VOICE. 165 



him keep his head in a proper position. A great deal 

 of sound sense has been written by different horsemen 

 on the subject of " hands." Sam Chifney tells us to use 

 the reins as if they were silken threads which any sharp 

 pull would break, and Mr. John Hubert Moore always 

 gave the advice to take a pull at the reins as though 

 you were drawing a cork out of a bottle without 

 wishing to spill one drop of its contents. I have often, 

 in my own mind, likened a horse's mouth to a piece 

 of narrow elastic which is capable of expansion up to a 

 certain point. When vigorously tugged at, it is no 

 longer elastic, but as unyielding as ordinary string. 

 Good hands maintain its elasticity, bad ones convert it 

 into string. A sympathetic touch on a horse's mouth 

 can only be made by " good hands." A musician, if 

 he is an artist, will accompany a weak-voiced singer 

 so sympathetically that the sweet though not robust 

 notes of the voice are heard to the best advantage : 

 he is a man with good hands. A heavy-fisted player, 

 desiring to show his command over the instrument, 

 will try to turn the accompaniment into a pianoforte 

 solo, and the nice notes of the struggling singer will 

 be entirely drowned by noise. He is like the heavy- 

 handed, unsympathetic rider. 



VOICE. 



For pleasant riding, it is essential that the horse 

 should understand his rider's orders, which are usually 

 given to him only by the reins and whip. However 

 efficiently a lady may use these "aids," the fact 



