I come now to the final section of the trotting lesson—that which, thoroughly acquired, I may term the thorough base of the matter. Having satisfied himself that his pupil has command of her horse, steady seat and hands, and true balance when riding equally on the snaffle and curb, the master should proceed to instruct her as to the mode of arranging the reins so as to ride on the curb alone.

As this has been already described, it is needless to repeat the formula. I may observe, however, that, in order to give increased facility of action to the bridle hand, and avoid anything like sudden jerk or rough pull upon the horse's mouth, it is best for the lady to retain the end of the curb reins between the fore finger and thumb of her right hand, by doing which she is enabled, keeping her left hand perfectly steady, and opening and closing the fingers, to give easy play to the reins. Without this she would find riding on the curb alone difficult at first with the left hand only, because all the motion must come from the wrist, and considerable practice is necessary to accommodate this motion exactly to the action of the horse. Care should be taken that the elbows are kept well back, so as to preserve the suppleness of the waist, and by this time also the pupil ought to have acquired sufficient steadiness in the saddle to admit of her giving easy play to the upper part of the arm at the shoulder joint. But until complete firmness of seat is gained this should not be attempted, because in the case of a novice it disconnects the figure, and interferes with the horse's mouth materially. The most rigid attention also should be given to the pupil's general position, and the firmness and correct placing of both legs—the heels well down, the upper part of the body well drawn up from the waist, "the whole figure pliant and accompanying every movement of the horse" (see "Military Aid Book").

The lady should commence the lesson by walking her horse two or three times round the school; and it is here, by close attention, that she will learn that light hands are neither "heaven-born" nor impossible to acquire. On pressing the horse forward with her leg or whip, so as to make him walk up against the curb, it is possible her hand may be a little heavy, and that the horse may resist it. In this case, if not cautions and carefully watched, she will let her hands go forward. It is for the instructor to take special care of this, and point out to his pupil how she can ease the reins through her left hand by the aid of the right, so as to catch the true appui, without yielding altogether to the horse. In other words, she should allow sufficient rein to go through her hand to enable the horse to walk freely forward; and then, closing her fingers again firmly, make him go up to every hair's breadth of rein she has given him, and fairly against the curb. There should not be a particle of slack rein. In fact, it may be received as a sound principle in riding that there should never be slack reins, no matter what the pace. If you give your horse the full length of the reins even, make him go up to them.

When once the lady has gained the above-named appui (the right hand assisting the left), she should be instructed to halt her horse lightly on his haunches preparatory to reining back. And again she should do this by drawing the reins through the fingers of her left hand with the right, keeping the former perfectly steady, and drawing her own figure well up, in order to avoid any tendency to lean forward. On the word "Rein back," which should be given in a very quiet tone of voice, and in the exact cadence in which the master desires his pupil to move her horse to the rear, the lady should feel both reins lightly but firmly for a moment, closing at the same instant her leg so as to keep her horse's haunches under him, in the manner before described when using the snaffle only, but in the present case with greater care and precision. Lightly and firmly feeling the curb reins while pressed by the leg, the horse will take a step back. The reins should be yielded the instant he does so. Two or three steps back are sufficient, when the word "Forward" should be given, preceded by the caution to close the fingers firmly on the reins, and, with whip and leg, keep the horse well up to his work. Feeling this amount of constraint laid upon him, the horse will be inclined at any moment to canter. But here the tact of the master should be exhibited in instructing his pupil to release the horse from his fore-shortened position, by allowing about six inches of rein (or more, if necessary), to pass through her left hand as she presses the horse forward into a free trot (about eight miles an hour). All her firmness of seat will be necessary now, because any irregular action on her part will cause her hand to become heavy, and make the horse canter. The great thing is, not to continue trotting on the curb-rein alone too long. Short lessons often repeated, and intervals in which to correct everything are best for pupil and instructor.

When the lady can accomplish trotting out for twenty minutes without allowing her horse to break, she should then be instructed to collect him to a slower pace, bringing him more upon his haunches, and with his forehand more up. This requires the nicest tact and discrimination on the part of the rider, perfect steadiness in the saddle, and firm pressure of the left leg; while the reins should be drawn through the left hand with as much care as though the lady feared to break them. The shortened pace should be smart and active, and the horse so collected as to be ready to turn to the right, or left, or about, or make the inclines at any moment. All these exercises should then be practised in the same order as when the pupil rode, assisted by or on the snaffle only.

After the lady has performed these to the satisfaction of the master, she should bring her horse to the walk and be instructed to carry the end of the curb reins, which she has held hitherto in her right hand, through the full of the left hand, and place both reins (the off-side one uppermost) over the middle joint of the fore finger, and close the thumb firmly on them. The end of the reins should be dropped to the off-side of the horse, and hang down outside the off-side crutch; the whip (with the point downwards) kept quiet. Raising the point of the whip, when a lady is trotting a horse on the curb alone, and unassisted by her right hand, is very apt to make him break, because the point of the whip is always in motion, and causes the horse to turn his eye back at it.

The instructor should now carefully place the lady's bridle hand, with the wrist rounded outwards and the thumb pointing square across the body, the back of the hand towards the horse's head, and the little finger turned upwards and inwards towards the waist, the arm perfectly firm, and the wrist quite supple—as in this case it is from the wrist only that every indication to turn, to halt, or rein back is given, aided by the whip on the off side and the leg on the near side. The pupil can then be taught to turn her horse to either hand, or about, at a walk, without any motion of the bridle hand perceptible to a looker-on, although perceptible enough to the horse. In turning to the right, the little finger should be turned down towards the left shoulder, and the back of the hand turned up. This movement will shorten the right rein, and cause it to act on the right jaw of the bit. The whip should be closed firmly (not with a blow) just behind the flap of the saddle on the off side. The left leg supporting this will cause the horse to turn square to his right. Exactly the reverse movement will turn him to the left. Right or left about, aids continued, until the horse has reversed his front.

The trotting lesson may then be gone through again, the pupil riding entirely with the left hand. But in beginning these lessons care should be taken to let them be very short, because, in spite of all previous supplying, considerable constraint is thrown upon the wrist at first. Any yielding to the horse is accomplished by turning the little finger towards his neck, while to collect him simply the little finger is turned up again towards the waist. But the fingers and thumb of the bridle hand must be kept firmly shut upon the reins, otherwise the hand becomes heavy and uneven in its action.

By lessons, gradually increased in length, the pupil should be accustomed thus to ride her horse throughout the trotting lesson, and trot him out, riding with one hand. It is not usual for ladies to continue for any length of time riding in this form; but it is highly necessary that they should be thoroughly well practised at it, otherwise an important part of their course of equitation will be neglected. The same may be said of the bending lesson, previous to cantering. It is rarely put in practice by any but professional female equestrians. But a lady ought to be thoroughly acquainted with its formula, because it teaches the principle upon which a horse acquires his souplesse, which is just as necessary to his freedom of action and pleasant riding as the early suppling lessons of the pupil herself were conducive to her own progress.