40 ANGLO-FRENCH HORSEMANSHIP 



what a loose horse naturally does, to turn the horse's 

 face towards the object he is frightened of, whether 

 it is stationary, approaching him, or coming from 

 behind, and to press him along with the leg and spur 

 on the same side, supporting the flank firmly at the 

 same time with the outside leg, than to turn his head 

 away and drive him along with his quarters towards 

 the object. 



If it is desirable to force a horse near to anything 

 he is actually passing, one can turn both his eyes on 

 to it and close in the outside leg and spur strongly : a 

 horse has less power to resist side pressure than he has 

 to resist direct forward pressure. 



It is, however, generally sufficient to merely slacken 

 the reins and give him the use of his neck, so that he 

 can turn both eyes on the object if he wants to. If a 

 horse whizzes round, he should be made to complete 

 the circle in one movement. If the rider controls 

 himself and does not anticipate trouble, very few horses 

 will shy seriously ; a fearful hand makes a fearful 

 horse. 



When going round corneis, the rider should support 

 the horse with his legs and ease the hands very slightly 

 as soon as the horse has begun to turn, so that he can 

 balance himself. To commence the turn, the inside 

 hand should be slightly raised, whilst the outside hand 

 draws the rein across the withers, so as to bring the 

 horse's weight on to the inside hind leg, which is the 

 pivot. 



There are various ways of holding the reins. The 

 usual English manner is to have the left reins, bridoon 

 and curb, separated by the little finger of the left hand, 

 and the right reins either separated by the second 

 finger, or placed between the thumb and first finger ; 



