HOW TO HOLD THE REINS. 171 



evident that any " fumbling " with the reins when they 

 are being changed from one hand to another, might be suffi- 

 cient for a jockey to lose a race, or for a hunting man to 

 fail to prevent a refusal at a fence. It frequently happens that 

 the rider who adopts this " school " system of holding the reins 

 in both hands, neglects in the hurry of the moment to shorten 

 the off rein at all, and consequently pulls his horse round to 

 the left, by reason of the near rein being shorter than the off. 

 Another objection to it is that one hand has a different hold 

 on the reins to that which the other hand has. When the 

 reins are held as in Figs. 157 or 158, both hands have exactly 

 the same hold, and the off can be passed into the left or the 

 near into the right in an instant. 



On this subject, Colonel Greenwood, in his excellent book, 

 Hints on Horsemanship, pertinently remarks : " Even our 

 finest two-handed English riders (who, in my opinion, are the 

 finest riders in the world), when they use the right hand on 

 the right rein, continue to hold both reins with the left hand, 

 and then slip the right rein a little through the left hand 

 in order to place both hands even. This is a most vicious 

 habit. When they quit the right rein to use the whip, or 

 to throw the arm back at a fence (another most vicious habit), 

 by their system of holding and handling the reins they have 

 not the power to place the lengthened rein short in the left 

 hand. Alas, poor horse ! he is then pulled to the left by the 

 left rein, driven to the left by the whip on the right, and then 

 abused for answering the natural indication which he has been 

 trained liabitually to obey." 



