28 



STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION 



jumpers, and others. They are all given the natural aptitude to 

 begin with, but that is not sufficient to get the best out of them. 

 Handling. — Handling is but the application, of the school- 

 ing. It is painful to see a well-schooled saddle horse, to whom 

 every little movement of hand or heel has a meaning, with some 

 awkward man up who is reaping the fruits of his ignorant hand- 

 ling in a ride that is most distressing both to himself and his 

 mount ; or to see a horse, on whom much effort has been spent in 

 teaching him to flex his neck, knees, and hocks in a proud, col- 



FiG. 29. — Bent, sabre, or sickle Fig. 30. — Cow-hocked. Fig. 31. — Bandy-legged or 

 hock. wide at the hocks. 



lected, high way of going, put in light harness, with the omni- 

 present Kimball Jackson overdraw, and a heavy-fisted driver up 

 who boasts of how fast the horse can step. It is as essential that 

 the handling be in accord with the schooling as that the schooling 

 should follow the line of natural aptitude. The handling offers 

 the stimulus, the schooling makes possible the response ; har- 

 mony is, therefore, imperative. There are individual differ- 

 ences in the methods of different handlers, though the same gen- 

 eral system may be employed. Among all race and show riders 

 or drivers, each fundamentally correct in his methods, there is 

 always one who is capable of better results than the others. 



