Capt. Livermore and his falling horse

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Apr 1, 2015
Thomas Livermore, originally of the 5th New Hampshire and later a staff officer and colonel of the 18th New Hampshire, penned one of the best memoirs of service in the Army of the Potomac, entitled Days and Events.

In May 1864, while serving on the staff of Gen. Edward Hinks of the 18th Corps, he was summoned to report to the general to carry an order. Livermore had recently drawn a new mount, "a rat-tailed horse of a beautiful bay color. . . fat, sleek and exceedingly tough, and was a very good-natured horse and feared nothing." The captain also noted that this horse had a strange proclivity: "He would always stand where he was left, but had the uncontrollable habit of rearing up and falling over on his back when his bit was pulled a little too hard, and although sometimes he could be knocked down on his feet by a quick blow between the ears (!), he was ever ready to go over."

Livermore rode up to General Hinks, who was conversing with General Baldy Smith at the time, to receive the order he was to carry, but, he recalled, "I reined up from a gallop a little too harshly [pulling the bit roughly in the process], and as I jumped from the saddle, the horse rose and went over. I paid no attention to him, but made my salute and had the conversation. . . and when I turned around again to mount, the horse, having had his fall, stood meekly waiting for me, and I mounted him and rode off." Hinks laughed at the incident, telling Smith that his staff obviously got better horses than he, the general did, leaving a surprised Smith to remark on the jockey-like propensities of his staff members.

Here is Livermore:

livermore.jpg
 
What a charming story - and I would love to have seen the faces of the men present at that horse show! Seeing Livermore arriving in full gallop, reining in and then banging his horse between the ears to stop him from keeling over - that must have been a sight to see!
 
Rearing and flipping is one of the worst habits a horse can get into. I had a barn mate who had a large pony mare which was sold several times and seriously injured more than one person. There were several "experts" called in at various stages of the process, who would work using their techniques and pronounce the horse cured, and then it would rear and flip yet again. She was an expensive, gifted pony with an extensive show record, so she got more chances than another horse might have. She was one of those "ribbon factory" ponies who was leased for big bucks by a different child every show season, and I think her problem probably started with a heavy-handed child rider who used too much bit, as Liverpool did, but unlike Livermore's mount, once she got the habit this mare would throw tantrums and flip whenever she needed an excuse not to do something, not just when someone had heavy hands. Her last exploit was flipping on top of a child who was leading her in from the pasture. After that she was put to sleep for being too dangerous to have around - the 70's were a less sentimental time when "rescues" didn't really exist.

There are different kinds of rears - most horses can be distracted from rearing, and even if they do rear, they don't rear straight up, and come down if you lead forward and release the reins. But inexperienced riders will panic and lean back, pulling on the reins. The horse goes up and eventually over. And then the injured rider doesn't get back on and the horse thinks, "Aha! That worked! I never have to do anything I don't want to ever again!"

Cracking a horse solidly on the top of the head with a fist is not the approved way of dealing with this situation, but I can hardly blame Livermore, since I've seen more than one pro do it with a rearing horse. Having a horse come over on top of you and crush your pelvis is just not funny, and a good hard whack does usually work in the short term, as he mentions. My personal preference for dealing with a straight-up rearer is to flying dismount off the back and sell the horse. Rearing straight up (as opposed to little bouncy rears) is one of my "sell it instantly" criteria, along with striking with the front legs. Maybe someone else has time to work with a nasty animal, but for me, there are too many nice horses in the world to even bother with nasty ones. But during the Civil War, when horses were at a premium, I guess you took whatever mount fate dealt you!

Nice little article on how you're actually supposed to deal with rearing (not bonking the horse on the head!)
http://www.startemright.com/articles/20081203134717.html
 
Rearing and flipping is one of the worst habits a horse can get into. I had a barn mate who had a large pony mare which was sold several times and seriously injured more than one person. There were several "experts" called in at various stages of the process, who would work using their techniques and pronounce the horse cured, and then it would rear and flip yet again. She was an expensive, gifted pony with an extensive show record, so she got more chances than another horse might have. She was one of those "ribbon factory" ponies who was leased for big bucks by a different child every show season, and I think her problem probably started with a heavy-handed child rider who used too much bit, as Liverpool did, but unlike Livermore's mount, once she got the habit this mare would throw tantrums and flip whenever she needed an excuse not to do something, not just when someone had heavy hands. Her last exploit was flipping on top of a child who was leading her in from the pasture. After that she was put to sleep for being too dangerous to have around - the 70's were a less sentimental time when "rescues" didn't really exist.

There are different kinds of rears - most horses can be distracted from rearing, and even if they do rear, they don't rear straight up, and come down if you lead forward and release the reins. But inexperienced riders will panic and lean back, pulling on the reins. The horse goes up and eventually over. And then the injured rider doesn't get back on and the horse thinks, "Aha! That worked! I never have to do anything I don't want to ever again!"

Cracking a horse solidly on the top of the head with a fist is not the approved way of dealing with this situation, but I can hardly blame Livermore, since I've seen more than one pro do it with a rearing horse. Having a horse come over on top of you and crush your pelvis is just not funny, and a good hard whack does usually work in the short term, as he mentions. My personal preference for dealing with a straight-up rearer is to flying dismount off the back and sell the horse. Rearing straight up (as opposed to little bouncy rears) is one of my "sell it instantly" criteria, along with striking with the front legs. Maybe someone else has time to work with a nasty animal, but for me, there are too many nice horses in the world to even bother with nasty ones. But during the Civil War, when horses were at a premium, I guess you took whatever mount fate dealt you!

Nice little article on how you're actually supposed to deal with rearing (not bonking the horse on the head!)
http://www.startemright.com/articles/20081203134717.html


A long time ago I couldn't figure out why this horse I was on was acting out and I realized I was using way too much bit and once I changed to a gentler method everything was almost immediately better. I'm a firm believer now in figuring out your horse's personality first and acting accordingly.
 
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