THE CANTER. 223 



light, the animal while looking at the cause of alarm will 

 endeavour to swing his hind-quarters round to the right ; 

 consequently the breaker should turn the horse's head and 

 neck round to the right by the right rein aided by the pres- 

 sure of the left rein on the neck, and the hind-quarters 

 to the left by the drawn-back right foot, or by the whip or 

 cane held (as well as the right rein) in the right hand and 

 applied to the right side of the horse's hind-quarters. The 

 extent of the turn on the centre or on the forehand will 

 naturally be regulated by the amount required to bring the 

 horse's head, neck, and body into their original direction. 



THE CANTER 



(see Points of the Horse) is a pace of three time in which 

 the sequence of the steps are : (i) near (or off) hind ; (2) 

 near (or off) fore and off (or near) hind ; and (3) off (or 

 near) fore. As the horse will naturally lead with the in- 

 ward fore leg when cantering on a circle, he is said to be 

 going to the left when leading with the near fore (see Fig. 

 109), and to the right when leading with the off fore. He 

 is said to be " false " if, when circling to the right, he leads 

 with the left fore leg, and vice versa. The term " disunited " 

 is applied to the canter when the two legs of the second 

 period of the stride belong to the same side, and not to 

 different ones ; as for instance : (i) near hind ; (2) off 

 fore and off hind ; (3) near fore. If this faulty sequence 

 were adopted when going to the right, the horse would 

 be false and disunited. The reverse of this would, of 

 course, apply to the left circle. When riding a horse 

 at a canter or gallop, we can easily find out with which 

 leg he is leading, from the fact that the leading shoulder 

 is more advanced than the non-leading one, and that our 

 knee which is on the side of the leading leg is carried more 

 to the front than the knee of the opposite side. 



