213 



CHAPTER X. 

 HANDS AND LEGS (AIDS). 



The Aids Respective Duties of the Aids -Order in which the Aids should be 

 Applied Combined Action of the Aids The Legs Whips and Sticks 

 Weight of the Body Voice Position of the Hands Length of Reins 

 Management of the Reins Good Hands Riding with Slack Reins. 



THE AIDS. 



THE terms " hands " and " mouth " are misleading when 

 applied to riding, because they wrongly imply that a horse 

 has to be controlled and guided solely by the reins ; that is 

 to say, by only one end of his body, instead, as he ought 

 to be, by both ends. The controlling and guiding powers 

 which a good horseman usually employs, and which we may 

 term the " aids," are the hands, legs (and spurs), whip (or 

 stick), weight of the body, and voice. I am of course aware 

 that in manege parlance the word, " aids," is restricted to 

 the action of the reins (hands) and legs in riding. But 

 as the other means which I have mentioned, for conveying 

 the wishes of the rider to the horse, act in a more or less 

 similar manner, and as they are valuable adjuncts to the reins 

 and legs, I feel that I am justified in including them in this 

 definition. 



RESPECTIVE DUTIES OF THE AIDS. 



The uses of the reins are to restrain the forward movement 

 of the horse by exerting pressure on the mouth in a direction 

 opposite to that in which he is proceeding, or in which he is 



