osition; carry
your nails to the right, turning your hand upside down, in such a manner
that your thumb be carried out to the left, and the little-finger
brought in to the Right.--This is the fourth Position.

Lastly, would you turn your horse to the Left? quit again the first
position, carry the back of your hand a little to the left, so that the
knuckles come under a little, that your thumb may incline to the right,
and the little-finger to the left.--This makes the fifth Position.

These different Positions, however, alone are not sufficient; we must be
able to pass from one to the other with readiness and order.

Three qualities are necessary to the hand. Viz. FIRM, GENTLE, and LIGHT:
I call that a firm hand, or steady hand whose feeling corresponds
exactly with the feeling in the horse's mouth, and which consists in a
certain degree of steadiness, which constitutes that just correspondence
between the hand and the horse's mouth, which every horseman wishes to
find.

An easy or gentle hand. I call that which, relaxing a little of its
strength and firmness, eases and mitigates the degree of feeling between
the hand and horse's mouth, which I have already described.

Lastly, the light hand is that which lessens still more the feeling
between the rider's hand and the horse's mouth, which was before
moderated by the GENTLE HAND.

The hand, therefore, with respect to these properties must operate in
part, within certain degrees, and depends upon being more or less felt,
or yeilded to the horse, or with-held.

It should be a rule with every horseman not to pass from one extreme to
another; from a firm hand to a slack one; so that in the motion of the
hand on no account jump over that degree of sensation which constitutes
the EASY OR GENTLE HAND: were you once to go from a firm strong hand to
a slack one, you then entirely abandon your horse; you would surprise
him, deprive him of the support he trusted to, and precipitate him on
his shoulders; supposing you do this at an improper time. On the
contrary, were you to pass from the slack to the tight rein, all at
once, you must jerk your hand, and give a violent shock to the horse's
mouth; which rough and irregular motion would be sufficient to falsify
and ruin a good mouth; it is indispensably necessary, therefore, that
all its opeperations[+] should be gentle and light, and in order to
this, it is necessary that the WRIST alone should direct and govern all
its motio