On the Art of Horsemanship

It is necessary to collect him at the turns; for it is neither easy for the horse nor safe to turn short when going fast, especially if the ground is uneven or slippery.

In collecting him the rider must slant the horse as little as possible with the bit, and slant his own body as little as possible; else he may be sure that a trifling cause will be enough to bring him and his horse down.

As soon as the horse faces the straight after turning, push him along at once. For of course, in war too, turns are made with a view to pursuit or retreat. It is well, therefore, to practise increasing the pace after turning.

So soon as the horse appears to have been exercised enough, it is well to let him rest a certain time, and then suddenly to put him to his top speed again, of course away from, not towards, other horses, and to pull him up again in the midst of his career as short as possible, and then to turn and start him again from the stand. For it is obvious that a time will come when it will be necessary to do one or the other.

When the time has come to dismount, the rider must never dismount among other horses or near a group of people or outside the riding-ground; but let the place where the horse is forced to work be the place where he also receives his reward of ease.

As the horse will frequently have to gallop down hill and up hill and along a slope, and as he will have to leap over, and to leap out, and to jump down at various times, the rider must teach and practise both himself and his horse in all these things. For thus they will be able to help each other, and will be thought altogether more efficient.

If anyone thinks that we are repeating ourselves, because we are referring to matters already dealt with, this is not repetition. For we recommended the purchaser to try whether the horse could do these things at the time of buying: but now we say that a man should teach his own horse; and we will show how to teach him.

When a man has a raw horse quite ignorant of leaping, he must get over the ditch himself first, holding him loosely by the leading-rein, and then give him a pull with the rein to make him leap over.

If he refuses, let someone strike him as hard as he can with a whip or a stick: whereupon he will leap, and not only the necessary distance, but much further than was required. In future there will be no need to beat him, for if he merely sees a man approaching behind him, he will leap.

As soon as he has grown accustomed to leap in this way, let him be mounted and tried first at narrow, and then at wider ditches. Just as he is on the point of springing touch him with the spur. Similarly he should be taught to leap up and to leap down by a touch of the spur. For if he does all these things with his body compactly gathered, it will be safer for the horse as well as the rider than if his hind-quarters lag in taking a leap over, or in springing upwards or jumping downwards.