Page:Equitation.djvu/344

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that of the "one, two; one, two; lunge" in fencing. Or, since many riders do not fence, it is very nearly the tick of the second-hand of a watch. At the touch of the left spur, the horse, surprised, raises its left hind leg and moves its body toward the right. Then, at precisely the right instant, comes the right spur to prevent the haunches from swinging to the right, and also to lift the right leg. Then again the left spur with the reversed effect; and so alternately. After four such trials, whether successful or not, stop, calm your horse, and begin again.

The master or the student must impress upon his mind exactly what he desires to obtain and the means by which he is to obtain it. If what has been written above has been studied and understood, it should be clear that the point is to utilize the animal's forces in such wise as to secure height at the expense of progress. Evidently, it will be by the opposition of the hand that the motion forward will be checked and converted into motion up. Thus the propulsive force generated by the attacks of the spurs, which tends to drive the horse forward, is received upon the hand. The fingers close upon the reins just at the instant of the forward push. The result is that the fore leg flexes with the knee up and forward, the foot down. Simultaneously with this, the opposite rear leg comes up, and the horse balances upon a diagonal biped.

Consider, for example, the first manifestation of the passage on the right lateral biped. We have, in