case, the movement becomes dislocated and impossible.
But the swing of the rider's body should never be a stiff inclination backward of a rigid spine. The weight is, at the beginning, immobile upon the saddle. Then for the change, the rider's spine plays back and forth, flexing at the coupling between the sacrum and the last lumbar vertebra, in time with each beat of the gallop and at the precise instant when the horse's two hind feet are off the ground, and the right fore leg only is bearing the weight—assuming that the backward gallop starts from the gallop terre-à-terre on the right lateral biped. This translation of the weight by the flexion of the coupling is to be repeated at each beat of the stride. Meanwhile, the rider's legs have to sustain the equilibrium and to hold the contact of the horse's mouth with the bits.
If, now, the rider, as he swings his weight, merely closes his fingers, without moving his hand, the horse will gallop backward, one step only, but still one step. That obtained, stop everything, yield everything, and caress. When the horse has become calm, forward again at the walk and the terre-à-terre at the same hand as before. Be quiet yourself; flex your spine; finger. Another step backward. That is enough for the time being. Dismount; and to the stable. The next day, the same progression.
After a few days, you will be able to obtain
