The FIXED Hand

The last words of Baucher when he was dying were reported by General L'Hotte in "Un officier de Cavalerie ("A Cavalry Officer," 1905):  

"...Then taking my hand and giving it the position of the 'hand of curb'...", "he said:  'remember, always this' - and he immobilised my hand under the pressure of his - 'never that', and he pulled my hand toward his chest."

Simply stated, it is the action which one uses in order to crush a lump of dirt, not the action one uses to open a drawer.  Since there is no recoil at all, yielding, for the horse, becomes "self-rewarding," and will therefore tend to become easier and easier.

Extract from Another Horsemanship, by Jean-Claude Racinet