the beginner ought to learn to keep his reins always at the correct length, he should be practiced also in shortening them instantly.
The method is much the same as for adjustment. If the rider is holding all four reins in the left hand, he simply seizes them all with all the fingers of the right hand, or certain ones with thumb and forefinger, and draws them upward to the needed length.
I often tell my pupils that the beginner has always two enemies of his safety — his eyes and his fingers. The eyes never look far enough ahead to see where the horse is going; therefore they tilt the head forward and displace the body. The fingers let slip the reins; therefore are these not ready when needed to control the horse.
I have already noted that the determining factor in handling the reins is the need of holding the horse straight, the backbone acting, so to say, as a sort of keel; and that, on the whole, it is easier to accomplish this end when both hands are employed. Nevertheless, there are conditions which make it at least convenient for the time being to change from two hands to one or from one to two. If, for example, the rider regularly uses the left hand for all four reins, in order to have the right hand free for whip or mallet, he may often need to use both hands to control a case of excitement or refusal.
To separate the reins, changing from the left hand to both hands, the little finger of the right
