Page:Equitation.djvu/71

 the rider, therefore, is to let the horse alone, and not interfere with it by some wrong position in the saddle or some wrong effect of the reins. The important matter, then, is to gallop the horse straight at the obstacle, neither too fast nor too slow; to feel the contact of the bit and yet permit freedom to the head and neck, not holding them too high or too low; and not to try to lift the horse's front hand, but, on the contrary, to push it forward during the entire movement by the pressure of the rider's legs upon the horse's flanks near the girths. Meanwhile the rider is to sit firm in his saddle, his