96 ROAD, PARK, AND SCHOOL 



the left hand acting upon the upper jaw of the horse, 

 by a light tension from below upwards, the horse 

 will be made to elevate the head. The right hand 

 will then, in the gentlest manner possible, draw the 

 curb reins towards the chest of the horse. (Fig. 15.) 

 At the moment the horse opens its mouth the left 

 hand should yield, and the right hand, having given 

 a slight bearing upon the curb bit, should go towards 

 the chest of the horse as the head of the animal 

 drops into the vertical position, without requiring 

 any further bearing of the bit against the jaw. 

 (Fig. 1 6.) If, at first, the horse does not drop 

 the nose low enough to place the face perpen- 

 dicular to the ground, the right hand will act far 

 enough to accomplish this. But it will be the 

 aim of the trainer to have the horse drop the nose 

 at the first downward play of the curb bit, so that 

 when the head comes into its position the lower jaw, 

 not having rigidly opposed the hand, will be pliant, 

 and whenever the bit is not in action the horse will 

 champ upon it, and when it does act it shall find an 

 elastic support that is sufficient only to carry its 

 indications. 



In this flexion the horse should be accustomed to 

 observe the height at which the head should be held 

 to obtain the equilibrium of the forces. When the 

 trainer comes to ride the horse he will soon discover 



