How to Prevent a Horse Stumbling.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 212, 2 December 1873, Page 7

How to Prevent a Horse Stumbling.

William Douglas, late of the 10th Hussars, writes as follows :—" The cause which led to the sad and sudden death of Bishop Wilberforce must be my apology for troubling you .-with this letter, having seen it stated that the accident was probably due to the fact of the horse not being sufficiently in hand. This, in my opinion is, although a general, yet a very mistaken idea, for it has only been those horses ridden up to the hand that I have seen fall. If you tie a man's arms to his side and give him only a slight push, he will tumble down to a certainty, and as surely will any horse fall if when he stumbles his head is held up tight, by his rider attempting to keep the animal up. Just as a man finds : it necessary when he stumbles to throw out his arms to keep himself from falling, a horse in the same manner, when similarly circumstanced, needs his head free to keep on his feet. It is quite a mistaken notion for any rider to imagine that by pulling the reins he can either lift his horse over a leap or upon his legs again after stumbling. A pull at the bit in a horse's mouth will certainly cause him to throw his head up, but that very action causes the shoulders and knees of the animal to sink. We have only to watch an unmounted horse stumble, to notice how easily and naturally he recovers his footing by precisely opposite aids to what ridingmasters, as a rule, teach. A horse so circumstanced drops his head and neck in order to relieve.the shoulders of their weight, and when thus eased the animal can recover his foothold upon the ground ; but put upon him a dumb-jock and fasten his head to it with a pair of reins, and I'll guarantee, if ever he stumbles, down he must come. During an experience extending now over thirty years, I never knew a horse to fall from a mere stumble that was ridden with a loose rein ; while, on the other hand, I have seldom seen a horse ridden, as it is termed, ' up to the bit,' who, if he tripped, forgot to tumble as well. The only use of the bit and reins is guide, ' halt,' or make a horse rein back, and when we pretend we can do more than that with these articles, we are simply attempting the impossible. If the rider's feet rested upon the ground, then, by using them as a power, the horse might be raised a Jittle, but not otherwise. A baker can lift his basket, but he could not do so with himself in it."