THE TROT. 147 



sustain his movement, and will make him descend softly into 

 the saddle, and into the cadence marked by the pace of the 

 horse. He should always rise from under himself, that is to 

 say, he should let the horse raise him, while helping the 

 movement with the knees and ankle joints ; but the upper 

 part of the body should do nothing. Otherwise, the muscles 

 of the loins and shoulders will be contracted, the rider will 

 become stiff, and will not be firmly united to his horse. The 

 body ought to rise and fall as a whole. 



The rider who hollows out his back, in place of using only 

 his legs, necessarily carries his abdomen forward when he 

 rises, and backward when he descends into the saddle, than 

 which nothing can be more ungraceful. 



Only one-third (the ball) of the foot should be placed in 

 the stirrup. If the foot is " home," the ankle will lose all its 

 elasticity, and consequently the trot will become stiff and 

 painful. 



The natural trot of a horse which is not upset or suffering, 

 is an alternate and absolutely identical movement of the two 

 diagonals. 



At the rising trot, the rider can trot either on the left or 

 right diagonal biped.* 



The rider is said to trot on the left diagonal biped, when 

 he rises at the same moment that the horse raises his left 

 fore foot, and comes down on the saddle, when the horse 

 puts that foot on the ground. 



In the well-executed English trot, the rider rises and comes 

 down only once during the succession of the two bipeds. He 

 rises and descends along with the left biped, for instance, 

 without the right biped having any influence on his move- 



* In equestrian language, the diagonal always takes its name from front 

 to rear. Thus, the right rein and left leg is the right diagonal, and the 

 left rein and right leg is the left diagonal. It is the same with the legs of 

 the horse, the right fore and left hind forming the right diagonal, and the 

 left fore and right hind the left diagonal. 



10* 



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