SEAT, LEGS AND SPURS 29 



iirstly strong leg-pressure, secondly strong pressure 

 close to the girths from the legs and dummy spurs, 

 and lastly from the legs and rough spurs. It will 

 then be in the rider's power to bring the horse to a 

 stationary position at any moment, and under any 

 circumstances, and also to cause him to stand in a 

 collected position calmly champing his bit. The lesson 

 can be given before dismounting at first, and later on 

 immediately after mounting also. The restraining 

 action of the hand on the curb reins should be light but 

 firm ; and on the hand being eased and the pressure 

 of the spurs increased, the horse should move forward. 

 This can be repeated at the walk and at the slow trot, 

 the hand regulating the impulsion created by the steady 

 pressure of the legs and spurs. It helps to get the 

 horse to take the aid of the leg and spur kindly, if the 

 rider strokes the shoulder with the whip at the same 

 time as the legs are pressed in ; but one of the best 

 ways of getting a horse accustomed to the spur is to 

 use what the French call a Spur Stick — an ordinary 

 cane bent at the end into which an ivory rowel is 

 inserted.* The horse being placed against a wall the 

 trainer holds him by the head and touches the flank 

 with the rowel ; if the horse kicks he should be spoken 

 to sharply, not hit, and when he brings up the leg, as 

 he would to knock off a fly, and places it down again 

 quietly, he should be made much of. This should be 

 done to both sides, till the horse brings each leg quietly 

 forward on feeling the rowel. This method is very 

 efficacious in teaching the passage and Spanish trot^ 

 in which the horse has to spring from one hind leg on 



* Messrs. Champion and Wilton, saddlers, of Oxford Street, 

 London, make this spur stick with the same strength, finish, 

 and quality of material which characterises all their work. 



