The Use and Misuse of the Hands 99 



Were he to comply with your advice, he would 

 probably be run away with on the spot. If his bad 

 hands have upset the animal and made him pull, 

 there is no remedy; the man does not possess the 

 power of " playing " the horse delicately until he 

 submits, and if the fault lies with the horse's mouth 

 — or rather with the riders who have spoilt it — a 

 sudden slackening of the reins will be rather an in- 

 dication that he is to go faster, than the reverse. 

 For the moment the man must " do the best he can " 

 by main strength, though he will be well advised to 

 get a better trained or more temperate horse for his 

 future riding. That " do not pull at him and he 

 will not pull at you " has before now driven a rider 

 in difficulties to exclaim, and with much reason: 

 " If only he had not pulled at me, I should never 

 have pulled at him." The man with ordinary hands 

 and knowledge will take a pull, and a good hard 

 one, but he will be careful to do so for a short time 

 only — perhaps but for a few strides — and will relax 

 the pressure the instant the animal gives to his hand, 

 were it only a little, and will repeat this over and 

 over again, gradually replacing force with gentle- 

 ness, until an understanding has been arrived at. 



