|
The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: quicker pace than requisite, you must not suddenly wrench him, but
quietly and gently bring the bit to bear upon him, coaxing him rather
than compelling him to calm down. It is the long steady course rather
than the frequent turn which tends to calm a horse.[3] A quiet pace
sustained for a long time has a caressing,[4] soothing effect, the
reverse of exciting. If any one proposes by a series of fast and oft-
repeated gallops to produce a sense of weariness in the horse, and so
to tame him, his expectation will not be justified by the result; for
under such circumstances a spirited horse will do his best to carry
the day by main force,[5] and with a show of temper, like a passionate
man, may contrive to bring on himself and his rider irreparable
On Horsemanship |
