THE HALT. 231 



happen to halt suddenly, purposely receive the weight 

 principally on their forehand ; a fact which they will 

 notify by lowering their heads at the moment of stopping. 

 At this instant, the hind legs will be brought under the 

 body to receive their smaller share of the burden. The 

 faster the pace from which a sudden halt is made, the more 

 will the head be brought down. As the weight of the 

 rider adds to the natural preponderance of weight on the 

 forehand, it follows that, to obtain the just distribution of 

 work between the forehand and hind-quarters, in the case 

 of the mounted horse coming to a sudden halt, the animal 

 must put more weight on his hind legs than he would 

 normally do ; the rider must carry his weight back ; or 

 both horse and man must contribute to the re-adjustment. 

 According to these principles, it appears that in coming to 

 the halt from a fast pace, the rider should grip tightly with 

 his knees to prevent his seat being shifted forward in the 

 saddle ; should apply his drawn-back feet to make the 

 animal bring his hind legs under him ; should carry the 

 upper part of his body back, so as to prevent the forehand 

 from being unduly charged with weight ; should lower his 

 hands ; and should take a steady pull of the reins. Ac- 

 cepting this as a typical case, we may vary the applica- 

 tion of the aids according to circumstances. Precautions 

 as to infirmity behind or in front should naturally be taken. 

 Although the most sudden halt possible from a high rate of 

 speed may at times be absolutely required, I need hardly 

 say that the more gradual the halt, the less liable will it 

 be to injure the horse. Believing that the horse knows 

 more than his rider about the manner in which the weight 

 on his legs should be adjusted, I am a strong advocate of 

 teaching him to stop by a signal (for instance, the 

 voice) unconnected with the aids, which may or may not 

 be rightly applied. With a horse thus instructed the 



