In order to have a good hand, it must be light, gentle, and firm.

Horsemanship is the one art for which it seems one needs only practice. However, practice without true principles is nothing other than routine, the fruit of which is a strained and unsure execution, a false diamond which dazzles semi-connoisseurs often more impressed by the accomplishments of the horse than the merit of the horseman.

Others make a point of trying to attain the precision and poise they see in those who have the ability to choose from a great number of horses those with [...] qualities found in only a very small number of horses. This leads to a circumstance in which these imitators of such studied poise mortify the spirit of a noble horse, and remove from it all of the goodness of temperament Nature has given it.

The knowledge of the nature of a horse is one of the first foundations of the art if riding it, and every horseman must make it his principal study.

Above all, a horse should never be chastised out of foul mood or anger, but always with complete dispassion.

A firm hand is one which holds the horse in full contact.

A light hand is one which never feels the contact of the bit with the bars.