38 CAVALRY HORSEMANSHIP 



control of the horse. If the horse does not readily 

 obey, it is not generally owing to ignorance or bad 

 temper on his part ; it is because the aids, misapplied, 

 are powerless to transmit the rider's wishes, and do 

 not indicate the desired movement. 



Dexterity and awkwardness. — Since the control of 

 the nerves, muscles and limbs, is one of the keys of 

 equitation, it is of the greatest importance that the 

 instructors should knoAV the scientific causes of what 

 one commonly calls awkwardness. 



In a limb, one half of the muscles are intended to 

 act in one direction, and the other half in an opposite 

 direction. 



In nearly all movements these antagonistic muscles 

 come naturally into play, and their conflict causes, in 

 the limb, an immobility which is far from being 

 repose, and is what is called contraction or stiffness. 

 This contraction does not confine itself to the limb 

 in which it started ; it develops in other parts of the 

 body, where it produces disorder, and either interferes 

 with the movement or gives rise to what is useless. 

 The forces thus lost, or which become harmful, are 

 considerable. The recruit, when his horse is out of 

 control, brings into play, without stopping him, the 

 power of his uselessly contracted shoulder muscles, 

 whereas by making use of his fingers only on the reins, 

 he would have stopped him easily : this is "waste of 

 energy. 



It is therefore indispensable that tlie horseman, 

 like the marksman, should train his muscles by 

 exercise. 



In the preparatory work, from the earliest instruc- 

 tion on horseback, one tries by a series of appropriate 

 suppling exercises to make the application of the aids, 



