THE-:- HORSE 



his right leg over the cantle of the saddle 

 and find the stirrup on the right side. Now 

 he may release the cheek piece with his left 

 hand, continuing, however, to hold the reins, 

 and bringing that hand up toward the cantle 

 let the left rein slip through it until it is in 

 its proper place in front of the cantle. The 

 right rein, which will be left with too much 

 slack, can be taken with the right hand and 

 pulled even with the left rein. If there are 

 any fireworks left in the horse, this is the 

 time for the demonstration. 



The one object now is for the rider to 

 keep the horse under him until he is ready, 

 of his own accord, to dismount. For twenty 

 minutes or half an hour, the horse may be 

 urged slowly around the corral, and in order 

 to get some sort of direction, the rein on the 

 side on which it is desired to progress should 

 be pulled, and the other rein allowed loose. 

 To accustom the horse to all that in after 

 days may be required of him, the rider at 

 this time should slap the horse on its back, 

 carry the two stirrups with his legs up 

 toward the cantle of the saddle and throw 

 his weight from side to side. 



A few rides of this sort and the carrying 

 out of the principles noted will soon gentle 

 any horse. His further training is discussed 

 with the subject "Reining a horse," in Chap- 

 ter IV. 



84 



