Of the Hand. 83 



scarce a finger, but the horse's mouth is more or 

 less affected. This is called the correspondence. 



II. If then the hand be held steady, as the 

 horse advances in the trot, the fingers will feel, by 

 the contraction of the reins, a slight tug, occa- 

 sioned by the cadence of every step. This tug, 

 which is reciprocally felt in the horse's mouth, by 

 means of the above described correspondence, is 

 called the appui. 



While this appui is preserved between the hand 

 and mouth, the horse is in perfect obedience to the 

 rider, the hand directing him with such ease that 

 the horse seems to work by the will of the rider, 

 rather than the compulsion of the hand. 



Now the correspondence, as it is termed when 

 we speak of the effective communication between 

 the hand and mouth, — the appui, when we speak 

 of the quality or strength of the operation in the 

 mouth, — the support, when we speak of the effect 

 the hand produces in the position or action, — are 

 always to be maintained in the manage, and all 

 united paces ; and, without these, a horse is under 

 no immediate control, as we find in the extended 

 gallop or full speed, where it may require a hun- 

 dred yards to pull, before you can stop. 



The strength or degree of this appui (allowing 

 for the different qualities of horses' mouths,) de- 



