easily at the walk, I canter him on a rather larger circle, and gradually shorten his stride ; not from front to rear, but by the shoulders, while gaining ground to the side; and I increase the action of my legs, in order to keep up the speed. The hind legs ought to " mark time " at the canter ; but, as I have just said, the horse ought never to turn by continuously resting on one hind leg. The pirouette ought to be done as slowly as possible, The great difficulty consists in obtaining a very slow canter, without losing that pace. I employ reversed means for the pirouette from right to left.

We can also do at the canter reversed pirouettes, which consist in making the croup turn round the shoulders. This is an excellent exercise at the walk, but I never teach it to my horses at the canter, because the great difficulty in all work is to make the shoulders move. In reversed pirouettes, on the contrary, we teach the animal to keep his shoulders stationary, which is an absurdity in riding. Besides, this movement is ungraceful, because the fore legs, not being able to gain ground, remain stiff while stamping on one spot.

On the other hand, ordinary and reversed voltes are graceful and useful. We obtain them by means of the same " aids " by which we get pirouettes, only we make the horse describe a large circle instead of turning him on one spot.

When we begin a volte, it is difficult to previously determine the exact diameter of the circle which we are going to make ; but, nevertheless, this will be the only means for the rider to know if his horse is right. To find this out, it is sufficient to trace a circle at the centre of the school. If a horse follows it exactly, he does so, because his position is good, and he is well-balanced in propulsion.

When a horse does correctly at the canter all the different exercises just described, we can ask him to do any movement at the canter. Having been made supple and obedient by all