EXTENSION OF FORE LEG. 283 



of the near fore, in order to induce the horse to raise that 

 leg and extend it to the front. Having gained our object 

 with one fore leg, we should try to obtain it by reverse 

 methods with the other, so that the horse will extend either 

 leg and keep it stretched out to the front on being threatened 

 with the whip. As soon as he will readily accede to our 

 demands while standing close to the school wall, we should 

 take him to the middle of the school, in order to obtain like 

 results there. This will be a task of several days' duration, 

 and will demand a great deal of patience and tact. In it we 

 should " hasten slowly," and should be guided by the 

 principles which I have already laid down for equine 

 instruction. We may facilitate our work by having at 

 first an assistant to lift up and raise the operated-on leg 

 by means of a cord or strap attached to the pastern. The 

 use of this appliance should, of course, be gradually discon- 

 tinued, according as the horse learns to obey the touch of 

 the whip. 



When the horse is perfect in the lesson which we have 

 been giving him on foot, we may mount him, and sub- 

 stitute by degrees the appropriate aids for the action of 

 the whip, with which we at first obtain the extension of 

 the off fore, for instance. We should collect the horse ; 

 raise his head, so as to place the muscles of the neck in 

 an advantageous direction for lifting up the limb ; turn 

 his head to the left and lean on the left stirrup to transfer 

 weight from the off fore to the near fore ; and apply 

 the left drawn-back heel, at first cautiously, so as not 

 to make him revolve round. The turning of the animal's 

 head to the left is only a temporary measure to hasten the 

 extension of the off fore ; and that in the perfect form of this 

 air the head and neck will be held straight, or slightly turned 

 to the right, at which time the pressure of the drawn-back 

 left foot will be indispensable for preserving the true balance 



