48 THE HOKSEMAN'S MANUAL. 



ward acting in unison with, and assisting it; the legs 

 also assisting the hands; but in all turns, the outward 

 leg the stronger, and when the turn is made, the rider 

 must pay great attention, or he will be riding on one rein; 

 for let me remind him again, that he has a right rein in 

 his left hand, so that unless he is very particular in keep- 

 ing his hand exactly opposite the centre of his body, he 

 will lose the feeling of the left rein ; for should he get his 

 bridle hand the least to the left, it will take all the power 

 from that rein, and thus all the pressure will be on the off 

 side of the horse's mouth ; so that if he wished to advance 

 straight to his front, he could not possibly do so ; since, to 

 enable him to do that, there must be an equal feeling on 

 both sides of the horse's mouth. It will be a great assist- 

 ance to the rider in advancing on a line, to fix his eye on 

 some stationary object, and he will find his horse go to it ; 

 for the eye will direct his hand ; and the hand, the horse. 



The Bending Lesson with the Bit. 



In working the bending lesson with the bit, great atten- 

 tion will be required for the right shoulder-in, and the 

 right passage ; because in both these the bend is made by 

 the right or inward rein. This must be done by shorten- 

 ing it an inch, which can be effected by placing the thumb 

 of the right hand in the middle between the two bit reins, 

 and turning it upwards, while bringing the horse to the 

 position of shoulder-in, which must be done by degrees, by 

 first shortening bis pace. 



The rider will find he gains sufficient bend by shorten- 

 ing the right rein one inch when the horse is placed ; and 

 as he has but one hand to raise the horse in front, to bend 

 him to the right, and to lead him away with the left rein, 

 he must be very particular that his hands and legs act 

 in unison, and that his aids are smooth and well timed : 

 the horse to be well raised in front, with an even pressure 



