The perfect horseman, or, The experienced secrets of Mr. Markham's fifty years practice shewing how a man may come to be a general horseman, by the knowledge of these seven offices, viz. the breeder, feeder, ambler, rider, keeper, buyer, farrier / and now published by Lancelot Thetford, practitioner in the same art for the space of forty years.

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Title: The perfect horseman, or, The experienced secrets of Mr. Markham's fifty years practice shewing how a man may come to be a general horseman, by the knowledge of these seven offices, viz. the breeder, feeder, ambler, rider, keeper, buyer, farrier / and now published by Lancelot Thetford, practitioner in the same art for the space of forty years.
Author: Markham, Gervase, 1568?-1637.
Publication: London :: Printed for Humphrey Moseley ...,; 1656.
Rights/Permissions: To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
Subject terms: Horses.; Horses -- Diseases.; Horsemanship.
Link to this Item: http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A51971.0001.001
Cite this Item: "The perfect horseman, or, The experienced secrets of Mr. Markham's fifty years practice shewing how a man may come to be a general horseman, by the knowledge of these seven offices, viz. the breeder, feeder, ambler, rider, keeper, buyer, farrier / and now published by Lancelot Thetford, practitioner in the same art for the space of forty years." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A51971.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 6, 2024.

Pages

Helps and Corrections.

Before you teach your Horse any lesson, you must know there are seven helps to ad∣vantage him in his lessons, to punish him for faults gotten in his lessons; and they be the Voice, the Rod, the Bit or Snafflle, the Calves of the legs, the Stirrop, the Spur, and the Ground.

Voice.

The Voice is an help, when it is sweet and accompanied with cherishings and it is a cor∣rection, when it is rough or terrible, and accompanied with strokes or threatnings:

Rod.

The Rod is an help in the shaking, and a correction in the striking.

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Bit or Snaffle.

The Bit is an help in its sweetness, the Snaffle in its smoothness; and they are cor∣rections, the one in its hardness, the other in its roughness, and both in flatness and square∣ness.

Calves of the Legs.

The Calves of the legs are helps when you lay them gently to the horses sides; and cor∣rections when you strike them hard, because they give warning that the Spur follows.

The Stirrop and Stirrop leathers are helps when you thrust them forward in a quick motion, and stir up in the horse spirit and agility. But when you strike it against the hinder part of the shoulder, it is a correction and awakens memory.

Spur.

The Spur is an help when it is gently deli∣vered in any motion that asks quickness and agility, whether on the ground or above the ground; and a correction, when is stricken hard into the sides, upon any sloth or other fault committed.

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The Ground.

Lastly, the Ground is an help, when it is plain and smooth, and not painfull to tread on; and it is a correction, when it is rough, deep, and uneven, for the amendment of any vice conceived.