64 THE BARB AND THE BRIDLE. 



master, after putting the horse and rider in true position, to place 

 himself on the horse's off side, when he should give the word, 

 " Right shoulder in — march ! " The lady then, firmly closing her 

 left leg to keep the horse up to the hand, should keep her right hand 

 well back and low down close to the saddle, lead the horse off with 

 the left rein, and close her whip to his ribs on the off side, just 

 behind the flap of the saddle. 



If the horse has been accustomed to work the lesson, with a lady 

 he will obey these aids. But in some cases it is necessary for the 

 master (to supply the absence of the right leg of a man to the horse), 

 to push firmly with his left hand against the horse's ribs to move 

 him off. The rider, while leading the horse off with the left rein, 

 should keep up a continual, light easy play of the right rein, so as to 

 preserve the bend inwards. The instructor should count " one, 

 two," in very slow time, as the horse moves first his fore and then 

 his hind leg. After a few steps onward the horse should be halted, 

 by the rider feeling both reins, and closing the whip firmly on the 

 off side. He should then be made much of and moved on again. A 

 quarter of an hour is ample for the first lesson. 



After the pupil understands and can apply the aids for the 

 "shoulder in" (riding on the snaffle), she maybe taught to do it 

 on snaffle and curb together, and then on the curb alone, when she 

 will find the nicest balance in her seat and the most careful and 

 delicate manipulations of the reins necessary — joined, however, to 

 distinct and perceptible feeling upon the horse's mouth. And on 

 moving her horse forward she will find that her hand is true and 

 steady. 



The " shoulder in" having been neatly done, the lady should rein 

 her horse lightly back and ride him forward, making the corner of 

 the school quite square, and then halt at the centre marker. On the 

 word "right half passage," she should turn the horse's head square 

 down the centre of the school, and exactly reverse the aids by which 

 she worked the *' shoulder in " ; that is, she should lead the horse 

 off with the right or inward rein, well balancing and assisting its 

 power by the outward one; with her leg she should press the 

 horse until he places one foot before the other, gaining ground to 



