Training The War Horse

Training the War Horse:

With the basics of training recorded, Xenophon now continues onto the more difficult behaviors that must be taught to the war horse. He begins with a discussion on teaching a horse to jump.

The rider should first lead a horse to a ditch, then jump over it himself and encourage the horse to follow.

If the horse will not jump after its rider, a groom should strike it from behind to encourage the horse to jump forward over the ditch. Once the horse has learned to jump, the rider should introduce him to ditches of different sizes and signal him to jump them with a light spur.

Xenophon continues with a discussion on training a horse in working downhill, beginning on soft footing and progressing to more difficult terrain. The rider should lean forward for balance when the horse transitions to a gallop, and lean back when halting. He should also hold the horse's mane when jumping to leave the effort unobstructed, and lean back when going downhill to help the horse maintain its balance.

Xenophon encourages varying the length of and location for exercising the horse. He also recommends hunting or war games with other riders to help train a war horse.

Again, he admonishes the rider to reward a horse when he is obedient and to punish him only when he is not.