.6 VICE IN THE HORSE. 



so trained to bolt or to kick, for the rider can bring 

 the hind-legs of the horse under the mass, and with 

 the hand throw back the forces of the fore-hand, and 

 so bring it to an instantaneous halt from any pace. 



I wish, in a few words, to explain what I mean 

 by cultivating the impulses of the horse in the 

 direction of obedience, for in that lies the whole 

 success of the school method. The first impulse 

 of the horse upon feeling the pressure of the bit 

 against the jaw is to yield ; the second is to oppose 

 the pressure. The first impulse of the horse on 

 feeling the touch of the spur is to draw forward 

 the hind-legs ; the second is to extend the flexed 

 hind-legs. By carefully-conducted lessons these 

 first impulses, the instinctive muscular actions of 

 the animal, are cultivated, until the hand controls 

 and directs the fore-hand, and measures the propul- 

 sion from the hind-quarters. In ordinary training, 

 as must occur to any reader, the second impulses 

 are unwittingly cultivated to the detriment of the 

 first impulses, for most horses wait for a more or 

 less forcible reminder from the bit, and spring 

 forward at the touch of the spurs. 



Doubtless the greater number of horses that are 

 in daily work were trained without reference to 

 ' the point of balance of the forces,' but all horses 

 that can be ridden, whether intentionally or not, are 



