Of the Hand. 87 



severe, and is a proper punishment. Should the 

 horse disregard this, and plant his head low, to 

 endure the severity of the hand, the hand must 

 act by moving the fingers, shaking the reins, &c, 

 to raise the head and divert him from his purpose ; 

 and lastly, the correction of the hand must be 

 given severely, if necessary, to deter him from 

 further attempts. This correction is given by first 

 yielding the hand that the reins may become slack, 

 then giving them a smart or violent snatch in an 

 upward direction, which will make the horse raise 

 his head ; and the apprehension of a repetition of 

 it will deter him from putting it down again. 



II. An easy or gentle hand is that which, by 

 relaxing a little of its strength and firmness, eases 

 and mitigates the degree of feeling between the 

 hand and horse's mouth. 



It is a rule in this respect not to pass, at once, 

 from one extreme to another, as from a firm hand 

 to a slack one, or to jump over that degree of sen- 

 sation which is derived from the easy or gentle 

 hand. Were the rider at once to go from a firm 

 hand to a slack one, she would entirely abandon 

 her horse, she would surprise him, deprive him of 

 the support he trusted to, and precipitate her on 

 his shoulders. On the contrary, were she to pass 

 from the slack to the tight rein all at once, she 



