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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: sound or other experience. [I say one should be aware that any
unexpected shock will produce disturbance in a horse.][2]
[1] Or, "so that the horse may insensibly fall into a gallop."
[2] L. Dindorf and others bracket, as spurious.
So if you wish to pull up a spirited horse when breaking off into a
quicker pace than requisite, you must not suddenly wrench him, but
quietly and gently bring the bit to bear upon him, coaxing him rather
than compelling him to calm down. It is the long steady course rather
than the frequent turn which tends to calm a horse.[3] A quiet pace
sustained for a long time has a caressing,[4] soothing effect, the
reverse of exciting. If any one proposes by a series of fast and oft-
On Horsemanship | 
