Vices, Tricks, and Faults. 129 



Should the horse stand stiffly, with its legs 

 apart and its head extended upwards, and refuse 

 to move, the rider should not attempt to force 

 it forward. By waiting until he can bend the 

 head to the right or to the left, he can reduce 

 the rigidity of the animal, and then be able 

 to move it forward. 



As I have said, a shy horse should have 

 its head turned away from the object which 

 frightens it, and be made to pass along in 

 a movement resembling that upon two paths. 

 The nearer it is brought to the object which 

 causes its terror the better ; for if it be once 

 brought quite close to that which has seemed 

 dangerous, it will be taught that its fears were 

 groundless. 



A horse which rears viciously can be cured 

 by a course of suppling. I have had for four 

 years a horse whose defence took this form, 

 and it had several times thrown itself back- 

 wards with its former owner; but, although I 

 have ridden it in the high-school movements, 

 in jumping and in le jeu de ba7^re, it has never 

 offered, since it was put through a course of 

 suppling, to rise higher than I have demanded. 



