Instructional Exercises 187 



Some teachers of riding will consider thi^ the so- 

 called " aids " given in the above lesson are, to say 

 the least of it, insufficient, both in number anci detail, 

 but I hold that this is not the case if the horse is 

 trained and balanced. I do not think that enough 

 distinction is made in equine literature between the 

 " aids " required for the trained and the untrained 

 animal. I have before me now a widely-read book 

 on riding, and as an example of unnecessary det?^il 

 I will quote the instructions it gives for pulling a 

 horse up to a standstill. '' Close both legs, feel both 

 reins, raise the hands, bring the weight of the body 

 back, and relax the pressure of the legs and hands 

 as soon as the horse halts." Now, a man uses the 

 pressure of the lower part of his legs to start his 

 horse ; it therefore seems unreasonable to do the 

 same thing when he wishes the animal to stop. It 

 may, how^ever, be necessary to apply the legs to the 

 horse when he is halted, should he evince a disposi- 

 tion to back. Ladies who still ride as their mothers 

 did, stop their horses very well with no pressure 

 from the legs : why then should it be necessary for 

 the man? Again, w^hy raise both hands? The 

 raising or lowering of the hands should be unneces- 



