CHAPTER XII 

 THE FLEXIONS 



THE horse, when not under the control of the man, 

 balances himself instinctively by different positions 

 of head and neck. But the horse under control has 

 these various positions given to him by his rider, by 

 way of the bits. But the feeling of the bits in his 

 mouth is disagreeable to the horse. The result is a 

 tendency to contract and to keep tense the muscles 

 which close the lower jaw, on which the bits rest. 

 This disagreeable sensation tends, moreover, to 

 affect the entire body, and to produce a general 

 condition of contraction, opposition, and refusal. 



The object of the flexions is, by means of certain 

 graduated exercises, to teach the horse that no real 

 pain will follow these uncomfortable sensations, 

 and to suppress their general accompaniments, 

 while accustoming the animal to obey their special 

 effects. 



The hands holding the reins can, by different 

 positions and manipulations, produce on the 

 animal mechanism a great variety of effects, of 

 which the three principal are, directing, raising, 

 and maintaining. The work of the flexions will 

 introduce the horse to these different effects, which 

 later, after the rider is mounted, will be further 

 complicated by the effects of the legs. 



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