ON THE SNAFFLE. 19 



^^Trot'^'' let tlie leading file ride a very collected 

 pace ; tell tlie men to feel tlie liorses up with botli 

 reins at every step, and those horses that are sluggish 

 must now be worked well up to the hand ; make the 

 men use their canes or whips on the horses' shoul- 

 ders, but be particularly attentive to prevent them 

 from having a dead pull on their horses' mouths. 



When trotting, the snaffle is used diflferently to 

 what it is at a walk, both reins being equally felt at 

 the same time, and that whenever the horse is in the 

 act of putting his foot to the ground, not when rais- 

 ing it. This being hard work for men and horses, 

 bring them to a walk every two or three turns on 

 the circle, and then give the w^ord " Trot " again ; 

 the same to the left ; then "- Forward^^'' " TFc^Z^," and 

 finish by trotting out a couple of turns to each hand 

 round the school. Before leaving the school, devote 

 a few minutes to bending the horses' heads to the 

 right and left. The lesson not to last more than half 

 an hour, and in five days the horses, if properly rid- 

 den, should be sufiiciently collected and tractable to 

 be bitted. 



These lessons on the snaffle form no part of M. 

 Baucher's system, who begins his work at once on the 

 bit ; but Captain Xolan found, by experience, that 

 the horses were brought on quicker in the end, and 

 better, by going through these lessons on the snaffle. 

 "With troops, he considers them absolutely necessary, 

 though a single horseman might dispense with them. 



