TRAINING. 75 



The third lesson may be for ten minutes ; and 

 each succeeding one a Httle longer, until the horse 

 has as much work under the saddle as suits Its 

 strength and condition without fatiguing or dis- 

 gusting it. 



If all goes well, the horse may be put into a 

 trot in the fourth or fifth lesson, being incited 

 by the ' clucking ' of the rider's tongue, or by a 

 light tap delivered behind the girths. Whip 

 blows on the hind-legs will induce the horse to 

 lash out ; delivered upon the rump, they will 

 induce the horse to raise the croup in kicking. 

 I need not say such applications of the whip 

 should be avoided. In these early lessons the 

 rider should not try to do too much ; the reins 

 should be used cautiously, and no persistent 

 efforts should be made to produce a good car- 

 riage. I have known many cases in which the 

 training proceeded without any decided resistances 

 on the part of the young horse ; but it may be 

 that during one of the first four or five lessons 

 the animal will plunge more or less violently. 

 In a plunge the rider must lean back and sit 

 close, keeping up the head of the horse as gently 

 as possible, and driving it forward. If the rider 

 can resist punishing the horse, and, without any 

 battle, can induce it to go forward, it is not 



