CHANGES OF LEG. 167 



We should exercise great care in teaching the horse to 

 change his leg. 



It is very difficult to lay down in a book the exact time 

 when a horse is ready to learn changes of leg. I can only 

 say, in a general way, that the proper time is when he has 

 become free, supple, light, and well balanced in all his paces, 

 obedient, and above all things, attentive to the " aids," by 

 means of the exercises we have described. 



We have now arrived at the point when the horse will start 

 freely into the canter with the off fore leading when going to 

 the right, and with the near fore when going to the left, and 

 that he will do so with equal freedom on both legs. 



To obtain a change of leg, I proceed in the following 

 manner :* I start the horse into the canter on the off fore 

 while going to the right. When he has gone some strides on 

 this leg, I stop him and make him start off on the near fore 

 while circling to the right, and taking care to hold him as 

 straight as possible. I repeat this work several times, and 

 continue it until I feel that the horse is perfectly light in hand, 

 and that he will start off into the canter at the slightest 

 pressure of the legs, without hurrying himself and without 

 trying to carry his haunches out of the straight line. 



To make sure that the horse does not carry himself sideways, 

 we should start him at about a yard away from the wall, 

 although it is difficult to do so.f The result of this is to 

 make the rider keep the horse very straight, without the help 

 of the wall, and, at the same time, to make him more precise 

 in his work. 



We should not try to get the horse to change his leg away 

 from the wall, before making him do so, while going along it. 

 The horse should also very readily start into the canter on the 



* I again repeat that I always begin a new work at the end of a lesson, 

 t The difficulty is not in starting, but in keeping the horse at a uniform 

 distance from the wall while holding him straight. 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



