CHAPTER VI 



SPECIAL WORK IN THE RIDING SCHOOL 



The fancy and artificial paces of the "Haute Ecole" 

 (equitation superieure). 



The artificial paces of the High School are 

 not a necessity in the training of a hack that is 

 ridden generally out of doors, but the Spanish 

 walk and trot are excellent gymnastics ; they 

 give great freedom to the shoulders and tend 

 to improve the horses natural paces. The 

 practical use of high school riding, however, 

 is to finish off the education of the horseman ; 

 it teaches him the right, accurate, delicate 

 use of the aids, and also impresses on him 

 the necessity of thoroughly understanding the 

 mechanism of a horse ; without this knowledge 

 it is difficult to apply the aids at the right 

 moment, whereas this knowledge, combined 

 with the suppleness and self-command acquired 

 from the high school work, enables him to 

 get increased enjoyment out of riding, and to 

 master difficult horses without upsetting their 

 tempers. 



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