I02 Cross Country with Horse and Hound 



hand is acknowledged everywhere among hunting men as 

 being Hghter and more sensitive of touch than a man's. 

 Sensitiveness of touch is a gift, yet probably can be culti- 

 vated and improved to some extent. More profit is to be 

 derived from giving our attention to the causes — bad hands 

 and pulling horses, which invariably "hunt in couples" — 

 to which its lack is due. 



The most fruitful source of bad hands is an incorrect 

 position in holding the reins. It is a point susceptible of 

 the greatest improvement. The proper position of the 

 arms and hands is illustrated at page 92 ; the wrong way 

 at page 104. In the right way notice that the arm from 

 the shoulder to the elbow is perpendicular, the forearm at 

 right angles to the upper, and that the hands are well in the 

 lap of the rider, so that there is no weight whatever on 

 the reins. The wrist is pliable to every step or stride of 

 the mount. The correct position has been attained. A 

 glance at page 1 04, which illustrates the wrong way of hold- 

 ing the reins, will show that with the elbows forward and 

 the forearm in line with the reins or parallel to the direc- 

 tion in which the horse is moving, the weight of the hands 

 and arms rests against the horse's mouth. This weight, 

 moreover, is increased in proportion as the elbow is held 

 forward of the perpendicular. In holding the reins with 

 the arms extended, one causes all the give and take of the 

 reins to come from the shoulder. The whole arm instead 

 of the wrist must be moved, or, as is usually the case, re- 

 main rigid. This position of the hands is a constant dead 

 weight against the horse's mouth. The rider is entirely 

 unconscious of pulling the horse's mouth. He is not pull- 



