by existing methods cannot be open to question and may be
taken as practically settled, and similar considerations apply to the
recruits.

The system laid down in the regulations does not go directly enough to
the purpose, a consequence, no doubt, of the fact that we have now
better horses on which to instruct them than at the time these
instructions were evolved.

If one begins as soon as possible with the gallop and individual
riding--if necessary on the lunge--and allows the recruit as soon as
he has acquired anything approaching a firm seat to practise the aids
for the leg and the side paces--passage and shoulder-in--one will
attain quite different results than from riding only on straight lines
and practising closing in the ranks. The practice in the use of the
legs makes the men more independent and individual, compels them to
trust to their seat, and not to hang on by the reins.

The individual riding makes the man drive his horse forward by the
pressure of his legs, which he is not compelled to do in the squad,
where the horses follow one another almost automatically. The horses,
too, are saved from becoming dull and heavy, as they are only too apt
to do under the recruits of the old system.

By Christmas the recruits can thus be brought forward as far and
farther than they now are by the time of the inspection on the
bridoon, and can then go on to riding on the curb, so that by February
they should be able to ride the side paces, gallop and change, and all
other school paces, without arms, and generally be so firm in the
saddle that they may be advanced to drilling with arms, and can begin
their real instruction as troopers. Of course, it is not to be
expected that these school paces should be ridden as yet in perfect
form, but the men must understand what these lessons are intended for,
and the effort to get the correct bend should be recognisable. And we
may add that to teach them to rely on their seat and not on their
hands suitable exercises with the lance may be introduced even at an
earlier period.

As regards the remainder of the squadron, the so-called 'Dressur'[23]
detachment, it is hardly necessary to point out that one can ask of it
at least all that can be attained by the remounts and the
recruits--that is to say, that by the beginning of February the men
and horses should reach the highest point of their purely riding
training. Of course, to achieve this they must not be put back every
autum