z90 THE HORSE. 
known persisted in for years without the slightest consciousness of them 
on the part of the rider, who would gladly have rectified them if he had 
known of their existence. One rule may, however, be given, namely, that 
no effort should be made to move in any direction, and that, on the con- 
trary, every endeavour should be directed to keep the body and legs as 
still as the action of the horse will allow, bearing in mind that the 
opposite extreme of stiffness is almost equally bad. 
MANAGEMENT OF THE REINS. 
THERE ARE THREE DISTINCT MODES of holding and managing the reins. 
In the first, adopted by the military school, the left hand does all, with- 
out any assistance from the right, which is occupied with the sword, 
lance, or carbine. In the second, the left hand holds the reins, aided 
occasionally by the right ; and in the third, or “ two-handed method,” the 
reins are permanently held one in each hand. The first of these is only 
needed in the manége, and I therefore shall not allude to it; while the 
last requires no description, further than to mention that it is the mode 
adopted by the colt-breaker, and that it gives far more control over the 
mouth than either of the others. As single and double reins are differently 
placed in the hand, a description of each will be necessary. 
THE SINGLE REIN is held by placing all the fingers but the first between 
the two leathers, and then, making both turn over that one, they are firmly 
held by pressing the thumb against it. This gives a firm grasp, and at the 
same time allows of either being pulled tighter than the other by turning 
the wrist. To shorten the grasp, the right hand has only to lay hold of the 
loose part of the rein, and then the left, siding forwards towards the neck, 
can close wherever it may be desired. In order to be sure that the elbow 
is held against the side, the thumb should always point towards the 
horse’s ears; and the nearer the little finger can be carried to the pommel 
of the saddle the better. In using the single rein, the management of the 
mouth, 7f a good one, is easy enough; nevertheless, there are various 
directions for the purpose adopted in different schools, which are de- 
pendent upon altogether conflicting principles. Every tyro knows that 
the horse turns to the left by pulling the left rein, and to the right by 
pulling the opposite one; and the problem to be solved is to do this by 
one hand only. Now, this with the single rein is easily effected by raising 
the thumb towards the right shoulder, when the right rein is to be pulled, 
or by drawing the little finger towards the fork for the left ; in both cases 
by a turn of the wrist, without lifting the whole hand. But over and 
above this action on the mouth, and in many cases independent of it, is a 
movement which, in trained horses, is capable of much greater delicacy, 
and which depends upon the sensibility of the skin of the neck for its 
due performance. It is effected by turning the whole hand to the right or 
left, without any wrist action, so as to press the right rein against the 
neck, in order to cause a turn to the left, and the left rein against the 
neck for the opposite purpose; at the same time rather slackening the 
reins so as not to bear upon the mouth by so doing. In this way a horse 
may be turned with a much greater degree of nicety and smoothness than 
by acting on the corner of his mouth. But highly-broken horses, such as 
the military troop-horses, are often too much used to their bits to answer 
to this slight and delicate manipulation ; and therefore it is eschewed by 
Captain Richardson, as well as by Colonel Greenwood, but, strangely 
enough, for opposite reasons, and each attempting to substitute a very 
