THE FLEXIONS 



the right hand, which, acting progressively, forces 

 the horse to open its mouth. The head is slightly 

 inclined to the right, but sustained high, the 

 slightest derangement of the head or neck being 

 corrected by the left rein held in the left hand, 

 which is carried upward, downward, forward, to 

 the right or to the left, according to the effect 

 necessary to correct the false position taken by the 

 head or neck in resisting or preventing the proper 

 position and flexion. (Figure 6.) 



When the depression of the lower jaw is obtained, 

 the head being lightly inclined to the right, the 

 trainer, by carrying his left hand progressively 

 backward, places the head straight, always continu- 

 ing the flexion of the mouth. When the head and 

 neck are inclined to the right or to the left, the 

 flexion is called the right or left lateral flexion. The 

 flexion is called direct when the head and neck 

 are straight. The two lateral flexions are only the 

 means for obtaining the direct flexion, which is 

 only complete when the horse depresses its lower 

 jaw. (Figure 7.) The effect of the bits upon the 

 mouth and neck produces a cause and effect. The 

 mouth refuses because the neck resists, the neck 

 refuses because the mouth resists. This difficulty is 

 found in the different conformations, and to obvi- 

 ate it, the alternate flexions of mouth and neck are 

 the proper work. 



For the flexions of the neck, the trainer places 

 himself on the horse's left side near the head, takes 



81 



