Page:Equitation.djvu/108

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the right rein of the bit with his right hand and the left rein of the snaffle with his left hand. The flexion of the mouth is obtained by the right rein and the flexion of the neck by the left hand carried to the right over the nostrils of the horse. (Figure 8.) The lateral flexion of the neck is complete when the head is turned facing to the right. After the lateral flexion of the neck, the head is to return to the direct flexion, by the rein or reins of the snaffle. If the horse has a thick, short, and fleshy neck, it is proper to enforce more bending from the neck. For that purpose the trainer places himself on the right side of the horse for the lateral flexion to the left, holds the right rein of the snaffle in the right hand and the left rein in the left hand. The left rein, bearing upon the neck, is kept at the same tension by the left hand, assuming that the right hand allows the head to flex to the left and follows the head in its flexion backward, so that, by raising the right hand, the head is maintained perpendicular and flexed at the atlas. (Figure 9.)

This position of the head flexed perpendicularly has to be obtained by moderate progress, passing from the position in Figure 9 to that shown in Figure 10, and finally to that obtained by the bit alone in Figure 11.

After arriving at this stage, the trainer continues the direct flexion of mouth and neck. The two reins of the bit are held in the left hand, and the two reins of the snaffle in the right, the forefingers