I've been reading a really wonderfully interesting book Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer in which he describes what a great horseman General Washington was, the fact that he'd been born quite sickly and to strengthen himself he walked 3 miles a day and rode horses incessantly. He was quite impressive on horseback and sat "quiet"
with his muscular legs extended on long lrathers and toes pointed down. One observer said he and his horse moved fluently and was the most graceful a man could be on horseback.
On the stormy icy night he had his troops cross the Delaware River to attack the Hessians they then had to struggle with artilllary down steep iced slopes and the book says:
"Washington rode up and down the column urging his men forward. Suddenly the general's horse slipped and started to fall on a steep and icy slope. "While passing a slanting slippery bank," Lieutenant Bostwick remembered, "his excellency's horse's hind feet both slipped from under him." The animal began to go down. Elisha Bostwick watched in fascination as Washington locked his fingers in the animal's mane and hauled up its heavy head by brute force. He shifted its balance backward just enough to allow the horse to regain its footing on the treacherous road. Bostwick wrote that the general "seized his horses mane and the horse recovered." It was an extraordinary feat of strength, skill and timing and another reason why his soldiers stood in awe of this man.
If you want to mentally cool off this summer, try this book about the freezing our soldiers went through in 1776.
with his muscular legs extended on long lrathers and toes pointed down. One observer said he and his horse moved fluently and was the most graceful a man could be on horseback.
On the stormy icy night he had his troops cross the Delaware River to attack the Hessians they then had to struggle with artilllary down steep iced slopes and the book says:
"Washington rode up and down the column urging his men forward. Suddenly the general's horse slipped and started to fall on a steep and icy slope. "While passing a slanting slippery bank," Lieutenant Bostwick remembered, "his excellency's horse's hind feet both slipped from under him." The animal began to go down. Elisha Bostwick watched in fascination as Washington locked his fingers in the animal's mane and hauled up its heavy head by brute force. He shifted its balance backward just enough to allow the horse to regain its footing on the treacherous road. Bostwick wrote that the general "seized his horses mane and the horse recovered." It was an extraordinary feat of strength, skill and timing and another reason why his soldiers stood in awe of this man.
If you want to mentally cool off this summer, try this book about the freezing our soldiers went through in 1776.
I knew I was treading into a very LARGE mine-field! 