72 THEORY OF MOUTHING. 



advantageous position is when the line of the face makes an 

 angle of about 90, or a little less, with the ground (see Fig. 

 6) ; because, in that case, the pull of the reins is more or less 

 at right angles to the bars of the lower jaw against which 

 the mouthpiece of the bridle presses, and the forward reach 

 of the fore legs is somewhat checked by the legs being bent. 

 Neither for control nor for movement, is it well for the 

 head to be flexed to a greater extent than this. The 

 more the chin is drawn in beyond this limit, the more will 

 the pull of the reins be transferred (from the bars of the 

 lower jaw) to the poll of the animal's head ; the more oblique 

 will become the direction of the pressure of the mouthpiece 

 on the bars ; and the more will the horse be obliged to lower 

 his head, thereby unduly increasing the weight on the fore- 

 hand. Thus, by bringing his chin into his chest, the horse 



(1) more or less deprives his rider of control over him; 



(2) disturbs the proper distribution of weight between his 

 fore and hind legs ; and (3) hampers the movements of his 

 fore limbs. 



COLLECTING THE HORSE. 



By the somewhat iD -defined term, " collecting the 

 horse," I wish to express the act by which the animal is 

 made to bend his neck and bring his hind legs under him ; 

 so that his spinal column will be more or less regularly 

 arched, and his muscles will continue to contract and relax 

 at short and regular intervals. He will then " play " 

 with the bit by yielding his neck as well as his jaw, and 

 will advance his hind feet more under his body than he 

 usually does. When fully collected, he will be in the best 

 possible state of general readiness to perform any legiti- 

 mate form of work, such as going forward, reining back, 

 turning, circling, or leaping. In fact, he will be " bent " 



