THE DEFENSES OF THE HORSE 



same spot. The movement, therefore, cannot be 

 executed if the horse is already in motion. 



A jump of this sort is especially disconcerting to 

 an inexperienced rider, since, like any movement 

 which does not carry the animal forward, it tends 

 to a considerable derangement of the seat. Often- 

 times, the bound arises from nothing more than ex- 

 uberance of life or lack of exercise ; and in this case, 

 plenty of hard work will correct the fault. Often, 

 on the other hand, the horse bounds in order to free 

 himself from the rider's weight. In this case, the 

 bounding becomes a defense. 



The rider should, then, study the position taken 

 by the horse's head and neck shortly before and 

 during the bound. He will observe that the mouth 

 has closed and is rigid, and that the neck is 

 stretched forward and stiff. The bound itself in- 

 volves a contraction of the muscles which lie along 

 the spine, and a projection upward of the body by 

 the action of the hocks and knees. 



As soon, therefore, as the rider feels by his seat 

 that the horse's spine is becoming rigid, he should 

 separate the two snaffle reins, and then, by raising 

 one hand after the other alternately, quite high, he 

 should lift the horse's head, and with it the neck. 

 The head and neck, being up, cannot be contracted 

 preliminary to the bound. The rider should then 

 turn the horse sharply, let us say to the right, by 

 the tension of the right rein and the effect of his 

 right leg; and immediately afterwards, to the left 



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