136 A Better Way to Teach. 



start in a more certain way. You must not ex- 

 pect to succeed at once. Success depends upon 

 Nelly's intelligence, your own patience, and the 

 delicate perceptions of both. I assume that you 

 will have already taught Nelly to canter when- 

 ever you wish her to do so, though she may have 

 been selecting her own lead. Now, you can, of 

 course, see, when you want her to canter, that if 

 you keep her head straight with the reins and 

 press upon her near flank with your leg, she will 

 throw her croup away from your leg, and be for 

 the moment out of the true line of advance. 

 This is bad for the walk or the trot, but just 

 what you want to induce her to start the canter 

 with the off shoulder leading. For if you can 

 keep her in this position until she takes the can- 

 ter, she will be more apt to lead of¥ with her right 

 shoulder, because the forcing of her croup to the 

 right has also pushed this shoulder in advance 

 of the other. If at the same time she is traveling 

 along a slope which runs up from her right, say 

 the left side of the road, or on a circle turning to 

 the right, she will be all the more apt to do this. 

 You can aid her also by a little marked play 

 with the right rein, which will tend to enliven 

 that side, and by giving it increased action, aid in 

 bringing it forward, even if not done with entire 

 expertness. 



A number of English writers state that the 



