Page:Notes on equitation and horse training.djvu/69

 to free the right shoulder; carry the body to the rear, throwing more weight on the left buttock; close the left leg to make the haunches yield to the right and to bring the right hind leg in advance.

(b) The horse having been set in this manner, close the right leg in order to add its effect to that of the left leg and to thus obtain, by the action of both legs, the forward impulse necessary to bring about the gallop.

(4) Taking the gallop from the walk.—A horse that takes the gallop readily from the slow trot will also take this gait without difficulty from the walk. The method of procedure is the same; that is, first set the horse and then push him into the gallop.

With horses that hesitate or fret, this last lesson should be subdivided by passing through the trot; that is to say, the horse will be set for the gallop while at a walk, from this set he will be urged into the trot, and from the trot into the gallop. Little by little this intermediate trot will diminish in duration until the horse takes the gallop immediately from the walk.

In this progressive method of obtaining the gallop lead on either foot, we began by increasing the gait from the trot and finished by taking the gallop from the walk because we are convinced that taking the gallop is easier in proportion to the speed of advancing. In our opinion, taking the gallop from the walk is the most difficult exercise and if insisted upon too early will result in horses that back or stand and resist. Our method appears, perhaps, rather long, but it has the advantage of producing horses that act smoothly, that take the gallop without fretting and without losing touch with the rider's hand.