THE REASONED EQUITATION 



the croup over with his right leg. But the effect 

 soon evaporates, and the haunches return to their 

 former place. It is all labor without end, not a 

 corrective. 



But why does the left front leg not gain ground 

 equally with the right ? For a great many reasons, 

 which are all, at bottom, one. The weight is more 

 upon the right fore leg, so that this has to reach out 

 farther at each stride to check the forward fall of 

 the body. The point, then, is to equalize the load 

 on the two front legs. This we can do by pressing 

 with the right rein against the right side of the neck 

 so as to throw the head over to the left, until the 

 two fore legs are loaded equally. Then the left 

 fore leg will reach out farther, and allow room for 

 the full stride of the left hind leg. This, in turn, 

 will no longer push over the right hind leg, and the 

 horse will travel straight. 



But, to go back another step, why was the weight 

 not equal on the two fore legs? The answer is that 

 the spine was crooked. By using a rein of opposition 

 on the side opposite to the shorter stride, we correct 

 the wrong position of the haunches. This means of 

 placing the spine straight will be understood by a 

 horse whose progressive education has gone so far 

 as to include the pirouette. 



THE REIN OF CONTRACTION 



THE rein of contraction is a complex and special 

 effect of a rein, which, bearing on one side of the 



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