FLEXIONS OF THE CROUP. 261 



should, of course, be used with much more skill than the 

 snaffle. 



This flexion is the most important of all ; the others 

 chiefly tend to render it attainable. As soon as it can be 

 executed with ease and promptness, as soon as a slight 

 touch of the hand is sufficient to bring and maintain the 

 head in a perpendicular position, the contractions of the 

 fore part of the animal are destroyed, and it^ lightness 

 and equilibrium are established. 



The Hind Parts. — The rider, in order to direct his 

 horse, acts upon two portions of his body, — the front and 

 the rear. He employs for this purpose two movements, — 

 one with the legs, which gives an impulse to the croup 

 (the hind parts), the other with the hands, which directs 

 and modifies this impulse, by the head and neck. 



Flexions of the Croup and making it Movable. — 

 The trainer, being mounted, willl hold the curb-reins in 

 his left hand, and the snaffle-reins in his right. He will 

 first bring the horse's head into a perpendicular position 

 by drawing lightly on the curb. Then, if he wishes to 

 execute the movement to the right, he will pass the left 

 leg back behind the girths, and press it against the horse's 

 flank, until the croup yields to the pressure. He will, at 

 the same time, cause the left rein of the snaffle to be felt, 

 proportioning its tension to the f )rce which is opposed to 

 it. The action of the rein is to combat the resistance of 

 the horse, and that of the leg to determine the movement. 

 The right leg should not be kept away from the horse's 

 side during the movement, but should remain near to it 

 in its natural position, to keep him in place and to aid a 

 slight forward impulse, which the right side would natu- 

 rally acquire by the rotation of the whole body about a 

 centre, which should coincide with the centre of gravity of 

 the horse. The force with which the two legs are pressed 



