VII. 



The Halt How to Halt a Young Horse. To halt, Iran hack 

 slightly and pull on the reins with gradually increasing force 

 in order to slow and then stop movement. 



When the trooper pulls on the reins, the horse should 

 neither raise nor lower the head. The muzzle should remain 

 to the front and the whole mass of the neck should How back 

 towards the withers. In other words, under the action of 

 the reins the horse should neither throw his nose up in the 

 air nor bring it down against his chest, closing up on the 

 hand. This latter fault is particularly to be avoided. It is 

 more difficult to raise the muzzle than to lower it and any 

 horse that, at the beginning of training, withdraws from 

 neck control, becomes especially difficult to instruct. 



Should Halts be Frequent ? The halt should not be fre- 

 quently practised on horses inclined to fret nor on those with 

 hind legs set under and thus liable to sit down on the haun- 

 ches. On the contrary it should be often used in cases 

 where the conformation throws too much weight on the 

 shoulders. Training ig nothing more than the quest of bal- 

 ance and the halt will be a well chosen suppling exercise for 

 a horse with a high, powerful croup that makes him difficult 

 to slow up. 



The Change of Direction— Aids to Use. To change direction 

 to the right, open gently the right rein by carrying the wrist 

 to the front and right, without moving the elbow and witli- 

 out twisting the hand. 



The effect of opening must be produced laterally and as 

 little as possible from front to rear. It induces a movement 

 of the haunches and furnishes therefore a preliminary means 

 of accustoming the horse to yield to the pressure of one leg. 



(33) 



