BRIDLING 107 



number are being conveyed (I can use no other 

 word) along with long reins, their horses' noses and 

 necks stuck out straight in front. They are not 

 riding to the meet, they are being taken there. 

 There is little pleasure in such a form of exercise, 

 and there is no skill. 



The training of horses and men are singularly 

 alike. Before we can get a man obedient to the 

 word of command he must be drilled. We have 

 to get him balanced before he can move. " The 

 exact squareness of the shoulders and body to the 

 front is the first position of a soldier . . . the 

 weight of the body must be on the fore part of 

 the feet," and until we get him in that position 

 he is incapable of carrying out commands quickly 

 and well. Imagine trying to get a ploughman, 

 who was in the habit of standing with his back 

 rounded and feet far apart, his chin stuck forward, 

 and his hands awkwardly placed, to '' about turn " 

 smartly on the word of command. We know it 

 would be impossible. Before he could execute 

 the movement we should have to get him to stand 

 in the " first position " before anything else. But 

 once he was standing properly to attention he 

 could move in any direction we wanted without 

 any difficulty or delay. And so it is with a horse. 

 Once we have him " balanced," he is in a position 

 to obey the leg and rein, and to move in any direc- 

 tion at our slightest wish. As it is right that a 

 man should stand and walk with his shoulders 

 back and his head erect, so it is right that a horse 

 should move collected. "Deportment" used to 



