66 SYSTEM FOR TEAINmG CAVALRY HORSES. 



as if moving forward^ and apjparently without assist- 

 ance from the rider. 



'' Eeiniiig back" is nothing new in itself, though it 

 becomes so under the conditions I impose. 



It is only bj previously making the horse perfectly 

 sui^ple, and by having him well " reined in," that you 

 can suspend the horse's body in such manner, between 

 hand and leg, that the weight be equally divided, and 

 that the legs acquire equal energy and activity ; and 

 then the movement is as easy and as graceful as the 

 mere " backing" a horse is painful and destitute of all 

 elegance. 



y. The horse lifts the alternate fore and hind legs, 

 carries them hack and then forward again to their 

 former position^ to alloio of the opposite two heing 

 raised and doing the same. 



If the horse is supple and well in hand, this move- 

 ment is easy ; for when the horse is completely sub- 

 dued, he answers to the lightest aids applied by the 

 rider ; and these are intended in this instance to dis- 

 place barely sufficient weight, and to give just impulse 

 enough to induce the movement of the two alternate 

 legs. 



By practice the horse will soon get accustomed to 

 this movement. The animal's intelligence keeps pace 

 with the progress made in his education. 



VI. Trot^ dv^elVmg on each stride ; the horse hav- 

 ing raised his legs, extends them forward, sustaining 

 them for a moment hfore he hrings them to the ground. 



