leg forward. Therefore it follows that I want for the piaffer all the rhomboideus possible, but not too much of the mastoido-humeralis. In order for the foot in the piaffer to return to the same spot from which it was lifted, the horse must lift its fore leg forward, but with flexed knee. Too much action of the mastoido-humeralis will extend the leg so far that I cannot call back the foot to the proper spot and still preserve the speed and cadence of the trot.
When I have secured the piaffer, I add the complication of a very slow forward progress, and have the passage. Then, having the passage, I give a little more impulsion forward, by lifting my coccyx out of the saddle, but not very far or too high, and by shifting the center of gravity a little more forward than for the passage. My horse, thereupon, lifts its head a little higher and finds contact with the bit. The two muscles concerned have now, to an equal degree, their fixed points in the atlas region. The rhomboideus, continuing to act as before, raises the leg. But the mastoido-humeralis, acting more strongly, extends the leg forward, and I have the Spanish trot. I still have the assemblage, but under different conditions.
The teachings of the grand masters for these movements are very different from my own. They, as I have explained, begin with the Spanish walk. The horse's head and neck are up. The point of contact is established. The two neck muscles act together. The leg is raised and extended, stiff
