Fig. 1.—Horse bending his neck to the rein without swinging round his hind-quarters at the same time, in answer to the pull.
necessity of proof here—we should teach our pupil, from the outset, to avail himself of such assistance. As the rider’s weight tends to advance the position of the centre of gravity, the natural turn, especially at fast-paces, will be a compromise between the turn “on the centre,” and that “on the haunches.” I may remark, that the further the weight is thrown back, and the greater is the support of the outward leg, the more will the turn be made on the haunches. The use of this leg-pressure, although necessitated by the unequal distribution of the rider’s weight, is, besides this, valuable in all sharp turns made at speed. The turn “on the forehand” can be taught by the rider, after the simpler one is mastered. In treating about turning, I draw no distinction between the saddle and harness horse; for the latter should be made as “clever” as the former, in “collecting” himself and “coming round.”
Let us suppose that a horse is ridden at a fence, A B (see [Fig. 1]), and that he “runs out” to the left; although the rider has pulled the animal’s head round to the right, in his endeavour to keep him straight. In this case, the horse yielded to the rein with his neck, but refused to swing round his hind-quarters—a movement, on his part, which would have brought him at right angles to the fence (see [Fig. 2]); so that he would have had either to jump or to stop, neither of which actions would affect in any way the precision with which the turn had been made. Again, if a horse jibs in harness, and refuses to turn, say, to the right, we shall, in the vast majority of cases, have no difficulty in making him turn his head round in the required direction, although he will obstinately keep his hind-quarters fixed. The same may be said of a horse that rears. If these animals would only turn their hind-quarters round with the same facility that they bend their necks, they would lose their strongest “defence” against our “aids” (the reins and legs of the rider). It is evident that in every turn, the hind-quarters have to move round
Fig. 2.—Shews horse having answered the pull of off rein as he should, and consequently coming straight at his fence.
in the opposite direction to the head and neck; the centre round which the movement is made, being advanced or brought back, according as the turn is made “on the forehand,” or “on the haunches.”
Reining back.—It is an axiom of the riding-school, worthy of implicit acceptance, that, until a horse has learned to rein back with facility and precision, he cannot be considered to have a good mouth; for, by performing this movement in the manner described, he shews that he is intelligently obedient to the indications of the rein, in yielding to its pressure, and, at the same time, in bringing his hind-legs “well under” him. Herein lies the value of the practice of reining back, which teaches the animal to understand that a pull on the reins is quite as much a signal for him to “collect” himself, as to moderate his pace. Hence, the use of a judicious pull when going at high “timber,” or when galloping through heavy ground, especially, when the horse is tired. If, when travelling fast, the animal will only bend his neck to the rein, while letting his hind-quarters sprawl out behind, he will quickly tire, and will, also, be a most unsafe “conveyance,” from inability to raise his forehand, as occasion may require.