THE ACTION.
The degree of correspondence, appuy, and support, depends, in horses otherwise similar, on the relative situation of the hand. The act of raising the rider’s hand increases his power; and this, raising the horse’s head, diminishes his power. The depressing of the rider’s hand, on the contrary, diminishes his power; and this, depressing the horse’s head, increases his power. On these depend the unitedness or disunitedness in the action of the horse.
A writer on this subject (Beranger, we believe) gives the following useful illustration:—“If a garter were placed across the pupil’s forehead, and a person behind him held the two ends in a horizontal direction, the pupil, if he stood quite upright, could not pull at the person’s hand, nor endure the person’s hand to pull at him, without falling or running backwards.” This is the situation of a horse when united.
Accordingly, when the pupil felt the hand severe, or expected it to pull, he would guard against it by bending the body, projecting the head, and planting one foot behind. This is the situation of a horse when disunited, or defending himself against the heaviness of the hand. Hence the perpetual pull of a timid rider, or a heavy insensible hand, cannot keep a horse united, because the horse cannot then bear its severity. Thus heavy hands make hard-mouthed horses; and hence it is in this condition that we generally find horses, for the best broke become so, if ridden a few times by an ignorant horseman. In such cases, the horse makes the rider support the weight both of his head and neck, or goes on his shoulders, and is apt to stumble.
If, then, the appuy be heavy, from the head being carried too low, and the horse not sufficiently united, the rider must raise the hand, and let the fingers, by moving, rather invite than compel the head, or more properly the neck, to rise, for the object is to bring in the head by raising the neck, the legs at the same time pressing the haunches under. By these means, the horse will be united, and the appuy will be lightened. Should the hand, however, be too confining to the horse when united, he may become so balanced on his haunches that he can neither disunite himself nor advance one step; and, should the rider then press him without yielding or dropping the hand, he would compel him to rear.
Such are the two extremes, where the horse is disunited, and where he is too much united. The intermediate effect of the hand and heel must be acquired by practice.