HINTS ON RIDING 107 



after which, still keeping the right hand in position, 

 pass the slack of the two right reins across the palm 

 of the left hand on top of the left reins. Both hands 

 should always be kept on the reins except on odd occa- 

 sions, when the right hand can be lifted off the reins 

 or resume its position without disturbing them in 

 any way. 



In double-rein riding the wrists are slightly more 

 rounded than in using a snaffle, and the knuckles are 

 thereby held in a more vertical manner; this position 

 enables the fourth finger, which has chief control over 

 the inner or predominant rein, to work downward and 

 backward. Reins are always more easily held by 

 feeling their edges than their flat surfaces. There- 

 fore, in exact proportion to the amount of leverage 

 desired to be exercised by the fourth finger should the 

 rounding of the wrists be increased. In extreme cases 

 when showing a high acting hack, the wrists are often 

 so greatly rounded that the palms are almost turned 

 upward and the knuckles down, a method, however, 

 best left to the experienced. 



The method of crossing the slack of the reins in the 

 palm of the opposite hand has several advantages 

 over the method more generally used in this country; 

 in which the reins, separated by the various fingers, 

 all run in one direction and come out between the first 

 finger and thumb of the left hand. 



In this latter form of riding, the rider has (1) the dis- 

 advantage of holding the reins differently in each 

 hand, and in order to get an even feel on both reins 

 he has to have the off rein slightly longer than the near 

 rein. Should he now take his right hand off the off 

 rein, this rein remains more or less longer than the 

 other, and the horse is unconsciously pulled around to 



