TO START INTO THE GALLOP. 119 



TO STOP DEAD. 



Shout "whoa!" in a loud sharp voice; close both 

 legs ; feel both reins ; and throw the weight of the 

 body back. The reins should not be tightened till 

 the word has been shouted, so as to give the pony the 

 chance of stopping of his own accord at the word of 

 command. 



TO START INTO THE GALLOP FROM THE HALT. 



As a preliminary to this lesson, it is best to begin by 

 teaching the pony to break into a canter from the trot, 

 then from the walk, and finally from the halt. When 

 he has learnt, on receiving the order " whoa! " to stop 

 collectedly at the end of a small canter, we may 

 quicken the pace, and by using the same aids, teach 

 him to gallop instead of canter from the halt. 

 Suppose we wish him to strike off from the trot into 

 the canter with the off fore leading, we may begin by 

 trotting him on a circle to the right, with the reins 

 loose. When we wish him to perform the desired 

 change of pace, we should (i) sit down in the saddle ; 

 (2) turn his head slightly to the left ; (3) feel both 

 reins ; (4) lean a little back and to the right ; and (5) 

 apply the drawn-back left heel (more or less sharply, 

 as may be required) and shout " hup! ". the moment 

 he places the near fore on the ground, because at that 

 instant the near hind is in the act of being brought 

 forward, and a touch of the heel and the sound of the 

 rider's voice will tend to quicken its advance, so that it 

 may come down before the off fore, and immediately 

 after the near fore and off hind are raised. W^ith the 



