' CHAPTER XVI 

 THE LEGS AND THEIR EFFECTS 



BY "legs" one means always the leg below the 

 knee. The thighs remain always in permanent 

 contact with the saddle, and always entirely 

 independent of any movement or pressure of the 

 calves. The common expressions of riding-teachers, 

 " Close your legs,'* "Use your legs," " Fermez les 

 jambes," refer, then, only to the free portion of 

 the limb. They do not mean, as many beginners 

 mistakenly suppose, that the horse's body is to be 

 enveloped by the whole leg from hip to ankle! 



The legs, including the feet, are the second mobile 

 part of the rider's body and the most important 

 means of controlling the horse. They and their 

 effects are the essential promoters of every action 

 of the horse, physical and moral. They must, 

 therefore, act to just the right amount, neither too 

 much nor too little; at just the right instant, 

 neither before nor after, in accord with the fingering 

 of the reins and the cadence of the stride; not 

 interfering with the step, but reestablishing the 

 tempo if lost; coordinated with the sensibility, 

 nervousness, energy, or the lack of these, of the 

 animal. The action of the legs demands, therefore, 

 the highest "tact" on the part of the rider. Many 



in 



