1 64 ORDINARY RIDING. 



away from the wall. The off snaffle* rein should be pulled 

 to the right, while the near rein presses the neck and conse- 

 quently the shoulders to the right, and at the same time it 

 helps the left leg to support the haunches, and thus assists to 

 hold the horse straight. If the horse tries to throw his croup 

 to the .left, my two legs ought to increase their action to push 

 him forward, the left leg acting a little more vigorously than 

 the right, to keep his right leg leading. The right leg pushes 

 the body forward and forces the haunches to follow the same 

 line as the shoulders. 



It is very easy to understand why I prefer a horse which 

 carries his quarters to the outside, to one which carries them 

 to the inside. In the former case, the animal presses on my 

 left leg, and I then use the spur, which has two objects. First, 

 to prevent the croup deviating to the left ; and, second, to 

 force the animal to keep cantering with the off fore leading. 

 But if he carries his quarters to the inside of the circle, 

 I am obliged to use my right leg, and sometimes the spur, 

 with more or less force, and I thus run the risk of making 

 the animal change behind. Also, the horse which carries his 

 haunches towards the inside of the circle, is behind his bit. 

 These faults seldom appear, if we begin on large circles, 

 which we should only gradually make smaller, and in propor- 

 tion to the ease with which the horse does the work. I may 

 add that even in small circles we should keep the horse very 

 straight. 



Immediately after, I begin demi-voltes, which present no 



difficulty if executed without precision, but which are very 



hard to do in an absolutely correct manner. I have rarely 



seen them thus done. 



* I have already said that I alwa}'S work with the snaffle when beginning 

 any new exercise. It is the means for direction ; and the curb, for getting 

 the horse in hand. In proportion as the snaffle is brought into play, the 

 curb aids more and more in getting the animal into hand. This continual 

 action of the curb is found in all exercises to be associated with the action 

 of the snaffle in giving direction. 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



