RIDING AND TRAINING. 125 



hand is carried to either side so that the strap takes 

 a bearing against the neck, the horse will be turned 

 in the direction the hand is borne, exactly as by the 

 opposite rein. 



As the education of the horse progresses, the 

 distance that the hand must traverse to give the 

 various effects of the curb bit will be decreased, and 

 in time the horse will promptly obey the almost 

 imperceptible motions of the hand. 



The rider will not be long in discovering, if he 

 follow the method that I lay down, that each curb 

 rein has a wide range of effects, aside from the power 

 of elevating and depressing the forehand. First, the 

 direct tension will lead or turn the horse to the same 

 side ; then, as the rein is carried nearer to the point 

 where it takes a bearing upon the neck (to give an 

 effect contrary to the first named) it restrains the 

 croup on the same side j 1 after the rein is carried over 

 so that a bearing is taken upon the neck of the horse, it 

 bends the head of the horse in the direction the rein 

 is carried, and restrains the hind-leg of that side. 



As I have said, the horse, by careful training, 

 becomes so sensitive to the touches of the bit that 

 the most delicate shades of the bit's action are re- 



1 The direct effect of a curb rein, and the indirect effect of the opposite 

 curb rein, to the same purpose, may follow one another without the second 

 rein giving the indication for fixing the croup, by carrying it beyond that 

 point before it acts upon the mouth of the horse. 



