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PRINCIPLES OF P. III. 



mouth, he should be placed on a horse whose 

 mouth is perfectly formed and obedient, but 

 not too delicate; the reins being held as 

 described, the hand placed so that the ends 

 of the fingers are opposite to the centre of 

 the body, and about the height of the elbow ; 

 the reins collected to such determined length, 

 that, bracing the muscles of the hand, would 

 rein the horse back, and easing them permit 

 the horse freely to advance. The hand, for 

 preserving a medium effect on the mouth, 

 should be only half shut ; the knuckles next 

 the wrist being nearly open. 



I. The hand being connected to the reins, 

 the reins to the bit, the bit operating in the 

 curb on the bars in the horse's mouth, and in 

 the snaffle on the lip, the rider cannot move 

 the hand, nor scarce a finger, but the horse's 

 mouth is more or less effected. This is called 

 the correspondence. 



II. If then the hand be held steady, as the 

 horse advances in the trot, the fingers will 

 feel, by the contraction of the reins, a slight 

 tug, occasioned by the cadence of every step. 



