With her hands and figure in the above-named form, the lightest application of the aids ought to strike her horse off "true and united;" but if by any chance he takes off with the wrong leg or "disunited," as may sometimes happen with the best broken horse, from a little over-eagerness or anxiety on the part of the pupil, or a little unsteadiness of hand, the master should cause her to bring her horse again to the walk, and reassure her--taking care, however, on these occasions that she never "makes much of" or caresses her horse, which would tend to confirm him in a bad habit, but reins him back, and again puts him up to his bridle. It is a rare occurrence when a horse (thoroughly well-broken) strikes off incorrectly; but I am endeavouring to write for every contingency. Assuming the horse to have struck off smoothly to the instructor's word _Ca-a-n-te-r_--which should be given in a quiet, soothing tone of voice, and drawn out as if every letter were a syllable--the horse should be allowed to canter freely forward, although without rush or hurry. The pace should not be too collected at first; the military pace of manoeuvre is about the correct thing; eight miles an hour or thereabouts; the cadence true; the horse well ridden into his bridle, and in this case _yielding to the bit_--because, in cantering, it is necessary to have an _appui_ upon the mouth, quite different from that to be maintained in trotting, in which it is best for the lady that the horse should feel her hand fairly and firmly, and that there should be little "give-and-take" action of the latter. In cantering, on the other hand, an easy give-and-take play of the hands is indispensable, to cause the horse to bend in the poll of his neck, yield to the hand, and go in true form. By this time the pupil should have acquired sufficient firmness and _aplomb_ in the saddle to justify the instructor in commencing to impart to her that mobile action and flexibility of the upper arm at the shoulder joint, which may be regarded as the artistic finishing of her course of equitation. But it will not do to commence this (so goes my experience) at the outset of the cantering lesson, wherein at first it is best to insist upon firmness of the arms, otherwise the pupil is most likely (imperceptibly to herself) to allow her hands to glide forward, and thus destroy the flexibility of her waist, which is a point always to be most carefully watched. It is possible that at first the figure of the pupil, from over-anxiety to maintain her position and ride her horse correctly at the same time, may be somewhat rigid; but complete flexibility cannot be expected at once. It must be remembered that, although the action of cantering in a horse is much easier than trotting, still it is novel to the rider, who moreover has to keep her horse up to his work.