First Hand Bits of Stable Lore
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r'^^' x> ^^^ LIBRARY OF LEONARD PEARSON VETERINARIAN Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from Lyrasis IVIembers and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/firsthandbitsoOOware First-Hand Bits of Stable Lore < First-Hand Bits of Stable Lore By Francis M. Ware Illustrated from Photographs Boston Little, Brown, and Company 1903 Copyright, igo2. By Little, Brown, and Company, All rights rcser-ved Published December, 1902 \/P ^o(o' ^ Mzzi.z UNIVERSITY PRESS • JOHN WILSON AND SON • CAMBKIDGE, U. S. A. r". libra; PREFACE THESE chapters, except that on "Man- agement of a Pack of Hounds," appeared originally in the "Boston Transcript;" the chapter named, in the magazine Coach and Saddle^ Chicago, 111., of which the author is the editor. The pictures are from photographs taken by Messrs. W. P. Robertson, 738 Eighth Avenue, New York, and Messrs. Schreiber & Son, Phila- delphia, Pa. The chapters epitomize thirty years' active per- sonal experience with every kind of horse for every conceivable purpose, and the deductions drawn are in no sense theoretical. Such a book would have greatly helped the author when he began as a youngster, and it is his earnest hope that it may prove of use to others. FRANCIS M. WARE. CONTENTS Chapter Page I. Horse Buying and Horse Trying .... i II. As TO "Soundness" 22 III. Stabling and Stables 33 IV. Stable Management 47 V. Condition and Conditioning 60 VI. The "Green" or Unacclimated Horse and His Care 73 VII. The Horse's Education 81 VIII. Mouths and Manners 99 IX. The Foot and its Treatment 115 X. The Appointment Fad , , 125 XI. The Saddle-Horse 140 XII. The Hunter and His Education .... 159 XIII. The Steeplechaser and His Schooling . 1 80 XIV. Riding for Women and Children .... 197 XV. Four-in-Hand Driving . 211 vii CONTENTS Chapter Page XVI. Coaching and its Accompaniments . 230 XVII. Management of a Pack of Hounds . 251 XVIII. Showing Horses 288 Vlll ILLUSTRATIONS At Exercise Frontispiece For Road Work Page 2 Mr. Reginald Vanderbilt and his runabout pair. A Smooth Pebble ,,22 For Town or Park „ 34 Mr. A. A. Hausman's Royal Swell. A Capital Phaeton Pair ,,48 Mrs. John Gerken driving Brandon and Belmar. Worth Schooling ,,60 Just from the Country ,,74 Even All-round Action ,, 82 Mr. G. B. Hulme and his prize winner. Perfect Manners ,,98 Mr. R. F. Carman and a prize winner. My Daughter's Saddle-Horse ,,114 Mrs. John Gerken' s My Lady Dainty. Neady Appointed ,,126 Mr. Herbert Coppell's carriage and pair. A Weight Carrier ,,140 H. L. de Bussigny riding. ix ILLUSTRATIONS Good Form P^ge i6o Mr. J. Trowbridge Martin jumping Samoset. A Steeplechase Type ,, 1 80 On Good Terms ,, 198 Mrs. H. H. Good riding Thyra. Fourteen Miles an Hour ,,212 Mr. Alfred G. Vanderbilt and his four. "Coach, Gentlemen!" ,, 230 The Good Times Coach. *' " Pack up ! all of yer ! ,,252 Pennbrook Hounds. Good Types ,, 288 The Gig Class at Bay Shore Horse Show. FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE Chapter I HORSE BUYING AND HORSE TRYING SOONER or later there awakens in the breast of every wholesome and normal man the desire to own a horse, and, that flame once kindled, there is nothing which will assuage it, should Fortune prove ordinarily urbane, but the delights — and the disasters — of ownership. To " witch the world with noble horsemanship" has been the ambition of many an unsung hero, even as in the days of Jehu, the son of Nimshi, and of Alexander; and the agility, the decision of character, the patience, and the courage such pursuits develop are invariably the strongest arguments in their favor. As we teach our chil- dren to read and to write, so should we thoroughly instruct them in the best methods of equestrianism, watermanship, marksmanship, etc. ; and better far » I FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE is he equipped who is an fait in such accompHsh- ments — with some thoroughly comprehended trade to fall back upon if necessary — than the young men who are annually turned forth in thousands from our colleges with nothing but a " sheepskin " to cover their nakedness, and left trembling upon the threshold of a destiny with which their average collegiate acquirements have but illy fitted them to cope. That courses in such matters are not open to the pupils of our universities is matter for comment and reflection, as is the fact that modern languages have, in com- parison with the ancient, until recently formed but an insignificant portion of the preliminary require- ments and regular curriculum. Given the ambition to own a horse, and the question of "means" affirmatively answered, the obstacle of "ways" remains; and many a Mr. Neophyte has found, or fancied, this an insur- mountable obstacle. Generally recourse is had to Uncle John, whom family tradition has handed down as a combination of the serpent and the hawk in matters equine ; Cousin Will also knows a man who is on terms of friendship with another man who keeps several horses, and is therefore an expert; grandma, according to the fairy-tales 1 o O HORSE BUYING AND TRYING recited at family reunions on Thanksgiving and Christmas, was a regular daredevil in her salad days, and still has fancies for the flowing tails and arching necks that used to look so well on sofa cushion and sampler ; the news spreads through- out the family that Henry is about to buy a horse, and accordingly Henry, after much reflection as to how that act will affect him with regard to his business associates and social intimates, prepares for the fatal plunge. Right here is where Mr. Neophyte accumulates a cargo of trouble that would stagger a dromedary if he does not, once and forever, cast grandmas, aunts, cousins, friends and all, into the outer dark- ness. A man's wife and his horse are two acquisitions which he must choose for himself; and he who tries to please every one will end by displeasing them as well as himself He will have been told blood- curdlingtalesof the duplicity and chicanery of horse- dealers, and of the treacherous and evil disposition of horses ; and he enters upon his quest with much the same feeling that surges in the breast of a twentieth-century society girl on her first slumming expedition, — prepared to be dreadfully shocked, and finally disappointed that the incidents and surroundings are common-place after all. 3 FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE The process of buying a satisfactory horse is so very simple that it is most extraordinary that no one, or practically no one, follows it. If you want a set of furniture you go to a store ; look over the goods, ask the prices, select your arti- cles, and pay for them; you do the same thing with all the necessaries and luxuries of life, save and except when it comes to the purchase of a horse. You do not insult the furniture dealer by asking idiotic questions about things of which you know nothing and he knows you know nothing ; if he says that this wood is mahogany,and that bruise came from an accident in unpacking, you accept his statement ; you do not look at him with the " icy eye of suspicion," as one who would say, " " Great Scott ! what a monumental liar is this ! nor, when he has named his price, do you offer him fifty per cent thereof, and insinuate that he is a scoundrel and a pirate for not jumping at it. In short you "go shopping" for horses as you do for no other commodity, and if you " get stuck " you are, in nine cases out of ten, obtain- ing your just deserts. If you want to buy a horse go to any dealer — you can't go wrong, general opinions to the con- trary — treat him like a man, and be sure he will 4 HORSE BUYING AND TRYING reciprocate, be he Jew or Gentile, " Gyp " or genuine. Say to him, " I want a horse for such and such purposes, and place myself absolutely in your hands, save that I shall have a veteri- narian to decide whether the animal is practically sound, and reasonably likely to remain so in the work for which I intend him. I know absolutely nothing about horses " (it will cost you a struggle to acknowledge this, but never mind, it 's no secret, for the dealer knew it the moment you walked into the yard, and he will think a lot of you for being man enough to acknowledge what to him " was perfectly plain) , and shall be guided by you not only in the selection, but in the subsequent treatment of my purchase. I expect a frank description of all my acquisition's shortcomings, that I may allow for them." Now, if that dealer can fit you out, be sure he will do it to the very best of his ability, and take pride in so doing. On the other hand, if you take Uncle John along, that worthy old gentleman hops around the beast produced for his inspection, like an old crow around a bone, and makes occasional verbal pecks in this fashion: " Six years, hey? Had his mouth fixed, likely. I '11 bet he won't see ten again. What's that on his off hock? Nothing! D'ye 5 FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE call that hock smooth? Isn't he over a little mite on that knee ? Eyes look kinder blinky. Sure he ain't moon-eyed, hey ? Don't kick, does he ? Looks kinder mean.