OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

I

BAUCHER'S

METHOD OF HOKSE3IAXSHIP.

M H B A U C H E R .

-r.Tf

/ C

A METHOD

OF

HORSEMANSHIP,

FOUNDED UPON NEW PRINCIPLES:

INCLUDING THE

BREAKING AND TRAINING OF HORSES

WITH

INSTRUCTIONS FOR OBTAINING A GOOD SEAT.

BY F. BAUCHER.

.

SECOND AMERICAN EDITION,

tsc& aitfc mmtefc from tfj* Xmtf) $arts

ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINGS.

PHILADELPHIA:
A. HART, LATE CAREY AND HART.

1852,

Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1851. by
A. HART,

in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States in and
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

PHILADELPHIA:

T. K. AND p. G. COLLINS,

&s

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

THE author's introduction to his "Method
of Horsemanship" is omitted in this edition,
because it contains much that would be un
interesting to the American reader. It men
tions the great difficulties he encountered in
attracting the attention of the public to his
system, and the complete success with which
it was crowned when once this attention
was attracted.* One paragraph from it,

* The following fact will prove the great popularity of
the work : The first edition was published in 1842 ] in
the first year, two editions were published, and since then
seven more, making nine editions in eight years. — TRANS.
NOTE.

2

14 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

which contains the principle upon which his
whole method is founded, is here given : —

" However favored by nature the horse
may be, he requires a preparatory exercise
to enable his forces to afford ea£h other mu
tual assistance ; without this, everything be
comes mechanical and hazardous, as well on
his part as on that of the rider.

" What musician could draw melodious
sounds from an instrument without having
exercised his fingers in handling it? He
would certainly, if he attempted such a
thing, produce only false, discordant sounds ;
and the same thing occurs in horsemanship,
when we undertake to make a horse exe
cute movements for which he has not been
prepared."

M. Baucher presents the official docu
ments upon the subject of the introduction
of his method into the French army, with
the following introductory remarks : —

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 15

" Since the first publication of my method,
indisputable facts have attested the truth of
the principles therein contained. Field-
Marshal the Minister of War has appointed
a commission, presided over by Lieutenant-
General the Marquis Oudinot, to examine
into its advantages.*

" Fifty horses, some from the troop, and
others belonging to officers which had not
yet commenced their education, or which
were considered difficult to manage, or vi
cious, were subjected to the experiment,
which commenced on the 21st March, 1842.
The demands of the service of the garrison
of Paris permitting only a small number of

* "The commission was composed of Lieut. -General
Oudinot, Col. Carrelet, Commander of the Municipal
Guard, the Chef d'Escadrons J)e Novital, commanding
the Cavalry Riding-School, and the Captain-instructors
de Gues, of the 5th Cuirassiers, and De Mesanges, of
the 3d Lancers."

16 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

cuirassiers, municipal guards, and first class
lancers to be put at the disposition of the
commission, nearly all the horses were in
trusted to riders who were by no means in
telligent, or else whose education was not
very much advanced. The riders themselves
exercised their horses. On the 9th of April
— that is to say, after fifteen lessons — Field-
Marshal the Minister of War wished to
witness the results of the system which he
had ordered to be tried. His excellency was
accompanied by the members of the com
mittee of cavalry, and many other general
officers. The men being completely armed
and equipped, and the horses caparisoned,
they executed, individually and in troop, at
all the paces, movements that, up to this
time, had only been required of horses that
had been exercised for five or six months
under experienced riders. The Minister of
"War followed all the trials with the greatest

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 17

interest, and before retiring expressed his
complete satisfaction, and announced his in
tention of having a general application of it
made in the army."

Among the official documents in favor of
Baucher's method is a letter from M. Champ-
montant, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Staff,
Secretary of the Committee of Cavalry, in
which he requests M. Baucher to fix a con
venient time to appear before the committee
and explain his system more completely,
that they may consider upon its adoption in
the army; another from Lieutenant-General
Marquis Oudinot to M. Baucher. In this
letter, the general informs M. Baucher that
the Minister of War has decided that a se
ries of experiments shall be made upon his
method of breaking new horses, and such as
were considered difficult to manage.

Then follows the report upon the trials of
Baucher's method, and a recapitulation of
2*

18 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

the daily operations, by the Chef dEscadrons
de Novital, commanding the Royal School
at Saumur. The complete success of the
trial is mentioned above, and an extract only
from the report will be here given : —

"But it may be objected, will not this
species of captivity, to which the new method
will subject the horse, prevent his lasting ?
Will it not be the source of his premature
decay ? To this it is easy to answer by a
comparison, which to us appears conclusive.
When all the wheel-work of a machine fits
well together, so that each part furnishes its
share of action, there is harmony, and con
sequently need of a less force ; so when, in
an organized body, we are enabled to obtain
suppleness and pliability in all the parts, the
equilibrium becomes easy, there is supple
ness and lightness, and in consequence a di
minution of fatigue.

"Far from injuring the horse, the new

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 19

method has the advantage of being a great
auxiliary in developing the muscles, particu
larly in a young subject."

Extract from the report to Lieutenant-
General Oudinot, by M. Carrelet, Colonel of
the Municipal Guard of Paris : —

" To shorten this narration, I would say
that the officers of the Municipal Guard are
unanimous in their approval of M. Baucher's
proceedings, applied to the breaking of young
horses.

" We have assisted at the education of
forty troop horses, all more or less difficult
to manage ; and we are convinced that, by
Baucher's system, they have been more ad
vanced in fifteen days than they would have
been in six months by the proceedings we
have been accustomed to follow.

"I am so convinced of the efficiency of
the means practised by M. Baucher, that I

20 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

am about to subject to them all the horses
of my five squadrons."

Extract from the report of Lieuten ant-
General Marquis Oudinot to his excellency
the Marshal the Minister of War : —

" That the system of M. Baucher may
produce in the army all the expected advan
tages, it would be necessary to have a cer
tain number of instructors, initiated in it as
completely as possible, that they may be
able to teach it afterwards.

" In consequence of which, I have the
honor to propose to you to order —

" 1st. That upon the return to Saumur of
the commanding officer of the riding-school,
the young horses be broken after Baucher's
method, and observations be made upon the
advantages or disadvantages that it pre
sents.

" 2d. That in the 5th Cuirassiers and the

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 21

3d Lancers, the application of this method
be continued.

" 3d. That the different bodies of cavalry
within a circle of twenty-five leagues around
Paris detach, for about two months, their
captain-instructor and one officer, who
shall come to study the system of M.
Baucher."

The Minister of War immediately issued
these three orders, and also three additional
ones : —

"4th. M. Baucher, Jr. will repair to the
camp at Luneville, and sojourn there during
the months of June, July, and August.
The captain-instructors, and one lieutenant
from the troops of horse stationed in the
neighborhood of Paris, will be ordered to
Luneville during those months to study the
Baucher system.

"5th. M. Baucher, Jr. will receive an
indemnity of five hundred francs a month.

22 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

" Gth. Each of the troops of horse and
the establishments of unbroken horses will
receive two copies of the work entitled
' Method of Horsemanship, founded upon
New Principles, by M. Baucher.' '

Extract from the report of the Chef
d'Escadrons Grenier, appointed to the com
mand of the officers detached to Paris, by
ministerial decision of the 20th May, 1842,
to study the method of horsemanship of M.
Baucher : —

" The officers detached to Paris were
twenty-two in number, the captain-instruct
or and a lieutenant from each regiment. *
* * They exercised fur thirty-nine days.
* :i: These officers did not all arrive
at Paris with the belief that they could be
taught anything. One-half were captain-
instructors, the rest lieutenants intended
to become the same. Thus, in the begin
ning, there was very little confidence, on

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 23

the part of the officers, in their new pro
fessor, sometimes even opposition, but always
zeal and good-will.

" Little by little, confidence came, and op
position disappeared; but only at the end
of the first month, after about twenty-five
lessons, did all the officers, without exception,
understand the method and recognize the
superiority of M. Baucher's principles over
those previously known.

"Before leaving, they all approved of
the new method, and desired its application
in their regiments.

" The method of horsemanship of M. Bau-
cher is positive and rational ; it is easy to
understand, especially when studied under
the direction of some one who knows it. It
is attractive to the rider, gives him a taste
for horses and horsemanship, tends to deve
lop the horse's qualities, especially that of
lightness, which is so delightful to discover

24 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

in a saddle-horse. * * * Applied to the
breaking of young horses, it develops their
instinct, makes them find the domination of
the rider easy and pleasant ; it preserves
them from the premature ruin that an im
proper breaking often brings with it ; it may
shorten the time devoted to the education
of the horse ; and it interests the riders em
ployed in it."

M. Desondes, Lieutenant of the 9th Cui
rassiers, winds up a long and highly favor
able report upon the breaking of young
horses for the army with the words, " To
Baucher the cavalry is grateful."

Extracts from the sixth and last report
upon the trials of the new method of horse
manship of M. Baucher : —

" The first trials are concluded. The
principal movements of the platoon-drill
on horseback, running at the head and
charging, have completed the exercises.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 25

Thus, thirty-five lessons have sufficed to
perfect the instruction of the tractable as
well as the intractable horses confided to
me. The first rough work with the horse
— that is to say, the exercises with the
snaffle prescribed by the orders — used to
take up as much time as this, and then we
scarcely dared to touch the curb-rein. In
this view, the new system is of great utility
for cavalry.

" But the promptness with which we can
put new horses in the ranks is not the only
advantage the new method presents; it
guarantees, besides, the preservation of the
horse ; it develops his faculties and his pow
ers ; these increase by the harmony and pro
per application of the forces among them
selves, and by their rational and opportune
use. It is not the immoderate employment
of force which conquers a rebellious horse,
but the well-combined use of an ordinary
3

26 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

force. The Baucher system ought to be
considered eminently preservative, since the
breaking, being well graduated and well
combined, cannot have an injurious influence
upon the horse's physique; and his forces
being at the disposition of the rider, it is he,
the absolute dispenser of these forces, who
is responsible for their duration or prema
ture destruction. * * * I repeat it, that
the new method would be a great benefit,
an indisputable improvement for cavalry.
* * * I pray then for its adoption, and
ardently desire its prompt introduction into
the cavalry. (Signed) DE NOVITAL."

Extract from the Spectateur Militaire: —
" Passionately fond of a science that, from
his childhood, has been the object of studies
as productive as they were persevering, M.
Baucher, after having obtained from the
horse a submission almost magical, is not

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 27

willing to be the only one who shall profit by
his meditations ; he has put them cleverly
together, and his written method is now in
the hands of all those who occupy them
selves with horsemanship. * * * The
division of dragoons, and the instructors of
the different troops of horse that composed
a part of the camp of Luneville, intended
to execute, after the principles of the new
method, and in the presence of their royal
highnesses, the Dukes of Orleans and Ne
mours, equestrian exercises that would have
drawn together thousands of spectators.
The mournful event that deprived France of
the prince royal did not allow of this per
formance having the eclat that was intended.
Nevertheless, M. the Duke de Nemours,
wishing to judge for himself of the results,
has had part of these exercises performed in
his presence."

The death of the Duke of Orleans, and

28 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

the indifference and afterwards opposition of
the Duke de Nemours, were the principal
causes that prevented the system of M. Bau-
cher from being adopted for the cavalry of
the whole French army. The former was
an ardent admirer of the system, while the
latter was an equally ardent admirer of a
rival professor of horsemanship.

Extract from a letter of M. de Gouy,
Colonel of the 1st Hussars, to M. Bau-
cher : —

" So far from the horse's muscular power
being lessened by the repetition of the flex
ions, is it not increased by having all the
advantage of exercise over repose, of work
over indolence? Does not the muscular
system develop itself, physiologically speak
ing, in proportion to these conditions ? Will
not address and vigor be the result of these
gymnastics ? Has the habitual difference be
tween the forces of the right and the left arm

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 29

any other cause than the difference in the daily
use of the one to the prejudice of the other ?"

Baucher says : " To prove the complete
success of my mission to Saumur, I will
back, according to my custom, my assertions
by positive facts. The officers present at
my course of instruction were seventy-two
in number ; of these, sixty-nine have sent
in reports favorable to my method. There
were but three dissenting voices."

This statement is followed by letters from
General Prevost, De Novital, &c., all highly
commending the system.

Baucher's method has been reprinted in
Belgium, and translated into Dutch and
German. In the latter language, several
different translations have been written, one
by M. Kitgen, Lieutenant of the 4th Kegi-
ment of Houlans (Prussian), and the other
by M. de Willisen, Lieutenant-Colonel of
the 7th Cuirassiers (Prussian).

30 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

The translator will give some extracts
from the preface to M. De Willisen's transla
tion, as it shows that some of the difficulties
met with by the former were not altogether
escaped by his German confrere.

" After positive results had proved to me
most convincingly that M. Baucher's was
the best of all existing methods, I thought
that it would be useful to translate it. This
translation seemed at first much easier than
it proved in the sequel ; above all, it was
actually impossible for me to render in
German, as I wished, such technical French
expressions as attaques, acculement, assou-
plissement, ramener, rassenibler, &c., retain
ing their clearness and conciseness. In,
German, I could only find expressions that
were incomplete. On this account, I have
put all the words, for which I could not find
a clear equivalent in German, in the original
French.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 31

" Horses may be broken with much suc
cess upon other principles — they have been
broken before M. Baucher's time — but no
work has thrown so much light upon horse
education ; no other method has taught such
simple and sure means, nor presented a like
result with the same certainty. He who
would ride with safety and satisfaction ought
to be completely master of an obedient and
correct horse. To obtain this result, M.
Baucher gives the surest means, and points
out the shortest road.

" The exact knowledge of the obstacles
which the horse presents to instruction;
the simple manner, easy to understand and
easy to execute, of making these obstacles
disappear, distinguish this method from all
preceding ones, and render it of the greatest
importance to all riders.

" The close relations that are established
between rider and horse give the former

32 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

such a certainty of hand and legs, and the
latter such suppleness and obedience, that a
like result has never previously been ob
tained.

" Until now, no horseman has ever had
such clear and sure means for breaking a
horse given to him, even approximatively,
as are contained in this book. The trial will
give the most convincing proofs of this when
we undertake to apply the principles therein
contained ; but that can only be considered
a trial when made by following strictly what
is prescribed in the method. There is no
other method that can put the horse so cer
tainly under the control of the rider's hand
and legs ; no other method succeeds in de
veloping so much address and assurance in
horse or rider : the horse feels undisturbed,
the rider is absolute master of him, and both
are at their ease. * * * This new me
thod teaches, further, what is of very great

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 33

importance, the most certain means of mak
ing the rider perfectly in harmony with his
horse, so that they can understand and mu
tually trust one another, in such a way that
the horse obeys as punctually as the rider
guides him skilfully. In place of being
obliged to break every horse after our own
particular fashion, we will only, thanks to
this method, have to occupy ourselves with
one horse, for it teaches us that the same
means are applicable to all horses. It is
unnecessary to enumerate the advantages
which the instruction of the rider gains from
it, for he escapes the martyrdom of the les
sons being given him on awkward badly-
broken horses. Riders will sooner become
masters of these managed horses, and will
acquire in six weeks a seat that will come
of itself, and their touch will be developed
much more quickty.

" Finally, men learn very quickly to put

34 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

in practice means that are applied on foot,
and there is this great advantage in it ; —
they can see better the moment that the
neck becomes flexible and the jaw without
contraction : besides this, their hand be
comes much more delicate than it would
have become in a much greater space of
time, if the application had taken place in
the saddle.

" Until lately, only men of great talent
were able to break horses ; now, by prac
tising this new method, which demonstrates
clearly the means of breaking, every rider,
in a very short time, can acquire the know
ledge necessary to render a horse fit for use.

* * * A person commencing to learn
this method, and who is obliged to work
from the book, ought to proceed slowly and
cautiously in the application of principles
that are not familiar to him. lie ought first
to endeavor to perfect his seat, his position,

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 35

his touch, the obedience of his horse, and
his paces; he will thus make great progress
in the breaking, and be enabled to under
take the application of the new method.

" DE WlLLISEN,

" Lieut.- Col. of tlie 7th Cuirassiers."

M. Baucher received from the King of
Prussia a magnificent snuffbox of elegantly
carved gold, as a token of the satisfaction of
his majesty with our author's system.

In consequence of the opposition men
tioned above, Baucher's system was discon
tinued in the French army, in spite of the
almost unanimous wish of the officers. But
he has gained a name as the first horseman
of this or any other age — the first who could
not only manage horses himself, but teach
others to do so equally well. This has been
proved under the translator's own eyes.

A gentleman of this city purchased a

36 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

horse, four years old, long, gangling, ewe-
necked ; such a brute as no one but a con
fident disciple of Baucher would have had
anything to do with. Had he hunted the
country for a horse with but one merit, that
of soundness, and possessing that only be
cause nothing had ever been done to injure
it, he could not have been better suited.
It was painful to see a good rider in such
a quandary as he appeared when mounted
upon this animal; but a quiet, confident
srnile showed what was intended to come
of it.

In six weeks from that time, without the
horse ever having crossed the threshold of
the stable-yard, the writer saw him with his
neck arched like the steed in Holy Writ,
his haunches well under him, obedient to
the lightest touch of hand or heel, ready
to do anything that was demanded of him,

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 37

because he had been put in a position that
enabled him to do it.

Since that time, the same person has
broken two other horses of greater natural
capabilities, and the success was proportion
ately greater.

Every one who takes any interest in
horses, recollects the horse May-Fly, when
first introduced to an American audience,
by Sands, of Welsh's circus. This horse, a
thorough-bred, belonging to the racing stud
of Baron Rothschild, was so vicious that he
had to be brought upon the race-course in a
van, so that he could see nothing till the
moment to start arrived. With even this
and similar precautions, he was considered
dangerous and unmanageable. The master
hand was required, and, under its influence,
all such things as vice and unmanageable
temper disappeared. Instead of violent force
on the part of man, which would only have
4

38 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

produced more violent force on the part of
the brute, Baucher sought out the sources
of these resistances, and conquered them in
detail.

Is it not worth a few weeks' pleasant la
bor with your horse to be able to make him
move with the grace, elegance, and majesty
of this one, or of those we have since seen
ridden by Derious, and that French Amazon,
Caroline Loyo ? It is within the power of
every one to do this to a certain extent;
and as the education of the rider advances
progressively with that of the horse, there
are, as Baucher himself says, no limits to
the progress of horsemanship, and no per
formance, equestriarily possible, which a
horseman, who will properly apply these
principles, cannot make his horse execute.

BATCHER'S
METHOD OF HOKSEMANSHIP,

FOUNDED ON NEW PRINCIPLES.

I.

NEW MEANS OF OBTAINING A GOOD SEAT.

IT may undoubtedly be thought astonish
ing that, in the first editions of this work,
which had for its object the horse's education,
I should not have commenced by speaking
of the rider's seat. In fact, this, so import
ant a part of horsemanship, has always been
the basis of classical works on the subject.
Nevertheless, it is not without a motive
that I have deferred treating of this question
until now. Had I had nothing new to say

40 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

on this subject, I might very easily have
managed, by consulting old authors, by
transposing a sentence here, and changing
a word there, to have sent forth into the
equestrian world another inutility. But I
had other ideas ; I wished to make a tho
rough reform. My system for giving a good
seat to the rider, being also an innovation,
I feared lest so many new things at one
time should alarm even the best-intentioned
amateurs, and give a hold to my adversaries.
They would not have failed to say that my
means of managing a horse were imprac
ticable, or that they could not be applied
without recourse to a seat still more imprac
ticable. But now I have proved the con
trary — that, upon my plan, horses have
been broken by troops without regard to the
men's seat. To give more force to my me
thod, and render it more easily comprehen
sible, I have divested it of all accessories,

SEAT OF THE RIDER. 41

and said nothing about those new principles
that concern the rider's seat. I reserved
these last until after the indisputable success
of the official trials. By means of these
principles, added to those which I have pub
lished upon the art of horse-breaking, I
shorten the man's work, and establish a
system not only precise, but complete in
these two important parts of horsemanship,
hitherto so confused.

By following my new instructions relating
to the man's seat on horseback, we will
promptly arrive at a certain result ; they
are as easy to understand as to demonstrate.
Two sentences are sufficient to explain all
to the rider, and enable him to obtain a good
seat by the simple advice of the instructor.

The seat of tlie rider. — The rider will

expand his chest as much as possible, so

that each part of his body rests upon that

next below it, for the purpose of increasing

4*

42 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

the adhesion of his buttocks to the saddle ;
the arms will fall easily by the sides. The
thighs and legs must, by their own strength,
find as many points of contact as possible
with the saddle and the horse's sides ; the
feet will naturally follow the motion of the
legs.

You see by these few lines how simple is
the rider's seat.

The means which I point out for quickly
obtaining a good seat remove all the difficul
ties which the plan pursued by our prede
cessors presented. The pupil used to un
derstand nothing of the long catechism,
recited in a loud voice by the instructor,
from the first word to the last, consequently
he could not execute it. Here one word re
places all those sentences ; but we previous
ly go through a course of supplings. This
course will make the rider expert, and con
sequently intelligent. One month will not

PREPARATORY LESSON. 43

elapse without the most stupid and awk
ward recruit being able to seat himself pro
perly without the aid of the word of com
mand.

Preparatory lesson (the lesson to last an
hour, two lessons daily for a month). — The
horse is led upon the ground, saddled and
bridled. The instructor must take two pu
pils ; one will hold the horse by the bridle,
and observe what the other does, that he
may be able to perform in his turn. The
pupil will approach the horse's shoulder
and prepare to mount ; for this purpose he
will lay hold of and separate with the right
hand, a handful of mane, and pass it into
the left hand, taking hold as near the roots
as possible, without twisting them ; he will
seize the pommel of the saddle with the
right hand, the four fingers inside, and the
thumb outside; then springing lightly, he

44 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

will raise himself upon his wrists. As soon
as his middle reaches the height of the
horse's withers, he will pass the right leg
over the croup, without touching it, and
place himself lightly in the saddle. This
vaulting will tend to make the man active;
and he should be made to repeat it eight or
ten times, before letting him finally seat him
self. The repetition of this exercise will
soon teach him the use of his arms and
loins.

Exercise in the saddle. — (This is a station
ary exercise on horseback ; an old, quiet
horse to be chosen in preference ; the reins
to be knotted, and to hang on his neck.) —
The pupil being on horseback, the instructor
will examine his natural position, in order
to exercise more frequently those parts which
have a tendency to give way or stiffen.
The lesson will commence with the chest.
He must expand the chest, and hold himself

EXERCISE IN THE SADDLE. 45

in this position for some time, without re
gard to the stiffness which it will occasion
at first. It is by the exertion of force that
the pupil will become supple, and not by
the abandon so much and so uselessly re
commended. A movement at first obtained
by great effort, will not require so much
force after a while, for he will then have
gained skill, and skill, in this case, is but
the result of exertions properly combined
and employed. What is first done with
twenty pounds of force reduces itself after
wards to fourteen, to ten, to four. Skill will
be the exertion reduced to four pounds. If
we commenced by a less, we would not at
tain this result. The flexions of the loins
will be repeated, allowing the pupil often
to let himself down into his natural relaxed
position, in order to accustom him to throw
his chest quickly into a good position. The
body being well placed, the instructor will

46 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

pass : 1st. To the lesson of the arm, which
consists in moving it in every direction,
first bent, and afterwards extended ; 2d. To
that of the head ; this must be turned right
and left without its motions reacting on
the shoulders.

When the lessons of the chest, arms, and
head give a satisfactory result, which ought
to be at the end of four days (eight lessons),
we will then pass to the pupil's legs.

He will remove one of his thighs as far as
possible from the quarters of the saddle;
and afterwards replace it with a rotatory
movement from without inwards, in order
to make it adhere to the saddle by as many
points of contact as possible. The instruc
tor will watch that the thigh does not fall
back heavily; it should resume its position
by a slowly progressive motion, and with
out a jerk. He ought, moreover, during
the first lesson, to take hold of the pupil's

FLEXION OF THE LEGS. 47

leg, and direct it, to make him understand
the proper way of performing this displace
ment. He will thus save him fatigue, and
obtain the result more quickly.

This kind of exercise, very fatiguing at
first, requires frequent rests ; it would be
wrong io prolong the exercise beyond the
powers of the pupil. The motions of draw
ing in (adduction, which makes the thigh
adhere to the saddle), and putting out (ab
duction, which separates it from the sad
dle), becoming more easy, the thighs will
have acquired a suppleness which will admit
of their adhesion to the saddle in a good
position. Then comes the flexion of the
legs.

Flexion of the legs. — The instructor will
watch that the knees always preserve their
perfect adherence to the saddle. The legs
will be swung backward and forward like
the pendulum of a clock ; that is, the pupil

48 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

will raise them so as to touch the cantle of
the saddle with his heels. The repetition of
these flexions will soon render the legs sup
ple, pliable, and independent of the thighs.
The flexions of the legs and thighs will be
continued for four days (eight lessons). To
make each of these movements more correct
and easy, eight days (or sixteen lessons)
will be devoted to them. The fifteen days
(thirty lessons), which remain to complete
the month, will continue to be occupied by
the exercise of stationary supplings; but, in
order that the pupil may learn to combine
the strength of his arms, and that of his
loins, he will be made to hold at arm's
length, progressively, weights of from ten to
forty pounds. This exercise will be com
menced in the least fatiguing position, the
arm being bent, and the hand near the
shoulder, and this flexion will be continued
to the full extent of the arm. The chest

EXERCISE OF THE KNEES. 49

should not be affected by this exercise, but
be kept steady in the same position.

Of the knees. — The strength of pressure
of the knees will be judged of, and even
obtained, by the aid of the following me
thod : this, which at first sight will perhaps
appear of slight importance, will, neverthe
less, bring about great results. The in
structor will take a narrow piece of leather
about twenty inches long; he will place one
end of this strap between the pupil's knee
and the side of the saddle. The pupil will
make use of the force of his knees to pre
vent its slipping, while the instructor will
draw it towards him slowly and progress
ively. This process will serve as a dyna
mometer to judge of the increase of power.

The strictest watch must be kept that

each force which acts separately does not

put other forces in action, that is to say,

that the movement of the arms does not in-

5

50 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

fluence the shoulders ; it should be the same
with the thighs, with respect to the body ;
the legs, with respect to the thighs, &c. &c.
The displacement and suppling of each part
separately being obtained, the chest and
seat will be temporarily displaced, in order
to teach the rider to recover his proper posi
tion without assistance. This will be done
as follows : the instructor, being placed on
one side, will push the pupil's hip, so that
his seat will be moved out of the seat of the
saddle. The instructor will then allow him
to get back into the saddle, being careful to
watch that, in regaining his seat, he makes
use of his hips and knees only, in order to
make him use only those parts nearest to
his seat. In fact, the aid of the shoulders
would soon affect the hand, and this the
horse ; the assistance of the legs would have
still worse results. In a word, in ail the
displacements, the pupil must be taught not

EXERCISE OF THE KNEES. 51

to have recourse, in order to direct the horse,
to the means which keep him in his seat,
and vice versa, not to employ, in order to
keep his seat, those means which direct the
horse.

Here but a month has elapsed, and these
equestrian gymnastics have made a rider of
a person, who at first may have appeared
the most unfit for it. Having mastered the
preliminary trials, he will impatiently await
the first movements of the horse, to give
himself up to them with the ease of an ex
perienced rider.

Fifteen days (thirty lessons) will be de
voted to the walk, the trot, and the gallop.
Here the pupil should solely endeavor to
follow the movements of the horse ; therefore,
the instructor will oblige him to occupy him
self only with his seat, and not attempt to
guide the horse. He will only exact that
the pupil ride at first, straight before him,

52 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

then in every direction, one rein of the snaf
fle in each hand. At the end of four days
(eight lessons), he may be made to take the
curb rein in his left hand. The right hand,
which is now free, must be held along-side
of the left, that he may early get the habit
of sitting square (with his shoulders on a
level) ; the horse will trot equally to the
right and to the left. When the seat is
firmly settled at all the different paces, the
instructor will explain simply, the connec
tion between the wrists and the legs, as well
as their separate effects.

Education of the liorse. — Here the rider
will commence the horse's education, by fol
lowing the progression I have pointed out,
and which will be found farther on. The
pupil will be made to understand all that
there is rational in it, and what an intimate
connection exists between the education of
the man and that of the horse.

RECAPITULATION. 53

Recapitulation and progression. —

Days. Lessons.

1. Flexion of the loins to ex
pand the chest 4 8

2. Extending and replacing of

the thighs, and flexion of the legs 4 8

3. General exercise of all the

parts in succession 8 16

4. Displacement of the man's
body, exercise of the knees, and

arms with weights in the hands 15 30

5. Position of the rider, the
horse being at a walk, a trot,
and a gallop, in order to fashion
and settle the seat at these dif
ferent paces 15 30

6. Education of the horse by

the rider 75 150

Total 121 242

5*

54 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

II.

OF THE FORCES OF THE HORSE.

Of their causes and effects. — The horse,
like all organized beings, is possessed of a
weight and a force peculiar to himself. The
weight inherent to the material of which
the animal is composed, renders the mass
inert, and tends to fix it to the ground.
The force, on the contrary, by the faculty it
gives him of moving this weight, of divid
ing it, of transferring it from one of his parts
to another, communicates movement to his
whole being, determines his equilibrium,
speed, and direction. To make this truth
more evident, let us suppose a horse in
repose. His body will be in perfect equi
librium, if each of its members supports
exactly that part of the weight which de-

FORCES OF THE HORSE. 55

volves upon it in this position. If he wishes
to move forward at a walk, he must transfer
that part of the weight, resting on the leg
which he moves first, to those that will re
main fixed to the ground. It will be the
same thing in other paces, the transfer act
ing from one diagonal to the other in the
trot, from the front to the rear, and recipro
cally, in the gallop. We must not then con
found the weight with the force ; the latter
determines, the former is subordinate to it.
It is by carrying the weight from one ex
tremity to the other that the force puts
them in motion, or makes them stationary.
The slowness or quickness of the transfers
fixes the different paces, which are correct
or false, even or uneven, according as these
transfers are executed with correctness or
irregularity.

It is understood that this motive power
is subdivided ad infinitum, since it is spread

56 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

over all the muscles of the animal. When
the latter himself determines the use of
them, the forces are instinctive; I call them
transmitted when they emanate from the
rider. In the first case, the man governed
by his horse remains the plaything of his
caprices ; in the second, on the contrary, he
makes him a docile instrument, submissive
to all the impulses of his will. The horse,
then, from the moment he is mounted,
should only act by transmitted forces. The
invariable application of this principle con
stitutes the true talent of the horseman.

But such a result cannot be attained in
stantaneously. The young horse, in free
dom, having been accustomed to regulate
his own movements, will, at first, submit
with difficulty to the strange influence
that comes to take the entire control of
them. A struggle necessarily ensues be
tween the horse and his rider, who will be

FORCES OF THE HORSE. 57

overcome unless he is possessed of energy,
patience, and, above all, the knowledge ne
cessary to gain his point. The forces of the
animal being the element upon which the
rider must principally work, first to con
quer, and finally to direct them, it is neces
sary he should fix his attention upon these
before anything else. He will study what
they are, whence they spring, the parts
where they contract the most for resistance,
and the physical causes which occasion these
contractions. When this is discovered, he
will proceed with his pupil by means in ac
cordance with his nature, and his progress
will then be rapid.

Unfortunately, we search in vain, in an
cient or modern authors on horsemanship,
I will not say for rational principles, but
even for any data in connection with the
forces of the horse. All speak very prettily
about resistances, oppositions, lightness, and

58

METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

equilibrium; but none of them have known
how to tell us what causes these resistances,
how we can combat them, destroy them,
and obtain this lightness and equilibrium
they so earnestly recommend. It is this
gap that has caused the great doubts and
obscurity about the principles of horseman
ship ; it is this that has made the art sta
tionary so long a time ; it is this gap, I think,
that I am able to fill up.

And first, I lay down the principle that
all the resistances of young horses spring, in
the first place, from a physical cause, and
that this cause only becomes a moral one
by the awkwardness, ignorance, and brutali
ty of the rider. In fact, besides the natural
stiffness peculiar to all horses, each of them
has a peculiar conformation, the greater or
less perfection of which constitutes the de
gree of harmony that exists between the
forces and the weight. The want of this

FORCES OF THE HORSE. 59

harmony occasions the ungracefulness of their
paces, the difficulty of their movements, in
a word, all the obstacles to a good education.
In a state of freedom, whatever may be the
bad structure of the horse, instinct is suffi
cient to enable him to make such a use of his
forces as to maintain his equilibrium 5 but
there are movements which it is impossible
for him to make, until a preparatory exer
cise shall have put him in the way of sup
plying the defects of his organization by a
better combined use of his motive power.
A horse puts himself in motion only in con
sequence of a given position ; if his forces are
such as to oppose themselves to this position,
they must first be annulled, in order to re
place them by the only ones which can lead
to it.

Now, I ask, if, before overcoming these
first obstacles, the rider adds to them the
weight of his own body, and his unreason-

60 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

able demands, will not the animal experi
ence still greater difficulty in executing cer
tain movements ? The efforts we make to
compel him to submission, being contrary to
his nature, will we not find in it an insur
mountable obstacle ? He will naturally re
sist, and with so much the more advantage,
because the bad distribution of his forces
will be sufficient to paralyze the efforts of
his rider. The resistance then emanates, in
this case, from a physical cause : which be
comes a moral one from the moment when
— the struggle going on with the same pro
cesses — the horse begins of his own accord
to combine moans of resisting the torture
imposed on him, and when we undertake to
force into operation parts which have not
previously been suppled.

When things get into this state, they can
only grow worse. The rider, soon disgusted
with the impotence of his efforts, will cast

FORCES BADLY DISTRIBUTED. 61

back upon the horse the responsibility of
his own ignorance ; he will brand as a jade
an animal possessing the most brilliant re
sources, and of whom, with more discern
ment and tact, he could have made a hack
ney as docile in character, as graceful and
agreeable in his paces. I have often re
marked that horses considered indomitable
are those which develop the most energy
and vigor, when we know how to remedy
those physical defects which prevent their
making use of them. As to those which, in
spite of their bad formation, are by a similar
system made to show a semblance of obedi
ence, we need thank nothing but the soft
ness of their natures. If they can be made
to submit to the simplest exercises, it is
only on condition that we do not demand
anything more of them; for they would
soon find energy to resist any further at
tempts. The rider can make them go along
6

62 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

at different paces to be sure ; but how dis
connected, how stiff, how ungraceful in their
movements, and how ridiculous such steeds
make their unfortunate riders look, as they
toss them about at will, instead of being
guided by them ! This state of things is
all perfectly natural, unless we destroy the
first cause of it : the bad distribution of
their forces, and the stiffness caused by a bad
conformation.

But, it is objected, since you allow that
these difficulties are caused by the forma
tion of the horse, how is it possible to re
medy them ? You do not possibly pretend
to change the structure of the animal, and
reform the work of nature? Undoubtedly
not ; but while I confess that it is impossi
ble to give more breadth to a narrow chest,
to lengthen too short a neck, to lower too
high a croup, to shorten and fill out long,
weak, narrow loins, I do not the less insist

THE OLD METHODS. 63

that, if I prevent the different contractions
occasioned by these physical defects, if I
supple the muscles, if I make myself master
of the forces so as to use them at will, it
will be easy for me to prevent these resist
ances, to give more action to the weak
parts, and to moderate those that are too
vigorous, and thus make up for the deficien
cies of nature.

Such results, I do not hesitate to say,
were and still are forever denied to the old
methods. But if the science of those who
follow the old beaten track finds so constant
an obstacle in the great number of horses
of defective formation, there are, unfortu
nately, some horses who, by the perfection
of their organization, and the consequent
facility of their education, contribute greatly
to perpetuate the impotent routines that
have been so unfavorable to the progress of
horsemanship. A well constituted horse is

64 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

one, all of whose parts being regularly har
monized; induce the perfect equilibrium of
the whole. It would be as difficult for such
a subject to leave this natural equilibrium,
and take up an improper position, for the
purpose of resistance, as it is at first painful
for the badly formed horse to come into
that just distribution of forces, without
which no regularity of movement can be
hoped for.

It is then only in the education of these
last that the real difficulties of horseman
ship consist. "With the others the breaking
ought to be, so to say, instantaneous; since,
all the springs being in their places, there
is nothing to be done but to put them in
motion; this result is always obtained by
my method. Yet the old principles demand
two or three years to reach this point. And
when, by feeling his way without any cer
tainty of success, the horseman, gifted with

CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS. 65

some tact and experience, ends by accus
toming the horse to obey the impressions
communicated to him, the rider imagines
that he has surmounted great difficulties,
and attributes to his skill a state so near to
that of nature, that correct principles would
have obtained it in a few days. Then as
the animal continues to display in all his
movements the grace and lightness natural
to his beautiful formation, the rider does not
scruple to take all the merit to himself; thus
showing himself as presumptuous in this
case, as he was unjust when he made the
badly formed horse responsible for the fail
ure of his attempts.

If we once admit these truths : —

That the education of the horse consists
in the complete subjection of his powers ;

That we can only make use of his powers
at will, by annulling all resistances ;

And that these resistances have their

66 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

source in the contractions occasioned by
physical defects ;

The only thing will be to seek out the
parts where these contractions operate, in
order to endeavor to oppose and destroy
them.

Long and conscientious observations have
shown me that, whatever be the fault of
formation that prevents a just distribution
of forces in the horse, it is always in the
neck that the most immediate effect is felt.
There is no improper movement, no resist
ance that is not preceded by the contraction
of this part of the animal ; and as the jaw
is intimately connected with the neck, the
stiffness of the one is instantly communi
cated to the other. These two points are
the prop upon which the horse rests, in
order to annul all the rider's efforts. We
can easily conceive the immense obstacle
they must present to the impulsions of the

RECIPROCAL CONTRACTIONS. 67

latter, since the neck and head being the
two principal levers by which we direct the
animal, it is impossible to obtain anything
from him until we are master of these first
and indispensable means of action. Behind,
the parts where the forces contract the most
for resistance, are the loins and the croup
(the haunches).

The contractions of these two opposite
extremities are, mutually the one to the
other, causes and effects, that is to say,
the stiffness of the neck induces that of the
haunches, and reciprocally. We can com
bat the one by the other ; and as soon as we
have succeeded in annulling them, as soon
as we have re-established the equilibrium
and harmony that they prevented between
the fore and the hind parts, the education of
the horse will be half finished. I will now
point out the means of infallibly arriving at
this result.

68 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

III.

THE SUPPLINGS.

THIS work being an exposition of a me
thod which upsets most of the old principles
of horsemanship, it is understood that I
only address men already conversant with
the art, and who join to an assured seat a
familiarity with the horse, sufficiently great
to understand all that concerns his mechan
ism. I will not, then, revert to the element
ary processes ; it is for the instructor to
judge if his pupil possess a proper degree
of solidity of seat, and is sufficiently a part
of the horse ; for at the same time that a
good seat produces this identification, it
favors the easy and regular play of the
rider's extremities.

My present object is to treat principally

NECESSITY OF SUPPLING. 69

of the education of the horse ; but this edu
cation is too intimately bound upjn that of
the rider, for him to make much progress in
the one without a knowledge of the other.
In explaining the processes which should
produce perfection in the animal, I shall ne
cessarily teach the horseman to apply them
himself; he will only have to practice to
morrow what I teach him to-day. Neverthe
less, there is one thing that no precept can
give ; that is, a fineness of touch, a delicacy
of equestrian feeling that belongs only to cer
tain privileged organizations, and without
which, we seek in vain to pass certain limits.
Having said this, we will return to our sub
ject.

We now know which are the parts of
the horse that contract the most in resist
ances, and we feel the necessity of suppling
them. Shall we then seek to attack, exer
cise, and conquer them all at once? No;

70 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

this would be to fall back into the old error,
the inefficiency of which we are convinced
of. The animal's muscular power is in
finitely superior to ours ; his instinctive
forces, moreover, being able to sustain them
selves the one by the others, we will inevi
tably be conquered if we set them in motion
all at once. Since the contractions have
their seat in separate parts, let us profit by
this division to combat them separately, as
a skilful general destroys, in detail, forces
which, when together, he would be unable
to resist.

For the rest, whatever the age, the dispo
sition, and the structure of my pupil, my
course of proceeding at the start will always
be the same. The results will only be
more or less prompt and easy, according to
the degree of perfection in his nature, and
the influence of the hand to which he has
been previously subjected. The suppling,

HEAD AND NECK. 71

which will have no other object in the case
of a well made horse than that of preparing
his forces to yield to our impulsions, will
re-establish calm and confidence in a horse
that has been badly handled ; and in a de
fective formation will make those contrac
tions disappear, which are the causes of
resistances, and the only obstacles to a per
fect equilibrium. The difficulties to be
surmounted will be in proportion to this
complication of obstacles, but will quickly
disappear with a little perseverance on our
part. In the progression we are about to
pursue, in order to subject the different parts
of the animal to suppling, we will naturally
commence with the most important parts,
that is to say, with the jaw and the neck.

The head and neck of the horse are at
once the rudder and compass of the rider.
By them he directs the animal; by them,
also, he can judge of the regularity and

72 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

precision of his movements. The equili
brium of the whole body is perfect, and its
lightness complete, when the head and neck
remain of themselves easy, pliable, and
graceful. On the contrary, there can be no
elegance, no ease of the whole, when these
two parts are stiff. Preceding the body of
the horse in all its impulsions, they ought
to give warning, and show by their attitude
the positions to be taken, and the move
ments to be executed. The rider has no
power so long as they remain contracted
and rebellious ; he disposes of the animal at
will, when once they are flexible and easily
handled. If the head and neck do not first
commence the changes of direction, if in
circular movements they are not inclined in
a curved line, if in backing they do not
bend back upon themselves, and if their
lightness is not always in harmony with
the different paces at which we wrish to go,

STIFFNESS OF NECK. 73

the horse will be free to execute these
movements or not, since he will remain
master of the employment of his own forces.
From the time I first noticed the power
ful influence that the stiffness of the neck
exercises on the whole mechanism of the
horse, I attentively sought the means to
remedy it. The resistances to the hand are
always either sideways, upward or down
ward. I at first considered the neck alone
as the source of these resistances, and exer
cised myself in suppling the animal by flex
ions, repeated in every direction. The re
sult was immense ; but although, at the end
of a certain time, the supplings of the neck
rendered me perfectly master of the forces
of the fore-parts of the horse, I still felt a
slight resistance which I could not at first
account for. At last, I discovered that it
proceeded from the jaw. The flexibility I
had communicated to the neck even aided
7

74 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

tills stiffness of the muscles of the lower
jaw, by permitting the horse in certain
cases to escape the action of the bit. I
then bethought me of the means of com
bating these resistances in this, their last
stronghold, and from that time, it is there
that I always commence my work of suppling.

First exercise on foot. — Means of making
the horse come to the man, of making him
steady to mount, &c. &c.

Before commencing the exercises of flex
ions, it is essential to give the horse a first
lesson of subjection, and teach him to re
cognize the power of man. This first act of
submission, which might appear unimport
ant, will have the effect of quickly render
ing him calm, of giving him confidence, and
of repressing all those movements which
might distract his attention, and mar the
success of the commencement of his educa
tion.

FIRST EXERCISE ON FOOT. 75

Two lessons, of a half hour each, will
suffice to obtain the preparatory obedience
of every horse. The pleasure we experience
in thus playing with him will naturally
lead the rider to continue this exercise for a
few moments each day, and make it both
instructive to the horse and useful to him
self. The mode of proceeding is as follows :
The rider will approach the horse, without
roughness or timidity, his whip under his
arm ; he will speak to him without raising
the voice too much, and will pat him on
the face and neck ; then with the left hand
he will lay hold of the curb reins, about six
or seven inches from the branches of the bit,
keeping his wrist stiff, so as to present as
much force as possible when the horse re
sists. The whip will be held firmly in the
right hand, the point towards the ground,
then slowly raised as high as the horse's
chest, in order to tap it at intervals of a se-

76 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

cond. The first natural movement of the
horse will be to withdraw from the direction
in which the pain comes, by backing away
from it. The rider will follow this back
ward movement, without discontinuing the
firm tension of the reins, or the little taps
with the whip on the breast, applying them
all the time with the same degree of inten
sity. The rider should be perfectly self-
possessed, that there may be no indication
of anger or weakness in his motions or looks.
Becoming tired of this constraint, the horse
will soon seek to avoid the infliction by an
other movement, and by coming forward he
will arrive at it ; the rider will seize this se
cond instinctive movement to stop and caress
the animal with his hand and voice. The re
petition of this exercise will give the most
surprising results, even in the first lesson.
The horse, having discovered and under
stood the means by which he can avoid the

EFFECTS OF THIS TRAINING. 77

pain, will not wait till the whip touches
him, he will anticipate it by rushing for
ward at the least gesture. The rider will
take advantage of this to effect, by a down
ward force of the bridle hand, the depres
sion of the neck, and the getting him in
hand; he will thus early dispose the horse
for the exercises that are to follow.

This training, besides being a great recre
ation, will serve to make the horse steady
to mount, will greatly abridge his educa
tion, and accelerate the development of his
intelligence. Should the horse by reason of
his restless or wild nature become very un
ruly, we should have recourse to the caves-
son, as a means of repressing his disorderly
movements, and use it with little jerks. I
would add that it requires great prudence
and discernment to use it with tact and
moderation.

7*

78 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

Flexion of the jaw. — The flexions of the
jaw, as well as the two flexions of the neck
which follow, are executed standing still,
the man on foot. The horse will be led on
the ground saddled and bridled, the reins
on his neck. The man will first see that
the bit is properly placed in the horse's
mouth, and that the curb-chain is fastened
so that he can introduce his finger between
the links and the horse's chin. Then look
ing the animal good-naturedly in the eyes,
he will place himself before him near his
head, holding his body straight and firm,
his feet a little apart to steady himself, and
enable him to struggle with advantage
against all resistances.*

* I have divided all the flexions into two parts, and,
in order to facilitate the understanding of the text, I
have added to it plates representing the position of the
horse at the moment the flexion is about to commence,
and at the moment it is terminated.

FLEXION OF THE JAW. 79

1. In order to execute the flexion to
the right, the man will take hold of the
right curb-rein with the right hand, at about
six inches from the branch of the bit, and
the left rein with the left hand, at only
three inches from the left branch. He will
then draw his right hand towards his body,
pushing out his left hand so as to turn the
bit in the horse's mouth. The force em
ployed ought to be entirely determined by
and proportioned to the resistance of the
jaw and neck only, so as not to affect the
rest of his body. If the horse back, to avoid
the flexion, the opposition of the hands
should still be continued. If the preceding
exercise has been completely and carefully
practised, it will be easy by the aid of the
whip to prevent this retrograde movement,
which is a great obstacle to all kinds of flex
ions of the jaw and neck. (Plate I.)

2. As soon as the flexion is obtained,

80 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

the left hand will let the left rein slip to
the same length as the right, then drawing
the two reins equally, will bring the head
near to the breast, and hold it there oblique
and perpendicular, until it sustains itself
without assistance in this position. The
horse, by champing the bit, will show that
he is in hand as well as perfectly submissive.
The man, to reward him, will cease drawing
on the reins immediately, and after some
seconds will allow him to resume his natural
position. (Plate II.)

The flexion of the jaw to the left is exe
cuted upon the same principles, and by in
verse means; the man being carefully to
pass alternately from the one to the other.

The importance of these flexions of the
jaw is easily understood. The result of
them is to prepare the horse to yield in
stantly to the lightest pressure of the bit,
and to supple directly the muscles that join

PL. 1

PL. 2

IMPORTANCE OF THESE FLEXIONS. 81

the head to the neck. As the head ought
to precede and determine the different atti
tudes of the neck, it is indispensable that
the latter part be always in subjection to
the former, and respond to its impulsions.
That would be only partially the case, should
we obtain the flexibility of the neck alone,
which would then make the head obey it,
by drawing the latter along in its move
ments. You see then why, at first, I expe
rienced resistances, in spite of the pliability
of the neck, of which I could not imagine
the cause. The followers of my method, to
whom I have not yet had an opportunity
of making known the new means just ex
plained, will learn with pleasure that this
process not only brings the flexibility of
the neck to a greater degree of perfection,
but saves much time in finishing the sup
pling. The exercise of the jaw, while fash
ioning the mouth and head, brings along

82 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

with it the flexion of the neck, and accele
rates the getting of the horse in hand.

This exercise is the first of our attempts
to accustom the forces of the horse to yield
to ours. It is necessary then to manage it
very nicely, so as not to discourage him at
first. To enter on the flexion roughly
would be to shock the animal's intelligence,
who would not have had time to compre
hend what was required of him. The op
position of the hands will be commenced
gently but firmly, nor cease until perfect
obedience is obtained ; except, indeed, the
horse back against a wall, or into a corner ;
but it will diminish or increase its effect in
proportion to the resistance, in a way al
ways to govern it, but not with too great
violence. The horse that, at first, will per
haps submit with difficulty, will end by re
garding the man's hand as an irresistible

DEPRESSION OF NECK. 83

regulator, and will become so used to obey
ing it, that we will soon obtain, by a simple
pressure of the rein, what at first required
the whole strength of our arms.

At each renewal of the lateral flexions,
some progress will be made in the obedience
of the horse. As soon as his first resist
ances are a little diminished, we will pass
to the perpendicular flexions or depression
of the neck.

Depression of the neck l)y the direct flexion
of the jaw. — 1. The man will place himself
as for the lateral flexions of the jaw; he
will take hold of the reins of the snaffle
with the left hand, at six inches from the
rings, and the curb-reins at about two inches
from the bit. He will oppose the two hands
by effecting the depression with the left and
the proper position with the right. (Plate

mo

2. As soon as the horse's head shall fall

84 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

of its own accord, and by its own weight,
the man will instantly cease all kind of force,
and allowr the animal to resume his natural
position. (Plate IV.)

This exercise, being often repeated, will
soon supple the elevating muscles of the neck,
which play a prominent part in the resist
ances of the horse, and will besides facili
tate the direct flexions and the getting the
head in position, which should follow the
lateral flexions. The man can execute this,
as well as the preceding exercise, by him
self; yet it would be well to put a second
person in the saddle, in order to accustom
the horse to the exercise of the supplings
with a rider. This rider should just hold
the snaffle-reins, without drawing on them,
in his right hand, the nails downward.

The flexions of the jaw have already
communicated suppleness to the upper part
of the neck, but we have obtained it by

DEPRESSION OF NECK. 85

means of a powerful and direct motive
power, and we must accustom the horse to
yield to a less direct regulating force. Be
sides, it is important that the pliability and
flexibility, especially necessary in the upper
part of the neck, should be transmitted
throughout its whole extent, so as to de
stroy its stiffness entirely.

The force from above downward, prac
tised with the snaffle, acting only by the
head-stall on the top of the head, often
takes too long to make the horse lower his
head. In this case, we must cross the two
snaffle-reins by taking the left rein in the
right, and the right rein in the left hand,
about six or seven inches from the horse's
mouth, in such a way as to cause a pretty
strong pressure upon the chin. This force,
like all the others, must be continued until
the horse yields. The flexions being re
peated with this more powerful agent, will
8

86 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

put him in a condition to respond to the
means previously indicated. If the horse
responded to the first flexions represented
by Plate IV., it would be unnecessary to
make use of this one. (Plate V.)

We can act directly on the jaw so as to
render it prompt in moving. To do this,
we take the left curb-rein about six inches
from the horse's mouth, and draw it straight
towards the left shoulder ; at the same time
draw the left rein of the snaffle forward, in
such a way that the wrists of the person
holding the two reins shall be opposite and
on a level with each other. The two op
posed forces will soon cause a separation of
the jaws, and end all resistance. The force
ought always to be proportioned to that of
the horse, whether in his resistance, or in
his lightness. Thus, by means of this di
rect force, a few lessons will be sufficient to
give a pliability to the part in question which

i 1

LATERAL FLEXIONS OF THE NECK. 87

could not have been obtained by any other
means. (Plate VI.)

Lateral flexions of the neck. — 1. The man
will place himself near the horse's shoulder,
as for the flexions of the jaw ; he will take
hold of the right snaffle-rein, which he will
draw upon across the neck, in order to
establish an intermediate point between the
impulsion that comes from him and the re
sistance the horse presents ; he will hold up
the left rein with the left hand about a foot
from the bit. As soon as the horse endea
vors to avoid the constant tension of the
right rein by inclining his head to the
right, he will let the left rein slip so as to
offer no opposition to the flexion of the
neck. Whenever the horse endeavors to
escape the constraint of the right rein, by
bringing his croup around, he will be
brought into place again by slight pulls on
the left rein. (Plate VII.)

88 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

2. When the head and neck have entirely
yielded to the right, the man will draw
equally on both reins to place the head per
pendicularly. Suppleness and lightness will
soon follow this position, and as soon as
the horse evinces, by champing the bit, en
tire freedom from stiffness, the man will
cease the tension of the reins, being careful
that the head does not take advantage of
this moment of freedom to displace itself
suddenly. In this case, it will be sufficient
to restrain it by a slight support of the right
rein. After having kept the horse in this
position for some seconds, he will make him
resume his former position by drawing on
the left rein. It is most important that the
animal in all his movements should do no
thing of his own accord. (Plate VIII.)

The flexion of the neck to the left is exe
cuted after the same principles, but by in
verse means. The man can repeat with

LATERAL FLEXIONS ON HORSEBACK. 89

the curb, what he has previously done with
the snaffle-reins ; but the snaffle should al
ways be employed first, its effect being less
powerful and more direct.

When the horse submits without resist
ance to the preceding exercises, it will prove
that the suppling of the neck has already
made a great step. The rider can, hence
forward, continue his work by operating
with a less direct motive power, and with
out the animal's being impressed by the
sight of him. He will place himself in the
saddle, and commence by repeating, with
the full length of the reins, the lateral flex
ions, in which he has already exercised his
horse.

Lateral flexions of the neck, the man on
horseback. — 1. To execute the flexion to the
right, the rider will take one snaffle-rein in
each hand, the left scarcely feeling the bit ;

90 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

the right, on the contrary, giving a mode
rate impression at first, but which will in
crease in proportion to the resistance of the
horse, and in a way always to govern him.
The animal, soon tired of a struggle which,
being prolonged, only makes the pain pro
ceeding from the bit more acute, will under
stand that the only way to avoid it is to in
cline the head in the direction from which
the pressure is felt. (Plate IX.)

2. As soon as the horse's head is brought
round to the right, the left rein will form
an opposition, to prevent the nose from pass
ing beyond the perpendicular. Great care
should be taken that the head remain al
ways in this position, without which the
flexion would be imperfect and the supple
ness incomplete. The movement being re
gularly accomplished, the horse will be
made to resume his natural position by a
slight tension of the left rein. (Plate X.)

LATERAL FLEXIONS ON HORSEBACK. 91

The flexion to the left is executed in the
same way, the rider employing alternately
the snaffle and the curb-reins.

I have already mentioned that it is of
great importance to supple the upper part
of the neck. After mounting, and having
obtained the lateral flexions without resist
ance, the rider will often content himself
with executing them half-way, the head and
upper part of the neck pivoting upon the
lower part, which will serve as a base, or
axis. This exercise must be frequently re
peated, even after the horse's education is
completed, in order to keep up the pliabil
ity of his neck, and facilitate the getting
him in hand.

It now remains for us, in order to com
plete the suppling of the head and neck, to
combat the contractions which occasion the
direct resistances, and prevent our getting

92 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

the horse's head into a perpendicular posi
tion.

Direct flexions of the head and necfc, or
ramener* — 1. The rider will first use the
snaffle-reins, which he will hold together in
the left hand, as he would the curb-reins.
He will rest the outer edge of the right
hand (see Plate XI.) upon the reins in front
of the left hand, in order to increase the
power of the right hand; after which he will
gradually bear on the snaffle-bit. As soon
as the horse yields, it would suffice to raise
the right hand, in order to diminish the
tension of the reins, and reward the ani
mal. As the hand must only present a force
proportioned to the resistance of the neck,
it will only be necessary to hold the legs
rather close to prevent backing. When the

* Ramener means to place the horse's head in a per
pendicular position. — TRANSLATOR.

RAMENER. 93

horse obeys the action of the snaffle, he will
yield much more quickly to that of the curb,
the effect of which is so much more power
ful. The curb, of course, needs more care
in the use of it than the snaffle. (Plate XL)
2. The horse will have completely yield
ed to the action of the hand, when his head
is carried in a position perfectly perpendicu
lar to the ground; from that time the con
traction will cease, which the animal will
show, as in every other case, by champing
his bit. The rider must be careful not to
be deceived by the feints of the horse, feints
wrhich consist in yielding one-fourth or one-
third of the way, and then hesitating. If,
for example, the nose of the horse having
to pass over a curve of ten degrees to at
tain the perpendicular position (Plate XL),
should stop at the fourth or sixth and again
resist, the hand should follow the move
ment, and then remain firm and immov-

94 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

able, for a concession on its part would en
courage resistance and increase the difficul
ties. When the nose shall descend to No.
10, the perpendicular position will be com
plete, and the lightness perfect. The rider
can then cease the tension of the reins, but at
the same time he must not permit the head to
leave its position. If he lets it return at all
to its natural situation, it should only be to
draw it back again, and to make the animal
understand that the perpendicular position
of the head is the only one allowed when
under the rider's hand. He should, at the
outset, accustom the horse to cease backing
at the pressure of the legs, as all backward
movements would enable him to avoid the
effects of the hand, or create new means of
resistance. (Plate XII.)

This is the most important flexion of all ;
the others tended principally to pave the
way for it. As soon as it is executed with

RAMENER. 95

ease and promptness, as soon as a slight
touch is sufficient to place and keep the
head in a perpendicular position, it will
prove that the suppling is complete, con
traction destroyed, lightness and equilibrium
established in the fore-hand. The direction
of this part of the animal will, hencefor
ward, be as easy as it is natural, since we
have put it in a condition to receive all our
impressions, and instantly to yield to them
without effort.

As to the functions of the legs, they must
support the hind-parts of the horse, in order
to obtain the ramener, in such a way that
he may not be able to avoid the effect of
the hand by a retrograde movement of his
body. This complete getting in hand is
necessary, in order to drive the hind-legs
under the centre. In the first case, we act
upon the fore-hand ; in the second, upon the
hind-parts : the first serves for the ramener,

96 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

the second for the rassembler, or gathering
the horse.*

Combination of effects. — I published four
editions of my Method, without devoting a
special article to the combination of effects.
Although I myself made a very frequent
use of it, I had not attached sufficient im
portance to the great necessity of this prin
ciple in the case of teaching; later experi
ments have taught me to consider it of more
consequence.

The combination of effects means the con
tinued and exactly opposed forces of the
hand and the legs. Its object should be to
bring back again into a position of equili-

^ The full meaning of the word rassembler will be
understood after reading the chapter, further ou in this
work, under that head. With regard to the word ramencrj
to avoid the constant circumlocution of saying, " placing
the horse's head in a perpendicular position/' it will be
used in future wherever it occurs. — TRANSLATOR.

COMBINATION OF EFFECTS. 97

brium all the parts of the horse which leave
it, in order to prevent him from going ahead,
without backing him, and vice versa : finally,
it serves to stop any movement from the
right to the left, or from the left to the right.
By this means, also, we distribute the weight
of the mass equally on the four legs, and
produce temporary immobility. This com
bination of effects ought to precede and fol
low each exercise within the graduated
limit assigned to it. It is essential when
we employ the aids (i. e. the hand and the
legs) in this, that the action of the legs
should precede that of the hand, in order to
prevent the horse from backing against any
place; for he might find, in this movement,
points of support that would enable him to
increase his resistance. Thus, all motion of
the extremities, proceeding from the horse
himself, should be stopped by a combination
9

98 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

of effects ; finally, whenever his forces get
scattered, and act inharmoniously, the rider
will find in this a powerful and infallible
corrective.

It is by disposing all the parts of the
horse in the most exact order, that we will
easily transmit to him the impulsion that
should cause the regular movements of his
extremities ; it is thus also that we will ad
dress his comprehension, and that he will
appreciate what we demand of him ; then
will follow caresses of the hand and voice
as a moral effect ; they should not be used,
though, until after he has done what is
demanded of him by the rider's hand and
legs.

The horses resting his chin on his breast. —
Although few horses are disposed by nature
to do this, it is not the less necessary, when
it does occur, to practise on them all the
flexions, even the one which bends down

RESTING THE CHIN ON BREAST. 99

the neck. In this position, the horse's chin
comes back near the breast, and rests in
contact with the lower part of the neck ;
too high a croup, joined to a permanent
contraction of the muscles that lower the
neck, is generally the* cause of it. These
muscles must then be suppled in order to
destroy their intensity, and thereby give to
the muscles that raise the neck, their anta
gonists, the predominance which will make
the neck rest in a graceful and useful posi
tion. This first accomplished, the horse
will be accustomed to go forward freely at
the pressure of the legs, and to respond,
without abruptness or excitement, to the
touch of the spurs (attaques); the object of
these last is to bring the hind legs near the
centre, and to lower the croup. The rider
will then endeavor to raise the horse's head
by the aid of the curb-reins; in this case,
the hand will be held some distance above

100 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

the saddle, and far from the body ;* the
force it transmits to the horse ought to be
continued until he yields by elevating his
head. As horses of this kind have gene
rally little action, we must take care to
avoid letting the hand produce an effect
from the front to the rear, in which case it
would take away from the impulse neces
sary for movement. The pace, commencing
with the walk, must be kept up at the same
rate, while the hand is producing an elevat
ing effect upon the neck. This precept is
applicable to all the changes of position that
the hand makes in the head and neck ; but
is particularly essential in the case of a
horse disposed to depress his neck.

* This position of the hand at a distance from the
saddle and the body will be criticized ; but let the rider
be reassured; eight or ten lessons will suffice to make the
horse change the position of his head, and allow the hand
to resume its normal position,

FALSE AND TRUE YIELDING. 101

It should be remembered that the horse
has two ways of responding to the pressure
of the bit ; by one he yields, but withdraws
himself from it at the same time by shrink
ing and coming back to his former position.
This kind of yielding is only injurious to his
education, for if the hand is held too forci
bly, if it does not wait till the horse changes
of his own accord the position of his head,
the backward movement of his body would
precede, and be accompanied by a shifting
of the weight backwards. In this case, the
contraction of his neck remains all the
while the same. The second kind of yield
ing, which contributes so greatly to the
rapid and certain education of the horse, is
effected by giving a half or three-quarter
tension to the reins, sustaining the hand
as forcibly as possible without bringing it
near the body. In a short time the force
of the hand, seconded by the continued

102 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

pressure of the legs, will make the horse
avoid this slight but constant pressure of
the bit, but by means of his head and neck
only. Then the rider will only make use
of the force necessary to displace the head.
It is by this means that he will be able to
place the horse's body on a level, and will

obtain that equilibrium,* the perfect balance

•

* The word equilibrium, so often repeated in the
course of this work, must be categorically explained.
People have never rightly understood what is meant by
this true equilibrium of a horse, which serves as the basis
of his education, and by which he takes instantly, at the
rider's will, such a pace, or such a change of direction,

It is not here a question of the equilibrium which pre
vents the horse from falling down, but of that upon
which depends his performance, when it is prompt, grace
ful, and regular, and by means of which his paces are
either measured or extended at will.

Equilibrium of Bauchcr.

Croup Head.

Here the weight and the forces are equally distributed.

EQUILIBRIUM. 103

of which has not hitherto been appreci
ated.

Resuming what we have just explained
in the case of a horse who rests his chin on
his breast, we repeat that it is by producing
one force from the rear to the front with
the legs, and another from below upwards
with the hand, that we will soon be enabled
to improve the position and movements of
the horse. So that, whatever may be his
disposition, it is by first causing the depres
sion of the neck that we will gain a mas
terly and perfect elevation of it.

I will close this chapter by some reflec
tions on the supposed difference of sensibi
lity in horses' mouths, and the kind of bit
which ought to be used.

By means of this just distribution, the different posi
tions, the different paces, and the equilibriums that be
long to them, are obtained without effort on the part of
man or horse.

104 METHOD OF HOKSEMANS11IF.

Of the horses mouth and the bit. — I have
already treated this subject at length in my
Comprehensive Dictionary of Equitation;
but as in this work I make a complete ex
position of my method, I think it necessary
to repeat it in a few words.

I cannot imagine how people have been
able so long to attribute to the mere differ
ence of formation of the bars,* those con
trary dispositions of horses which render
them so light or so hard to the hand. How
can w^e believe that, according as a horse
has one or two lines of flesh, more or less,
between the bit and the bone of the lower
jaw, he should yield to the lightest impulse
of the hand, or become unmanageable in
spite of all the efforts of two vigorous arms ?
Nevertheless, it is from remaining in this

^ The bars are the continuations, of the two bones of
the lower jaw, between the masticating and the front
teeth. It is on these that the bit rests.

OF THE MOUTH AND THE BIT. 105

inconceivable error, that people have forged
bits of so strange and various forms, real
instruments of torture, the effect of which
is to increase the difficulties they sought to
remove.

Had they gone back a little further, to
the source of the resistances, they would
have discovered that this one, like all the
rest, does not proceed from the difference
of formation of a feeble organ like the bars,
but from a contraction communicated to the
different parts of the body, and above all
to the neck, by some serious fault of consti
tution. It is then in vain that we attach
to the reins, and place in the horse's mouth
a more or less murderous instrument; he
will remain insensible to our efforts, so long
as we do not communicate to him that sup
pleness which alone can enable him to yield.

In the first place, then, I lay down as a
fact, that there is no difference of sensi-

106 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

bility in the mouths of horses; that all
present the same lightness, when in the
position called ramener, and the same re
sistances, in proportion as they recede from
this position. There are horses hard to
the hand; but this hardness proceeds from
the length or weakness of their loins, from
a narrow croup, from short haunches, thin
thighs, straight hocks, or (a most important
point) from a croup too high or too low in
proportion to the withers : such are the true
causes of resistances. The contraction of
the neck, the closing of the jaws, are only
the effects ; and as to the bars, they are only
there to show the ignorance of self-styled
equestrian theoricians. By suppling the
neck and the jaw, this hardness completely
disappears. Experiments, a hundred times
repeated, give me the right to advance
this principle boldly; perhaps it may, at
first, appear too arbitrary, but it is none the
less true.

FORM OF THE BIT. 107

Consequently, I only allow one kind of
bit, and this is the form and the dimensions
I give it, to make it as simple as it is easy.

The branches straight and six inches
long, measuring from the eye of the bit to
the extremity of the branch ; circumference
of the canon* two inches and a half; port,
about two inches wide at the bottom, and
one inch at the top. The only variation to
be in the width of the bit, according to the
horse's mouth.

I insist that such a bit is sufficient to
render passively obedient all horses that
have been prepared by supplings; and I
need not add that, as I deny the utility of
severe bits, I reject all means not coming
directly from the rider, such as martingales,
piliers, &c.

* The mouth-piece of the bit consists of three parts:
the port, to give freedom to the tongue, and the two
canons, which are the parts that come in contact with the
bars. — TRANSLATOR.

108 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

IV.

CONTINUATION OF SUPPLING S.

The hind-parts. — In order to guide the
horse, the rider acts directly on two of his
parts ; the fore-parts and the hind-parts.
To effect this he employs two motive pow
ers : the legs, which give the impulse by
the croup; and the hand, which directs and
modifies this impulse by the head and neck.
A perfect harmony of forces ought then to
exist always between these two motive
powers ; but the same harmony is equally
necessary between the parts of the animal
which they are intended particularly to im
press. Our labor to render the head and
neck flexible, light, and obedient to the
touch of the hand, would be vain, its results
incomplete, and the equilibrium of the whole

FLEXIONS OF THE CROUP. 109

animal imperfect, so long as the croup re
mained dull, contracted, and rebellious to
the direct governing agent.

I have just explained the simple and
easy means of giving to the fore parts the
qualities indispensable to their good man
agement ; it remains to tell how we will
fashion, in the same way, the hind parts, in
order to complete the suppling of the horse,
and bring about a uniform harmony in the
development of all his moving parts. The
resistances of the neck and croup mutually
aiding one another, our labor will be more
easy, as we have already destroyed the op
position of the former.

The flexions of the croup, and making it
movable. — 1. The rider will hold the curb-
reins in the left hand, and those of the
snaffle, crossed, in the right, the nails of the
right hand held downward ; he will first
bring the horse's head into a perpendicular
10

110 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

position, by drawing lightly on the bit;
after that, if he wishes to execute the move
ment to the right, he will carry the left leg
back behind the girths and fix it near the
flanks of the animal, until the croup yields
to this pressure. The rider will at the
same time make the left snaffle-rein felt,
proportioning the effect of the rein to the
resistance which is opposed to it. Of these
two forces, thus transmitted by the left leg
and the rein of the same side, the first is
intended to combat the resistance, and the
second, to determine the movement. The
rider should content himself in the begin
ning with making the croup execute one or
two steps only sideways. (Plate XIII.)

2. The croup having acquired more faci
lity in moving, we can continue the move
ment so as to complete reversed pirouettes
to the right and the left.* As soon as the

* See note, page 117.

REVERSED PIROUETTE. Ill

haunches yield to the pressure of the leg,
the rider, to cause the perfect equilibrium
of the horse, will immediately draw upon
the rein opposite to this leg. The motion
of this, slight at first, will be progressively
increased until the head is inclined to the
side towards which the croup is moving,
as if to look at it coming. (Plate XIV.)

To make this movement understood, I
will add some explanations, the more im
portant as they are applicable to all the
exercises of horsemanship.

The horse, in all his movements, cannot
preserve a perfect and constant equilibrium,
without a combination of opposite forces,
skilfully managed by the rider. In the re
versed pirouette, for example, if when the
horse has yielded to the pressure of the leg,
we continue to oppose the rein on the same
side as this le£, it is evident that we will

-c?

shoot beyond the mark, since we will be

112 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

employing a force which has become use
less. We must then establish two motive
powers, the effect of which balances, with
out interfering; this, the tension of the
rein on the opposite side from the leg will
produce in the pirouette. So, we will com
mence with the rein and the leg of the
same side; when it is time to pass to the
second part of the work, we will employ
the curb-rein in the left hand, and finally,
the snaffle-rein opposite to the leg. The
forces will then be kept in a diagonal posi
tion, and in consequence, the equilibrium
natural, and the execution of the movement
easy. The horse's head being turned to
the side where the croup is moving, adds
much to the gracefulness of the perform
ance, and aids the rider in regulating the
activity of the haunches, and keeping the
shoulders in place. For the rest, tact alone
will be able to show him how to use the

ADVANTAGES TO BE PRESERVED. 113

leg and the rein, in such a way that their
motions will mutually sustain, without at
any time counteracting one another.

I need not remind you that during the
whole of this exercise, as on all occasions,
the neck should remain supple and light ;
the head in position (perpendicular) and
the jaw movable. While the bridle hand
keeps them in this proper position, the right
hand, with the aid of the snaffle, is combat
ing the lateral resistances, and determining
the different inclinations, until the horse is
sufficiently well broken to obey a simple
pressure of the bit. If, when combating
the contraction of the croup, we permitted
the horse to throw its stiffness into the fore
parts, our efforts would be vain, and the
fruit of our first labors lost. On the con
trary, we will facilitate the subjection of
the hind parts, by preserving the advantages
we have already acquired over the fore
10*

] 14 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

parts, and by keeping separated those con
tractions we have yet to combat.

The leg of the rider opposite to that
which determines the rotation of the croup,
must not be kept off during the movement,
but remain close to the horse and keep him
in place, while giving from the rear forward
an impulse which the other leg communi
cates from right to left, or from left to right.
There will thus be one force which keeps
the horse in position, and another which
determines the rotation. In order that the
pressure of the two legs should not counter
act one another, and in order to be able to
use them both together, the leg intended to
move the croup will be placed farther be
hind the girths than the other, which will
remain held with a force equal to that of
the leg which determines the movement.
Then the action of the legs will be distinct,
the one bearing from right to left, the other

EMPLOYMENT OF AN ASSISTANT. 115

from the rear forwards. It is by the aid of
the latter that the hand places and fixes
the fore legs.

To accelerate these results, at first, a se
cond person may be employed, who will
place himself at the height of the horse's
head, holding the curb-reins in the right
hand, and on the side opposite to which we
wish the croup to go. He will lay hold of
the reins at six inches from the branches of
the bit, so as to be in a good position to com
bat the instinctive resistances of the animal.
The one in the saddle will content himself
with holding lightly the snaffle-reins, acting
with his legs as I have already shown. The
second person is only useful when we have
to deal with a horse of an intractable dis
position, or to aid the inexperience of the
man in the saddle ; but, as much should be
done without assistance as possible, in order
that the practitioner may judge by himself

116 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

of the progress of his horse, seeking all the
while for means to increase the effects of his
touch.

Even while this work is in an elementary
state, he will make the horse execute easily
all the figures of the manege de deux pistes*
After eight days of moderate exercise, he
will have accomplished, without effort, a
performance that the old school did not
dare to undertake until after two or three
years of study and work with the horse.

When the rider has accustomed the croup
of the horse to yield promptly to the pres
sure of the legs, he will be able to put it in
motion, or fix it motionless at will, and he

* "La piste is an imaginary line upon which the horse
is made to walk. When the hind legs follow the same
line as the fore ones, the horse is said to go d'une piste,
or on one line. He goes de deux pistes, or on two lines,
when his hind legs pass along a line parallel to that traced
by the fore legs." — jBaucher's Dictionnaire d* Equitation.

ORDINARY PIROUETTE. 117

can, consequently, execute ordinary pirou
ettes.* For this purpose he will take a snaffle-
rein in each hand, one to direct the neck
and shoulders towards the side to which we
wish to wheel, the other to second the op
posite leg, if it be not sufficient to keep
the croup still. At the beginning, this leg
should be placed as far back as possible,
and not be used until the haunches bear
against it. By careful and progressive man
agement the results will soon be attained.
At the start, the horse should be allowed to

* " The pirouette is executed on the fore or hind legs,
by making the horse turn round upon himself, in such a
way, that the leg on the side he is going, acts as a pivot,
and is the principal support around which the other
three legs move." — Bauclier's Dictionnaire d' Equitation.

Pirouettes are either ordinary or reversed. In the
ordinary pirouette, one of the hind legs is the pivot on
which the horse moves ; in the reversed, one of the fore
legs. — TRANSLATOR.

118 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

rest after executing two or three steps well,
which will give five or six halts in the com
plete rotation of the shoulders around the
croup.

Here the stationary exercises cease. I
will now explain how the suppling of the
hind parts will be completed, by commencing
to combine the play of its springs with those
of the fore parts.

Backing. — The retrograde movement, oth
erwise called backing, is an exercise, the
importance of which has not been suffi
ciently appreciated, and which yet ought
to have a very great influence upon his
education. When practised after the old
erroneous methods, it was of no use, as
the exercises that should precede it were
unknown. Backing properly differs essen
tially from that incorrect backward move
ment, which carries the horse to the rear
with his croup contracted and his neck

BACKING. 119

stiff; that is backing away from and avoid
ing the effect of the reins. Backing correct
ly supples the horse, and adds grace and
precision to his natural motions. The first
of the conditions upon which it is to be ob
tained, is to keep the horse in hand, that
is to say, supple, light in the mouth, steady
on his legs, and perfectly balanced in all
his parts. Thus disposed, the animal will
be able with ease to move and elevate equal
ly his fore and hind legs.

It is here that we will be enabled to ap
preciate the good effects and the indispensa
ble necessity of suppling the neck and
haunches. Backing, which at first is tolera
bly painful to the horse, will always lead him
to combat the motions of our hand, by stiff
ening his neck, and those of our legs, by
contracting his croup; these are the instinc
tive resistances. If we cannot obviate the
bad disposition of them, how will we be able

120 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

to obtain that shifting and reshifting of
weight, which alone can make the execution
of this movement perfect ? If the impulsion
which, in backing, ought to come from the
fore parts, should pass over its proper limits,
the movement would become painful, im
possible in fact, and occasion on the part
of the animal, sudden, violent movements
which are always injurious to his organiza
tion.

On the other hand, the displacements* of
the croup, by destroying the harmony which
should exist between the relative forces of
fore and hind parts, would also hinder the
proper execution of the backing. The pre
vious exercise to which we have subjected
the croup will aid us in keeping it in a

* These displacements of the croup mean sideway dis
placement, or the horse's croup not being in a line with
the shoulders. — TRANSLATOR.

BACKING. 121

straight line with the shoulders, in order to
preserve the necessary transferring of the
forces and weight.

To commence the movement, the rider
ought first to assure himself that the
haunches are on a line with the shoulders,
and the horse light in hand ; then he will
slowly close his legs, in order that the action
which they will communicate to the hind
parts of the horse may make him lift one of
his hind legs, and prevent the body from
yielding before the neck. It is then that the
immediate pressure of the bit, forcing the
horse to regain his equilibrium behind, will
produce the first part of the backing. As
soon as the horse obeys, the rider will instant
ly give the hand to reward the animal, and
not to force the play of his fore parts. If his
croup be displaced, the rider will bring it back
by means of his leg, and if necessary, use
for this purpose the snaffle-rein on that side.
11

122 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

After having defined what I call the pro
per backing (reculer), I ought to explain
what I understand by backing so as to
avoid the bit (T acculement) . This move
ment is too painful to the horse, too un
graceful, and too much opposed to the right
development of his mechanism, not to have
struck any one who has occupied^ himself at
all with horsemanship. We force a horse
backwards in this way, whenever we crowd
his forces and weight too much upon his
hind parts; by so doing we destroy his
equilibrium, and render grace, measure, and
correctness impossible. Lightness, always
lightness! this is the basis, the touchstone
of all beautiful execution. With this, all
is easy, for the horse as well as the rider.
That being the case, it is understood that
the difficulty of horsemanship does not con
sist in the direction to give the horse, but
in the position to make him assume — a posi-

BACKING. 123

tion which alone can smooth all obstacles.
Indeed, if the horse executes, it is the
rider who makes him do so; upon him then
rests the responsibility of every false move
ment.

It will suffice to exercise the horse for
eight days (for five minutes each lesson)
in backing, to make him execute it with
facility. The rider will content himself the
first few times with one or two steps to the
rear, followed by the combined effect of the
legs and hand, increasing in proportion to
the progress he makes, until he finds no
more difficulty in a backward than in a for
ward movement.

What an immense step we will then
have made in the education of our pupil!
At the start, the defective formation of the
animal, his natural contractions, the resist
ances we encountered everywhere, seemed
as if they might defy our efforts, for ever.

124 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

Without doubt they would have been vain,
had we made use of a bad course of pro
ceeding ; but the wise system of progression
that we have introduced into our work, the
destruction of the instinctive forces of the
horse, the suppling, the separate subjection
of all the rebellious parts, have soon placed
in our power the whole of his mechanism
to a degree which enables us to govern it
completely, and to restore that pliability,
ease, and harmony of the parts, which their
bad arrangement threatened always to pre
vent. As I shall point out hereafter, in
classing the general division of the labor, it
will be seen that eight or ten days are suffi
cient to obtain these important results.

Was I not right then in saying that if it
is not in my power to change the defective
formation of a horse, I can yet prevent
the consequences of his physical defects,
so as to render him as fit to do everything

SUBJECTION OF INSTINCTIVE FORCES. 125

with, grace and natural ease, as the better-
formed horse? In suppling the parts of
the animal upon which the rider acts
directly, in order to govern and guide him,
in accustoming them to yield without diffi
culty or hesitation to the different impres
sions which are communicated to them, I
have destroyed their stiffness, and restored
the centre of gravity to its true place, name
ly, to the middle of the body. I have, be
sides, settled the greatest difficulty of horse
manship : that of subjecting, before every
thing else, the parts upon which the rider
acts directly, in order to prepare for him
infallible means of impressing his will upon
the horse.

It is only by destroying the instinctive

forces, and by suppling the different parts

of the horse, that we can obtain this. All

the springs of the animal's body are thus

11*

126 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

yielded up to the discretion of the rider.
But this first advantage will not be enough
to make him a complete horseman. The
employment of these forces thus abandoned
to him, demand, in order to execute the
different paces, much study and skill. I
will show in the subsequent chapters the
rules to be observed. I will conclude this
one by a rapid recapitulation of the pro
gression to be followed in the supplings.

Stationary exercise, the rider on foot.
Fore-parts. — 1. Flexions of the jaw to the
right and left, using the curb-bit.

2. Direct flexions of the jaw, and depres
sion of the neck.

3. Lateral flexions of the neck with the
snaffle-reins and with the curb.

Stationary exercise, the rider on horse
back. — 1. Lateral flexions of the neck with
the snaffle-reins, and with the curb-reins.

2. Direct flexions of the head, or placing

STATIONARY EXERCISE. 127

it in a perpendicular position with the snaffle,
and with the curb-reins.

Hind-parts. — 3. Lateral flexions, and mov
ing the croup around the shoulders.

4. Rotation of the shoulders around the
haunches.

5. Combining the play of the fore and
hind legs of the horse, or backing.

I have placed the rotation of the shoul
ders around the haunches in the nomencla
ture of stationary exercise. But the ordi
nary pivoting, or pirouette, being a pretty
complicated movement, and a difficult one
for the horse, he should not be completely
exercised in it until he has acquired the
measured time of the walk, and of the trot,
and can easily execute the changes of direc
tion.

128 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

V.

OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE FORCES OF THE
HORSE BY THE RIDER.

WHEN the supplings have subjected the
instinctive forces of the horse, and given
them up completely into our power, the
animal will be nothing more in our hands
than a passive, expectant machine, ready to
act upon any impulsion we choose to com
municate to him. It will be for us, then,
as sovereign disposers of all his forces, to
combine the employment of them in correct
proportion to the movements we wish to
execute.

The young horse, at first stiff and awk
ward in the use of his members, will need a
certain degree of management in developing
them. In this, as in every other case, we

THE WALK. 129

will follow that rational progression which
tells us to commence with the simple, be
fore passing to the complicated. By the
preceding exercise, we have made our means
of acting upon the horse sure. We must
now attend to facilitating his means of ex
ecution, by exercising all his forces together.
If the animal respond to the aids of the rider
by the jaw, the neck, and the haunches ;
if he yield, by the general disposition of
his body, to the impulses communicated
to him, it is by the play of his extremi
ties that he executes the movement. The
mechanism of these parts ought then to
be easy, prompt, and regular; their applica
tion, well directed in the different paces,
can alone give them such qualities as are
indispensable to a good education.*

* It must not be forgotten that the hand and legs
have their vocabulary also; and a very concise one.

130 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

The walk. — This pace is the mother of
all the other paces; by it \ve will obtain the
cadence, the regularity, and the extension of
the others. But to obtain these brilliant re
sults, the rider must display as much know
ledge as tact. The preceding exercises
have led the horse to bear the combined
effect of hand and legs, which could not
have been done previously to the destruc
tion of his instinctive resistances; we have
now only to act on the inert resistances
which appertain to the animal's weight;
upon the forces which move only when an
impulse is communicated to them.

Before making the horse go forward, we

This mute, laconic language consists of these few words.
You are doing Ladly ; this is what you should do ; you
do well now. It is sufficient for the rider to be able to
translate, by his mechanism, the meaning of these three
remarks, to possess all the equestrian erudition, and share
his intelligence with his horse.

HINTS ON STARTING. 131

should first assure ourselves of his light
ness, that is to say of his head being per
pendicular, his neck flexible, his hind parts
straight and plumb. The legs will then be
closed lightly, to give the body the impulse
necessary to move it. But we should not,
in accordance with the precepts of the old
method, give the bridle hand at the same
time ; for then the neck, being free from all
restraint, would lose its lightness, would
contract, and render the motion of the hand
powerless. The rider will remember that
his hand ought to be to the horse an insur
mountable barrier, whenever he would leave
the position of ramener. Then the animal
will never attempt it, without pain ; and
only within our limit will he find ease and
comfort. By the application of my method,
the rider will be led to guide his horse at all
times with the reins half tight, except when

132 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

he wishes to correct a false movement, or
determine a new one.

The walk, I have said, ought to precede
the other paces, because the horse having
three supports upon the ground, his action
is less, and consequently easier to regulate
than in the trot and the gallop. The first
exercises of the supplings will be followed
by some turns in the riding-house at a walk,
but only as a relaxation, the rider attending
less to animating his horse, than to making
him keep his head, while walking, in a per
pendicular position. Little by little he will
complicate his work, so as to join to the
lightness of the horse that precision of move
ment indispensable to the beauty of all his

paces.

i

lie will commence light oppositions of
the hand and legs, to make the forces of
the fore and hind parts work together in
harmony. This exercise, by accustoming

HARMONY OF FORCES. 133

the horse always to yield the use of his
forces to the direction of the rider, will be
also useful in forming his intelligence, as
well as in developing his powers. What
delights the expert horseman will experi
ence in the progressive application of his
art ! His pupil, at first rebellious, will in
sensibly yield himself to his every wish ;
will adopt his character, and end by becom
ing the living personification of him. Take
care, then, rider ! If your horse is capri
cious, violent, fantastic, we will have the
right to say that you yourself do not shine
by the amenity of your disposition, and the
propriety of your proceedings.

In order to keep the measure and quick
ness of the walk equal and regular, it is in
dispensable that the impulsive and govern
ing forces which come from the rider,
should themselves be in perfect harmony.
We will suppose, for example, that the
12

134 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

rider to move his horse forward,, should
make use t>f a force equal to twenty
pounds, fifteen for the impulse forward, and
five to bring his head into position. If the
legs increase their motion without the hands
increasing theirs in the same proportion, it
is evident that the surplus of communicated
force will be thrown into the neck, cause it
to contract, and destroy all lightness. If,
on the contrary, it is the hand which acts
with too much violence, it will be at the
expense of the impulsive force necessary to
move the horse forward; on this account,
his forward movement will be slackened and
counteracted, at the same time that his posi
tion will lose its gracefulness and power.

This short explanation will suffice to
show the harmony that should exist be
tween the legs and hands. It is understood
that their motion should vary according as
the formation of the horse renders it neces-

CHANGES OF DIRECTION. 135

sarv to support him more or less before or
behind; but the rule is the same, only the
proportions are different.

So long as the horse will not keep himself
supple and light in his walk, we will con
tinue to exercise him in a straight line ; but
as soon as he acquires more ease and steadi
ness, we will commence to make him exe
cute changes of direction to the right and
the left, while walking.

Changes of direction. — The use of the
wrists, in the changes of direction, is so
simple that it is unnecessary to speak of it
here. I will only call attention to the fact,
that the resistances of the horse ought
always to be anticipated by disposing his
forces in such a manner that they all con
cur in putting him in the way of moving.
The head will be inclined in the direction
we wish to go by means of the snaffle-rein
of that side, the curb will then complete

136 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

the movement. General rule : the lateral
resistances of the neck are always to be
opposed by the aid of the snaffle, being very
careful not to commence to wheel until after
destroying the obstacle that opposed it. If
the use of the wrists remains very nearly
the same as formerly, it is not so with the
legs ; their motion will be diametrically op
posite to that given them in the old style of
horsemanship. This innovation is so natu
ral a one, that I cannot conceive why some
one did not apply it before me.

It is by bearing the hand to the right
and making the right leg felt, people have
told me, (and I myself at first repeated it.)
that the horse is made to turn to the right.
"With me, practice has always taken the
precedence of reasoning; and this is the
way I fir.st perceived the incorrectness of
this principle.

Whatever lightness my horse had in a

CHANGES OF DIRECTION. 137

straight line, I remarked that this lightness
always lost some of its delicacy when mov
ing in small circles, although my outside
leg came to the assistance of the inside one.
As soon as the hind leg put itself in motion
to follow the shoulders in the circle, I im
mediately felt a slight resistance. I then
thought of changing the use of my aids,
and of pressing the leg on the side opposite
to the direction of wheeling. At the same
time, in place of bearing the hand immedi
ately to the right, to determine the shoul
ders in that direction, I first, by the aid of
this hand, made the opposition necessary to
render the haunches motionless, and to dis
pose the forces in such a way as to main
tain the equilibrium during the execution
of the movement. This proceeding was
completely successful ; and in explaining
what ought to be the functions of the dif-
12*

138 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

ferent extremities, I recognize this as the
only rational way of using them in wheeling.

In fact, in wheeling to the right, for ex
ample, it is the right hind leg which serves
as pivot and supports the whole weight of
the mass, while the left hind leg and the
fore legs describe a circle more or less
extended. In order that the movement
should be correct and free, it is necessary
that this pivot, upon which the whole turns,
be not interfered with in its action ; the
simultaneous use of the right hand and the
right leg must necessarily produce this effect.
The equilibrium is thus destroyed, and the
regularity of the wheeling rendered impos
sible.

As soon as the horse executes easily the
changes of direction at a walk, and keeps
himself perfectly light, we can commence
exercising at a trot.

The trot. — The rider will commence this

THE TROT. 139

pace at a very moderate rate of speed, fol
lowing exactly the same principles as for
the walk. He will keep his horse perfectly
light, not forgetting that the faster the pace,
the more disposition there will be, on the
part of the animal, to fall back again into
his natural contractions. The hand should
then be used with redoubled nicety, in
order to keep the head and neck always
pliable, without effecting the impulse neces
sary to the movement. The legs will
lightly second the hands, and the horse be
tween these two barriers, which are obsta
cles only to his improper movements, will
soon develop all his best faculties ; and with
precision of movement, he will also acquire
grace, extension, and the steadiness inherent
to the lightness of the whole.

Although many persons who would not
take the trouble to examine thoroughly my
method, have pretended that it is opposed

140 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

to great speed in trotting, it is not the less
proved that the well-balanced horse can
trot faster than the one destitute of this
advantage. I have given proofs of this
whenever they have been demanded of me ;
but it is in vain that I have tried to make
people understand what constitutes the
motions of the trot, and what are the con
ditions indispensable for regularity in exe
cuting it. So, I was obliged in a race, of
which I was judge, to make the bets void,
and to prove that the pretended trotters
were really not trotting, but ambling.

The condition indispensable to a good
trotter is perfect equilibrium of the body.
Equilibrium, which keeps up a regular
movement of the diagonal fore and hind
feet, gives them an equal elevation and ex
tension, with such lightness that the animal
can easily execute all changes of direction,
moderate his speed, halt, or increase his

THE TROT. 141

speed without effort. The fore parts have
not, then, the appearance of towing after
them the hind parts, which keep as far off
as possible ; everything becomes easy and
graceful for the horse, because his forces,
being in perfect harmony, permit the rider
to dispose of them in such a way that they
mutually and constantly assist each other.

It would be impossible for me to count up
the number of horses that have been sent
to me to break, whose paces have been so
spoiled that it was impossible for them to
trot a single step. A few lessons have
always been sufficient to get them back into
regular paces, and these are the means I
employed.

The difficulty which the horse experi
ences in keeping himself square in his
trot, almost always proceeds from the hind
parts. Whether these be of a feeble
construction, or be rendered useless by

142 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

the superior vigor of the fore parts, the
motions of these parts, which receive the
shock and give the bound, in each case be
come powerless, and in consequence render
the movement irregular.* There is, then,

* I am not of the opinion of those connoisseurs who
imagine that the qualities of the horse, as well as his
speed in trotting, depend principally on the height of his
withers. I think that, for the horse to be stylish and
regular in his movements, the croup should be on a level
with the withers ; such was the construction of the old
English horses. A certain kind of horses, very much d la
mode, called steppers, are constructed after an entirely
different fashion ; they strike out with their fore legs, and
drag their hind parts after them. Horses with a low
croup, or with withers very high in proportion to their
croup, were preferred by horsemen of the old school, and
arc still in favor nowadays among amateur horsemen.
The German horsemen have an equally marked predilec
tion for this sort of formation, although it is contrary to
strength of the croup, to the equilibrium of the horse,
and to the regular play of his feet and legs. This fault

REMEDY FOR FAULTY CONSTRUCTION. 143

weakness in one extremity, or excess of
force in the other. The remedy in each
case will be the same, viz. : the depression
of the neck, which, by diminishing the
power of the fore parts, restores the equili
brium between the two parts. We have
practised this suppling on foot; it will be
easy to obtain it on horseback. We here
see the usefulness of this perpendicular
flexion, which allows us to place on a level

of construction (for it is one) has been scarcely noticed
till now; nevertheless, it is a great one, and really re
tards the horse's education. In fact, we are obliged, in
order to render his movements uniform, to lower his
neck, so that the kind of lever it represents may serve to
lighten his hind parts of the weight with which they are
overburdened. I ought also to say, that this change of
position, or of equilibrium, is only obtained by the aid of
my principles. I explain the cause and effect, and I point
out the remedies. Is this not the proper way for an
author to proceed ?

144 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

the forces of the two opposite extremities of
the horse, in order to make them harmoni
ous, and induce regularity in their working.
The horse being thus placed, can bend and
extend his fore and hind legs, before the
weight of the body forces them to resume
their support.

The practice of this and some other prin
ciples that I explain in this work, will place
in the rank of choice horses animals whose
inferiority caused them to be considered
jades, and which the old method would never
have raised from their degradation. It will
suffice, to accustom the horse to trot well, to
exercise him at this pace only five minutes
in each lesson. When he acquires the
necessary ease and lightness, he can be
made to execute ordinary pirouettes, as well
as the exercise on two lines, at a walk and
a trot. I have said that five minutes of
trotting were enough at first, because it is

PROLONGED EXERCISE HURTFUL. 145

less the continuance of an exercise than its
being properly done that perfects the exe
cution of it. Besides, as this pace requires
a considerable displacement of forces, and
as the animal will have been already sub
jected to a rather painful exercise, it would
be dangerous to prolong it beyond the time
I mentioned. The horse will lend himself
more willingly to your efforts when they are
nicely managed, and of short duration ; his
intelligence, becoming familiar with this effi
cient progression, will hasten success. He
will submit himself calmly, and without re
pugnance, to work in which there will be
nothing painful to him ; and we will be able
thus to push his education to the farthest
limits, not only without injury to his phy
sical organization, but in restoring to their
normal state organs which a forced exercise
might have weakened. This regular de
velopment of all the organs of the horse
13

146 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

will not only give him grace, but also
strength and health: thus prolonging his
existence, while increasing a hundredfold
the delights of the true horseman.

CONCENTRATION OF FORCES. 147

VI.

OF THE CONCENTRATION OF THE FORCES OF
THE HORSE BY THE RIDER,

THE rider now understands that the only
means of obtaining precision and regularity
of movement in the walk and the trot, is to
keep the horse perfectly light while he is
exercised at these paces. As soon as we
are sure of this lightness, while going in
a straight line, in changes of direction,
and in circular movements, it will be easy
to preserve it while exercising on two lines.

I would here treat immediately of the
gallop ; but this pace, more complicated
than the other two, demands an arrange
ment on the part of the horse, and a power
on the part of the rider, that the preceding

148 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

exercises have not yet given. The proper
placing of the horse's head spreads his
forces over the whole of his body; it is ne
cessary, in order to perform correctly the
different exercises at a gallop, and to enable
yourself properly to direct the forces in
energetic movements, to bring them into a
common focus — that is, to the centre of
gravity of the animal. I am about to ex
plain how this is to be done.

The use of the spurs. — Professors of equi
tation and authors upon this subject have
said, that the spurs are to punish the horse
when he does not respond to the legs, or
when he refuses to approach an object that
frightens him. With them, the spur is not
an aid, but a means of chastisement. With
me it is, on the contrary, a powerful auxil
iary, without which it would be impossible
to break any horse perfectly. How ! you
exclaim; you attack with the spur horses

USE OF THE SPURS. 149

that are sensitive, excitable, full of fire and
action — horses whose powerful make leads
them to become unmanageable, in spite of
the hardest bits and the most vigorous
arms ! Yes, and it is with the spur that I
will moderate the fury of these too fiery
animals, and stop them short in their most
impetuous bounds. It is with the spur,
aided of course by the hand, that I will
make the most stubborn natures kind, and
perfectly educate the most intractable ani
mal.

Long before publishing my " Comprehensive
Dictionary of Equitation" I was aware of the
excellent effects of the spur ; but I abstained
from developing my principles, being pre
vented by an expression of one of my
friends, whom I had shown how to obtain
results which to him appeared miraculous.
" It is extraordinary ! It is wonderful !"
he exclaimed; "but it is a razor in the

150 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

hands of a monkey." It is true that the
use of the spurs requires prudence, tact,
and gradation ; but the effects of it are pre
cious. Now that I have proved the efficacy
of my method ; now that I see my most
violent adversaries become warm partisans
of my principles, I no longer fear to develop
a process that I consider one of the most
beautiful results of my long researches in
horsemanship.

There is no more difference in the sensi
bility of different horses' flanks than in their
sensibility of mouth — that is to say, the
direct effect of the spur is nearly the same
in them all. I have already shown that
the organization of the bars of the mouth
goes for nothing in its resistances to the
hand. It is clear enough that if the nose, by
being thrown up in the air, gives the horse
a force of resistance equal to two hundred
pounds, this force will be reduced to one

USE OF THE SPURS. 151

hundred pounds, when we bring the horse's
head half way towards a perpendicular
position ; to fifty pounds when brought still
nearer that position, and to nothing when
perfectly placed. The pretended hardness
of mouth proceeds, in this case, from a bad
position of the head, which is caused by the
stiffness of the neck and the faulty construc
tion of the loins and haunches of the horse.
If we carefully examine the causes that pro
duce what is called sensibility of the flanks,
we will discover that they have very much
the same kind of source.

The innumerable conjectures to which
people have devoted themselves, in attribut
ing to the horse's flanks a local sensibility
that had no existence, have necessarily in
jured the progress of his education, because
it wras based upon false data. The greater
or less sensibility of the animal proceeds
from his action, from his faulty formation,

152 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

and the bad position resulting therefrom.
To a horse of natural action, but with long,
weak loins, and bad action behind, every
motion backwards is painful ; and the very
disposition that leads him to rush ahead,
serves him to avoid the pain of the spur.
He returns to this movement whenever he
feels the rider's legs touch him ; and far from
being a spirited horse, he is only scared and
crazy. The more he fears the spur, the
more he plunges out of hand, and baffles
the means intended to make him obedient.
There is everything to fear from such a
horse ; he will scare at objects from the
very ease he possesses of avoiding them.
Now since his fright proceeds, so to say,
from the bad position we allow him to take,
this inconvenience will disappear from the
moment we remedy the first cause of it.
We must confine the forces in order to pre
vent every displacement. We must separate

USE OF THE SPURS. 153

the physical from the moral horse, and force
these impressions to concentrate in the brain.
He will then be a furious madman, whose
limbs we have bound to prevent him from
carrying his frenzied thoughts into execu
tion.

The best proof we have that the prompt
ness of a horse in responding to the effect
of the legs and spurs, is not caused by a
sensibility of the flanks, but rather by great
action joined to bad formation, is that the
same action is not so manifest in a well-
formed horse, and that the latter bears the
spur much better than one whose equili
brium and organization are inferior.

But the spur is not only useful in mode
rating the too great energy of horses of much
action ; its effect being equally good in com
bating that disposition which leads the ani
mal to throw his centre of gravity too much
forward, or back. I would also use it to

154 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

stir up those that are wanting in ardor and
vivacity. In horses of action, the forces of
the hind parts surpass those of the fore
parts. It is the opposite in dull horses.
We can thus account for the quickness of
the former; the slowness and sluggishness
of the latter.

By the exercise of suppling, we have
completely annulled the instinctive forces
of the horse. We must now reunite these
forces in their true centre of gravity, which
is the middle of the animal's body ; and
it is by the properly combined opposition
of the legs and hands that we will succeed
in this. The advantages we possess already
over the horse, will enable us to combat,
from their very birth, all the resistances
which tend to make him leave the proper
position — the only one in which we can
successfully practise our oppositions. It is
also of the first importance to put into our

TACT AND GRADATION. 155

proceedings tact and gradation, so that, for
example, the legs never give an impulse
that the hand is not able to take hold of and
govern at the same moment. I will make
this principle more clear by a short expla
nation.

We will suppose a horse at a walk, em
ploying a force of forty pounds, which is
necessary to keep the pace regular, till the
moment when the opposition of the hand
and legs commences. By and by we begin
a slow and gradual pressure of the legs,
which adds ten pounds to the impulse of the
pace. As the horse is supposed to be per
fectly in hand, the hand will immediately
feel this passage of forces, and must then
make itself master of them to transfer them
to the centre. Meanwhile the legs will con
tinue their pressure, to the end that the
forces, thus driven back, may not return to
the focus which they left; for that would

156 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

be but a useless ebbing and flowing of forces.
This succession of oppositions, well combined,
will bring together a great quantity of forces
in the centre of the horse's body, and the
more these are increased, the more the ani
mal will lose his instinctive energy. When
the pressure of the legs becomes insufficient
to collect the forces entirely, more energetic
means must be employed, viz. : touches of
the spur.

The spurring ought not to be done vio
lently, and with much movement of the
legs, but with delicacy and management.
The rider ought to close his legs so gradually
that, before coming in actual contact with
the horse's flanks, the spur will not be more
than a hair's breadth from them, if possible.
The hand should ever be an echo to the
light touches with which we commence ; and
it should be firmly held, so as to present an
opposition equal to the force communicated

USE OF THE SPURS. 157

by the spur. If by the time being badly
chosen, the hand does not exactly intercept
the impulse given, and a general commotion
results therefrom, we should, before recom
mencing, gather the horse together, and re
establish calm in his motions. The force of
the spurring will be progressively increased
until the horse bears it, when as vigorously
applied as possible, without presenting the
least resistance to the hand, without in
creasing the speed of his pace, or without
displacing himself so long as we operate
with a firm foot.

A horse brought thus to bear spurring, is
three-fourths broken, since we have the free
disposition of all his forces. Besides, his
centre of gravity being where his forces are
all united, we have brought it to its proper
place, viz. : the middle of the body. All
the oscillations of the animal will then be
subordinate to us, and we will be able to
14

158 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

transfer his weight with ease, when neces
sary.

It is easy now to understand where the
resistances have their origin ; whether the
horse kicks up behind, rears, or runs away,
the cause is always the centre of gravity
being in the wrong place. This very cause
belongs to a defective formation which we
cannot change, it is true, but the effects of
which we can always modify. If the horse
kicks up, the centre of gravity is in the
shoulders, in the croup when he rears, and
too far forward when he runs away. The
principal thought of the rider, then, ought
to be to keep the centre of gravity in the
middle of the horse's body, since he will
thereby prevent him defending himself, and
bring back the forces of the badly formed
horse to the place which they occupy in the
finest organizations. It is this that makes
me assert that a well-formed horse will not

REMOVAL OF CENTRE OF GRAVITY. 159

make resistance nor move irregularly, for
it requires supernatural efforts on his part
to destroy the harmony of his moving
parts, and so greatly displace his centre of
gravity. So, when I speak of the necessity
of giving the horse a new equilibrium, in
order to prevent his defending himself, and
also to remedy the ungracefulness of his
form, I allude to the combination of forces
of which I have been treating, or, rather,
of the removal of the centre of gravity from
one place to another. This result obtained,
the education of the horse is complete.
When the horseman succeeds in obtaining
it, his talent becomes a truth, since it trans
forms ugliness into grace, and gives elegance
and lightness to movements which were be
fore heavy and confused.*

* I have often proved that horses that were considered
dull, or unable to move their shoulders freety, have not

160 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

The rider's employment of force, when
properly applied, has a moral effect also on
the horse, that accelerates the results. If
the impulse given by the legs find in the

the defect that is supposed; in other words, that it is very
rare that they are paralyzed in their shoulders so as to
injure the regularity and speed of their paces, principally
as regards trotting. The shoulders of the horse, if I may
use the comparison, resemble the wings of a windmill;
the impulse given by the hocks replaces the motive force.
There undoubtedly exist some local complaints that affect
the shoulders; but this difficulty is very rare; the defect,
if there be one, has its origin in the hind parts. For my
part, I have been able to make all such horses very free
in their movements, and that after fifteen days of exercise,
half an hour a day. The means, like all I employ, are
very simple. They consist in suppling the neck to get
the horse in hand, and then, by the aid of the legs, and
afterwards slight use of the spurs, in bringing his haunches
nearer the centre. Then the hocks will obtain a leverage,
by which they can propel the mass forward, and give the
shoulders a freedom that people would not expect.

EMPLOYMENT OF FORCE. 161

hand the energy and apropos necessary to
regulate its effects, the pain which the ani
mal sustains will always be proportioned to
his resistances; and his instinct will soon
make him understand how he can diminish,
and even avoid altogether this constraint,
by promptly yielding to what we demand of
him. He will hasten then to submit, and
will even anticipate our desires. But, I re
peat, it is only by means of tact and delicate
management that we will gain this important
point. If the legs give too vigorous an im
pulse, the horse will quickly overcome the
motion of the hands, and resume with his
natural position all the advantages it gives
him to foil the efforts of the rider. If, on
the contrary, the hand present too great a
resistance, the horse will soon overcome the
legs, and find a means of defending himself
by backing. Yet these difficulties must not
be allowed to frighten us; they were only
14*

162 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

serious ones when no rational principle gave
the means of surmounting them. The ap
plication of my method will enable ordinary
horsemen to obtain results that otherwise
could be obtained only by the most favored
equestrian organizations.

When the animal becomes accustomed by
means of the spur to such oppositions, it will
be easy enough to combat with the spur all
the resistances that may afterwards manifest
themselves. Since the resistances are always
caused by moving the croup sideways, or get
ting it too far back, the spur, by immediately
bringing the hind legs towards the centre of
the body, prevents the support of the hocks,
which opposed the proper harmony of forces,
and prevented the right distribution of the
weight.

This is the means I always employ to
make the horse pass from a swift gallop to a
halt, without straining his hocks, or injur-

USE OF THE SPURS. 163

ing any of the joints of his hind parts. In
fact, since it is the hocks which propel
the mass forward, destroying their motion
suffices to stop the bound. The spur, hy
instantly bringing the hind legs under the
horse's belly, destroys their power from
the moment the hand comes, in the nick
of time, to fix them in that position.
Then the haunches bend, the croup is
lowered ; the weight and forces arrange
themselves in the order most favorable to
the free and combined play of each part, and
the violence of the shock, infinitely decom
posed, is scarce perceptible either to horse
or rider.

If, on the contrary, we stop the horse by
making the hand move first, the hocks re
main far in the rear of the plumb-line ; the
shock is violent, painful for the animal, and
especially injurious to his physical organiza-

164 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

tion. Horses that are thus stopped, set
themselves against the bit, extending their
neck, and require an arm of iron and a
most violent opposing force. Such is the
custom of the Arabs, for example, in halt
ing suddenly their horses, by making use of
murderous bits that break the bars of their
horse's mouths. Thus, notwithstanding the
wonderful powers with which nature has
gifted them, are these excellent animals in
jured. The use of the spur must not be
commenced till by gathering him we get
the horse well in hand ; then the first touch
of the spur should be given. We will
continue to make use of it, at long inter
vals, until the horse, after his bound for
ward, presents no resistance to the hand,
and- avoids the pressure of the bit, by bring
ing in his chin towards his chest, of his own
accord. This submission once obtained, we

USE OF THE SPURS. 165

can undertake the use of the spurs with
oppositions, but we must be careful to dis
continue them when the horse is in hand.
This means has the double advantage of
acting morally and physically. The first
attacks will be made with a single spur, and
by bearing on the opposite rein ; these
transverse oppositions will have a better
effect, and give more prompt results. When
the horse begins to contain himself, the two
spurs being used separately, we can make
them felt together and with an equal grada
tion.*

* I would never have thought that this means, which
serves as a corrective to the processes used by all horse
men, would have aroused the sensibility of some ama
teurs. These latter have preferred to be affected by ex
aggerated or erroneous reports, rather than satisfy them
selves by observation that this pretended cruelty is in
fact the most innocent thing in the world, Must we not
teacli the horse to respond to the spur as well as to the

166 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

To the work, then, cavaliers ! If you will
follow my principles, I can promise you that
your purses will be less often emptied into
the hands of horse-dealers, and that you
will render the meanest of your hacks
agreeable. You will charm our breeders of
horses, who will attribute to their efforts of
regeneration that elegance and grace which
your art alone could have given to your
chargers.

Lowering the hand. — The lowering the
hand consists in confirming the horse in all
his lightness — that is, in making him pre
serve his equilibrium without the aid of the
reins. The suppleness given to all parts of

legs and the hand ? Is it not by this spurring, judiciously
applied, that we bring in at will the hind legs more or less
near the centre of gravity ? Is not this the only way of
increasing or diminishing the leverage of the hocks,
whether for extending or raising them in motion, or for
the purpose of halting ?

LOWERING THE HAND. 167

the horse, the just oppositions of hands and
legs, lead him to keep himself in the best
possible position. To find out exactly
whether we are obtaining this result, we
must have recourse to frequent lowering of
the hand. It is done in this way. After
having slipped the right hand to the buckle,
and having assured yourself that the reins
are even, you will let go of them with the
left hand, and lower the right slowly to the
pommel of the saddle. To do this regu
larly, the horse must neither increase nor
diminish the speed of his pace, and his head
and neck must continue to preserve their
proper position. The first few times that the
horse is thus given up to himself, he will
perhaps only take a few steps while keeping
in position, and at the same rate of speed ;
the rider ought then to make his legs felt
first, and the hand afterwards, to bring him

168 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

into his previous position. The frequent
repetition of this lowering of the hand,
after a complete placing of the horse's head
in a perpendicular position, will give him a
most exquisite mouth, and the rider a still
greater delicacy of touch. The means of
guiding employed by the latter will imme
diately be answered by the horse, if his
forces have been previously disposed in a
perfectly harmonious state.

The lowerings of the hand ought to be

c o

practised first at a walk, then at a trot,
afterwards at a gallop. This semblance of
liberty gives such confidence to the horse
that he gives up without knowing it ; he
becomes our submissive slave, while suppos
ing that he is preserving an entire inde
pendence.

Of gathering the horse, or rassembler. — The
preceding exercise will render easy to the

GATHERING THE HORSE. 169

rider that important part of horsemanship
called rassembler. This has been a great deal
talked about by people, as they have talked
about Providence, and all the mysteries that
are impenetrable to human perception. If
it were allowable for us to compare small
things with great, we might say that the more
or less absurd theories which have been put
forward upon the subject of divine power,
have not, fortunately, hindered in any way
the unchangeable march of nature ; but with
regard to the progress of horsemanship, the
case is not the same, as to what has been
said and written on the subject of the ras
sembler. The false principles propagated
on this subject have made the horse the
plaything and the victim of the rider's

ignorance.

I proclaim it, the gathering a horse has
never been understood or denned before me,
for it cannot be perfectly executed without
15

170 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

the regular application of the principles
which I have developed for the first time.
You will be convinced of this truth when
you know that the rasseinbler demands : —

1. The suppling, partial and general, of
the neck and haunches.

2. The perfect position that results from
this suppling.

3. The entire absorption of the forces of
the horse by the rider.

Now, as the means of obtaining these
different results have never been pointed
out in any treatise on horsemanship, am I
not justified in saying that the true rassem-
bler has never been practised until now ?
It is, nevertheless, one of the indispensable
conditions of the horse's education ; conse
quently, I think I am right in saying that,
before my method, horses of defective forma
tion have never been properly broken.

How is the rassembler defined in the

GATHERING THE HORSE. 171

schools of horsemanship ? You gather your
horse by raising tJie hand and closing the legs.
I ask, what good can this movement of the
rider do upon an animal badly formed, con
tracted, and that remains under the influ
ence of all the evil propensities of its na
ture ? This mechanical support of the
hands and legs, far from preparing the
horse for obedience, will only make him re
double his means of resistance; since, while
giving him notice that we are about to de
mand a movement on his part, we remain
unable to dispose his forces in such a way as
to force him to it.

The real rassembler consists in collecting
the forces of the horse in his centre in order
to ease his extremities, and give them up
completely to the disposition of the rider.
The animal thus finds himself transformed
into a kind of balance, of which the rider
is the centre-piece. The least touch upon

172 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

one or other of the extremities, which repre
sent the scales, will immediately send them
in the direction we wish. The rider will
know that his horse is completely gathered
when he feels him ready, as it were, to rise
from all four of his legs. The proper posi
tion first, and then the use of the spurs, will
make this beautiful execution of the gather
ing easy to both horse and rider ; and what
splendor, grace, and majesty it gives the
animal ! If we have been obliged at first
to use the spurs in pushing this concentra
tion of forces to its farthest limits, the legs
will afterwards be sufficient to obtain the
gathering necessary for the precision and
elevation required in all complicated move
ments.

Need I recommend discretion in your
demands? I think not. If the rider, hav
ing reached this stage of his horse's educa
tion, cannot comprehend and seize that

GATHERING THE HORSE. 173

fineness of touch, that delicacy of process,
indispensable to the right application of my
principles, it will prove him devoid of every
feeling of a horseman ; nothing I can say
can remedy this imperfection of his nature.

15*

174 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

VII.

OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE FORCES OF THE

HORSE BY THE RIDER.

( Continuation.)

Of the gallop. — I have said that, until
now, the greater part of the resources of
horsemanship have not been understood ;
and had I need of other proofs to support my
opinion, I would draw them from the errors,
the suppositions, and the innumerable contra
dictions, which have been heaped together
in order to explain so simple a movement as
the gallop. What contrary opinions upon
the means to be employed to make the horse
go off with his right foot ! It is the support
of the rider's right leg which determines
the movement, one pretends ; it is that of
the left leg, says another; it is the equal

THE GALLOP. 175

touch of the two legs, affirms a third; no,
some others remark, very seriously, you
must let the horse act naturally.

How can the truth be made out in the
midst of this conflict of such contrary prin
ciples? Besides, they come from such re
spectable sources; the most of their authors
were possessed of titles and dignities which
are generally only granted to merit. Have
they all been deceived for a hundred and
fifty years ? This is not possible ; for many
of them joined to long practice a perfect
knowledge of physics, anatomy, mathema
tics, &c. &c. To doubt such authorities
would be as presumptuous as imprudent;
it would have been considered a crime of
high treason against horsemanship. So the
riders kept their ignorance, and the horses
their bad equilibrium; and if any one suc
ceeded, after two or three years of routine
labor, in making certain horses of a privi-

176 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

leged organization start with the desired
foot, and in making them change feet
finally, at a fixed point, the difficulty then
was to prevent them from always repeating
this movement at the same place.

Thus it is that the most palpable errors
gain credit, and often are perpetuated, until
there comes a practical mind, gifted with
some amount of common sense, who contra
dicts by practice all the learned theories of
its predecessors. They try hard at first to
deny the knowledge of the innovator; but
the masses, who instinctively know the truth,
and judge from what they see, soon range
themselves on his side, turn their backs
upon his detractors, and leave them to their
solitude and vain pretensions.

To the mass of horsemen I address my
self, when I say, either the horse is under
the influence of your forces, and entirely
submissive to your power, or you are

THE GALLOP. 177

struggling with him. If he gallop off with
you, without jour being able to modify or
direct with certainty his course, it proves
that, although subject to a certain extent to
your power, in thus consenting to carry you
about, he nevertheless uses his instinctive
forces. In this case, there is a perpetual
fight going on between you and him, the
chances of which depend on the tempera
ment and caprice of the animal — upon the
good or bad state of his digestion. Changes
of foot, in such a state, can only be obtained
by inclining the horse very much to one
side, which makes the movement both diffi
cult and ungraceful. -*
If, on the contrary, the animal is made
submissive to a degree that he cannot con
tract any one of his parts without the inter
vention and aid of the rider, the latter can
direct at his pleasure the whole of his mov-

178 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

ing parts, and, consequently, can easily and
promptly execute changes of feet.

We know the contraction of any one
part of the horse reacts on the neck, and
that the stiffness of this part prevents the
proper execution of every movement. If,
then, at the moment of setting off on a
gallop, the horse stiffen one of his extremi
ties, and consequently his neck, of what
use, in determining his starting with the
right foot, can be the support of one or the
other leg of the rider, or even of that of
both at once? These means will evidently
be ineffectual until we go back to the source
of the resistance, for the purpose of combat
ing and destroying it. Here, as in every
other case, we see that suppleness and light
ness alone can make the execution of the
work easy.

If, when we wish to make the horse start
with the right foot, a slight contraction of

THE GALLOP. 179

one part of the animal dispose him to start
with the left foot, and we persist in induc
ing the pace, we must employ two forces on
the same side, viz., the left leg and the left
hand; the first to determine the movement,
the second to combat the contrary disposi
tion of the horse.

But when the horse, that is perfectly
supple and gathered, only brings his parts
into play after the impression given them
by the rider, the latter, in order to start
with the right foot, ought to combine an
opposition of forces proper for keeping the
horse in equilibrium, while placing him in
the position required for the movement.
He will then bear the hand to the left, and
press his right leg. Here we see that the
means mentioned above, necessary when the
horse is not properly placed, would be wrong
when the animal is properly placed, since

180 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

it would destroy the harmony then existing
between his forces.

This short explanation will, I hope,
suffice to make it understood that things
should be studied thoroughly before laying
down any principles of action. Let us
have no more systems then upon the exclu
sive use of such or such a leg to determine
the gallop; but a settled conviction that the
first condition of this, or any other perform
ance, is to keep the horse supple and light
— that is rassemble; then, after this, to
make use of one or the other motive power,
according as the animal, at the start, pre
serves a proper position, or seeks to leave
it. It must also be understood that, while
it is the force that gives the position to the
horse, it is position alone upon which the
regularity of movement depends.

Passing frequently from the gallop with
the right foot to that with the left, in a

THE GALLOP. 181

straight line, and with halts, will soon bring
the horse to make these changes of feet by
the touch, without halting. Violent effects
of force should be avoided, for they only
bewilder the horse and destroy his lightness.
We must remember that this lightness,
which should precede all changes of pace
and direction, and make every movement
easy, graceful, and inevitable, is the import
ant condition we should seek before every
thing else.

It is because they have not understood
this principle, and have not felt that the
first condition, to dispose a horse for the
gallop, is to destroy all the instinctive forces
of the animal (forces that oppose the posi
tion the movement demands), that horse
men have laid down so many erroneous
principles, and have all remained unable to
show us the proper means to be employed.
16

182 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

Of leaping the ditch and the bar. —
Although the combinations of equestrian
science alone cannot give to every horse the
energy and vigor necessary to clear a ditch
or a bar, there are, nevertheless, principles
by the aid of which we will succeed in
partly supplying the deficiencies in the na
tural formation of the animal. By giving a
good direction to the forces, we will facilitate
the rise and freedom of the bound. I do
not pretend by this to say, that a horse of
ordinary capabilities will attain the same
height and elegance in this movement as
one that is well constituted, but he will, at
least, be able to display in it all the re
sources of his organization to more purpose.

The great thing is to bring the horse to
attempt this performance with good will.
If all the processes prescribed by me for
mastering the instinctive forces of the ani
mal, and putting him under the influence of

OF LEAPING. 183

ours have been punctually followed, the
utility of this progression will be recognized
by the facility we have of making the horse
clear all the objects that are encountered in
his way. For the rest, recourse must never
be had, in case of a contest, to violent means,
such as a whip in the hands of a second
person; nor should we seek to excite the
animal by cries ; this could only produce a
moral effect, calculated to frighten him. It
is by physical means alone that we should
bring him to obedience, since they alone
will enable him to understand and execute.
We should then carry on the contest calmly,
and seek to surmount the forces that lead
him to refuse, by acting directly on them.
To make the horse leap, we will wait till he
responds freely to the legs and spur, in order
to have always a sure means of government.
The bar will remain on the ground until
the horse goes over it without hesitation;

184 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

it will then be raised some inches, progres
sively increasing the height, until the ani
mal will be just able to clear it without too
violent an effort. To exceed this proper
limit, would be to risk causing a disgust on
the part of the horse that should be most
carefully avoided. The bar having been
thus gradually raised, ought to be made
fast, in order that the horse, disposed to be
indolent, should not make sport of an ob
stacle which would be no longer serious,
when the touch of his feet sufficed to over
turn it. The bar ought not to be wrapped
in any covering that would lessen its hard
ness ; we should be severe when we demand
possibilities, and avoid the abuses that
always result from an ill-devised com
plaisance.

Before preparing to take the leap, the
rider should hold himself sufficiently firm
to prevent his body preceding the motion of

OF LEAPING. 185

the horse. His loins should be supple, his
buttocks well fixed to the saddle, so that he
may experience no shock nor violent reac
tion. His thighs and legs exactly enveloping
the body and sides of the horse, will give
him a power always opportune and infallible.
The hand in its natural position will feel
the horse's mouth in order to judge of the
effects of impulsion. It is in this position
that the rider should conduct the horse to
wards the obstacle ; if he come up to it
with the same freedom of pace, a light
opposition of the legs and hand will facili
tate the elevation of the fore-hand, and the
bound of the posterior extremity. As soon
as the horse is raised, the hand ceases its
effect, to be again sustained when the fore
legs touch the ground, so as to prevent them
giving way under the weight of the body.

We should content ourselves with exe
cuting a few leaps in accordance with the
16*

186 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

horse's powers, and above all avoid pushing
bravado to the point of wishing to force the
animal over obstacles that are beyond his
powers. I have known very good leapers
that people have succeeded in thus disgust
ing forever, so that no efforts could induce
them to clear things only half the height of
those that at first they leaped with ease.

Of tlie piaffer* — Until now, horsemen
have maintained that the nature of each
horse permits of only a limited number of
movements, and that, if there are some that
can be brought to execute a piaffer high
and elegant, or low and precipitate, there
are a great number of them to whom this
exercise is forever interdicted. Their con
struction, they say, is opposed to it ; it is,
then, nature that has so willed it ; ought we

* " The piaffer is the horse's raising his legs diagonally
as in the trot, but without advancing or receding/' — Bau-
cher's "Dictionaire d' Equitation ."

OF THE PIAFFER. 187

not to bow before this supreme arbiter and
respect its decrees ?

This opinion is undoubtedly convenient
for justifying its own ignorance, but it
is none the less false. We can bring all
horses topiaffer ; and I will prove that, in this
particularly, without reforming the work of
nature, without deranging the formation of
the bones, or that of the muscles of the
animal, we can remedy the consequences of
his physical imperfections, and change the
vicious disposition occasioned by faulty con
struction. There is no doubt that the horse
whose forces and weight are collected in
one of his extremities will be unfit to exe
cute the elegant cadence of the piaffer.
But a graduated exercise, the completion of
which is the rassembler, soon allows us to
remedy such an inconvenience. We can
now reunite all these forces in their true
centre of gravity, and the horse that bears

188 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

the rassembler perfectly has all the necessary
qualifications for the piaffer.

For the piaffer to be regular and graceful,
it is necessary that the horse's legs, moved
diagonally, rise together, and fall in the
same way, upon the ground, at as long inter
vals as possible. The animal ought not to
bear more upon the hand than upon the
legs of the rider, that his equilibrium may
present the perfection of that balance of
which I have spoken in another place.
When the centre of the forces is thus dis
posed in the middle of the body, and when
the rassembler is perfect, it is sufficient, in
order to induce a commencement of piaffer
to communicate to the horse with the legs a
vibration at first slight, but often repeated.
By vibration, I mean an invigoration of
forces, of which the rider ought always to
be the agent.

After this first result, the horse will be

OF THE PIAFFER. 189

put at a walk, and the rider's legs, gradually
brought close, will give the animal a slight
increase of action. Then, but only then,
the hand will sustain itself in time with the
legs, and at the same intervals; in order tjiat
these two motive powers, acting conjointly,
may keep up a succession of imperceptible
movements, and produce a slight contrac
tion which will spread itself over the whole
body of the horse. This reiterated activity
will give the extremities a motion, which
at the beginning will be far from regular,
since the increase of action that this new
exercise makes necessary will for the moment
break the harmonious uniformity of the
forces. But this general action is necessary
in order to obtain even an irregular mobility ;
for without it the movement would be dis
orderly, and there would be a want of har
mony among the different springs. We
will content ourselves, for the first few days,

190 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

with a commencement of mobility in the
extremities, being careful to stop each time
that the horse raises or puts down his feet,
without advancing them too much, in order
to -caress him, and speak to him, and thus
calm the invigoration that a demand, the
object of which he does not understand,
must cause in him. Nevertheless, these
caresses should be employed with discern
ment, and only when the horse has done
well ; for, if badly applied, they would be
rather injurious than useful. The fit time
for ceasing with the hands and legs is
more important still ; it demands all the
rider's attention.

The mobility of the legs once obtained,
we can commence to regulate it, and fix the
intervals of the cadence. Here again, I seek
in vain to indicate with the pen the degree
of delicacy necessary in the rider's proceed
ings, since his motions ought to be answered

OF THE PIAFFER. 191

by the horse with an exactness and a propos
that is unequalled. It is by the alternated
support of the two legs that he will succeed
in prolonging the lateral balancings of the
horse's body, in such way as to keep him
longer on one side or the other. He will seize
the moment when the horse prepares to rest
his fore-leg on the ground, to make the pres
sure of his own leg felt on the same side,
and add to the inclination of the animal in
the same direction. If this time is well
seized, the horse will balance himself slowly,
and the cadence will acquire that elevation
so fit to bring out all its elegance and all its
majesty. These times of the legs are diffi
cult, and require great practice ; but their
results are too splendid for the rider not to
strive to seize the light variations of them.

The precipitate movement of the rider's
legs accelerates also the piaffer. It is he,
then, who regulates at will the greater or

192 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

less degree of quickness in the cadence.
The performance of the pioffer is not ele
gant and perfect until the horse performs it
without repugnance, which will always be
the case when the forces are kept together,
and the position is suitable to the demands
of the movement. It is urgent, then, to be
well acquainted with the amount of force
necessary for the performance of the piaffer,
so as not to overdo it. We should above all
be careful to keep the horse rassembU, which,
of itself, will induce the movement without
effort.

DIVISION OF THE WORK. 193

VIII.

DIVISION OF THE WORK.

I HAVE developed all the means to be em-
in completing the horse's education ;
it remains for me to say how the horseman
should divide his work, in order to con
nect the different exercises, and pass by de
grees from the simple to the more compli
cated.

Two months of work, consisting of two les
sons a day of a half hour each — that is to
say, one hundred and twenty lessons, will be
amply sufficient to bring the greenest horse
to perform regularly all the preceding exer
cises. I hold that two short lessons a day,
one in the morning, the other in the after
noon, are necessary to obtain good results.

We disgust a young horge by keeping
17

194 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

him too long at exercises that fatigue him;
the more so as his intelligence is less pre
pared to understand what we demand of
him. On the other hand, an interval of
twenty-four hours is too long, in my opinion,
for the animal to remember what he may
have comprehended the day before.

The general work will be divided into
five series or lessons, distributed in the fol
lowing order : —

First lesson. Eight days of icor.Jc — The
first twenty minutes of this lesson will be
devoted to the stationary exercise for the
flexions of the jaw and neck; the rider first
on foot, and then on horseback, will follow
the progression I have previously indicated.
During the last ten minutes, he will make
the horse go forward at a walk, without try
ing to animate him, applying himself all the
while to keeping the animal's head in the
position of ramener. He will content himself

DIVISION OF THE WORK. 195

with executing a single change of hand, in
order to go as well to the right hand as to
the left. The fourth or fifth day, the rider,
before putting his horse in motion, will
make him commence some slight flexions of
the croup.

Second lesson. Ten days of icork. — The
first fifteen minutes will be occupied in the
stationary supplings, comprising the flexions
of the croup, performed more completely
than in the preceding lesson ; then will be
gin the backing. We will devote the other
half of the lesson to moving straight ahead,
once or twice taking the trot at a very
moderate pace. The rider during this
second part of the work, without ceasing
to pay attention to the ramener, will com
mence light oppositions of hand and legs,
in order to prepare the horse to bear the
combined effects, and to give regularity to
his paces. We will also commence the

196 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

changes of direction at a walk, while pre
serving the ramener, and being careful
always to make the head and neck go first.

Third lesson. Twelve days of icork. — Six
or eight minutes only will at first be occu
pied in the stationary flexions; those of the
hind parts should be pushed to the comple
tion of the reversed pirouettes. We will
continue by the backing ; then all the rest
of the lesson will be devoted to perfecting
the walk and the trot, commencing at this
latter pace the changes of direction. The
rider will often stop the horse, and continue
to watch attentively the ramener during the
changes of pace or direction. He will also
commence the exercise de deux pistes at a
walk, as well as the rotation of the shoul
ders around the haunches.

Fourth lesson. Fifteen days of icork. —
After five minutes being devoted to the
stationary supplings, the rider will first re-

DIVISION OF THE WORK. 197

peat all the work of the preceding lessons;
he will commence, with a steady foot, the
attaques* in order to confirm the ramener,
and prepare the r assembler. He will renew
the attaques while in motion, and when the
horse bears them patiently, he will com
mence the gallop. He will content himself
in the commencement with executing four
or five lopes only, before resuming the walk ;
and he will then start again with a different
foot — unless the horse require being exer
cised oftener on one foot than the other.
In passing from the gallop to the walk,
we should watch with care that the horse
resumes this latter pace as quickly as pos
sible, without taking short steps on a trot,
all the while keeping his head and neck
light. He will only be exercised at the
gallop at the end of each lesson.

* The use of the spurs.

17*

198 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

Fifth lesson. Fifteen days of work. — •
These last fifteen days will be occupied in
assuring the perfect execution of all the
preceding work, and in perfecting the pace
of the gallop, until we can easily execute
changes of direction, changes of feet at
every step, and passaging. We may then
exercise the horse at leaping the bar, and at
the piaffer. Thus in two months, and upon
any horse, we will have accomplished a
work that formerly required years, and
then often gave incomplete results. And I
repeat, however insufficient so short a space
of time may appear, it will produce the
effect I promise, if you follow exactly all
my directions. I have demonstrated this
upon a hundred different occasions, and
many of my pupils are able to prove it as
well as myself.

In establishing the above order of work, be
it well understood, that I base my directions

DIVISION OF THE WORK. 199

upon the dispositions of horses in general.
A horseman of any tact will soon understand
the modifications that he ought to make in
their application, according to the particular
nature of his pupil. Such a horse, for ex
ample, will require more or less persistence
in the flexions ; another one in the backing ;
this one, dull and apathetic, will require the
use of the spurs before the time I have indi
cated. All this is an affair of intelligence ;
it would be to insult my readers, not to
suppose them capable of supplying to the
details what it is impossible to particu
larize. You can readily understand that
there are irritable, ill-disposed horses, whose
defective dispositions have been made worse
by previous bad management. With such
subjects it is necessary to put more persist
ence into the supplings and the walk. In
every case, whatever the slight modifica-

200 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

tions, that a difference in the dispositions of
the subjects render necessary, I persist in
saying that there are no horses whose edu
cation ought not to be completed, by my
method, in the space which I designate. I
mean here, that this time is sufficient to give
the forces of the horse the fitness necessary
for executing all the movements ; the finish
of education depends finally on the nicety of
the rider's touch. In fact, my method has
the advantages of recognizing no limits to
the progress of equitation; and there is no
performance, equestrianly possible, that a
horseman, wrho understands properly apply
ing my principles, cannot make his horse
execute. I am about to give a convincing
proof in support of this assertion, by ex
plaining the sixteen new figures of the
manege which I have added to the collec
tion of the old masters.

APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES. 201

IX.

APPLICATION OF THE PRECEDING PRINCIPLES
TO THE PERFORMANCE OF THE HORSES, PAR
TISAN, CAPITAINE, NEPTUNE, AND BURIDAN.

THE persons who systematically denied
the efficacy of my method, should also ne
cessarily deny the results shown to them.
They were forced to acknowledge that my
performance at the Cirque- Olympique was
new and extraordinary ; but they attributed
it to curious causes — some more strange than
others ; all the while insisting that the eques
trian talent of the rider did not go for
nothing in the expertness of the horse.
According to some, I was a second Carter,
accustoming my horses to obedience by de
priving them of sleep and f jod ; according to
others, I bound their legs with cords, and

202 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

thus held them suspended, to prepare them
for a kind of puppet-show ; some were not
far from believing that I fascinated them by
the power of my looks. Finally, a certain
portion of the public, seeing these animals
perform in time to the charming music of
one of my friends, M. Paul Cuzent, insisted
seriously that they undoubtedly possessed,
in a very great degree, the instinct of
melody, and that they would stop short
with the clarionets and trombones. So,
the sound of the music was more powerful
over my horse than I was myself! The
animal obeyed a do or a sol, nicely touched,
but the effects of my legs and hands went
for nothing. Would it be believed that such
nonsense was uttered by people that passed
for riders ? I can comprehend their not
having understood my means at first, since
my method was new; but before judging it
in so strange a manner, they ought, at

APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES. 203

least, it seems to me, to have sought to un
derstand it.

I had found the round of ordinary eques
trian feats too limited ; since it was sufficient
to execute one movement well, to imme
diately practise the others with the same
facility. So, it was proved to me, that the
rider who passed with precision along a
straight line sideways, (de deux pistes) at a
walk, trot, and gallop, could go in the same
way with the head or the croup to the wall,
with the shoulder in, perform the ordinary
or reversed volts, the changes and counter-
changes of hands, &c. £c. As to the piaffer,
it was, as I have said, nature alone that
settled this. This long and fastidious per
formance had no other variations than the
different titles of the movements, since it
was sufficient to vanquish one difficulty to
be able to surmount all the others. I then
created new figures of the manage, the exe-

204 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

cution of which rendered necessary more
suppleness, more ensemble, more finish in
the education of the horse. This was easy
to me, with my system; and to convince my
adversaries that there was neither magic
nor mystery in my performance at the
Cirque, I am about to explain hy what pro
cesses, purely equestrian, and even without
having recourse to piliers, cavessons, or
horsewhips, I have brought my horse to
execute the sixteen figures of the manege
which appear so extraordinary.

1. Instantaneous flexion and support in the
air of either one of the fore legs, while the
other three legs remain fixed to the ground.

The means of making the horse raise
one of his fore legs is very simple, as soon
as the animal is perfectly supple and rassem-
ble. To make him raise, for example, the
right leg, it is sufficient to incline his head
slightly to the right, while making the

MOBILITY OF HAUNCHES. 205

weight of his body fall upon the left side.
The rider's legs will be sustained firmly
(the left a little more than the right), that
the effect of the hand which brings the
head to the right should not react upon the
weight, and that the forces which serve to
fasten to the ground the over-weighted part
may give the horse's right leg enough
action to make it rise from the ground. By
a repetition of this exercise a few times,
you will succeed in keeping this leg in the
air as long a time as you wish.

2. Mobility of the haunches, the horse
resting on his fore legs, while his hind legs
balance themselves alternately, the one over
the oilier : when the hind leg, which is raised
from left to right, is moved, and is placed
on the ground to become pivot in its turn,
the other to be instantly raised and to execute
the same movement.
18

206 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

The simple mobility of the haunches is
one of the exercises that I have pointed out
for the elementary education of the horse.
We can complicate this performance by
multiplying the alternate contact of our
legs, until we succeed in easily carrying the
horse's croup, one leg over the other, in
such a way that the movement from left to
right, and from right to left, cannot exceed
one step. This exercise is good to give
great nicety of touch to the rider, and to
prepare the horse to respond to the lightest
effects.

3. Passing instantly from the slow piaffer
to the precipitate piaffer, and vice versa.

After having brought the horse to dis
play great mobility of the legs, we ought
to regulate the movement of them. It is
by the slow and alternated pressure of his
legs that the rider will obtain the slow piaffer.
IFo will make it precipitate by multiplying

THE PIAFFERS. — BACKING. 207

the contact. Both these piaffers can be ob
tained from all horses; but as this is among
the great difficulties, perfect tact is indispens
able.

4. To lack ivith an equal elevation of
the transverse legs, wliicli leave the ground,
and are placed again upon it, at the same
time; the horse executing the movement icith
as much freedom and facility as if he were
going forward, and without apparent aid
from the rider.

Backing is not new, but it certainly is
new upon the conditions that I lay down.
It is only by the aid of a complete suppling
and ramener that we succeed in so suspend
ing the horse's body that the distribution of
the weight is perfectly regular and the ex
tremities acquire energy and activity alike.
This movement then becomes as easy and
graceful as it is painful, and devoid of

208 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

elegance, when it is changed into accule-
ment.

5. /Simultaneous mobility of the two di
agonal leys, the liorse stationary. After hav
ing raised the two opposite legs, he carries
them to the rear and brings tliem back again
to the place they first occupied, and then recom
mences the same movement with the other
diagonal.

The suppling, and having got the horse
in hand, make this movement easy. When
he no longer presents any resistance, he
appreciates the lightest effects of the rider;
which are intended, in this case, to displace
only the least possible quantity of forces and
weight necessary to set in motion the oppo
site extremities. By repeating this exer
cise, it will in a little while be rendered
familiar to the horse. The finish of the me
chanism will soon give the finish of intel
ligence.

TROTTING. 209

6. Trot ivith a sustained extension; the
horse, after having raised Ids legs, carries
them forward, sustaining them an instant
in the air before replacing them on the
ground.

The processes that form the basis of my
method reproduce themselves in each simple
movement, and with still more reason in
the complicated ones. If equilibrium is
only obtained by lightness, in return, there
is no lightness without equilibrium; it is
by the union of these two conditions that
the horse will acquire the facility of extend
ing his trot to the farthest possible limits,
and will completely change his original gait.

7. Serpentine trot, the horse turning to
the right and the left, and returning nearly to
his starting point, after having made five or
six steps in each direction.

This movement will present no difficulty
if we keep the horse in hand, while exe-
18*

210 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

cuting the flexions of the neck at the walk
and trot; you can readily see that such a
performance is impossible without this con
dition. The rider's leg, opposite to the side
towards which the neck turns, ought always
to be pressed.

8. Instant halt by the aid of the spurs,
the horse being at a gallop.

When the horse, being perfectly suppled,
will properly bear the attaques and the ras-
sembler, he will be fit to execute the halt
upon the above conditions. In the applica
tion of this, we will start with a slow gallop,
and go on successively to the greatest
speed. The legs preceding the hand, will
bring the horse's hind legs under the middle
of his body, then a prompt effect of the
hand, by fixing them in this position, will
immediately stop the bound. By this
means we spare the horse's organization,

CONTINUED MOBILITY. 211

which can thus always be kept free from
blemish.

9. Continued mobility or pawing, ivhile
stationary, of one of the horse's fore legs;
the horse, at the riders will, executing the
movement l>y which he, of his own accord,
often manifests his impatience.

This movement will be obtained by the
same process that serves to keep the horse's
leg in the air. In the latter case, the rider's
legs must impress a continued support, in
order that the force which holds the horse's
leg raised keep up its effect; while, for the
movement now in question, we must renew
the action by a quantity of slight pressures,
in order to cause the motion of the leg held
up in the air. This extremity of the horse
will soon acquire a movement subordinate
to that of the rider's legs, and if the time be
well seized, it will seem, so to say, that we

212 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

make the animal move by the aid of me
chanical means.

10. To trot backioards, tlie horse preserv
ing the same cadence and the same step as
in the trot forwards.

The first condition, in order to obtain the
trot backwards, is to keep the horse in a
perfect cadence, and as rassemble as possible :
the second, is all in the proceedings of the
rider. He ought to seek insensibly, by the
combined effects, to make the forces of the
fore hand exceed those of the hind parts,
without affecting the harmony of the move
ment. Thus we see that by the rassembler,
we will successively obtain the piaffer sta
tionary, and the piaffer backwards, even
without the aid of the reins.

11. To gallop backwards, the time being
the same as in the ordinary gallop; but the
fore legs once raised, in place of coming to
the ground, are carried backwards, that the

THE BACKWARD TROT. 213

hind 2^arts may execute the same backward
movement as soon as the fore feet are placed
on the ground.

The principle is the same as for the pre
ceding performance; with a perfect rassem-
bler, the hind legs will find themselves so
brought under the centre, that, by raising
the fore hand, the movement of the hocks
can only be an upward one. This perform
ance, though easily executed with a power
ful horse, ought not to be attempted with
one not possessing this quality.

12. Changing feet every step, each time
of the gallop being done on a different leg.

In order to practise this difficult perform
ance, the horse ought to be accustomed to
execute perfectly, and as frequently as pos
sible, changing feet at the touch. Before
attempting these changes of feet every step,
we should have brought him to execute this
movement at every other step. Every-

214 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

thing depends upon his aptness, and above
all, on the intelligence of the rider; with
this latter quality, there is no obstacle that
is not to be surmounted. To execute this
performance with the desirable degree of
precision, the horse should remain light, and
preserve the same degree of action ; the
rider, on his part, should also avoid roughly
inclining the horse's fore hand to one side or
the other.

13. Ordinary pirouettes on three legs, the
fore leg on the side towards which we are
turning remaining in the air during the whole
time of the movement.

Ordinary pirouettes should be familiar to
a horse broken after my method, and I have
above shown the means to make him hold
up one of his fore feet. If these two move
ments are well executed separately, it will
be easy to connect them in a single perform
ance. After having disposed the horse for

TO BACK WITH A HALT. 215

the pirouette, we will prepare the mass in
such a way as to raise the fore leg ; this
once in the air, we will throw the weight
on the part opposite to the side towards
which we wish to turn, by bearing upon
this part with the hand and leg. The leg
of the rider placed on the converging side,
will only act during this time so as to carry
the forces forward, in order to prevent the
hand producing a retrograde effect.

14. To back with a halt at each step, the
right leg of the horse remaining in front,
motionless, and held out at the full distance
which the left leg has passed over, and vice
versa.

This movement depends upon the nicety
of touch of the rider, as it results from
an effect of forces impossible to specify.
Though this performance is not very grace
ful, the experienced rider will do well to
practise it often, in order to learn to modifv

216 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

the effects of forces, and acquire all the
niceties of his art in perfection.

15. Regular piaffer with an instant halt
on three legs, the fourth remaining in the air.

Here, also, as for the ordinary pirouettes
upon three legs, it is by exercising the
piaffer and the flexion of one leg separately,
that we will succeed in uniting the two
movements in one. We will interrupt the
piaffer by arresting the contraction of three
of the legs so as to leave it in one only. It
is sufficient, then, in order to accustom the
horse to this performance, to stop him while
he is piaffing, by forcing him to contract one
of his legs.

16. Change of feet every time, at equal
intervals , the horse remaining in the same
place.

This movement is obtained by the same
proceedings as are employed for changing
feet every time while advancing, only it is

CHANGE OF FEET. 217

much more complicated ; since we must give
an exact impulsion, sufficiently strong to
determine the movement of the legs, with
out the body advancing. This movement
consequently demands a great deal of tact
on the rider's part, and cannot be practised
except upon a perfectly broken horse, —
broken as I understand it.

Such is the vocabulary of the new figures
of the manege which I have created, and
have so often executed before the public.
As you see, this performance, which ap
peared so extraordinary that people would
not believe that it belonged to equestrianism,
becomes very simple and comprehensible, as
soon as you have sudied the principles of
my method. There is not one of these
movements in which is not discovered the
application of the precepts which I have
developed in this book.

But, I repeat, if I have enriched equita-
19

218 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

tion with a new and interesting work, I do
not pretend to have attained the farthest
limits of the art; and one may come after
me, who, if he will study my system, and
practise it with intelligence, will be able to
pass me on the course, and add something
more to the results which I have obtained.

EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD. 219

X.

SUCCINCT EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD BY
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

Question. What do you understand by
force ?

Answer. The motive power which results
from muscular contraction.

Q. What do you understand by instinctive
forces ?

A. Those which come from the horse ; —
that is to say, of which he himself deter
mines the employment.

Q. What do you understand by trans
mitted forces ?

A. Those which emanate from the rider,
and are immediately appreciated by the
horse.

220 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

Q. What do you understand by resist
ances ?

A. The forces which the horse presents,
and with which he seeks to establish a
struggle to his advantage.

Q. Ought we first set to work to annul
the forces which the horse presents for re
sistance, before demanding any other move
ments from him ?

A. Without doubt ; for unless we do so,
the force of the rider, which should displace
the weight of the mass, finding itself ab
sorbed by an equivalent resistance, every
movement becomes impossible.

Q. By what means can we combat the
resistances ?

A. By the methodical and separate sup
pling of the jaw, the neck, the haunches,
and the loins.

Q. What is the use of the flexions of the
jaw ?

EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD. 221

A. As it is upon the lower jaw that the
effects of the rider's hand are first felt, these
will be null or incomplete if the jaw be
contracted or closed against the upper one.
Besides, as in this case the displacing of the
horse's body is only obtained with difficulty,
the movements resulting therefrom will also
be painful.

Q. Is it enough that the horse champ his
bit, during the flexion of the jaw, to leave
nothing more to w^ish for ?

A. No, it is also necessary that the horse
let go of the bit; — that is to say, that he should
separate his jaws (at our will) as much as
possible.

Q. Can all horses have this mobility of
jaw?

A. All, without exception, if we follow

the gradation pointed out, and if the rider

do not allow himself to be deceived by the

flexion of the neck. Useful as this is, it

19*

222 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

would be insufficient without the play of
the jaw.

Q. In the direct flexion of the jaw, ought
we to give a tension to the curb-reins and
those of the snaffle at the same time :

A. No, we must use the snaffle first (the
hand being placed as indicated in Plate No.
3), until the head and neck are lowered ;
afterwards the pressure of the bit, in time
with the snaffle, will promptly make the
jaws open.

Q. Ought we often to repeat this exer
cise?

A. It should be continued, until the jaws
separate by a light pressure of the bit or
the snaffle.

Q. Why is the stiffness of the neck so
powerful an obstacle to the education of the
horse ?

A. Because it absorbs, to its profit, the

EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD. 223

force which the rider seeks in vain to trans
mit throughout the whole mass.

Q. Can the haunches be suppled sepa
rately ?

A. Certainly they can ; and this exercise
is comprised in what is called stationary
exercise.

Q. What is its useful object ?

A. To prevent the bad effects resulting
from the instinctive forces of the horse, and
to make him appreciate the forces transmit
ted by the rider, without opposing them.

Q. Can the horse execute a movement
without a shifting of weight ?

A. It is impossible. We must first seek
to make the horse take a position which
causes such a variation in his equilibrium,
that the movement may be a natural conse
quence.

Q. What do you understand by position?

A. An arrangement of the head, neck, and

224 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

body, previously disposed according to the
movements of the horse.

Q. In what consists the ramener?

A. In the perpendicular position of the
head, and the lightness that accompanies it.

Q. What is the distribution of the forces
and weight in the ramener?

A. The forces and weight are equally dis
tributed through all the mass.

Q. How do we address the intelligence of
the horse ?

A. By the position, because it is that
which makes the horse understand the
rider's intentions.

Q. Why is it necessary that, in the back
ward movements of the horse, the legs of
the rider precede the hand ?

A. Because we must displace the points
of support, before placing upon them the
mass which they are to sustain.

EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD. 225

Q. Is it the rider that determines his
horse ?

A. No. The rider gives action and posi
tion, which are the language ; the horse
answers this demand, by such a change of
pace or direction as the rider intended.

Q. Is it to the rider or to the horse that
we ought to impute the fault of bad execu
tion ?

A. To the rider, and always to the rider.
As it depends upon him to supple and place
the horse in the way of the movement ; and
as, with these two conditions faithfully
fulfilled, everything becomes regular, it is
therefore to the rider that the merit or blame
should belong.

Q. What kind of bit is suitable for a
horse ?

A. An easy bit.

Q. Why is an easy bit necessary for all
horses, whatever may be their resistance ?

226 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

A. Because the effect of a severe bit is to
constrain and surprise a horse, when it
should only prevent him from doing wrong,
and enable him do well. Now, we cannot
obtain these results except by the aid of an
easy bit, and above all of a skillful hand ;
for the bit and the hand are as one, and a
good hand is the perfection of a rider.

Q. Are there any other inconveniences
connected with the instruments of torture
called severe bits ?

A. Certainly there are ; for the horse soon
learns to avoid their painful inflictions,
by forcing the rider's legs, the power of
which can never be equal to that of a
barbarous bit. He succeeds in this by
yielding with his body, and resisting with
his neck and jaw ; so that we miss altogether
our proposed aim.

Q. How is it that nearly all the horse-

EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD. 227

men of renown have invented a particular
kind of bit ?

A. Because, wanting in personal science,
they sought to replace their own insuffi
ciency by aids or strange machines.

Q. Can the horse, perfectly in hand, de
fend himself?

A. No ; for the just distribution of weight,
which this position gives, supposes a great
regularity of movement, and it would be
necessary to overturn this order, before any
act of rebellion, on the part of the horse,
could take place.

Q. What is the use of the snaffle ?

A. The snaffle serves to combat the oppos
ing lateral forces of the neck, and to make
the head precede, in all the changes of direc
tion, while the horse is not yet familiarized
with the effects of the bit ; it serves also to
arrange the head and neck in a perfectly
straight line.

228 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

Q. In order to obtain the ramener, should
we make the legs precede the hand, or the
hand the legs ?

A. The hands ought to precede, until
they have produced the effect of giving
great suppleness to the neck — (this ought to
be practised in the stationary exercises) ;
then come the legs, in their turn, to combine
the hind and fore parts in the movement.
The continual lightness of the horse at all
paces will be the result of it.

Q. Ought the legs and the hands to aid
one another, or act separately ?

A. One of these extremities ought always
to have the other for auxiliary. '

Q. Ought we to leave the horse a long
time at the same pace in order to develop
his powers ?

A. It is useless, since regularity of
movement results from regularity of position.
The horse that makes fifty steps at a trot,

EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD. 229

regularly, is much further advanced in his
education than if he made a thousand in a
bad position. We must then attend to his
position, that is to say his lightness.

Q. In what proportions ought we to use
the force of the horse ?

A. This cannot be defined, since these
forces vary in different subjects; but we
should'be sparing of them, and not expend
them without circumspection, particularly
during the course of his education. It is
on this account that we must, so to say,
create for them a reservoir ; that the horse
may not absorb them uselessly, and that the
rider may make a profitable and more last
ing use of them.

Q. What good will result to the horse
from this judicious employment of his forces ?

A. As we will only make use of forces
useful for certain movements, fatigue or ex-
20

230 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

haustion can only result from the length of
time during which the animal will remain
at an accelerated pace ; and will not be the
effect of an excessive muscular contraction,
which would preserve its intensity even at
a moderate pace.

Q. When should we first undertake to
make the horse back ?

A. After the suppling of the ne'ck and
haunches.

Q. Why should the suppling of the
haunches precede that of the loins (the
reculer) ?

A. To keep the horse more easily in a
straight line, and to render the flowing,
backward and forward, of the weight more
easy.

Q. Ought these first retrograde move
ments of the horse to be prolonged during
the first lessons ?

A. No. As their only object is to annul

EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD. 231

the instinctive forces of the horse, we must
wait till he is perfectly in hand, to obtain a
backward movement, a true reculer.

Q. What constitutes a true reculer ?

A. The lightness of the horse (head per
pendicular), the exact balance of his body,
and the equal elevation of the legs diago
nally.

Q. At what distance ought the spur to
be placed from the horse's flanks before the
attaque commences?

A. The rowel should not be farther than
two inches from the horse's flanks.

Q. How ought the attaques to be practiced ?

A. They ought to reach the flanks by a
movement like the stroke of a lancet, and
be taken away as quickly.

Q. Are there circumstances where the
attaque ought to be practiced, without the
aid of the hand ?

A. Never; since its only object should be

232 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

to give the impulsion which gives the hand
an opportunity to contain (renfermer) the
horse.

Q. Is it the attacks themselves that chas
tise the horse ?

A. No. The chastisement is in the con
tained position which the attaques and the
hand compel the horse to assume. As the
animal then finds himself in a position where
it is impossible to make use of any of his
forces, the chastisement has all its efficiency.

Q. In what consists the difference be
tween the attaqucs, practiced after the old
principles, and those which the new method
prescribes ?

A. Our predecessors (whom we should
venerate) practiced spurring in order to
throw the horse out of himself; the new
method makes use of it to contain him
within himself — that is, to give him that

EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD. 233

first position which is the mother of all the
others.

Q. What are the functions of the legs
during the attaques ?

A. The legs ought to remain adherent to
the horse's flanks, and in no respect to par
take of the movements of the feet.

Q. At what moment ought we to com
mence the attaques ?

A. When the horse supports peaceably a
strong pressure of the legs, without getting
out of hand.

Q. Why does a horse, perfectly in hand,
bear the spur without becoming excited, and
even without sudden movement ?

A. Because the skillful hand of the rider,
having prevented all displacings of the head,
never lets the forces escape outwards, but
concentrates them by fixing them within the
mass. The equal struggle of the forces, or
if you prefer it, their ensemble, sufficiently
20*

234 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

explains the apparent dullness of the horse in
this case.

Q. Is it not to be feared that the horse
may become insensible to the legs, and lose
all that activity necessary for accelerated
movements ?

A. Although this is the opinion of nearly
all the people who talk of this method, with
out understanding it, there is nothing in
what they say. Since all these means serve
only to keep the horse in the most perfect
equilibrium, promptness of movement ought
necessarily to be the result of it ; and, con
sequently, the horse will be disposed to re
spond to the progressive contact of the legs,
when the hand does not oppose it.

Q. How can we judge whether an attaque
is regular?

A. When, far from making the horse get
out of hand, it makes him come in to it.

Q. How ought the hand to be supported,

EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD. 235

at moments of resistance on the part of the
horse ?

A. The hand ought to stop, fix itself, and
only be drawn sufficiently towards the body
to give the reins a three quarter tension.
In the contrary case, we must wait till the
horse bears upon the hand, to present this
insurmountable barrier to him.

Q. What would be the inconvenience of
increasing the pressure of the bit, by draw
ing the hand towards the body, in order to
slacken the horse's paces by getting him in
hand?

A. It would not produce an effect upon
a particular part, but would act generally
upon all the forces, displacing the weight
instead of annulling the force of impulsion.
We should not wish to unsettle that which
we cannot stop.

Q. In what case ought we to make use of
the cavesson ; and what is its use ?

236 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

A. We should make use of it if the faulty
construction of the horse lead him to defend
himself, when only simple movements are
demanded of him. It is also useful to use
the cavesson with restive horses ; as its ob
ject is to act upon the moral, while the rider
acts upon the physical.

Q. How ought we to make use of the
cavesson ?

A. At first, the longe of the cavesson
should be grasped within fifteen or twenty
inches of the horse's head, and it should be
held out and supported with a stiff wrist.
We must watch the proper times to diminish
or increase the bearing of the cavesson upon
the horse's nose, so as to use it as an aid.
All viciousness is to be repressed by little
jerks, which should be given at the very
moment of defence. As soon as the rider's
movements begin to be appreciated by the
horse, the longe of the cavesson should no

EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD. 237

longer act ; and at the end of a few days, the
horse will only need the bit, to which he
will respond without hesitation.

Q. In what case is the rider less intelli
gent than the horse ?

A. When the latter subjects him to his
caprices, and does what he wishes with him.

Q. Are the defences of the horse physical
or moral ?

A. At first they are physical, but after
wards become moral ; the rider ought then
to seek out the causes that produce them,
and endeavor, by a preparatory exercise, to
re-establish the correct equilibrium that bad
natural formation prevented.

Q. Can the naturally well-balanced horse
defend himself?

A. It would be as difficult for a subject,
uniting all that constitutes a good horse, to
give himself up to disorderly movements, as
it is impossible for the one, that has not re-

238 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

ceived the like gifts from nature, to have
regular movements, if art did not lend him
its aid.

Q. What do you mean by r assembler ?

A. The reunion of forces at the centre of
gravity.

Q. Can we rassembler the horse that does
not contain himself under the attaques ?

A. This is altogether impossible ; the legs
would be insufficient to counterbalance the
effects of the hand.

Q. At what time ought we to rassembler
the horse ?

A. When the ramener is complete.

Q. Of what service is the rassembler?

A. To obtain without difficulty everything
of a complicated nature in horsemanship.

Q. In what does the piaffer consist ?

A. In the graceful position of the body
and the harmonized precision of movements
in the legs and feet.

EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD. 239

Q. Is there more than one kind of
piaffer ?

A. Two ; the slow and the precipitate.

Q. Which is to be preferred of these two ?

A. The slow piaffer, since it is only when
this is obtained that the equilibrium is per
fect.

Q. Ought we make a horse piaffe that
will not bear the rassembler ?

A. No ; for that would be to step out of
the logical gradation that alone can give
certain results. Besides, the horse that has
not been brought forward by this chain of
principles, would only execute with trouble
and ungracefulness what we ought to accom
plish with pleasure and dignity.

Q. Are all riders alike suited to conquer
all the difficulties, and seize all the effects of
touch ?

A. As intelligence is the starting point, for
obtaining every result in horsemanship, all

240 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

things are subordinate to this innate disposi
tion ; but every rider will have the power to
break his horse to an extent commensurate
with his own abilities to instruct.

CONCLUSION. 241

CONCLUSION.

EVERYBODY complains now-a-days of the
degeneration of our breeds of horses. Ap
prehensive too late of a state of things which
threatens even the national independence,*
patriotic spirits are seeking to go back to
the source of the evil, and are arranging
divers systems for remedying it as soon as
possible. Among the causes which have
contributed the most to the loss of our old
breeds, they forget, it seems to me, to men
tion the decline of horsemanship; nor do
they consider that the revival of this art is
indispensable in bringing about the regenera
tion of the horse.

* Much in this chapter, though written for France,
applies with great appropriateness to our own country.
— TRANSLATOR.

21

242 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

The difficulties of horsemanship have
long been the same ; but formerly constant
practice, if not taste, kept it up. This
stimulant exists no longer. Fifty years ago,
every man of rank was expected to be able
to handle a horse with skill, and break one
if necessary. This study was an indispens
able part of the education of young people
of family ; and as it obliged them to devote
two or three years to the rough exercises of
the manage, in the end, they all became
horsemen — some by taste, the rest by habit.
These habits once acquired were preserved
throughout life ; they then felt the necessity
of possessing good horses, and being men of
fortune spared nothing in getting them.
The sale of fine horses thus became easy;
. all gained by it, the breeder as well as the
horse. It is not so now : the aristocracy
of fortune, succeeding to that of birth, is
very willing to possess the advantages of

CONCLUSION. 243

the latter, but would dispense with the
onerous obligations which appertained to an
elevated rank. The desire of showing off
in public places, or motives still more frivo
lous, sometimes lead gentlemen of our times
to commence the study of horsemanship;
but soon wearied of a work without satisfac
tory results, they find only a monotonous
fatigue where they sought a pleasure, and
are satisfied that they know enough, as soon
as they can stick passably well in the saddle.
So insufficient a knowledge of horsemanship,
as dangerous as it is thoughtless, must neces
sarily occasion sad accidents. They then
become disgusted with horsemanship and
horses ; and as nothing obliges them to con
tinue the exercise, they give it up nearly
altogether — and so much the more easily, as
they naturally care very little about the
breeds of horses and their perfection. We
must then, as a preliminary measure in the

244 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

improvement of horses, raise up horseman
ship from the low state into which it has
fallen. The government can undoubtedly
do much here ; but it is for the masters of
the art to supply, if necessary, what it leaves
undone. Let them render attractive, and to
the purpose, studies which have hitherto
been too monotonous and often barren; let
rational and true principles make the
scholar see a real progress, and that each of
his efforts brings a success with it. We
will then soon see young persons of fortune
become passionately fond of an exercise,
which has been rendered as interesting to
them as it is noble; and discover, with their
love for horses, a lively solicitude for all
that concerns their qualities and education.
But horsemen can aim at still more bril
liant results. If they succeed in rendering
easy the education of common horses, they
will make the study of horsemanship popu-

CONCLUSION. 245

lar among the masses ; they will put within
reach of moderate fortunes — so numerous in
our land of equality — the practice of an art
that has hitherto been confined to the rich.
Such has been the aim of the labors of my
whole life. It is in the hope of attaining
this end, that I give to the public the fruit
of my long researches.

But I should say, however, that if I was
upheld by the hope of being one day useful
to my country, it was the army, above all,
that occupied my thoughts. Though count
ing many skillful horsemen in its ranks, the
system which they are made to follow — an
impotent one in my eyes — is the true cause
of the equestrian inferiority of so many, as
well as of their horses being so awkward and
badly broken. I might add, that to the same
motive is to be attributed the little taste for
horsemanship felt by the officers and soldiers.
How can it be otherwise ? The low price
21*

246 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

allowed by government for horses of re
mount, causes few horses of good shape to
be met with in the army, and it is with such
only that education is easy. The officers
themselves, mounted upon a very com
mon sort of horses, strive in vain to render
them docile and agreeable. After two or
three years of fatiguing exercise, they end
by gaining a mechanical obedience, but the
same resistances and the same faults of con
struction, are perpetually recurring. Dis
gusted by difficulties that appear insur
mountable, they trouble themselves no more
about horses and horsemanship than the
demands of the service actually require.

Yet it is indispensable that a cavalry
officer be always master of his horse, so
much so as to be able, so to say, to com
municate his own thoughts to him : the uni
formity of manoeuvres, the necessities of
command, the perils of the battle-field, all

CONCLUSION. 247

demand it imperatively. The life of the
rider, every one knows, often depends upon
the good or bad disposition of his steed; in
the same way, the loss or the gain of a battle
often hangs on the degree of precision with
which a squadron is manoeuvred. My
method will give military men a taste for
horsemanship, a taste which is indispensable
in the profession they practice. The nature
of officers' horses, considered as so defective,
is exactly the one upon which the most
satisfactory results may be obtained. These
animals generally possess a certain degree of
energy, and as soon as we know how rightly
to use their powers, by remedying the
physical faults that paralyze them, we will
be astonished at the resources which they
will exhibit. The rider fashioning the steed,
by degrees, will regard him as the work of
his hand, will become sincerely attached to
him, and will find as much charm in horse-

248 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

manship as he previously felt ennui and dis
gust. My principles are simple, easy in their
application, and within the reach of every
mind. They can everywhere make (what
is now so rare) skillful horsemen. I am
sure that if my method is adopted and well
understood in the army, where the daily ex
ercise of the horse is a necessary duty, we
will see equestrian capacities spring up
among the officers and sub-officers by thou
sands. There is not one among them who,
with the study of an hour a-day, would not
be able to give any horse the following quali
ties and education in less than three
months : —

1. General suppling.

2. Perfect lightness.

3. Graceful position.

4. A steady walk.

5. A trot, steady, measured, and extended.

6. Backing, as easily and as freely as
going forward.

CONCLUSION. 249

7. A gallop, easy with either foot, and
change of foot by the touch.

8. Easy and regular movement of the
haunches, comprising ordinary and reversed
pirouettes.

9. Leaping the ditch and the bar.

10. Piaffer.

11. Halt from the gallop, first by the aid
of the pressure of the legs, and then by a
light support of the hand. I ask all con
scientious men, have they seen many horse
men of renown obtain similar results in so
short a time ?

The education of the men's horses, being
less complicated than that of those intended
for officers, would on that account be more
rapid. The principal things will be the
supplings and the backing, followed by the
walk, the trot, and the gallop, while keeping
the horse perfectly in hand. The colonels
will soon appreciate the excellent results of

250 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

this exercise, in consequence of the pre
cision with which all the movements are
made. The important flexions of the fore
hand can be executed, without leaving the
stables, by each rider turning his horse round
in the stall. It is not for me to point out to
the colonels of regiments the exact way of
putting my method in practice ; it is enough
for me to lay down my principles, and to
explain them. The instructors will them
selves supply the details of application, too
long to enumerate here.

I must again repeat that this book is the
fruit of twenty years' observation, constantly
verified by practice. A long and painful
work, without doubt, but such compensation
as may be found in the results, I have been
happy enough to obtain. In order to let
the public judge of the importance of my
discoveries, it is sufficient here to give their
nomenclature; and I present these processes

CONCLUSION". 251

as new ones, because I can conscientiously
say that they never were practiced before
me. I have added then successively to the
manual of the horseman the following prin
ciples and innovations : —

1. New means of obtaining a good seat.

2. Means of making the horse come to
the man, and rendering him steady to
mount.

3. Distinction between the instinctive
forces of the horse and the communicated
forces.

4. Explanation of the influence of a bad
formation upon the horse's resistances.

5. Effect of bad formations on the neck
and croup, the principal focuses of resist
ance.

6. Means of remedying the faults, or sup-
plings, of the two extremities and the whole
of the horse's body.

7. Annihilation of the instinctive forces

252 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

of the horse, in order to substitute for them
forces transmitted by the rider, and to give
ease and beauty of motion to the ungraceful
animal.

8. Equal sensibility of mouth in all
horses; adoption of a uniform bit.

9. Equal sensibility of the flanks in all
horses ; means of accustoming them all to
bear the spur alike.

10. All horses can place their heads in
the position of ramener and acquire the
same lightness.

11. Means of bringing the centre of gra
vity in a badly formed horse to the. place it
occupies in a well-formed one.

12. The rider disposes his horse for a
movement, but he does not determine the
movement.

13. Why sound horses often are faulty in
their paces. Means of remedying this in a
few lessons.

CONCLUSION. 253

14. For changes of direction, the use of the
leg opposite to the side towards which we
turn, so that it may precede the other one.

15. In all backward movements of the
horse, the rider's legs should precede the
hands.

16. Distinction between the reculer and
the acculement ; the good effect of the
former in the horse's education; the bad
effects of the latter.

17. The use of the spurs as a means of
education.

18. All horses can piaffer ; means of
rendering this movement slow or precipi
tate.

19. Definition of the true rassemller ;
means of obtaining it ; of its usefulness, to
produce grace and regularity, in complicated
movements.

20. Means of bringing all horses to step
out freely at a trot.

99

254 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP.

21. Rational means of putting a horse at
a gallop.

22. Halt at a gallop, the legs or the spur
preceding the hand.

23. Force continued in proportion to the
forces of the horse ; the rider should never
yield until after having annulled the horse's
resistances.

24. Education of the horse in parts, or
means of exercising his forces separately.

25. Complete education of horses of ordi
nary formation in less than three months.

26. Sixteen new figures of the manage,
proper for giving the finishing touch to the
horse's education, and for perfecting the
rider's touch.

It is to be understood that all the details
of application, appertaining to these innova
tions, are new, and likewise belong to me.

THE END.

EC'D

DECEIVED BY

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