The Sporting Dictionary, and Rural Repository, Volume 1 (of 2) / Of General Information upon Every Subject Appertaining to the Sports of the Field

by William Taplin

HEAVY in HAND

.—A horse is said to be heavy in hand, when, from want of spirit, he goes sluggishly on, bearing his whole weight upon the BIT; as if the hand of the rider alone prevented his pitching upon his head; and this to a good horseman is one of the most unpleasing defects a HORSE can possess. Horses of this description should be rode in a Weymouth bridle, (see Bit,) and constantly made to feel the CURB rein; when at the same moment, that useful monitor the spur should be brought into brisk and sudden contact with the body; a perseverance in which practice will be found the only mode to remedy the inconvenience. See Hand.