CARRYING THE HEAD TOO LOW 



and sound, very seldom resists the rider. But the 

 case is exactly reversed for the horse that is weak, 

 badly conformed, or unsound. It is for this obvi- 

 ous reason that I insist on the fundamental dif- 

 ference between the training of a horse and its 

 education. 



Evidently, then, the treatment of a hard mouth 

 is not a question of using a more or less severe bit. 



CARRYING THE HEAD TOO LOW 



Porter bas it is called in French, when a horse lets 

 its head drop below the correct position, either 

 because of bad natural con- 

 formation, or because of 

 weakness in the neck mus- 

 cles. Sometimes the head 

 is too large and heavy for 

 the front hand to support. 

 Sometimes the weakness is 

 in the loins. Sometimes the 

 croup is too high in relation 

 to the withers. 



Where the defect is exces- 

 sive, correction is very diffi- 

 cult indeed. In milder cases, 

 the imperfection in one part 

 of the body is compensated 

 for by over-development in another; and these the 

 esquire will cure by progressive exercises, espe- 

 cially flexions of the mouth and neck. I especially 



323 



HEAD TOO LOW 



