CHANGES OF LEG AT EACH STRIDE. 273 



horse should be punished, because if we let him take the 

 initiative, we can get no regularity in the changes. 



When I say that he ought to be punished, I mean that the 

 fault ought to checked. Thus, if when the horse is canter- 

 ing on the off fore, he changes before we ask him to do so, 

 he should simply be touched more sharply than usual with 

 the left spur, in order to oblige him to rest on the right leg. 

 Of course we should use the right spur in a similar way, 

 if the horse has started with the left leg leading. Having 

 checked the fault in the manner I have indicated, we should 

 avoid again requiring a change of leg in the air during the 

 same lesson, as it might confuse the horse. It is better to 

 go back to the starts, while keeping him for a long time on 

 the same leg. 



If we have checked the same fault several times and have 

 taken care to pat the animal when he changes only when 

 we ask him, he will soon understand that he ought not to 

 do anything without being asked. But, I repeat, we should 

 do the changes only when we have not been obliged to 

 punish the animal. It is better to devote several lessons to 

 checking the fault, in which case the horse will understand 

 much better, will be quieter, and his breaking will be more 

 rapid. 



I make the horse change at shorter intervals only when he 

 fully understands what I want him to do. Instead of be- 

 ginning at the sixth time, I demand the change at the fourth 

 time, by using always the same means. For the first few 

 times I content myself with a single change with each leg, 

 and during the following days I gradually require a greater 

 number of changes. 



We can see that the shorter the interval between the 

 changes, the greater will be the effort required from the 

 horse, who is consequently apt to become irritable and con- 

 fused, in which case he should be halted, walked for some 



18 

 Digitized by Microsoft® 



