370 BAUCHER S METHOD CH. XV 



instantly by yielding the right hand, and should then 

 be repeated, the left hand being used to keep the 

 head up. (It is a fault of Baucher's method, soon 

 recognised by some of his followers, and especially 

 by Fillis, that he made his horses carry their heads 

 too low ; this must be carefully avoided.) This 

 operation is called the ' flexion of the neck and of 

 the jaw,' and, although by some writers these flex- 

 ions are treated of separately, they are usually 

 obtained simultaneously. 



There are two purposes in this part of the train- 

 ing. While a well-made horse may be supposed to 

 assume proper positions when free and following the 

 instincts which prompt his action, all horses are not 

 well made, and even those which are, have their 

 equilibrium altered by being put to draught or by 

 ha vine; a man on their back. The horse's head and 

 neck, overhanging the shoulders as they do, throw 

 weight on the fore-hand, which tends to make the 

 fore lees slow in their movements, and also causes 

 the horse to lue\ or to bore on the bit. Raisine 

 and drawing back the head and neck, as are done 

 by these flexions, improve the position in these re- 

 spects, but, after all, accustom the horse to yield 

 to the pressure of the bit, when he finds that by so 

 doing he avoids the discomfort produced by it. 



Not by any means the least advantage of the 

 process is that it educates the hand of the operator, 

 and eives it that liehtness without which no eo°d 

 riding or driving is possible. 



