There can be no complete education of a horse without an occasional refusal. But the point is to see it coming and to forestall it by equestrian tact, or at the worst not to let the habit grow. Raabe, Baucher, and Fillis have all had real tempests of revolt from their horses. I who write these lines have had some fights, but not many. Those which I have been through make me very sad; because they show me that, with all my studies and with all my long years of experience, I do not know enough to ride without being obliged to punish.
RESISTANCE
RESISTANCE and refusal are very nearly synonymous, but not quite. A horse may refuse to execute certain movements, but will, nevertheless, perform others. Or he may refuse to perform the movement in the way desired by the rider, yet still do it after his own fashion, incorrectly. But when a horse resists, he enters willfully into a state of complete revolt, and tries to free himself from any sort of control. He may carry his rider into a river, and no effort will prevent him. No effects, no means, severe or gentle, will make him obey. Either he will not understand the rider's orders; or else, understanding them, he will not carry them out.
If the horse resists because he does not understand, then the best corrective is patience, perseverance, and persuasion, without punishment. But if the horse understands, yet refuses to obey,
