VII. 



The halt — How to halt a young horse. — To halt, lean 

 back slightly and pull on the reins with gradually increas- 

 ing force, in order to slow and then stop movement. 



When the trooper pulls on the reins the horse should 

 neither raise nor lower the head. The muzzle should 

 remain to the front and the whole mass of the neck should 

 flow back toward the withers. In other words, under the 

 action of the reins the horse should neither throw his nose 

 up in the air nor bring it down against his chest, closing 

 up on the hand. This latter fault is particularly to be 

 avoided. It is more difficult to raise the muzzle than to 

 lower it, and any horse that at the beginning of training 

 withdraws from neck control becomes especially difficult 

 to instruct. 



Should halts be frequent? — The halt should not be fre- 

 quentl}'' practiced on horses inclined to fret nor on those 

 with nind legs set under and thus liable to sit down on the 

 haunches. On the contrary, it should be often used in 

 cases where the conformation throws too much weight on 

 the shoulders. Training is nothing more than the quest 

 of balance, and the halt will be a well-chosen suppling exer- 

 cise for a horse with a high, powerful croup that makes 

 him difficult to slow up. 



The change of direction — Aids to use. — To change direc- 

 tion to the right, open gently the right rein by carrying 

 the wrist to the front and right, without moving the 

 elbow and without twisting the hand. 



The effect of opening must be produced laterally and as 

 little as possible from front to rear. It induces a move- 

 ment of the haunches and furnishes, therefore, a prelimi- 



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