TO HALT AND STAND STILL. 85 



fatiguing one. The ruses of a horse are infinite. The 

 breaker has to checkmate them by tact, art and energy. 



THE WALK. 



It is most important that a horse should walk with long, 

 regular and free steps, which can be obtained only by allow- 

 ing the animal great liberty of head and neck. If the horse 

 IS lazy or dull, he should be made to go on, by closing 

 the legs. If he is impetuous, impatient, or fidgety, he should 

 be patted on the neck and encouraged by the voice. He 

 should be at once stopped if he begins to trot. No mistake 

 should be made between the trot and jog, which are entirely 

 different paces. Jogging, which is often adopted by the 

 horse, is very difficult to correct when it has become a habit. 

 It spoils the long striding walk, and is very fatiguing to the 

 rider. Keeping the horse in hand shortens the steps of the 

 walk, which become higher and shorter, according as the neck 

 is raised and the head is brought into a vertical position. The 

 same thing occurs in the trot and canter. The well-collected 

 horse is handsome, but he does not cover much ground. 



TO HALT AND STAND STILL. 



It is absolutely necessary to be able to stop the horse when 

 one wishes. As a rule, the halt ought to be made pro- 

 gressively and not abruptly. It can be made at any pace, 

 and often even in cases when a sudden halt is indispensable. 



The means for stopping the horse is always the same — 

 namely, raise the snaffle reins while drawing them back with 

 an equal feeling on both reins, so as to bring the weight on 

 the hind quarters ; at the same time, close both legs strongly 

 to bring the hocks under the animal's body, and feel the curb 

 reins. The horse is then between the hands and legs. 



I cannot say that these three movements should be abso- 

 lutely simultaneous. They certainly come one after another, 



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