HORSEMANSHIP. The art of managing horses. It is to the Greeks that we must look for our first knowledge of the history of horseman ship, for when primitive man first ventured upon the back of a captured horse is, at' the best, a matter of conjecture. The 'bit' could not have been known before the age of bronze, but un doubtedly the first horsemen employed a halter or thong of rawhide passed through the animal's mouth in order to direct and control it. Accord ing to the evidence of the Egyptian monuments, bit, bridle. harness, and chariot were employed; and we know from other sources that the bridles of the early horsemen of Egypt and Asia were considerably decorated with tassels. crests. and embroidery, in a manner both rich and elaborate; but anything approaching the modern saddle was unknown to either Egyptian, Assyrian, or Per sian. Instead, a decorated and fringed cloth fastened to the animal by a girth was employed to afford the horseman a sent. The warlike tribes the northern border of Greece are credited with the introduction of horseman ship among the Greeks. among whom the art was held in very high esteem. Horse-races were a conspicuous feature of their festivals and games: a noteworthy feature in connection with which was the fact that the tact and judgment of the rider was frequently a more important factor in gaining th0 decision than the superiority of the horse. The Athenians were especially devoted to the art, and the rules of horsemanship, so far as the seat is concerned, did not differ in essence froin the good horsemanship of to-day. That the Greeks excelled in the exerei*e is evident from the fact that they were in the habit of taking all sorts of 'leaps' (according to Xenophon). "across ditches. over walls. upon and from banks:" and iu military evolutions particularly. demonstrated their mastery of the all of equitation. The stir rup was not known III the Greeks, and probably its absence helped to make them t he finished horsemen Iln•y undoubtedly were. The Romans undoubted1:• learned the art of horsemanship from the Greeks. and. in fact. ascribed the ill.
N ellt iolIS of bridle and chariot, as well tes at tributed the first conquest of the horse, to their teachers. \Vitt' the I:oinans as with the Greeks, equestrianism was a cons/denims feature of their games; and in the time of Ca.sar the youths of the aristocracy lied with each other in the prac tice and public exhibitions of (Infield( feats of AlE1)1.1.VA I. llousi:mANsitie. Although there is no proof of the tact, it is nevertheless prob able that the saddle-tree had been used for pack-animals from a %Try early date, and that the riding saddle in sotia• form or shape was known before the fifth century n.•., the era of its reputed first appearance. The dillieulty of mounting into the saddle encumbered with heavy armor led through a series of contrivances to the introduction of the stirrup. While the horse manship of the age of ehivalry cannot be said to compare with that of the Greeks and Romans, the demands of the tournament prevented its be ing neglected.
Alomax IlousENTAxsitte. The first treatise upon the subject was that published by Fede rigo Grisoni. entitled Gli ordi ni del ea ra lea re (Naples, 1550). A eontemporary of was the celebrated teacher Pignatelli, who is re garded by many as the author of the foundation of our present system of riding. Two of his pupils, 1.a Itrotte and Pluvin•l. became famous throughout Europe. Subsequent important writ ers and their works in England are: Illundeville. The r•st offices .M•lf,nyitly to 11 rse nsh i pin• Ic.137111 : translations from the Ital ian. by Gervase Alarkhain (15931 and Sir Wil liam (lope ( Iffinfl; Thomas de Gray. (ouu plenl II ors., man and E.rin rt r (1,011,1011.
1(139). The Duke of Newcastle's If e'lloolo Ile de dr, N.Sce l's Hwy,' ( werp, rfttit first written in English, and after ward: translated into the language in which it was published. It was for to long period re garded as the great standard authority on hor•e manship, although to-day its teaching would be regarded as impossible. Cavalry horsemanship was the subject of a little manual published by the Earl of l'imbrol:e in 1761.