IIOI^SE CONTROL 37 



consists as miicli in moral submission, as in physical 

 obedience to the natural aids. 



II. — Self-Control 

 Power 



The discipline of the aids. — However exact theoreti- 

 cally the effects of the legs and reins may be, their 

 effects can onl}^ have practical utility, if the aids 

 which produce them arc perfectly disciplined, and 

 under the control of the rider's will. In horsemanship 

 you must not only know what to do, but you must 

 be able to do it. 



The control, which we must exercise over our 

 means of making ourselves master of our horses, 

 demands, before everything, the control of the moral 

 forces mentioned in the preceding chapter. Calmness, 

 jDatience, and coolness, amid difficulties, are all qualities 

 indispensable to the right practice of horsemanship. 

 It is often the case that a horse is disobedient because 

 the moral of the rider is not in its normal balance. 

 The absolute independence of the aids (legs, hands, 

 and the weight of the body) is none the less important 

 to acquire, because it alone will develop their necessary 

 harmony. 



Our organism makes the free play of our limbs 

 difficult, and to be of use the most simple movements 

 require an apprenticeship. 



If, for example, you tell a young horseman to close 

 in the left leg, you will see nearly always the right leg 

 automatically remove itself from the saddle to a 

 distance equal to the movement of the left leg. 



An impartial examination reveals, even in the case 

 of the best horseman, faults daily committed in the 



