34 THE ART OF 



The action of drawing back the hand, is 

 made by drawing it against the stomach, the 

 nails of the hand turned a little upwards; 

 the object of it is, to stop the horse by making 

 a half stop, or to draw well backwards. You 

 must, during this movement, not press too 

 much upon the stirrips, but put at the same 

 time your shoulders a little back, in order 

 that the horse may stop or draw back on his 

 hips. 



The third and fourth movements are, to 

 turn the hand to the right or to the left ; the 

 nails of the hands should, in the former case, 

 be upwards, in order to make the right act. 

 A horse obedient to the hand, is one that fol- 

 lows all its movements. 



There are three ways of holding the reins ; 

 first, separated and in both hands, even in the 

 left hand, or one longer than the other, ac- 

 cording to the side on which the horse is to 

 be exercised. 



The separated reins are necessary for 

 horses not yet accustomed to the effects of 

 the left or bridle hand, or for those who re- 

 sist or refuse to turn with a single hand. You 

 must bend the left hand downwards when you 

 draw the right hand rein to turn from this 



