ELEMENTARY IIORSKMANSllIP 9 



(2) The indcpciKkiicc ol" the hands and k'<rs one 

 ol' another. 



To obtain this Hbcrty of the hands and legs the 

 instructor will put the rider through the suppling 

 exercises, which tend to make the movements of the 

 hands and legs independent of one another. 



The most suitable movements to obtain this 

 result are the movement of the arm backwards ; 

 patting the horse on the right quarter with the left 

 hand, and on the left quarter with the right hand ; 

 the girthing and ungirthing of the horse when moving. 



The instructor will take care in the execution of 

 all these movements that the displacement of one 

 part of the body does not affect any other part. 



The results of these exercises are noticeable when 

 the stride is lengthened in the trot without stirrups. 

 If this exercise has been well directed, the joints 

 acquire a suppleness and the limbs an independence, 

 of such a nature, that the reactions from the horse 

 received by the spine have no effect on the rider's 

 hands, which remain both fixed and light. 



From the first it is necessary to make the rider 

 understand the importance of these exercises. One 

 should, moreover, watch that contact is never lost 

 with the horse's mouth, and that excessive force is 

 not used. The endeavour should be to give the 

 rider the proper fecHng of the horse's mouth. This 

 feeling, as it develops little by little, will serve to 

 establish the principle of stretched reins, and of the 

 elastic contact of the hand with the mouth. From 

 the very first one should inculcate this principle and 

 endeavour to attain its application. 



The rider's position. — This is as laid down by 

 the regulations. Its value results from the fact that 



