82 MODERN HORSEMANSHIP. 



languid, the forehand should be lowered, and the 

 forces of the croup stimulated and carried forward. 



If the back is arched up or stiff, we can have no 

 true pliancy in any part, and no movement can be 

 light, elastic, and well controlled : the Arabs say that 

 a horse of ' pure breed ' is naturally supple under the 

 saddle (I suppose that this is what General Daumas 

 should have understood when he was told that the 

 Arabs rode their two-year-olds until ' the back 

 bends ') ; and we must find means of insuring this 

 suppleness of the back in all horses, except in such 

 where malformations render it impossible. 



But when the face is vertical, and the crest 

 rounded, the lower jaw pliant and yielding, the 

 spine devoid of rigidity, and the horse seems to 

 groiu, while the action is light, regular, and even 

 the rider will know that the forces are collected, 

 and in the best possible position for perfectly con- 

 trolled movements. 



At the risk of wearying the reader, I shall from 

 time to time return to this ' union and balance of 

 the forces,' for it must be thoroughly understood 

 and kept in mind. 



