lOO MODERN HORSEMANSHIP. 



clear and free paces. To bring the horse to a 

 halt from the trot, the rider's legs should first close 

 against the animal's sides and the tension upon the 

 reins be increased until the animal comes into a 

 walk, and then from the walk the halt should be 

 procured as before explained. In increasing the 

 speed, or in decreasing the speed, in any pace, the 

 legs should always act before the hand, so that by 

 first demanding impulses from the croup, the hand 

 shall always have something to deal with. 



In the walk and in the slow trot the horse should 

 be ridden in straight lines, upon circumferences of 

 various diameters, and in figures of 8 ; and for at 

 least a few minutes each day the animal should 

 be put into a good brisk trot, as rapid as proves 

 consistent with cadenced action, in which neither 

 extremity is given too much preponderance. That 

 is, the impulses from the croup must not be so great 

 as to throw the weights upon the forehand, nor 

 must the forehand be so elevated, or its forces be 

 so far carried back, as to impede the action of the 

 hind-quarters. 



During these lessons the horse should be prac- 

 tised in bending the head to the right and to the 

 left in the walk, the heels being held close to the 

 animal's sides to keep the body straight, the heel 

 opposite to the side to which the bend is made 



