82 THE BAKB AND THE BRIDLE. 



should rein him back, collect and balance him — riding equally upon 

 snaffle and curb reins — she should make the corner perfectly square ; 

 and when midway between it and the centre marker, the instructor 

 should give the word " light half passage," upon which the pupil 

 should still further collect her horse into the slow pace she used in 

 the bending lesson, and, having arrived at the centre marker, she 

 should bring the horse's forehand in, by a double feeling of the right 

 rein ; the outward leg closed, to prevent the haunches from flying out. 

 The inward rein leads ; the outward balances and assists the power 

 of the inward. A pressure of the left leg causes the horse to place 

 one foot before the other (see Aid Book). The whip used in alter- 

 nate action with the leg will cause him to move to his right front, 

 towards the boards. 



A very light and delicate application of the leg, in unison with a 

 similar application of the whip, is sufficient with a well-broken 

 horse to enable the rider to do the " half passage " correctly at a 

 walk. The point at which, strictly speaking, she should arrive at 

 the boards is just midway between the ends of the school; and in a 

 properly-regulated one there should always be a white marker on 

 the wall, just above the place where the sockets for the leaping bar 

 are inserted in it. 



Keeping her eye upon this marker, the rider should lead her horse's 

 forehand lightly with the right rein, maintaining an easy, playful, 

 feeling of the snaffle in his mouth, and carefully balancing his every 

 step with the left rein, while she presses him up to his work with 

 the leg and whip. The horse's head should be bent to the right, so 

 that his right eye is visible to the rider as she sits perfectly square 

 in the saddle. The pace can scarcely be too slow, but every step 

 must be taken up to the bridle, the horse's forehand up, and his 

 haunches well under him. 



In no part of a lady's course of equitation is it necessary for the 

 instructor to pay more close attention to his pupil than in this : the 

 temptation to the latter to relax her position, and sit, as it were, "all 

 over the saddle " is great, from the difficulty she at first experiences 

 in applying the aids effectually, and her anxiety to do well, Causing 

 her to twist her figure in pressing the horse with the left leg. The 



