96 Manual of Equitation and Horse Training 



efforts will tend to produce the movement with the mini- 

 mum of fatigue. No strength will be lost. It is this position 

 which the rider should seek to impose on the horse when- 

 ever he can work on long bases. 



Considered from the point of view of training, the 

 gaits, some of whose points were discussed in breaking, 

 offer still further resources. 



A free walk, extended without exaggeration, is restful. 

 It is the best reward which the rider may give the horse to 

 show his satisfaction of a well- executed movement. It 

 should be frequently used. 



Further, at this gait the seat being steady, the rider is 

 in possession of all his means, and should profit thereby to 

 correct bad positions of the horse and to teach him the 

 positions which should precede each new movement. The 

 horse, being himself as much more disposed to obey as the 

 aids are more distinct, and as much more master of his 

 balance as the gait is less rapid, finds himself best disposed 

 to receive the lesson. 



Every new movement, every new position, should 

 therefore be taught at the walk before proceeding to the 

 rapid gaits. 



But at the walk, for the very reason of its slowness, 

 the gymnastic effects on his joints and muscles are little 

 marked in lateral movements. Likewise at the gallop, if 

 the extensions and collections of the gait on the straight 

 line form an excellent exercise for the spinal column, on 

 the other hand, work on two tracks has no useful effect, 

 since in this movement he moves by a series of bounds 

 parallel to himself without crossing his legs, consequently 

 without great effort. 



On the contrary, in the trot, by reason of the mechan- 

 ism of the gait, the movement on two tracks forms a sup- 

 pling as much more complete as the impulsion is greater 

 and the gait more cadenced. 



In order that the left members, for example, shall open 

 widely toward the left and the right members shall pass 

 in front of them, the horse must move with long strides, 

 the speed must be maintained; without it there would be 

 no deep work of the muscles, no extended play of the 

 joints— in a word, neither suppling nor impulsion. 



The gallop departs. — The importance of the gallop re- 

 quires that the rider be familiar with the least details of 



