The parfait mareschal, or Compleat farrier. Which teacheth, I. To know the shapes and goodness, as well as faults and imperfections of horses. II. The signs and causes of their diseases, the means to prevent them, their cure, and the good or bad use of purging and bleeding. III. The way to order and preserve them, when upon travel, to feed, and to dress them. IV. The art of shoeing, according to a new design of shoes, which will recover bad feet, and preserve the good. Together with a treatise, how to raise and bring up a true and beautiful race of horses: as also instructions, whereby to fit all kinds of horses with proper bits, whereof the chief draughts are represented in copper-plates. / Written originally in French by the Sieur de Solleysel Escuyer, sometime one of the overseers of the French Kings Royal Academy of Riding, near to the Hostel de Conde in Paris. And translated from the last Paris impression, by Sir William Hope of Kirkliston Kt. Lieutenat Governour of the Castle of Edinburgh. By whom is also added as a supplement to the first part, a most compendious and excellent collection of horsemanship, taken from the best and most modern writers upon that subject, such as Mr. De la Brow, Pluvinel, and the Great Duke of Newcastle. Part I.

CHAP. XX. After what manner, a Man should mount and try a horse he intends to Buy.

AFter you have seen the horse mounted and rid by another person,* 1.1 it will be fit to get up on him next your self, that so you may certainly know if his going please you; A good Horse-man will immedialy judge by a Horses going, if he have strength, lightness, or be agreeable; but this can be taught no man, but must be acquired by a long care, and application which he giveth to it: however I believe the best method whereby to know certainly the fund of the vigour, Goodness, and agreeableness of a Horse, is this.

Take the Horse as he cometh out of the Stable, and if possible before he hath Rid any that Day, and without animating, or in the least frighting him with your Legs or rod, slack your Bridle hand about four fingers breadth, more than it is necessary to feel him ou the hand, letting him go at a step according to his own fancy and humour, with his head lolling if he will, and you no ways troubling him; now if you can have but patience to let him walk thus negligently for a quarter of an hour, if he incline to stumble he will trip more than once, and perhaps salute the ground with his nose, if he be very subject to it; if he be heavy on the hand he will rest wholly upon the Bit, and be a burden to the Bridle-hand, if he be dull and Lazy, he will diminish insensi∣bly the train of his walk, and will at last stand still; to put him on again, you must

move gently your body and Legs, nay even your Arms, as commonly the Grooms do when they take a Horse to the Water, and infallibly you will know your Horse better thus in half an hour, than in half a day by any other method: Again if after having made this proof, you cause him go at an attentive pace, and that he be under the appre∣hension of your Spurrs, he will unite all his strength and mettle to please you, whereas if you suffered him to walk on negligently at his pleasure, he would not much help or advance his sale; because it is commonly in the first hundred yards or so, that a Horse after he hath been switcht or spurred, giveth the greatest token of his Mettle, by reason that the fear and apprehension of the correction he received, is for so long fresh enough in his memory: But if after he is once fred of that apprehension, by your negligence in pressing him on, and slackness of your thighs and legs, he notwithstanding go cheer∣fully forwards with a raised and well placed head, and champing his bit, his step well raised and resolute, without either stumbling or stricking upon the Clods or Stons in the way, I say without doubt such a Horse cannot but be vigorous and mettled, and also go well; these are the Horses which a man may venture to buy at a dear rate, for there are but few of this make.

For Horses again which Amble, they should go roundly and equally, that is, their hind quarters should accompany exactly their fore, and not go as if they were in two peices or halfs, but above all, you should observe if the persons which are upon them, make but a little motion with their bodies, which will be a certain token that such Horses go well, and that not only the Amble, but also the Step.

Besides, a Horse in Ambling should go with an equal time or cadance, that is, all his steps should be of an equall measure, and not three quick and perhaps as many slow, but with his head and neck high and well raised, and his haunches low; because those Hackneys with high and unbended Haunches, go uneasily, weary themselves, and fa∣tigue the Rider; there are some Amblers which raise up their Croups every step they make, so that their hind-quarters move like the Waves of the Sea, which are always rising and falling, this is a very bad way of Ambling, which soon wearyeth Horses, and hindreth them to Rid any great length, because they do not Ride with their Haunches low and plyed: For all Horses which do not Amble with their Haunches thus low and plyed, can never go agreeably nor easily; but besides this, they should have also a sufficient movement in their fore-legs, which will add considerably to the Gracefulness of their Amble.

The best observation for Amblers, and to know if they really go well, is to take notice if they overlay much in Ambling, which is, if with their hind feet they overpass a foot and a half, or two foot, the print of their fore, for the more they overpass them with their hind feet, the better will they Amble, and the worse if they do not, because it is impossible for them thus to overpass with their hind-feet the treads of their fore, without plying considerably their Haunches, which is the perfection of the Amble.

If people have not taken exact notice to the motions of a Horses legs upon the Amble, they will scarcely believe how it is possible that an Ambler, which lifteth the fore and hind-legs of the same side and at one and the same time, while the two legs of the other side are upon the ground, and so alternatively, should yet set down these two legs which were in the Air the one before the other and not at one and the same time; however it is a Matter of Fact, and if you take notice to it, you will find that he setteth his fore∣foot first to the ground, and then afterwards, but very quickly, his hind foot is set down, just as the two feet of the other side, wherewith he did not lead, are beginning to be raised, and when these two which did lead are upon the ground, then the two of the other side are raised and make the same motion; and so successively the one side after the other, which is pretty odd, and very well worth observation; What our Author says here of a Horses setting down in an Amble, his forefoot before the hind of the same side, notwithstanding of their being both raised from the ground at the same time, may hold in some Horses, but doth not in all, as you may easily discover, by an exact observation of but half a score or a dozen different Horses, as they are Ambling.

There are many travelling Horses, which have their Haunches so very stiff, that they cannot at all ply them as they are Riding, which maketh them so uneasy, that they very much fatigue and trouble the Back and Reins of the Rider, when they are but even going at a foot-pace, and they are those Horses which are half ruined, and spoilt with carying large Clock-bags and Mails, that are most subject to this imperfecti∣on, so that when they have no Clock bag or large Port-manteau upon their Croups, they go with their haunches very straight and stiff, but if you load them with a pretty heavy Mail, they will then ride agreeably enough, because of their being thereby constrain∣ed

to ply and bend their Haunches; the remedy is good, although somewhat too vio∣lent to be made constantly use of: All Horses which have stiff hind quar∣ters to uneasily, neither are such Horses Haunches made stiff and un∣easy with carrying Mails and Port manteaus, for there are many of them which have never carried any, but then this stiffness and uneasiness in them, may proceed from their being either too severely fatigued, or for having too short Haunches: those Haunch∣es are too short, which descend in a streight line from the Haunch bone to the pastern joynt, and because it is with difficulty that such Horses bend their Hams in Riding therefore is it that they have a hard and uneasy sett with their hind-quarters, without being in the least spoilt by excessive labour, for although they be but Colts they will goe after this manner, and give but a very uneasy divertis••ment to their Rider.

In sine, whatever kind of pace a horse goe, if he be upon his haunches he will be so much the more agreeable and easie; there are some horses which as they come first out of the stable, ply their haunches and goe very low behind, but they cannot con∣tinue long at it, because it is too constrained a motion; for the horse perhaps unites al•• his strength to give ease to his fore-legs which are bad, and as no violent action is durable, therefore he cannot continue long at this, so that after a short time taking himself to his old train, he will goe swinging and rouling his croup at each step, and ride very disagreeably all the rest of the way.

There are however some horses which having very good and excellent Reins, ply their haunches and goe upon them at their very first coming out, but then this is 〈◊〉〈◊〉 mark of their strength and reins, in so far as being mounted by a good horseman, he will make them continue their train, with their haunches thus plyed without intermis∣sion, which it were impossible for them to doe, if they had not besides good reins, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 great dale of nimbleness and activity, with an excellent and sensible mouth: Su•••• horses as these are both rare and very dear.

It now remains that I discourse of those horses, which goe shuffling and mixt kind of paces, which generally speaking are worth nothing, for as such paces are either a mix∣ture of the amble and walk, called in French L'entre pas or traquenard, or of the amble and Gallop, in French L'aubin, a horse cannot continue at them, and commonly such horses are fretful and hery, which obliges them at their first outsetting to take themselve to such kind of shuffling paces: Sometimes also they proceed from a weakness either in their reins or legs; but if it hath never been a horses custom before, to goe a shuffling pace betwixt the walk and amble, and that you find he now inclines to it of his own accord, it is almost always a token, that his legs are either spoilt or weak, and that he er∣pects by this mixt kind of pace to give ease to them: The publick messengers Mail-horses which are these that carry the panniers or packs, take up this kind of pace by carry∣ing the large pack-sadles, and by degrees learn to Amble as they spoil in their legs and become old.

Some ambles which are forced, that is, horses which have been constrained to amble by help of the Tramel, without having any disposition to it, are many times not very a∣greeable and easie; because they don't commonly keep at it above half an hour, after which they take themselves to their accustomed pace, and go either at a step or a pitiful short Trot: 'Tis true that the most part of English horses have an amble, which i•• not at all natural to them, but which they have been artificially taught, and indeed no horses in the world amble better than they doe, for they are taught it with a great dale of art; and many Colts have at two years old the Tramel put to them, when they are at Grass, and are left so in the fields with them every Summer, both night and day untill they be four years old, which is the age at which they commonly begin to back them, so that by this long habit of running with the Tramel, they contract a second Nature, and either Amble as they are pressed, or use their natural pace when they are suffered to goe slowly.

I have my self attempted to teach several Horses to Amble, both by the help of Tramels, and without them only by the hand, but they never arrived to such a perfection in it, as many Horses I have seen come from England, even although the method of teaching it was discovered to me, by one of the most expert and skilful in that imployment; for he would have perfected and confirmed some horses in the Amble in fifteen dayes time, and that only by the hand without the Assistance of the Tramel; but that which hap∣pened to those I designed to teach, was, that there Legs were all spoilt and galled with it, and by the violence they suffered in going such a constrained motion, they became many times lame; in short the most part of them came only such a length, that they were more fit for deceiving People, than yeilding any good and profitable service,

so that if any person have a design to try his skill this way, I advise him to follow no other method than that practised by the English, which he may find set down in the 33 Chapter of the Supplement of Horsemanship annexed to this first part.

When a Horse hath naturally a mixt pace, and that he goes sometimes the motion of the Amble, and other times the Trot or Walk, it is very fit and reasonable to apply the Tramel to him, that so it may assist nature to confirm him in a pace, and which may prove also a very great help to give him such an Amble, as may be both true and of long continuance, whereas if you did not make use of the Tramel, there would happen this inconveniency that he would go the Traquenard, which is a mixt and shuffling kind of motion, and but a very bad pace.

When a Horse hath an inclination to Amble, the English method of Tramling succeeds very well: Now the motion of the Walk is different enough from that of the Gallop, and the qualities which a horse should have to make him walk well, are quite different from these he should have that so he may gallop well, nay they are almost quite contrary: Because to walk well he should tread hard and firm, whereas to gallop well he should scarcely suffer his feet to touch the ground, which is the way people express themselves, when they would signifie that a horse should gallop lightly and easily; and it is upon this account that horses which walk very well, do commonly never gallop in perfection, and that those which gallop perfectly, do upon the con∣trary never walk exactly well; however there are horses which have both a good walk and excellent gallop, but they are rare and hard to be got: A horse that hath a had walk, will run so much the better, provided he have also mettle.

A Horse which is designed for hunting, should be Vigorous and full of mettle, gallop upon his haunches, and but graze slightly upon the ground with his feet, that is, should goe smooth, and not raise his fore-feet too high, but list them easily and without much trouble, his head and Neck high and well placed, without resting too mu••h upon the snaffle, and also giving a little snort with his Nostrills each stroak he maketh, which is a token of good wind; when a man is taking a tryall of a horse by galloping, he should observe if he perform it equally while he continues him at it, and at last he shou'd push him on a little hard to know by his stop if the horse have as yet strength and vigour, which is called a Source or Fund, and if he be also sensible of the Spurrs.

This is what I promised to discover to you, concerning the faults and imperfections of horses; and if you have exactly understood what I have said, and that with attention you goe gradually from one part to another as I have ordered, I am certainly perswaded you cannot be imposed upon or deceived when a buying one: But if you think you are not as yet skilful enough to rely upon your own choise, I advise you to consider well whom you imploy to assist you, and especially beware of those qutbus prater lucruns nihil est dulce. It is now full time that I draw this part of the present treatise to a close, which certainly for its usefulness cannot be too long, and if any person will take the trouble to augment and enlarge it, he will do me a considerable peice of kindness. I have as yet some useful circumstances to discover, which relate to the buying of horses, such as the Colour, White hair which cometh upon the legs, and Feathers, which are a kind of natural frilling, or rather turning of the hair, upon several parts of the Body, and other such like things, which I intend to discourse of in the following Chapters, because they are pretty curiosities, and sought after and inquired into with a great dale of nicety and care.

Notes

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  CHAP: XX How a Man should mount and try a horse he intends to buy.