Hands 105 



would soon teach a man to let it alone. But of course, 

 before he should attempt it, his seat should be so perfect as 

 to be independent of the reins for support under all cir- 

 cumstances. *' Handle your reins," says one authority, 

 "as if they were silk threads and liable to break." This 

 is good advice, but it cannot very well be put into practice 

 unless the hands are in their proper position, as illustrated 

 at page 114, and if the seat is not perfect. If one 

 wishes to demonstrate how much of a dead weight there is 

 against a horse's mouth when the rider's elbows are ex- 

 tended and the forearm is straight, let him attach a weight 

 to a pair of reins and take hold of them with hands ex- 

 tended, American style ; let him keep adding to the weight 

 until the weight of his hands and arms is balanced, then 

 take the reins in his one hand as illustrated by the Eng- 

 lish style, and note the difference. 



It is very discouraging sometimes to undertake to make 

 over a puller. When you begin to think you are making 

 progress, something upsets your work and he gives you 

 another day of it in spite of all that you can do. From a 

 rusher over his fences and a puller between them, good 

 Lord deliver us ! Such a horse not only tires his rider but 

 exhausts himself to no purpose. We have shown in the 

 chapter on horsemanship how essential it is to be on good 

 terms with one's horse, but no one can possibly accomplish 

 this when there is a fight going on all the time between 

 himself and his mount. 



A horse pulls from two causes — dulness of feeling, or to 

 ease pain. In the first case the chances of recovery are 

 generally hopeless. When, however, the pulling begins 



