56 ILLUSTRATED HORSE-BREAKLNG. 



Teaching the Horse to tttrn. — -When we fail to 

 make a horse turn properly, we find, almost always, 

 that our want of success is due to the animal's hind- 

 quarters not '' coming round " in concert with his 

 head and neck, which, as a rule, can be '' bent " to 

 the right or left with facility. I venture to dis- 

 sent, with all diffidence, from the principle of the 

 *' suppling" lessons enjoined by that great master of 

 equitation, M. Baucher, as first steps for '' forming 

 the mouth," for teaching the horse to bring his head 

 round to one side or the other, according to the 

 indication used, while the hind limbs remain fixed. 

 To my thinking, precision in the simple movements 

 of advancing to the front, reining back, and 

 turning, should be sought for, before attempting 

 any artificial evolutions, — such as the " passage," 

 and "shoulder-in," — only, in which, the bending of 

 the head and neck is made independently of that 

 of the hind-quarters. As, in riding, all turns should 

 be made with the aid of the support of the 

 "outward leg" — a fact too widely recognized for the 



