BACKING AND THE PIROUETTES 



uncommon animal. Do not forget that your whip 

 has still to be replaced by legs and spurs. So do not 

 hurry. Take ample time, remembering that the 

 more time you take at this stage, while still main- 

 taining the quality of your work, the faster progress 

 you will make in the end. 



When the lateral rotation is thoroughly mastered 

 to the left, everything is reversed and the move- 

 ment made toward the right. 



In the reversed pirouette, as also in the passage, 

 the trainer must not, under any condition, allow 

 the horse to begin the movement by stepping off 

 with the hind leg on the side toward which the 

 motion is to be made. If, for example, the step is 

 to be toward the left, the right hind foot must first 

 cross over in front of the left. After that, the left 

 foot steps still farther to the left. But the left foot 

 must never move first. In other words, the legs 

 always cross, never straddle. 



I cannot insist too strongly on this point. Bau- 

 cher followed and taught the opposite method, and 

 it gave rise to much confusion in his principles. 

 Moreover, it occasioned terrible fights against 

 horses trained by him, which became confused by 

 the effects of the legs. 



When the reversed pirouette is correctly executed 

 in lateral, it can next be readily obtained with the 

 direct flexion of "in hand." For this, the pull on 

 one snafBe rein is suppressed, and the horse's head 

 and neck are held straight, while the four steps of 



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