156 MODERN HORSEMANSHir. 



the action, and the rider must exercise great care 

 in demanding lightness and suppleness at all times, 

 or the movement will degenerate. 



The Pictff is nothing more than the passage in 

 place, and is produced from a true passage step by 

 gradually uniting the horse so closely that a perfect 

 equilibrium is obtained, and no movement in any 

 direction takes place. When a well-trained horse 

 turns about the forehand, or the croup, in the trot 

 or in the passage, the stationary extremity should 

 have the //(2^ action, and the retardation of either 

 extremity in the trot or in the passage should be in 

 a sort of piciff. The piaff is not only ornamental, 

 but is also useful in keeping the horse light in some 

 of the movements in the trot, and horses that have 

 never been regularly taught the passage or the 

 piaff will, when well-balanced, use this piaff step 

 under the conditions named. 



The Passage is often employed in exhibiting 

 horses in the movements upon two paths, and well- 

 trained horses may be brought to back gracefully 

 and lightly in a slow passage step. Th^ piaff, when 

 perfectly performed, must be in place, the action 

 of the extremities beinof of even heiorht and the 

 cadences regular, the horse being light, supple, and 

 balanced. 



I should prefer to exclude the Spanish Step from 



