uncommon animal. Do not forget that your whip has still to be replaced by legs and spurs. So do not hurry. Take ample time, remembering that the more time you take at this stage, while still maintaining the quality of your work, the faster progress you will make in the end.
When the lateral rotation is thoroughly mastered to the left, everything is reversed and the movement made toward the right.
In the reversed pirouette, as also in the passage, the trainer must not, under any condition, allow the horse to begin the movement by stepping off with the hind leg on the side toward which the motion is to be made. If, for example, the step is to be toward the left, the right hind foot must first cross over in front of the left. After that, the left foot steps still farther to the left. But the left foot must never move first. In other words, the legs always cross, never straddle.
I cannot insist too strongly on this point. Baucher followed and taught the opposite method, and it gave rise to much confusion in his principles. Moreover, it occasioned terrible fights against horses trained by him, which became confused by the effects of the legs.
When the reversed pirouette is correctly executed in lateral, it can next be readily obtained with the direct flexion of "in hand." For this, the pull on one snaffle rein is suppressed, and the horse's head and neck are held straight, while the four steps of
