Notes on equitation and horse training/Question 6
VI.
Importance of the straight ahead movement.—Above everything else the horse must go freely straight ahead. The lesson with this object in view must be the first of all lessons; from the beginning of horse training the horse must be accustomed to yield to the action of both legs. This is essentially a sign of docility; the full or the limited obedience of the horse shown in this first test will be an indication of a brief or a protracted period of training.
To accustom the horse to go straight ahead under the action of the legs.—The leg lesson is admittedly the most important lesson, and there is good reason to return to it during the whole period of training. For the first occasion observe the following rules:
Never keep the lower leg glued to the horse's flank, but use repeated taps with the calves.
Tap the horse near the girth and do not reach too far back.
Begin by giving the lesson when passing from the walk to the trot, next when lengthening the trot, and finally when passing from the halt to the trot.
Anticipate and assist the action of the legs by clucking with the tongue or by the use of light taps with the whip.
These rules are especially applicable to riding-hall lessons, for in outside work on a road young horses have a natural tendency to go straight ahead, following the old horses at the head of the squad.
Lightness—When to be exacted.—A horse is light when he obeys easily and promptly the indications of the rider. This is not a question merely of flexibility of jaw and suppleness of neck, but rather of balance, and in our opinion
the degree of lightness corresponds to the more or less finished balance.
Therefore in the first lesson there should be no anxiety about lightness, for, as we have just remarked, it will be a natural result of training. If a horse is not easily controlled by the legs, is not well suppled in the shoulders, and does not know how to properly employ his haunches he can not be really light.
Not until later can perfect balance (or lightness, if you please) be obtained and then only by coordinating the different results of training.
The principle of constant tension on the reins.—Although the instructor during the first weeks of training need not concern himself with the lightness of the horse, he must urge the troopers to keep a constant light tension (feel) on the reins. At first the trooper must do the work—that is, must tighten the reins—but later the horse itself, having become accustomed to the pressure of the bit and having always present the idea of going straight ahead, will, of its own accord, keep the reins taut.
It is important to distinguish between pulling on the reins and the principle of keeping a constant tension on the reins. A hand too rigidly fixed, with fingers too firmly clasped, will oppose the free play of the neck and will be contrary to the principle just stated. Therefore in the leg lesson, when forcing the horse straight ahead, the hand must not oppose the stretching of the neck; on the contrary, the fingers should be slightly opened up so that nothing can clash with the animal's intention to obey the aids.