The lady must learn how to perform the perfect stop in all the paces.
The perfect stop in the walk, is a cessation of all action in the
animal, produced instantaneously by the rider, without any previous
intimation being given by her to the horse. The slovenly stop is gradual
and uncertain. The incorrect stop is a momentary and violent check on
the action in the middle, instead of the conclusion, of the cadence,
while the fore legs are coming to the ground. The proper movements
should be performed, by the rider, so that the stop may conclude
correctly with the cadence. The firmness of the hand should be
increased, the body be thrown back, the reins drawn to the body, and the
horse's haunches pressed forward by the leg and whip, so that he may be
brought to bear on the bit.
[Illustration]
The stop in the trot is performed as in the walk: the rider should
operate when the advanced limbs of the animal, before and behind,
respectively, have come to the ground, so that the stop may be perfected
when the other fore leg and hind leg advance and complete the cadence.
The stop in the canter is performed by the rider in a similar manner:
the time should be at the instant when the horse's fore feet are
descending;--the hind feet will immediately follow, and at once conclude
the cadence. In an extended canter, it is advisable to reduce the horse
to a short trot, prior to stopping him, or to perform the stop by a
_double arret_;--that is, in two cadences instead of one.
It is necessary that the lady should learn how to make a horse _back_,
in walking: to do this, the reins must be drawn equally and steadily
towards the body, and the croup of the horse kept in a proper direction
by means of the leg and whip.