THE SPUR. 257 



stop and begin again regularly. The rule for correcting 

 Buch a false step, without stopping the horse is, when he 

 is leading with the right foot, to hold the rein firmly, and 

 to press the left leg against his flank in such a way as to 

 fix the left hind foot on the ground, and allow the other 

 to regain its place in advance. If the horse be leading 

 with the left foot and become "disunited," the right leg 

 must be pressed against his flanks, as it is the hft hind leg . 

 which has fallen behind. 



The Spurs. — Writers upon horsemanship, and teachers 

 of the art generally, wUl inform you that the spur is only 

 to be applied to the horse when it is impracticable to urge 

 him onward with the legs, or when you would force him 

 to advance towards some person or thing which terrifies 

 him, — ^in short, only as a punishment I undertake to say, 

 however, that if properly used, it will be found of the 

 greatest assistance in training the most spirited animal, 

 even those which have not been conquered by the use of 

 the hardest bits, guided by the strongest hands. With the 

 aid of the spur the veriest Bucephalus will speedily be 

 reduced to subjection, rendered gentle and promptly obedi- 

 ent to rule, and readily brought to a stand-still in the midsl 

 of his most frantic bounds. 



The spur will also be found a valuable agent in con- 

 quering the animal's tendency to shift his centre of gravity 

 too much towards his front or rear. In " horses of high 

 action," the greatest amount of force resides in the hind 

 quarters, whence their greater rapidity of movement. Pre- 

 cisely the reverse of this is the case with those of heavy, 

 sluggish mood. 



Having, through the instrumentality of suppling, broken 

 np the natural forces of the horse, we should now proceed, 

 by a judiciously blended use of the legs and hands, to con- 

 centrate them in the middle of the animal's body, the 



