THE BARB AND THE BRIDLE. 87 



still maintaining this appui., the horse will step back. The instant 

 he does the reins should be yielded to him, and he will bend in the 

 poll of the neck and yield to his rider's hand. So that the appui is 

 then scarcely perceptible. This alternate action of hand and leg, 

 aided by the whip, should be repeated just as many times as it is 

 desired to rein the horse so many steps backward, the latter 

 moving very slowly ; a couple or three stejDS for the purpose 

 above named are always sufficient. To move the horse to the 

 front again at a walk, the leg should be closed, and the reins 

 eased until he moves forward, when he should be again collected. 

 But if the rider desires to strike him off at once at a canter, at 

 the moment she eases her hand she should apply her spur smartly 

 just behind the girth, and touch the horse lightly on the off 

 shoulder with her whip. Being properly bent and prepared, he 

 will then strike off with his right leg first, and well within himself ; 

 but having eased the reins as the horse takes his first short stride 

 forward, the rider should feel them again the next instant, keeping 

 her left hand well back, her arm steady, and manipulating the reins 

 with the right hand and the fingers of the left, so that she feels 

 them just as the horse's fore foot is on the ground, and eases them 

 as he raises it. 



This may appear to the uninitiated a very difficult matter, but in 

 reality it is not at all so, any more than it is difficult in dancing to 

 keep time to music, or for the nmsician to count the time to himself ; 

 and by careful watching it can be mastered as well as either of the 

 above, or the stroke in swimming. 



Anybody who has witnessed a cavalry field day will have noticed 

 that the regimental band and the action of the horses both in trotting 

 and cantering past the commanding officer are in exact harmony ; 

 and many people believe that the horses are taught to canter to the 

 music. The reverse of this, however, is the case. The leader of the 

 band, having himself passed through a course of equitation, knows 

 the exact cadence of the pace of manoeuvre, and regulates the time of 

 the music accordingly ; but it is because he is able to count the 

 time of the horses' footfall so well that he is also able to set the time 

 of the music. In like manner the fair equestrian, with a little 



