Cantering in a Circle. 133 



both. Sometimes a horse will be leading with 

 one shoulder, and following with the alternate 

 hind leg. He is then said to be " disunited," or 

 "disconnected." The leg or spur, applied on 

 either side to bring him to the proper lead, will 

 soon correct this error, as it is equally disagree- 

 able to horse and rider, and it is a relief to both 

 to change it. 



Now, acting on this theory of the horse having 

 a natural lead, suppose you canter Nelly about in 

 a circle small enough to induce her to use the 

 proper leg in the lead. A circle fifty feet in di- 

 ameter will do. At the same time apply a con- 

 stant but slight pressure of your leg on the side 

 opposite her leading shoulder. She will by and 

 by associate this pressure with what you want her 

 to do. Stick to one direction long enough, say 

 three or four days, to impress the idea on her 

 mind, and she will be rather apt to keep it in 

 memory. Then try the other direction with op- 

 posite pressure, and you will gradually get the 

 opposite result. 



Again, a horse canters best with off shoulder 

 leading, if moving along the side of a hill which 

 slopes up to his right, and vice versa. Thus, if 

 you keep on the left side of most roads, where 

 the grade slopes towards the gutter, you will find 

 that Nelly will lead best with her right shoulder. 

 This is for the same reason. She wishes to plant 



