THE PASSAGE. 1^7 



the horse round ; but when executed at the canter, it is a 

 valuable practice for teaching the horse to lead off and 

 change his leg in a well-balanced manner at that pace. 



The English term, passage, must not be confused with 

 the French one, which is written in the same way, and 

 which is a short and lofty trot (see page 288). 



The passage with head to wall. — We may obtain the 

 passage by gradually converting the straight-forward 

 advance into a side movement by the aids. Thus, when 

 going round the school to the left at a walk, we may check, 

 to a certain extent, the forward movement by the reins, and 

 place the horse in an oblique direction to the track and 

 with his head to the wall by the action of the drawn-back 

 right leg. The horse's head and neck should be slightly 

 bent in the direction he is going. The pressure of our 

 right leg, which should be used only at the instant the 

 near fore comes down, gives the horse the signal to carry 

 his off hind in front of and across his near hind. As 

 he will naturally readjust his own balance by lifting up and 

 carrying his near hind to the left when the off hind has been 

 placed on the ground across it ; the pressure of our right 

 leg, to be effective, should be reserved as a signal for the 

 off hind, and consequently should not be continuous. We 

 should place our weight on the left stirrup, and should 

 apply the advanced left foot to the horse's shoulder to aid 

 in balancing the animal. If he retreats from the track, we 

 should bring him up to it by closing both legs, and should 

 make him strike off into the passage by feeling the left rein 

 and by applying the drawn-back right foot. When the 



