HANDS 



neither horse nor rider should ever snatch at 

 the reins. 



The horse should now be taught, after 

 raising his head to the snaffle, to bring in his 

 chin, yielding to the pressure of the bit, until 

 the line of his face is perpendicular to the 

 ground. This is done by strongly closing the 

 fingers on the curb reins and increasing the 

 tension until the mouth is just felt ; the pressure 

 afterwards varying exactly with the force of the 

 horse's resistance ; it should in fact be equal 

 to the resistance, neither greater nor less. The 

 pain the horse suffers should be the immediate 

 result of his own action in trying to force the 

 hand, and resistance should be overcome by the 

 pressure of the knees, or the touch of the spurs 

 close behind the girths. 



When the horse yields readily to the bit, he 

 should be trained to keep his head in position 

 and champ the bit for a prolonged period, the 

 rider closing his thumb on the reins whenever 

 the horse resists, and easing the hand the 

 moment he yields. In this way is obtained 

 that mobility of the lower jaw which constitutes 

 a perfect mouth ; but the rider must see that 

 the horse yields his lower jaw to the bit before 

 bending his neck to it. If the horse takes a 

 dead hold of the bit, a good plan is to ride him 



39 



