32 THE ART or 



qualities which depend not only on his action, 

 but also on the seat of the rider upon the 

 saddle ; for when the body is not steady, the 

 hand cannot be. It is necessary also, that 

 the legs should correspond with the hand, 

 otherwise the action of the hand would never 

 be just ; this is called, according to the terms 

 of the art, the agreement of the hand and 

 heels, which is the perfection of all the helps. 



A light hand, is that which does not feel 

 the rest of the bit upon the lower jaws ; a 

 soft hand, that which feels the effect of the 

 mouth-piece a little, without giving too much 

 rest ; a firm hand is that which holds the 

 horse strongly on a rest. 



It is essential to know how to accommodate 

 these three different movements of the hand, 

 according to the nature of the mouth of every 

 horse, without constraining, and without 

 abandoning all at once the proper rest of the 

 mouth ; that is to say, after relaxing the hand, 

 to draw it back softly, to seek little by little 

 the rest of the bit, and also to take up the 

 rest strongly. You must not pass hastily from 

 the firm to the light hand, nor from the latter 

 to the former, because by doing so you would 

 very soon ruin the best mouth. 



