Riding Schools v. the Open 127 



rider. As a test of equitation they were useless. In 

 1902 orders were issued practically forbidding the 

 use of the schools for instruction, presumably to 

 make it impossible for a man to be considered a 

 horseman or a troop-horse a trained animal if they 

 could only perform a single ride within four walls, 

 and in company with other men and horses. A more 

 reasonable state of affairs now obtains. 



Collective exercises in the school are doubtless 

 useful for trained men, but they should be of a 

 varied character, so that the error of the past shall 

 not be repeated. 



As soon as a man has a firm seat he must go out 

 of doors, or he will make but little further prog- 

 ress. Within four walls he cannot learn the real 

 meaning of the word " hands ; " for this freedom for 

 man and horse is required. One of the secrets of 

 training both of them being continuous instruction, 

 a school is valuable to ensure it, as it makes the in- 

 structor independent of the weather. But whilst the 

 man's early lessons will all take place in the school, 

 the young horse should only remain in it until he 

 will move forward quietly. He can return to it 

 later to be " collected." 



