THE REASONED EQUITATION 



are called, but few chosen to the proper manage- 

 ment of this delicate and powerful aid. 



To explain the effects of the legs and the causes 

 of these, and to deduce from such general principles 

 the correct manner of using these effects in practice, 

 is the most complicated subject in all equestrian 

 science. 



In ancient times, before the invention of the 

 bridle, the legs provided the only means of control- 

 ling the horse. Later came spurs. All the masters 

 of equestrian art, from Xenophon to James Fillis 

 inclusive, have laid down the principle that the 

 effect of the contact of the legs is to impel the body 

 forward in whatever direction is indicated by the 

 reins. 



This is, nevertheless, only partly true. When the 

 legs are pressed against the flanks of an uneducated 

 animal, their first effect is merely to tickle the 

 panniculus carnosus muscle, which envelops the 

 body from chest to haunch. But although this 

 muscle does adhere to certain of the locomotor 

 muscles, its action is entirely independent of the 

 whole locomotor system. When, therefore, the 

 horse feels the touch of a foreign object, it merely 

 uses the panniculus carnosus to shake the skin, 

 whether that foreign body be legs, spurs, or flies. 

 It is, consequently, only as the result of education 

 that the horse learns to support unmoved the 

 rider's legs and spurs. 



But below the panniculus carnosus, from thorax 



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