HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 123 



Resistance and revolt shoiild not be excited by 

 repeated punishments, and if we perceive that the 

 horse has conceived the idea of resisting or revol- 

 ting, Ave ninst either cease at once to require the 

 action he was being taught, or place ourselves in 

 a position to be able to oppose and j)revent the 

 reaction immediately and not wait until he has 

 carried it out. 



When we do not succeed in obtaining an action 

 we may be sure that it is not the fault of the horse 

 but our own, who have demanded it from him 

 without having prepared him beforehand or without 

 the gradation which is required by his nature, or 

 have demanded an action which at that moment 

 was not possible for him. The horse should not be 

 required to go through any action without proper 

 gradation and preparation, much less sliould we 

 seek to force him to such action by means of pu- 

 nishments. The result would be resistance and re- 

 volt, and the horse would attain the knowledge 

 that he is superior to us, that he can refuse to do 

 what we tell him to do. 



We likewise should not insist upon the horse 



