REINING BACK. 255 



back is in diagonal two time (that of the trot), namely, 

 near fore and off hind, and off fore and near hind. It 

 is reasonable to assume that we should begin the rein back 

 with the diagonal which is more advanced than the other 

 diagonal, and that the fore foot of the former will, as a rule, 

 be in advance of that of the latter at the halt, supposing that 

 the horse is not standing with both fore feet equally advanced. 

 Therefore, if, say, the near fore is more advanced than the off 

 fore, we should (i) turn the animal's head to the near side, 

 and bring the body forward and to the near side, in order to 

 diminish the weight borne by the off hind ; (2) draw back the 

 right foot so as to prompt the horse to lift up the off hind ; 

 and (3) feel both reins, with the object of making him take a 

 step to the rear with the off hind, the backward movement of 

 which will be accompanied or quickly followed by that of the 

 near fore. In the execution of this step, the hind quarters 

 should be kept straight by the application of the drawn back 

 right foot, and the hands should be held low in order to main- 

 tain the preponderance of weight on the forehand. To obtain 

 the next step, the head is turned to the opposite side and the 

 reversed aids are applied. 



Before starting in this rein back, we can easily tell which is 

 the more advanced fore leg of the two by the fact that its 

 shoulder will be farther to the front than the other shoulder. 



If both fore feet be equally advanced, we can begin with 

 either of the two diagonals. In all cases, the rein back should 

 consist of a continued series of steps executed with ease and 

 precision. To obtain this desirable end, the horse should go 

 freely up to his bit ; because if he has any tendency to keep 

 behind it from defective training, faulty manipulation of the 

 reins, or wrong bitting there will be proportionate risk of 

 the rein back becoming replaced by the disordered and 

 dangerous run back, with possible rearing and falling over. 



