PLACING THE HORSE 



and behind the hand." Raabe asked the horse to 

 be "before the rider's legs and in the hand." The 

 scientific equitation calls for a horse " before the 

 legs and upon the hand." 







UPON THE HAND 



WHEN the horse is " upon the hand," there is a state 

 of contact of the lower jaw upon the bit which 

 makes possible the communication of sensation in 

 both directions by way of the reins, between the 

 horse's bars and the rider's hand. 



Orator and musician must be in communication 

 with their hearers by means of voice or instrument. 

 It is not otherwise with the horse. From the bit, 

 the sensations pass along the nerves to the brain, 

 the will is formed, and the appropriate message is 

 returned along the nerves to the muscles. These, 

 contracting upon the joints, produce the movement. 

 But as soon as this contact ceases, there is an end 

 to the series of sensation, transmission, volition, 

 and act. The horse passes under the control of its 

 own instinctive forces, and is no longer subject to 

 the will of the rider. 



It is like the blind man led by his dog. So long as 

 the cord between them remains tight, so long will 

 the man follow it. But if the dog stops, the cord 

 slackens; and the man also stops, uncertain and 

 hesitating, because communication is broken. The 

 case is exactly the same when for the blind man we 

 substitute the horse, and for the dog the rider. The 



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