1 86 BRIDLES AND SADDLES. 



performed with ease and precision. Were it absent, it 

 would be extremely difficult for the rider to accommo- 

 date his weight to the movements of the horse. With 

 its aid, however, the play of the animal's head and 

 neck gives " the time " to the rider, who has simply to 

 " catch a good hold " of his horse's head, keep his arms 

 and body pliable, and allow the horse to do the rest. 

 The displacement of weight is of course effected by 

 the slight yielding of the body, without any shifting of 

 the seat in the saddle. To be convinced that conform- 

 ing to the movements of the horse renders his task 

 easier, we need but compare the difference in the way he 

 carries a good rider, to that which he travels under one 

 who " sits like a sack." The horse himself, by bending 

 his neck, accommodates the weight of his head, and that 

 part of his neck which is beyond the direct support of 

 his fore legs, to the movements of his limbs. The fore- 

 going remarks have been made with special reference to 

 the canter and gallop ; in the trot, also, the horse, to go 

 fast and well, must, as every horseman knows, " take a 

 good hold of his bit," so that the weight of the rider 

 may be brought well forward. 



I may remark, in passing, that at the gallop, the hind 

 feet quit the ground very nearly, though not quite. 



