THE REASONED EQUITATION 



Jerking the bit is, then, a proof of lack of both 

 kindness and competence on the rider's part. For 

 after several repetitions, the horse, remembering 

 the pain, expects still another jerk whenever the 

 rider does anything with the reins; and in order to 

 protect itself, it raises the head very high. In this 

 position, the jerk cannot be operated. If the rider 

 tries it, the horse will get away at high speed and 

 become unmanageable. 



The horse's mouth is extremely sensitive, and 

 needs, more than any other part, the study of the 

 rider and the practice of the principle of strength of 

 effects rather than effects of strength. Strength of 

 effects means intelligence. Effects of strength mean 

 jerk and saccade. Brutality belongs to the nature 

 of an animal; but intelligence is the great gift of 

 man. It is not by making the horse afraid of the bit 

 that we make it understand the meaning of its 

 effects. Only by the agreeable contact of the bit 

 upon the bars, and by the sensitive repetition of 

 this contact, does the horse come to understand, 

 without fear, the fingering, the equestrian tact of its 

 rider. 



The first action of any animal, man included, on 

 feeling pain in the mouth, is to shut it. But when 

 a horse shuts its mouth forcibly on the bit, no mere 

 two hundred pounds of human rider can pull it 

 open by any effect of strength alone. But strength 

 of effects, the taking and giving of the rider's hand, 

 will release the tension and open the mouth, not 



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