THE PRIMER. 3 



A horse at liberty may move with grace and 

 lightness ; but when it is biirthened with" a rider, is 

 checked by the reins, and incited by the spurs, it 

 will be awkward and heavy in its motions unless 

 it be taught a carriage that conforms to the new 

 order of things. The weights and forces of the 

 extremities must be brought to a point of union 

 and balance under the rider, so that neither the 

 forehand nor the croup shall bear an undue share 

 of the weight, and so that the fore-legs and the 

 hind-legs may move in unison. If the forehand 

 has more than its share of the weight, that part 

 will be impeded ; if the croup has more than its 

 share of the weight, the hind-quarters will be 

 hampered. If the horse be not united, the fore- 

 legs and the hind-legs cannot step in unison, and 

 the impulses from the latter do not have their 

 full effects. Upon a disunited horse the rein 

 might influence the forehand without giving any 

 indication to the croup ; or the spurs might incite 

 action from the hind-quarters, while the forehand 

 would be unprepared ; so that any unison of 

 action between the extremities could not be relied 

 on. But when the forces of the extremities are 

 brought to a point of union and balance under 

 the rider, any application of either aid is felt at 

 once by the mass, just as in a chain, when the 



