THE HAND'GALLOP AND GALLOP, 45 



effort on his part to gain upon the hand must be at once 

 checked. The play of the Httle fingers on the curb keeps 

 his mouth aUve, prevents his hanging or boring, and makes 

 it sensible to the rider's hand. 



*' Keeping a horse in hand" means that there is such a 

 system of communication established between the rider 

 and the quadruped that the former is mistress of the situa- 

 tion, and knows, almost before the horse has made up his 

 mind what to do, what is coming. This keeping in hand 

 is one of the secrets of fine horsemanship, and it especially 

 suits the light-hearted mercurial sort of goer, one that is 

 always more or less off the ground or in the air, one of 

 those that " treads so light he scarcely prints the plain." 



My impression is, despite the numerous bits devised and 

 advertised to stop runaways, that nothing short of a long and 

 steep hill, a steam-cultivated, stiff clay fallow, or the Bog of 

 Allen, will stop the determined bolt of a self-willed, callous- 

 mouthed horse. There is no use pulling at him, for the 

 more you pull the harder he hardens his heart and his mouth. 

 The only plan, if there be plenty of elbow room, is to let 

 him have his wicked way a bit, then, with one mighty con- 

 centrated effort to give a sudden snatch at the bit, followed 

 by instantly and rapidly drawing, "sawing," of the bridoon 

 through his mouth. Above all, keep your presence of mind, 

 and if by any good luck you can so pilot the brute as to make 

 him face an ascent, drive him up it — if it be as steep as the 

 roof of a house, so much the better, — plying whip and spur, 

 till he be completely " pumped out " and dead beat. Faihng 

 a steep hill, perhaps a ploughed field -may present itself, 

 through and round which he should be ridden, in the very 

 fullest sense of the word, till he stands still. Such a horse 

 is utterly unfit to carry a lady, and, should she come safe 

 and sound out of the uncomfortable ride, he had better 



