74 THE BARB AND THE BRIDLE. 



In circling to the right, the horse to be well bent to the right, so 

 that the rider can see his inward eye ; fore and hind legs moving 

 exactly on the same track, the horse not throwing his haunches out.. 

 The great use of this circling is, that as the horse changes his 

 direction no less than six times in a small space, to keep him up to 

 his work the lady must bring up her left shoulder as many times as 

 the horse alters his direction. To do this, she must be quite supple 

 in the waist, and circling is therefore a capital practice to insure this 

 freedom of action at that portion of the figure. To render the 

 lesson still more easy to the pupil, I have found it answer well, after 

 walking over the ground, to mark it out on the tan with a stick. In 

 military schools the circle to the right or left is followed by the 

 " circle and change," in which, when arrived at the boards, the pupil, 

 instead of turning the horse's head to the hand he is working to, 

 changes the bend, and turns to the reverse hand. This, however, 

 cannot be executed at a canter with due precision without the use of 

 the right leg, and is therefore (in my opinion) better omitted in a 

 lady's course of equitation, an additional reason being that, when 

 she is taught to make the change at a canter, she can do it much 

 more effectually and elegantly by the " half passage." 



The circles having been neatly done, the pupil should rein her 

 horse back, put him well upon his haunches, and strike him off at 

 a collected canter, about five miles an hour, the cadence true, the 

 position of the rider correct. 



It is at this point that the instructor should begin carefully to get 

 his pupil to supple herself in the saddle, while she still rides her 

 horse well up to his work. It should be borne in mind that 

 a horse cannot make turns or circles at the "pace of manoeuvre" 

 without considerable danger to himself and his rider, because at such 

 a pace it is next to impossible to keep him fairly balanced, and he is- 

 liable, even on well-kept tan, to slip up, whereas at a very collected 

 pace, with his haunches well under him, there is no danger whatever, 

 although at first it will call very much upon the energy and close 

 attention of the rider. Having her horse well into his bridle, the 

 give-and-take action of the hand should now come gradually from 

 the shoulder joint, and the pupil should be frequently reminded to- 



