146 HOW WOMEN SHOULD RIDE 



by chance. Otherwise the restraint will 

 make him the more unmanageable when 

 he does start. He should be induced 

 to stand a few moments, while his rider 

 strokes him and talks to him in a sooth- 

 ing way. The snaffle should then be 

 gradually and quietly shortened until 

 there is a light but firm feeling on the 

 reins, when a pressure of the leg (not of 

 the heel, which might suggest a spur) 

 will put him to a trot. If the hands be 

 held low and steady and the voice be 

 soft and pacifying, they will probably 

 prevail upon him to trot all the way, 

 although he may break into a canter a 

 stride before the jump. When over it 

 he should be gently, not sharply, pulled 

 up, and coaxed to walk again, or, bet- 

 ter still, to trot slowly. When he has 

 learned to jump from the trot he will 

 soon do so from a slow canter, which 

 will be more trying for him, as it has a 



