carrying his head low, and to draw his chin into his breast by bringing his head behind the perpendicular. We must note that this fault was originated by Baucher, who, during the greater part of his career, made the flexions at the withers by lowering the neck. Compare Fig. 6, which shows the flexion I have described, with Fig. 7, which illustrates Baucher's flexion, and which I have taken from his book. It is well to note that Baucher's horse in Fig. 7 has his legs stuck out in front, and consequently it is impossible for him to go forward. Nothing could be worse ! Compare the correct flexion, shown in Fig. 5, with that in Fig. 8, which is the more frequently practised of the two.

Towards the end of his life Baucher recognised this mistake (see his last edition, 1874) ; but he restricted himself to raising the head of the horse, without making the flexion when it was high. Whatever he did and whatever errors he made, he was an incomparable horseman. The people of to-day who make faulty flexions succeed only in ruining their horses. There is no reason for stopping when one has started on this road. Certain authors have thought it right to systematically lower the neck, than which there is no better means of ruining a horse ! As a great curiosity, I have shown in Figs. 9 and 10 two illustrations which appeared in recently published books, and which show the lesson of lowering the neck. That could be called the art of teaching a horse how to break his knees !

This explains how it is that many people say that they have made their horses perform flexions without any good result, a fact which should not surprise us. As we have just seen, the flexion is such a delicate thing that an incapable horseman who practises it, will often spoil a horse instead of improving him. If, on the contrary, the reader understands the principles and practice described in this chapter,