horse to turn when going fast, especially when the ground is uneven or slippery. When the rider collects the horse, he has to slant the horse as little as possible with the bit, and also slant his own body as little as possible. Not paying attention to this means a very little reason is enough to bring rider and horse down. As soon as the horse looks straight forward after turning he shall drive the horse to faster run. For it is clear, that also in war turns happen in pursuit and retreat. Therefore it is important to exercise the horse increasing the pace after turning.

When having trained a lesson long enough one should give the horse a rest. But one should also suddenly drive him to going as fast as possible, away from other horses and back to them as well. After going fast one should stop as short as possible, better turn on place and ride back immediately. For there can come up situations, where one can use both. When it is finally time to dismount one should never do it among other horses, nor where many people are standing. One should also not dismount outside the riding-ground, but where the horse is forced to work, there it should also receive his rest.