44 ORDINARY RIDING. 



sides, as I have described, is the best preparation for the use 

 of the spurs. 



According to the system of Baucher, one pulls the horse 

 by his forehand, and if the animal is thus made to move, he 

 will drag his hind quarters after him ; but by my method the 

 horse gets his hind quarters under him, and by their means he 

 pushes the forehand forward, which is the essential principle 

 of good riding. 



COLLECTING A HORSE AND DIRECT FLEXION. 



As soon as my horse goes well with me round the school to 

 the left, I make him change and begin similar work to the 

 other hand. Then, when I am satisfied with him, I com- 

 mence collecting him. While going to the left and keeping 

 myself at his left shoulder, 1 take the bit reins in my right 

 hand, at five or six inches from his mouth. Keeping the 

 buckle of the snaffle reins in the hollow of my left hand, I 

 seize with its fingers the snaffle reins at about eight or nine 

 inches from the mouth, and I carry the left hand in advance 

 of the animal's head, in order to draw him forward. It is 

 absolutely indispensable to hold the snaffle reins in this way, 

 if we wish to prevent the horse from stopping, when we feel 

 the curb reins. Merely holding the snaffle reins horizontally 

 will not do, because we want to do more than to simply pull 

 the animal forward. It is also necessary that the pull of the 

 snaffle is in an upward direction ; because it ought to raise his 

 head and neck at the moment when the pressure of the bit 

 prompts him to flex his lower jaw (Fig. 2, jaw contracted ; 

 and Fig. 3, jaw and bit free), which action on his part should 

 be counter-balanced by the pressure of the snaffle, in order 

 that it may not make him lower his head and neck. 



I feel the snaffle reins in order to raise the head and neck, 

 and I then put equal tension on the curb reins, in order to 

 make him bend his neck and loosen his lower jaw. If the 



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