280 SCHOOL BREAKING. 



leading fore leg and hasten that of the opposite hind, so 

 that they, also, will move together. 



To change from the canter to the walk, we may, at the 

 moment the non-leading fore leg comes to the ground, 

 apply the aids in the same manner as for the halt (see 

 page 278), and then instantly slacken the reins. 



SHOULDER IN. 



I In the " Bending Lesson " of Cavalry Drill, there is taught 

 a movement to one side, called " shoulder in," which is 

 similar to the passage, except that, when doing it, the 

 horse's head is turned away from the direction in which he 

 is going. It is practised, in our military riding-schools, 

 only with the tail to the wall ; and the passage, only with 

 the head to the wall. The imposition of such a restriction 

 on the passage is unreasonable ; for it is a movement which 

 is frequently required to be performed by cavalry in the 

 open, where there is no wall to guide the direction of the 

 horse. In the French school, from which the English and 

 Germans have derived their notions of military equitation, 

 the appuyer (passage) epaule en dedans (shoulder in) is 

 synonymous with the passage croupe au mur (croup to the 

 wall), or, as I have called it, passage tail to the wall. The 

 English author, or authors, of the " bending lesson " 

 evidently thought that the term Epaule en dedans had 

 reference to the way in which the horse was " bent," and 

 not to the fact that his shoulders, and not his tail were 

 turned towards the inside of the school. My readers will 

 have seen that the passage " head to wall " is preparatory 

 to the more difficult movement of the passage " tail to 

 wall " (epaule en dedans}. The fact of the regulation 

 " shoulder in " being executed with the head turned away 

 from the direction in which the animal is proceeding, con- 



