XXVIII. 

 Pari Played by the Neck in Equitation. When a horse is 

 left to himself and is free to apply his own natural methods, 

 he makes uses of his head and neck as a balancer to keep 

 his forces in equilibrium or to modify their action. If 

 he wishes to go forward, he pushes out his head and ex- 

 tends his neck in order to shift the center of gravity in the 

 direction of the desired movement. If, on the contrary, he 

 wishes to go back, he pulls in his head and shortens his 

 neck thus starting the mass in the movement to the rear. 

 In lateral movements, oblique or circular, it is the same; 

 the shifting of the head or neck to the right or left prepares, 

 favors and controls the animal's action. 



At a walk, the head and neck are in constant motion 

 in order to take weight off the legs that are moving to the 

 front and place weight on those that rest on the ground. 



At a gallop, the balancer is alternately raised and low- 

 ered according as the horse is supported on the hind quar- 

 ters or on the forehand and is extended or brought in 

 according as the gait is rapid or slow. 



This shifting of the head and neck that we observe in 

 the horse at liberty should be noted when the horse is rid- 

 den. The rider should be completely master of the neck 

 and, when he gives his horse the signal for a movement, 

 should be able at the same time to set the neck in the posi- 

 tion most favorable to the execution of the movement. The 

 neck is therefore a steering gear as well as a balancer, and 

 suppling exercises that involve this region necessarily take 

 up a large portion of the time devoted to training. But, it 

 is to be noted that these supplings must be confined to the 

 upper part of the neck. The neck must alwaj'S offer an 

 elastic resistance, suitable to its functions. If it were too 

 Hexible and too easily moved, it could neither react on the 

 hind quarters nor control the movements of the forehand. 



(SS) 



