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THE horse, when not under the control of the man, balances himself instinctively by different positions of head and neck. But the horse under control has these various positions given to him by his rider, by way of the bits. But the feeling of the bits in his mouth is disagreeable to the horse. The result is a tendency to contract and to keep tense the muscles which close the lower jaw, on which the bits rest. This disagreeable sensation tends, moreover, to affect the entire body, and to produce a general condition of contraction, opposition, and refusal.

The object of the flexions is, by means of certain graduated exercises, to teach the horse that no real pain will follow these uncomfortable sensations, and to suppress their general accompaniments, while accustoming the animal to obey their special effects.

The hands holding the reins can, by different positions and manipulations, produce on the animal mechanism a great variety of effects, of which the three principal are, directing, raising, and maintaining. The work of the flexions will introduce the horse to these different effects, which later, after the rider is mounted, will be further complicated by the effects of the legs.