90 RIDING 



The horse will make more progress if his rider give him a short 

 active trot and then a walk, halting and mouthing him a bit 

 while halted, than if he be kept going till he get fatigued ; for 

 he is sure then to try to lean on the hand. 



When mouthing the horse or bending him, the snaffle 

 should not be pulled to the right by a jerk, and then to the 

 left, as if the rider were doing his very best to saw through the 

 bars of the horse's mouth, but whether on the move or at the 

 halt, the snaffle should be moved by a long draw through the 

 mouth, and held there for a second or two, then just as quietly 

 through to the other side, and so on, the rider using his dis- 

 cretion as to raising his hands or lowering them a little accord- 

 ing to the formation of the horse, and how he is naturally dis- 

 posed to carry himself. The hands should be nearly always 

 working, and lightly moving the snaffle, hereby keeping the 

 horse's mouth fresh, and not allowing him to lean on the hand. 

 But it must also be borne in mind that this object is not to be 

 attained by making the horse's mouth sore, and it is often 

 made so by the use of a very old snaffle which has become 

 jagged at the joints, and is consequently liable to nip the 

 corners of the mouth, and make them quite raw. Supposing 

 the horse now walks and trots out freely, he should be gradu- 

 ally accustomed to the pressure of the leg, which will, when 

 he responds to it, have the effect of making him collect him- 

 self, raise his forehand, and bring his hind legs more under 

 him ; but there is nearly as much art in the proper application 

 of the leg as in using the rein. The rider should on no account 

 apply the leg by kicking at the horse's sides, which would 

 induce fear of the leg, and incline him to fly away from it \ 

 neither should he draw his heels up and cling on, the whole 

 time he is on the horse's back, by the calf of the legs, which 

 would end in the horse becoming callous to the pressure, and 

 taking it as a matter of course that it was the right and proper 

 thing for him to be held on to, without in the slightest degree 

 responding to it. The rider's leg should be applied by first 

 squeezing, then relaxing, much in the same way that he gives 



