Manual of Equitation and Horse Training 81 



The rider not only combats the faults of position by a 

 judicious use of the aids, but also by using a milder or 

 more severe bit, raising or lowering it in the horse's mouth, 

 loosening his curb chain. 



Thus, with a "stargazer" one should increase the value 

 of the arm of the lever; consequently, use a bit with long 

 branches placed low in the mouth, in order to bring the 

 head in. For the horse who carries his head too low, or is 

 too much gathered, the bit should be placed as high as 

 possible and have short branches. 



If, in the state of nature, the position of the head is 

 determined by the attitude of the neck, with the bridled 

 horse it is the bit which, by its action on the mouth, makes 

 the head take a position to which the neck is forced to 

 yield. The neck will therefore raise, stretch out, and bend 

 to the right or left, according to the manner in which the 

 hands act. 



Role and position of the neck. — The neck being the in- 

 dispensable balance for aiding movement, its position at 

 the poll should be such that, while remaining supple and 

 accepting the lateral and retrograde displacements with- 

 out resistance, it should always preserve its support and 

 even a certain degree of firmness. Its direction should be 

 that which it takes naturally when the horse unmounted 

 is in place and at attention. 



If the head and neck were raised too much, the play 

 of the shoulders would be freer; but at the same time the 

 loin and the whole hind quarters would be cramped, the 

 haunches and hocks hindered in their action, the displace- 

 ments of the hind quarters would be restrained, unequal, 

 and jerky; consequently, the gait would lose speed and 

 regularity at the same time. 



If the neck were too low, the overcharged shoulders 

 would render the horse heavy and difficult to guide. 



The neck, then, should be neither too high nor too low; 

 it shortens or stretches out at the same time that the head 

 approaches or leaves the vertical. In coming in, the head 

 bends the neck at the poll without breaking its line; in 

 stretching out, it extends the neck without raising it. 



With the horse thus placed, the reins will preserve 

 their whole power, and the members of the forehand, like 

 those of the hind quarters, will coordinate their actions in 



