An Analysis of Horsemanship Author:John Adams Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 65 AIDS, CORRECTIONS, ANIMATIONS, Being necessitated to give a description of the Aids as they accompany the hand, I have but little to add in this place. ... more »Aids are the indication of the horseman's will to the horse, and are so called, because they not only require but assist the horse to execute, at the same time they check or obstruct him from acting contrary. Now, the positions of the body and legs, when they deviate from the fundamental seat, as laid down, for the purpose of giving effect and assistance to the hands, are Aids ; but when, for the purpose of preserving the balance, or maintaining the seat, they are necessary variations of the seat, and will be found as man y as the positions the horse can work in : in most instances they contribute to assist both hand and seat. Vol. i. F The The Aids of the legs have their progressive strength and effect, and are thus given: the leg being brought nearer the side, is the first degree, or lightest Aid; placing the leg- further back, with the toe turned out, is the next; the lightest possible touch with the calf of the leg, is the third; and so on, increasing the degree of pressure, according to the strength of Aid required, with the toe kept up firm, that the muscles of the leg may be hard and operative. The strongest Aid is the scratch, which is thus given;— when the leg is laid on hard without effect, drop the toe; and if the spur is placed in a horseman-like manner on the heel, the rowel of the spur will thereby pinch or scratch the horse's side. To this succeeds a correction, by giving the spur sharply. Aids with the whip are sometimes used to give greater effect to the heel. These are gentle taps with the whip on the hind quarters, and sometimes on the shoulders: when given on the near side, the hand is applied ...« less