WHIPS AND STICKS. 211 



leading, say, with the off fore, as in Figs. 17 to 26, gets 

 spurred onl}' with the drawn-back right foot, or more severely 

 spurred with it than with the left foot, during his off hind 

 support (Fig. 19), he will be liable to change his leg, on 

 account of receiving a stimulus to bring forward his off hind 

 out of its turn. The same thing is apt to occur from a 

 similar stimulation on the near side, when the near hind is 

 on the ground, or when both hind legs are being brought 

 forward. 



These remarks still further strengthen the conclusion 

 arrived at in the preceding paragraph, that the only place to 

 spur a horse, so as to make him increase his speed, is close 

 behind the girths. As a great rule, the use of the spurs 

 should be restricted to this form of their application, and 

 the lateral movements of the hind quarters should be re- 

 gulated only by the pressure of the side of the drawn-back 

 foot ; because under such conditions, the horse is much less 

 liable to mistake an indication of the spur, than when the 

 spur is employed for both purposes. At the halt, as when 

 turning the horse on his fore-hand, or at riding school work, 

 this rule need not always be observed, especially with blunt 

 spurs, which are amply sufficient for a free goer under all 

 circumstances. 



WHIPS AND STICKS. 



In order that the whip may act efficiently as a stimulant 

 to the horse to go forward, it should be sufficiently long 

 and pliable to touch the animal on both sides of his body, 

 so that its action may not be one-sided. In fact, when a 

 jockey strikes a horse with his whip, the near side of the 

 animal is usually more severely punished than the off side, 

 on account of the whip wrapping itself round the lower part 

 of the chest, and the knot formed by the junction of its 

 lash with the shaft, striking the near side. Here, the part 



14* 



