by Xenophon
CHAPTER 9
[1] Even a few readings will suffice for this treatise, but you need to have a constant awareness of what is going on around you, so that you can follow the best course of action in the light of prevailing circumstances. It is no more possible to write down everything a cavalry commander has to do than it is to know everything that is going to happen in the [2] future. The best piece of advice I can offer, I think, is to make sure that once you have decided on a particular plan of action it is carried out. Sound plans bear no fruit for a farmer, a shipowner or a commander unless care is taken to ensure that, with the gods’ help, they are seen through.1
[3] I am also convinced that the process of finding a thousand men to fill the quota for the cavalry would be hugely speeded up and simplified if the people of Athens were to commission a regiment of two hundred foreign mercenary horsemen. The point is that the presence of these men would, in my opinion, increase the loyalty of the whole cavalry unit and promote rivalry, on the issue of courage, between the [4] Athenians and non-Athenians. I know that the prestige of the Spartan cavalry dates from when they started to recruit foreign horsemen, and I see that foreign units are respected everywhere else, in all the other states which have them. After all, need stimulates a great deal of enthusiasm.2
[5] The cost of the mercenaries’ horses would, I think, be met partly by people who would be delighted to get out of serving in the cavalry (after all, they are prepared to pay even those who are trying to raise recruits for the cavalry* enough to keep them out of the service), partly by people who are prevented from serving by their poor physical condition, despite the fact that they fulfil the high property [6] qualification, and partly, I expect, by orphans with large estates.3 I also think that some resident aliens4 have the requisite ambition to be enrolled in the cavalry, because I know of several cases where a resident alien has been given some other privileged job to do by the Athenian citizen body and has been glad to take up the challenge and [7] carry it out. Similar considerations go for the infantry unit attached to the cavalry: I think it would be particularly effective if it was made up of men who were especially bitter enemies of whomever you were at war with at the time.5
If the gods give their sanction, all these things will become realities. [8] If anyone is surprised at how often I have stressed the importance of working ‘with the god’s help’, I can assure him that his surprise will diminish the more he finds himself in danger.6 He should also reflect on the fact that during a war each side makes plans for the other side’s destruction, but they rarely know how their plans will turn out. In a [9] situation like this, then, there is no one else to consult except the gods, who are omniscient and can communicate the future to whomsoever they choose through entrails, birds, oracles and dreams.7 And it is plausible to think that they are more likely to recommend a course of action to someone if he worships them wholeheartedly when he is doing well, and does not ask their advice solely when he is desperate.
ON HORSEMANSHIP
(De Re Equestri)
INTRODUCTION
Plato’s Socrates once implied that a man whose nature was functioning as harmoniously and purposefully as a horse’s would be an excellent man (Republic 352e ff.). Xenophon, never entirely unmindful of practicalities, would have added that for a horse to fulfil its natural function required the addition of the human touch. Whether Xenophon himself wrote On Horsemanship is more than a little doubtful, but in content and sentiment it is no less certainly Xenophontic. Indeed, an attempt is made to represent the two treatises as companion pieces (12.14). But whereas How to Be a Good Cavalry Commander is written ostensibly for the attention of the publicly appointed official, On Horsemanship is written for the idiotes, or layman. A similar contrast of readership may be drawn between the more privately oriented Estate-manager and the publicly addressed Ways and Means.
A passing reference is made here (11.10) to a commanding phylarch or hipparch, but leadership is not this treatise’s key theme. Successful, that is orderly and disciplined, management of military horseflesh is. The arrangement and exposition of the treatise render the medium in complete harmony with its message. In order to appreciate the finer points, the present-day reader needs to keep in mind throughout certain essential differences between ancient and modern equitation. Greek horses were smaller (by perhaps some two hands on average than the average cavalry charger early this century), stockier, more cob-like than those we are used to seeing or riding. Stallions were not gelded, which did nothing to assuage their tendency – shared by the mares – to bite. Nor did the rider operate with such seemingly indispensable modern aids to balance and control as stirrups and saddle. The horses for their part went unshod.
The nature of the beast meant that the horse was a hugely expensive commodity; the price most commonly paid for a horse in the fourth century was up to three hundred times the average daily wage of a skilled worker. The expense was especially magnified by a climate and terrain generally lacking in extensive lush pastureland. Only the seriously rich could hope to maintain a horse, let alone a stable or stud, and the horse correspondingly functioned as an obvious status symbol marking out the elite and often aristocratic few. It followed that even fewer Greeks could afford to own let alone breed racehorses – hence the quite prodigious extravagance implied by Alcibiades’ boasting that he had entered no less than seven teams of four-horse chariots at the Olympics of (probably) 416: this was the ‘blue-riband’ event of the Games (cf. Hiero 11.5), and Alcibiades not only won the first prize but had four of his teams in the first seven finishers. Small wonder that he commissioned Euripides to write a commemorative and celebratory ode, besides exploiting his triumph shamelessly for political purposes. The young Xenophon must surely have been hugely impressed.
Most Greek horses were utilitarian workhorses, doubling up in peace and war (the same Greek word, hippeus, did service for both ‘cavalryman’ and ‘horseman’). The closest a Greek came to riding a horse for pleasure was when he went hunting – but he rode only to, not during, the hunt, which took place on foot (see the next treatise, On Hunting). The author of this treatise therefore, like Agesilaus (Agesilaus 9.6), was interested chiefly in what went towards making a good war-horse – and a good cavalryman. At the same time, the horse’s peacetime functions are not neglected, not least because ceremonial parades of horses and riders were an integral part of certain religious processions, for example that which distinguished the Panathenaia festival at Athens. This annual festival was celebrated with especial magnificence every four years, when the Panathenaic Games including horse-races were also staged. In the Parthenon frieze there could be seen (but only just – they are far more easily visible in their current place of display) a uniquely elevated depiction of the sort of ideal horse and rider that the author of On Horsemanship had it in mind to produce.
ON HORSEMANSHIP
CHAPTER 1
I have, in fact, been riding for many years now, and I think that as a result ()I() have become a competent horseman; I would therefore like to explain to my younger friends what I consider to be the most correct way for them to deal with horses. It is true that there already exists a handbook on horsemanship, written by Simon (the man who dedicated as a votive offering the bronze horse in the Eleusinium at Athens, with scenes of his achievements depicted in relief on the base); nevertheless, I shall not expunge from my own treatise those points on which I happen to agree with him.1 No, the fact that on these matters my views coincide with those of such an expert horseman makes me regard them as all the more reliable and makes me far happier to transmit them to my friends. At the same time, I will try to explain any matters he failed to cover.
I shall first discuss how best to avoid being cheated when buying a horse. When scrutinizing a colt which is still unbroken, you must obviously base your assessment on its body, because a horse which has yet to be ridden will not give you any particularly clear indications of its temperament. You should start your examination of the body, [2] in
my opinion, with the feet. After all, however admirable the upper parts of a house may be, if its foundations have not been properly laid, it is no good. The same goes for horses as well as houses: there is nothing to be gained by a war-horse2 with bad feet, however excellent it may be in all other respects, because it will not be able to make use of its good points.
You should start your assessment of the feet by checking the hoofs, [3] because the horn may be thick or thin and the quality of a horse’s feet is greatly improved if it is thick. The next point to observe is whether both the fronts and the backs of the hoofs are raised or close to the ground. The reason for doing this is because on horses with raised hoofs there is a considerable distance between the frog,3 as it is called, and the ground, whereas low hoofs put pressure on both the toughest and the softest part of the foot simultaneously, as bow-legged people do. According to Simon the sound of a hoof also shows whether or not a horse has good feet, and he is right, because a concave hoof gives off a sound like a cymbal when it strikes the ground.
[4] Having made the feet my starting-point, I will continue, on the same principle, upwards to cover the rest of the body. The bones above the hoofs and below the fetlocks should not be too straight – too goat-like – because their excessive rigidity makes for a bumpy ride, and legs like this are more liable to inflammation. Nor should these bones come down too close to the ground, because then if the horse is ridden over clods of earth or stony ground the fetlocks might lose their protective hair and become grazed.
[5] The cannon bones should be thick, since they are the body’s supports, but they should not be padded out with veins or flesh. Otherwise, when the horse is ridden on hard surfaces, its lower legs are bound to become suffused with blood and the veins will turn varicose, the legs will swell and the skin will fall away from the bone. With this loosening of the skin, the pin4 too often gives way and makes the horse lame.
[6] As for the colt’s knees, if they are supple and bend nicely as it walks, you can infer that its legs will be supple when it is ridden too, because with time all horses develop greater suppleness and flexibility in the knees. The approbation given to supple knees is justified, because they make the horse less likely to stumble or tire than inflexible legs do.
[7] As with a man, thick thighs (the ones below the shoulder-blades) indicate greater strength and a better appearance.5
The broader the chest, the more handsome and strong the horse. Moreover, a broad chest means that the legs are kept a good distance apart, rather than getting in each other’s way. [8] Its neck should imitate that of a cock rather than a boar; that is, the neck should not droop but form a straight line from the chest to the top of the head. However, it should be hollow at the junction with the head, and the head should be bony and small-jawed. In this way, the neck will protect the rider and at the same time the horse will be able to use its eyes to see what is directly in front of it. Moreover, with this build any horse – even a very lively one – is extremely unlikely to be capable of bolting, because horses set about bolting with their necks stretched out rather than bent.
You must also check to see whether both sides of the mouth are [9] soft or hard or different from each other.* The point is that horses with dissimilar jaws in this respect tend to be less responsive to the bit on one side than on the other.
Prominent rather than sunken eyes indicate an alert animal and also allow the horse better vision.
Widely flared nostrils are better than narrow ones for free breathing 10 and for making a horse look more spirited. After all, when one horse is angry with another, or gets excited while being ridden, it flares its nostrils.
The larger the poll and the smaller the ears, the more like a typical [11] horse the creature appears.
High withers afford the rider a safer seat and a firmer grip on the horse’s shoulders.6
A double spine7 is not only more comfortable to sit on, but also better-looking than a single one.
The deeper the sides and the more they swell out as they approach [12] the belly,8 the safer the seat the horse provides, the stronger the creature is, and also, in general, the better it eats.
The broader and shorter the loins, the more easily the horse raises its forequarters and follows through with its hindquarters. Besides, nothing diminishes the apparent size of the flanks more than loins like these, while large flanks not only disfigure the horse somewhat, but make it rather more weak and ungainly.
The haunches should be broad and well covered with flesh, so that [13] they are proportionate to the sides and the chest; if all these parts are firm, they will be lighter for running and the horse as a whole* will therefore be faster.
[14] If the thighs (the ones below the tail) are well separated along with a broad line,9 then when the horse brings up its hind legs there will be a good gap between them. This will also make it a more spirited and stronger creature to sit on and ride, and it will maximize its potential in all respects. We can deduce this from the case of human beings: when we want to lift something up from the ground, we always set about doing so with our legs apart rather than together.
[15] A horse should not have large testicles, but this is not something you can observe on a colt.
As for the lower parts of the hindquarters – the hocks or lower legs, the fetlocks and the hoofs – what I have already said about the forequarters applies to them too.
[16] I would also like to explain how one may most accurately estimate a horse’s size. The tallest horses come from those foals which are born with the longest lower legs. For as time goes by – and this applies to all quadrupeds – although the lower legs do not grow very much, the rest of the animal’s body grows until it matches the size of the lower legs.
[17] It seems to me that by assessing a colt’s physique in this way one is most likely to get a horse with sound feet, physical strength, firm flesh, a fine build and a good size. Some colts may change as they grow, but you can still apply these tests with confidence, because it is far more common for ugly colts to turn into useful horses than the other way round.
CHAPTER 2
[1] There is no need, as far as I can see, for me to describe how to break a colt, because in our communities horses are ridden by people of the greatest wealth and highest public standing.1 Also, the value of horse-breaking is far less, for a young man, than cultivating his own physical fitness and, once he knows how to ride, practising horsemanship; as for an older man, it is far more important for him to attend to his household, his friends, government and warfare, than it is for [2] him to spend time breaking in colts.2 Obviously, then, anyone who shares this opinion of mine regarding horse-breaking will give the job to someone else. Nevertheless, before giving the colt away, he should first draw up a contract stating what he expects the horse to know by the time it is returned; after all, this is what he would do if he were apprenticing a slave of his to a craft. And then the horse-breaker can refer to these notes to see what he has to do if he is to be paid.3
However, it is still your responsibility to see that the colt the [3] horse-breaker receives is gentle, tractable and good with people. After all, these characteristics are invariably the result of what is done to the colt at your home by your groom, assuming that he knows how to ensure that the colt associates being alone with hunger, thirst and bothersome flies, and the company of people with food, drink and relief from distress.4 Under these circumstances, colts are bound not just to be good with people, but actually to yearn to be with them. Then again, one should run one’s hands over those parts of the horse’s [4] body which it especially enjoys having handled – which is to say, the parts with the most hair, and where the horse finds it particularly difficult to take care of any irritation by itself. You must also tell your [5] groom to take the colt through crowds and to familiarize it with all kinds of sights and sounds; and if the colt finds any of this alarming, the groom must not lose his temper with it, but should calm it down and gently teach it that there is nothing to be afraid of.
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I think that these are all the instructions I need to give a non-professional on the matter of horse-breaking.
CHAPTER 3
It may be, however, that you are buying a horse that has already been [1] ridden. I will jot down all the information a buyer needs to avoid being swindled when buying such a horse.1
In the first place, it is important to note the horse’s age. Any horse that has lost its milk teeth is an unpromising prospect and by the same token will be hard for you to dispose of.
Having ascertained that the horse still has its youth, the next point [2] to note is its behaviour when taking the bit in its mouth and the headstall around its ears. The best way for the buyer to do this is to watch the bridle being put on and removed.
[3] Next, he must pay attention to the horse’s behaviour in accepting a rider on its back, because many horses hate letting anything come near them when they know perfectly well that the inevitable consequence for them is hard work.
[4] He must also check on the horse’s willingness, once mounted, to leave the vicinity of other horses, and make sure that when it is ridden past a group of stationary horses it does not head off towards them. Also, some horses have been so badly trained that they tend to bolt for the paths that lead home instead of keeping to their course.
[5] The exercise known as the ‘chain’2 will show whether or not a horse is equally responsive to the bit on both sides of its mouth, but an even better way of detecting this is to change the direction of your ride, because it is often the case that a horse will not try to head for home unless the weak side of its mouth and the path for home coincide.