222 HANDS AND LEGS (AIDS). 



reins too long, which, owing to considerations of personal safety, 

 is one of the last faults an indifferent rider is likely to commit. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE REINS. 



The following are important points connected with this 

 subject : 



i. As the reins are the means by which a rider keeps in 

 touch with the fore-hand of the horse, they should not be 

 used in a way that will make the animal afraid to go freely 

 up to the bit, or to resent the pressure on his mouth. If he 

 " keeps behind his bridle," the desirable connection cannot 

 take place ; and if he resents the pressure, he will become 

 more or less unmanageable and dangerous. Consequently, 

 the bitting and the handling of the reins should in no way be 

 painful. Therefore, when the rider takes a pull at the reins, 

 he should do so, to employ the apt expression of Mr. J. H. 

 Moore, as if he were trying to draw the cork out of a bottle 

 without spilling a drop of the contents. If he finds that the 

 metaphorical cork resists his pull, he may increase the ten- 

 sion, but should on no account transmit any jerky movement 

 to the reins. 



2. When the rider wants to communicate his wishes to the 

 horse by the agency of the reins (or by any other aid), he 

 should do so in the clearest possible manner, in order that 

 there may be no chance of the animal misunderstanding his 

 meaning. Even the kindest tempered horse can be quickly con- 

 verted into a vicious brute by being given orders he does not 

 comprehend, and by being punished (by reins, whip, spurs or 

 stick) for not obeying them. Therefore, when we wish to make 

 a horse turn, we should (supposing that both hands are on 

 the reins) carry the hand of the side to which the turn is to be 

 made, well away from the shoulder (Fig. 198), so that the pull 

 may act laterally, and consequently in an effective manner, 

 which it would not do if its direction was from front to rear. 



