172 THE AMERICAN HORSEWOMAN. 



other fingers alone performing the alternate ac- 

 tion of loosening and tightening the reins. 



The reader will be better enabled to under- 

 stand this explanation if she will take a piece of 

 elastic, pass it around her right hand, which will 

 correspond to the horse's mouth, and then hold 

 the two ends in her left hand, exactly in the 

 manner explained for holding the double bridle- 

 reins in one hand. Now, by making tension 

 on the elastic (or reins) with the left hand, so 

 that the right (or supposed horse's mouth) can 

 just feel this pressure, a correspondence will be 

 formed between these two hands (or bridle-hand 

 and supposed horse's mouth) through which the 

 slightest movement of the left hand, or of its 

 second, third, or fourth fingers, will be immedi- 

 ately felt by the right hand ; then, while hold- 

 ing the elastic (or reins) firmly, by pressure, 

 between the thumb and index finger, by alter- 

 nately opening and closing the fingers of the 

 left hand, she will observe that when her fin- 

 gers are closed there will be quite a tension 

 upon the elastic and consequently upon the 

 right hand, and when they are slightly opened 

 this will become flaccid. The relaxation and 

 contraction of the hand constitutes the "give 

 and take" movement, which causes the horse to 

 move easily, pleasantly, and with perfect free- 



