168 THE AMERICAN HORSEWOMAN. 



and the directions herein given will be found 

 amply sufficient to control a well-trained, prop- 

 erly-bitted animal. 



The preceding directions relative to holding 

 and managing the reins may appear very tedi- 

 ous and exceedingly complicated. But if the 

 pupil, commencing with the snaffle-reins, one in 

 each hand, will carefully study and practice 

 each method in succession, she will soon find 

 that all these apparently difficult manoeuvres 

 are very simple when put into practice, and 

 can be readily learned in half a dozen lessons. 

 When she has once fully mastered them, she 

 will be astonished to find how little management, 

 when it is of the right kind and based upon cor- 

 rect principles, will be required to make her 

 steed move in an easy and pleasant manner. 



After the rein-hold has been acquired, and 

 the pupil properly seated in the saddle, she will, 

 if the reins are held steady, observe with each 

 step of the horse as he advances in the canter 

 or gallop, a slight tug or pull upon the reins. 

 This pull will also be simultaneously felt by the 

 horse's mouth, between which and the rider's 

 hand or hands there will be what may be termed 

 a correspondence. This correspondence gives 

 a support to the horse, provided the rider, while 

 maintaining an equal degree of tension upon the 



