58 ORDINARY RIDING. 



carrying his head low, and to draw his chin into his breast 

 by bringing his head behind the perpendicular. We must 

 note that this fault was originated by Baucher, who, during 

 the greater part of his career, made the flexions at the 

 withers by lowering the neck. Compare Fig. 6, which 

 shows the flexion I have described, with Fig. 7, which 

 illustrates Baucher's flexion, and which I have taken from his 

 book. It is well to note that Baucher's horse in Fig. 7 

 has his legs stuck out in front, and consequently it is im- 

 possible for him to go forward. Nothing could be worse ! 

 Compare the correct flexion, shown in Fig. 5, with that 

 in Fig. 8, which is the more frequently practised of 

 the two. 



Towards the end of his life Baucher recognised this 

 mistake (see his last edition, 1874); but he restricted himself 

 to raising the head of the horse, without making the flexion 

 when it was high. Whatever he did and whatever errors he 

 made, he was an incomparable horseman. The people of 

 to-day who make faulty flexions succeed only in ruining 

 their horses. There is no reason for stopping when one has 

 started on this road. Certain authors have thought it right to 

 systematically lower the neck, than which there is no better 

 means of ruining a horse ! As a great curiosity, I have 

 shown in Figs. 9 and 10 two illustrations which appeared 

 in recently published books, and which show the lesson of 

 lowering the neck. That could be called the art of teaching 

 a horse how to break his knees ! 



This explains how it is that many people say that they 

 have made their horses perform flexions without any good 

 result, a fact which should not surprise us. As we have just 

 seen, the flexion is such a delicate thing that an incapable 

 horseman who practises it, will often spoil a horse instead 

 of improving him. If, on the contrary, the reader under- 

 stands the principles and practice described in this chapter, 



