Articles

These articles by Portland Jones have been published in Hoofbeats Magazine and are reproduced here with the kind permission of Sandy Hannan, editor. For more information on Australia's best riding, training and horse care magazine please go to www.hoofbeats.com.au

When you read “On Horsemanship” Xenophon’s voice is so clear that it is almost as if you are sitting beside the retired cavalry general while he writes in a sunny spot in his garden. He wrote the book when he was 73 years old and approaching the end of his life but his wits are sharp and his wisdom clear on every page. I picture him pausing in his writing to look over to the stables and his stallions, remembering with gratitude their years of service. Perhaps he wrote this book for his sons and grandsons, to help them during a time in history when a man in battle trusted his horse with his life. Although he lived by the sword his voice is that of a scholar. The way he talks about horses reminds us that while our world is vastly different from his, the horses we work with are still the same. While none of us will go to war bareback on a stallion as Xenophon did his book is as valuable today as it was nearly 2500 years ago when he wrote it. Some of the details may be archaic but the underlying principles of tact and understanding are as important as they ever were. Xenophon lived in Ancient Greece; a remarkable man in an era that left the world with many new concepts and ideas including; democracy, philosophy, mathematics and physics. The Greeks were educated, restrained and ethical. They had a great love of beauty and believed in the pursuit of excellence. The gods that they worshipped were strict, unforgiving and required a great deal of attention; the Olympic games were started as a way of honouring (and placating) their chief god Zeus. One of the most important Greek artefacts is the Shrine of Delphi and on it are inscribed two statements that epitomise the Greek philosophy; they are, “Nothing in excess” and “Know thyself”. Its hard to imagine what the Greeks would think of modern ethics, values and the ‘super-size me, bigger is better’ philosophy! One of the most famous Greeks of that era was Socrates (469 – 399 BC). The two fundamental beliefs that Socrates taught his students were the necessity of doing what they believed was right even in the face of fierce opposition and the need to pursue knowledge relentlessly. Xenophon was a friend, a student and an admirer of Socrates. When Socrates was sentenced to death (by drinking a cup of hemlock) for “neglect of the gods” he refused to allow his many friends to help him escape by saying that he could not “return evil for evil” and that he must respect the processes of the law. Xenophon wrote a book defending Socrates and although he must have missed his friend he wrote, “Excess of grief for the dead is madness; for it is an injury to the living, and the dead know it not.” “On Horsemanship” was one of about forty essays and short books that Xenophon wrote throughout his life. He wrote on a number of different topics including war and military history. His most famous book is “Anabasis” which tells the true story of one of his many military campaigns. When he was 31 years old he went to war as a mercenary for Cyrus the Younger against his older brother Artaxerxes II. The Greeks won but Cyrus and his general were killed, leaving 10,000 Greek mercenaries in Mesopotamia, far from home and deep in enemy territory. They chose new leaders, of which Xenophon was one, and battled their way to the Black Sea and safety. It has been said of Anabasis that reading it is memorable because, “The feeling of the comfortable, quiet brain of General Xenophon who was never unduly disturbed or despondent and who always know what to do and how to do it.” (Ford Madox Ford 1938). Xenophon was exiled from Athens later in his life for his association with Cyrus but his banishment was revoked when one of his sons Gryllus fought and died for Athens at the battle of Mantinea. Like others of his era Xenophon rode only stallions as it was believed they were braver than mares. Although the Greeks wore extensive leather armour into battle they did most of their every-day riding dressed only in a short-skirted tunic. Xenophon writes of the importance of training the horse to stand quietly while the rider adjusts his skirts and takes a firm grasp of his spear. The ancient Greeks rode bareback, with the possible addition of a light cloth to sit on, as the saddle was yet to be invented. As Xenophon does not mention wearing armoured underpants it is not at all surprising that he advocated choosing horses with fleshy, well-covered backs! Xenophon dedicates several pages of his book to the management of a horse’s feet. The Greeks did not have farriers, so daily hoof care would have been extremely important. He writes, “Just as a house would be of little use, however beautiful its upper stories, if the underlying foundations were not what they ought to be, so there is little use to be extracted from a horse…if unsound in his feet, however excellent his other points; since he could not turn a single one of them to good account.” He suggests buying horses with thick-walled feet, writing that a good foot can be determined by the sound it makes as it hits the ground as a strong foot with a well defined frog will, “ring like a cymbal against the solid earth.” Xenophon is concerned with training the horse for war, cross country riding and parades. His horsemanship is based on the need for obedience as this was of the utmost importance to the soldier. The Greeks rode their horses on a long rein and with a rather high head carriage; with the neck possibly helping stabilise the rider in the absence of a saddle. He emphasises the beauty of a horse that is spirited yet obedient and discusses ways in which the rider can achieve the desired arched neck. He writes, “ If you desire to handle a good war-horse so as to make his action the more magnificent and striking, you must refrain from pulling at his mouth with the bit as well as from spurring and whipping him…but if you teach your horse to go with a light hand on the bit and get him to hold his head well up and arch his neck you will be making him do just what the animal himself glories and delights in.” Although “On Horsemanship” is often referred to as a dressage book it was written before horse training became a leisure time activity. Nevertheless the book serves to remind us that the sport of dressage evolved out of the training of horses for war, even though Xenophon would hardly recognise in today’s dressage tests the movements that he trained his own horses to perform. Xenophon valued lightness of the aids and fair treatment of the horse above all else. He writes, “for what the horse does under compulsion…is done without understanding; and there is no beauty in it either, any more than if one should spur and whip a dancer.” It is interesting just how much of Xenophon’s advice is relevant to modern riders. He writes that a man should sit on a horse, not as if seated on a chair but as if standing upright with legs apart. He stresses the importance of progressive suppling exercises including voltes and at all he times counsels riders to encourage the horse with tact and gentleness. He understood very clearly the need for breaks within a training session; stating that, “It is the best of lessons if the horse gets a season of repose whenever he has behaved to his rider’s satisfaction.” It is also interesting to note how clearly Xenophon understands the principles of psychology even though, as a discipline, it was developed over 2000 years after his time. He clearly demonstrates the principle of negative reinforcement (pressure / release) and the value of the release of the aid when he writes, “The horse’s mouth is not to be pulled back too harshly so as to make him toss his head aside, nor yet so gently that he will not feel the pressure. But the instant he raises his neck in answer to the pull, give him the bit at once; and so throughout, as we never cease repeating, at every response to your wishes, whenever and wherever the animal performs his service well, reward and humour him.” He also demonstrates the principle of classical conditioning (during which a previously meaningless cue becomes associated with a learnt response or reflex) when he describes how certain noises are used to either soothe or rouse the horse but that these noises are a function of the horse’s training and have no natural effect on their own. He writes, “Again it should be known that the conventional “chirrup” to quiet and “cluck” to rouse a horse are a sort of precept of the training school; and supposing any one from the beginning chose to soft soothing actions with the “cluck” sound and harsh rousing actions with the “chirrup” the horse could be taught to rouse himself at the “chirrup” and to calm himself at the “cluck”. When reading “On Horsemanship” it is sometimes necessary to remind yourself that it was written nearly 2500 years ago because some of the instructions in the book could easily have come straight from a modern pony-club manual. As an example, this is how Xenophon recommends putting the bit into the horse’s mouth. “In order to insert the bit correctly the groom should, in the first place, approach on the near side of the horse…raise the headstall in his right hand and with his left present the bit…if he refuses to open his mouth the groom must hold the bit against the teeth and at the same time insert the thumb of his left hand inside the horse’s jaws. Most horses will open their mouths to that operation.” However, Xenophon’s most important piece of advice for riders, and what he refers to as the golden rule, is that no one should attempt to train the horse when they are angry. He points out that anger is without reason and it will drive a person to do things that they will regret when they have calmed down. “On Horsemanship” reminds us that as modern riders we inherit nearly 25 centuries of tradition and technique. We can marvel at the understanding and compassion of a man who lived as a mercenary but who still cared deeply for the physical and mental well-being of his horses. If it reminds us of the transience of our own existence it also serves to make us ask what will remain of this era in 2500 years time. And finally it reminds us that no matter how much our world has changed and will change in the future, horses are a constant; we must be ethical custodians of the horse for we hold its future in trust for those generations still to come.

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