288 RESTIVENESS ; ITS PREVEN TION AND CURE. 



the girths round its proper -svaist, instead of round 

 its chest. During the first lesson under the rider, 

 the horse will continue on the lounge, the great object 

 being to make the transition as gradual as possible, 

 for which reason the assistant with the whip will con- 

 tinue his services, whilst the trainer also continues to 

 direct the animal's movement with the line. The 

 rider, therefore, will at first remain nearly passive, 

 avoiding, on the one hand, interfering too much with 

 the reins, and, on the other, pressing too closely his 

 legs against the horse's body ; in fact, his seat will be 

 very much like that of the English trainer in the first 

 instance, but by degrees he will take the direction of 

 the horse's movement over from the trainer into his 

 own hands, and with his legs do the duty hitherto 

 performed by the assistant with the whip. For this 

 reason he will then change his seat, bringing his legs 

 well back so as to get a perpendicular tread on the 

 stirrup, and holding them close to the horse's ribs 

 without screwing. A slight increase of pressure of 

 both legs here in this position alicays has the effect of 

 making the horse bring its hind legs forward under its 

 body, just as the whip does ; and if, at the same time, 

 the horse's head and neck are brought up and back, the 

 relative proportions of weight to be carried by the hind 

 and fore legs can be easily determined by the rider. 



Let us now suppose the remount so far advanced so 

 to enable us to dispense altogether with the lounge 

 and the whip, and hand it over to the rider alone ; in 

 fact, to be in the stage of its education corresponding to 

 that in which the English trainer takes it out for long 

 rides on straight lines. The school rough-rider, on the 

 contrary, does his work in an enclosed rectangular 



