V. 



Arrangement of the squad for the first lesson (in 

 mounted work). — If a riding hall is available, horses 

 should, be worked from the beginning without regard to 

 distances. The troopers are more at ease when they 

 need not concern themselves about distances — often hard 

 to keep with horses of very uneven gaits. Moreover, it 

 is a bad plan to always group young horses, as they thus 

 acquire the habit of ''sticking in ranks." If, from the 

 start, it is necessary to work on the road, a couple of 

 perfectly sure old horses must be placed at the head of 

 the 3^oung ones in order to set them an example in quiet 

 behavior and free movement. 



Necessity of using the trot at the beginning of a les- 

 son. — There are several advantages in using the trot to 

 begin work: 



(1) It starts the horses going straight ahead and 

 brings them in hand ; busy at the trot, they have less idea 

 of resisting. 



(2) It expends the surplus vigor (takes the edge off) 

 of young horses, and they become more quiet and atten- 

 tive. 



(3) This gait must be considered as the best of sup- 

 plying exercises. In his book on equitation. La Gu^ri- 

 niere has a chapter entitled ''The necessity of the trot and 

 the utility of the walk." In this chapter he says: 



By the trot, the most natural of the gaits, a horse is made light on 

 the hand without spoiling his mouth, and his legs are stretched without 

 straining them, because in this action, which is the highest of all 

 natural gaits, the weight of the horse is borne equally by two legs, 

 one front and one hind; as a result the two others are easily raised, 

 sustained in the air, and stretched to the front, thus giving a first stage 



27 



