General Rules, 23 1 



extent to which it should be carried, as also to be in 

 perfect readiness to act in unison with the other leg, 

 and with both reins, to determine the horse to move 

 straight ahead when it evinces the disposition to do so. 

 But still more frequently, perhaps, the pressure of the 

 calf will not suffice, and then one must use the spur 

 freely, and this will generally succeed. Dead pulling 

 on the reins will not do ; the rider must increase and 

 diminish the pressure alternately, and always in unison 

 with the action of his own heels or spurs ; and this 

 latter should be screw-like — not stabbing or digging at 

 the horse's side, which involves a loosening of the hold 

 and accustoms a horse to wince away or flee the spur, 

 instead of yielding obedience to the pressure of the calf. 

 This is what the Germans call " wickeln" — that is to 

 say, winding or rolling up a horse — and, if properly 

 done, is very efficacious for overcoming restiveness 

 generally ; if employed in the nick of time, it will even 

 prevent rearing. 



On the whole, it is evident that a key to the best 

 methods of mastering the horse's powers and utilizing 

 them fairly, whether merely for handling young ones 

 or for the prevention and cure of restiveness, is to be 

 found only in a thorough knowledge of the mechanism 

 of that animal's movements. This we have endeavored 

 to explain in Chapter I., Part I., of this book; and 

 those who will take the pains to compare what is said 

 there with what they see restive horses do, will be there- 

 by enabled to discover for themselves more than we can 

 pretend to teach them. 



We would also venture to recommend the chapter 

 on " Seats" to the attention of rational riders and train- 

 ers, but especially of those who have to deal with rest- 

 ive horses. In that chapter we could do little more 

 than hint at general principles so far as they are appli- 

 cable to various kinds of riding; here we can lay down 



