PLACING THE HORSE 



abiding citizen on a continent by himself. Very 

 possibly the same man would be a criminal if he 

 were living in the society of others. Likewise, a 

 horse which refuses contact with the bit cannot be 

 directed. Nobody knows in advance what it will 

 do, acting by itself and without means of control. 

 The horse which is light in hand accepts the contact 

 of the bit, without altering its speed or gait, its head 

 slightly out of the perpendicular, its neck directed 

 upward from the withers to the atlas region, and 

 opens its mouth if the rider's hand insists on the 

 contact, but without changing the cadence of its 

 step. But if this lightness in hand is a test of the qual- 

 ity of the horse's education, it is also a test of the 

 rider's skill. Only with accuracy of seat will the 

 rider's legs act with precision to obtain the propul- 

 sion forward. Only with accuracy of seat will the 

 hand judge correctly its own effect upon the mouth. 

 If hands and legs are used to correct faults of seat, 

 the horse cannot be light in hand. Bad seat, bad 

 hand, bad legs; good seat, good hands, good legs; 

 accurate seat, accurate hand, accurate legs it all 

 sums up in the words, " equestrian tact." Any 

 horse, well conformed and well ridden, is always 

 light in hand. 



TO LIGHTEN A HORSE 



So Newcastle translated alleger son cheval. Since 

 the horse, at the beginning of its education, does 

 not understand the effects of hands and legs, and is 



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