FIRST EXERCISE ON FOOT. 75 



Two lessons, of a half hour each, will 

 suffice to obtain the preparatory obedience 

 of every horse. The pleasure we experience 

 in thus playing with him will naturally 

 lead the rider to continue this exercise for a 

 few moments each day, and make it both 

 instructive to the horse and useful to him- 

 self. The mode of proceeding is as follows : 

 The rider will approach the horse, without 

 roughness or timidity, his whip under his 

 arm ; he will speak to him without raising 

 the voice too much, and will pat him on 

 the face and neck ; then with the left hand 

 he will lay hold of the curb reins, about six 

 or seven inches from the branches of the bit, 

 keeping his wrist stiff, so as to present as 

 much force as possible when the horse re- 

 sists. The whip will be held firmly in the 

 right hand, the point towards the ground, 

 then slowly raised as high as the horse's 

 chest, in order to tap it at intervals of a se- 



