A New System of Horsemanship

The Chambriere is used as a Correction, it ought however to be used with Discretion; we will suppose it to be in able Hands, and forbear to say more about it. As for the Switch, it is so seldom made use of to punish a Horse, that I shall not speak of it, till I come to treat of the Aids.

By what has been said of Corrections, it is apparent, that the Horseman works not only upon the Horse's Understanding, but even upon his Sense of Feeling.

A Horse has three Senses upon which we may work, Hearing, Feeling and Seeing. The Touch is that Sense, by which we are enabled to make him very quick and delicate, and when he is once brought to understand the Aids which operate upon this Sense, he will be able to answer to all that you can put him to.

Though the Senses of Hearing and Sight are good in themselves, they are yet apt to give a Horse a Habit of Working by Rote and of himself, which is bad and dangerous. The Aids which are employed upon the Touch or Feeling, are those of the Legs, of the Hand, and of the Switch. Those which influence the Sight, proceed from the Switch; those which affect the Sight and Hearing both, are derived from the Switch and the Horseman's Tongue.

The Switch ought neither to be long nor short, from three to four Feet or thereabouts is a sufficient Length; you can give your Aids more gracefully with a short than a long one. In a Manage, it is generally held on the contrary Hand to which the Horse is going; or else it is held up high at every Change of Hand: By holding the Switch, the Horseman learns to carry his Sword in his Hand with Ease and Grace, and to manage his Horse without being encumber'd by it. To aid with the Switch, you must hold it in your Hand, in such a manner that the Point of it be turned towards the Horse's Croupe, this is the most convenient and easy Manner; that of aiding with it, not over the Shoulder, but over the Bending of your Arm, by removing your left Arm from your Body, and keeping it a little bent, so as to make the End of the Switch fall upon the Middle of the Horse's Back, is very difficult to execute.

Shaking the Switch backward and forward to animate the Horse with the Sound, is a graceful Aid; but till a Horse is accustom'd to it, it is apt to drive him forward too much.

In case your Horse is too light and nimble with his Croupe, you must aid before only with the Switch; if he bends or sinks his Croupe, or tosses it about without kicking out, you must aid just at the Setting on of the Tail. – If you would have him make Croupades, give him the Switch a little above the Hocks.

To aid with your Tongue, you must turn it upward against the Palate of the Mouth, shut your Teeth, and then remove it from your Palate; the Noise it makes is admirable to encourage a Horse, to quicken and put him together; but you must not use it continually, for so, instead of animating your Horse, it would serve only to lull him. – There are People who when they work their Horses, whistle and make use of their Voices; these Aids are ridiculous, we should leave these Habits to Grooms and Coachmen, and know that Crys and Threats are useless. – The Sense of hearing can serve at the most only to confound and surprize a Horse, and you will never give him Exactness and Sensibility by surprizing him. – The same may be said of the Sight; whatever strikes this Sense, operates likewise upon the Memory, and this Method seldom produces a good Effect; for you ought to know how important it is to vary the Order of your Lessons, and the Places where you give them; since it is certain, that a Horse who is always work'd in the same Place, works by rote, and attends no longer to the Aids of the Hand and Heels. – It is the same with hot and angry Horses, whose Memory is so exact, and who are so ready to be disorder'd and put out of Humour, that if the least thing comes in their Way during their Lesson, they no longer think of what they were about: The way of dealing with these Horses, is to work them with Lunettes on their Eyes; but it must be remembered, that this Method would be dangerous with Horses which are very impatient, hot, and averse to all Subjection, and so sensible to the Aids, as to grow desperate to such a degree, as to break through all Restraint, and run away headlong; it is therefore unsafe with these Horses, because they could not be more blinded even with the Lunettes, than they are when possessed with this Madness, which so blinds them, that they no longer fear the most apparent Dangers.

Having said thus much of the Aids which operate upon the Touch, Hearing and Sight, we must now confine ourselves to discourse upon those, which regard the Touch only; for as it has been already said, these only are the Aids by which a Horse can be drest, because it is only by the Hand and Heel that he can be adjusted.

The Horseman's Legs, by being kept near the Horse's Sides, serve not only to embellish his Seat, but without keeping them in this Posture, he never will be able to give his Aids justly. – To explain this: If the Motion of my Leg is made at a distance from the Horse, it is rather a Correction than an Aid, and alarms and disorders the Horse; on the contrary, if my Leg is near the Part that is most sensible, the Horse may be aided, advertised of his Fault, and even punished, in much less time, and consequently by this means kept in a much greater Degree of Obedience. – The Legs furnish us with four Sorts of Aids, the Inside of the Knees, the Calfs, pinching delicately with the Spurs, and pressing strongly upon the Stirrups. The essential Article in dressing a Horse, is to make known the Gradation of these several Aids, which I will explain. The Aid of the Inside of the Knees is given, by closing and squeezing your Knees, in such a manner, that you feel them press and grasp your Horse extremely. You aid with the Calfs of your Legs, by bending your Knees, so as to bring your Calfs so close as to touch the Horse with them.

The Aid of Pinching with the Spurs, is performed in the same manner, by bending your Knees, and touching with the Spurs the Hair of the Horse, without piercing the Skin. The last Aid, which is only proper for very sensible and delicate Horses, consists in stretching down your Legs, and pressing firm upon the Stirrups.

The strongest Aid is that of pinching with the Spur; the next in degree, is applying the Calf of the Leg; pressing with the Knees is the third, and leaning upon the Stirrup is the last and least; but if these Aids are given injudiciously, they will have no Effect. They must accompany and keep Pace with the Hand; for it is the just Correspondence between the Heel and Hand, in which the Truth and Delicacy of the Art consists; and without this Agreement there can be no riding.

It is the Foundation of all Justness; it constitutes and directs the Cadence, Measure and Harmony of all the Airs; it is the Soul of Delicacy, Brilliancy and Truth in riding; and as a Person who plays upon a musical Instrument adapts and suits his two Hands equally to the Instrument, so the Man who works a Horse ought to make his Hands and Legs accord exactly together. I say his Hands and Legs should accord and answer one to the other with the strictest Exactness, because the nicest and most subtle Effects of the Bridle proceed entirely from this Agreement; and however fine and nice a Touch a Horseman may be endued with, if the Times of aiding with the Legs are broken and imperfect, he never can have a good Hand; because it is evident that a good Hand is not the Offspring only of a firm and good Seat, but owing likewise to the Proportion and Harmony of all the Aids together. I understand by the Harmony and Agreement of the Aids, the Art of knowing how to seize the Moment in which they are to be given, and of giving them equally and in a due Degree, as well as of measuring and comparing the Action of the Hand and Legs together; by which both these Parts being made to act together, and in time, will create and call out, as it were, those Cadences and Equalities of Time, of which the finest Airs are compos'd; Measures and Cadences which it is not possible to describe, but which every Horseman ought to comprehend, attend to, and feel. If I want to make my Horse go forward, I yield my Hand to him, and at the same time close my Legs; the Hand ceasing to confine, and the Legs driving on his hinder Parts, the Horse obeys. I have a mind to stop him, I hold him in, and approach my Legs to his Sides gently, in order to proportion my Aids to what I ask him to do; for I would not have it felt more than just to make him stop upon his Haunches.

I want to turn him to the Left, I carry my Hand to the Left, and support him at the same time; that is to say, I approach my Left-leg, my Hand then guides the Horse to the Left, and my Leg, which operates at the same time, helps him to turn; because by driving his Croupe to the Right, his Shoulder is enabled to turn with more Ease. I want to go to the Right, I carry my Hand to the Right, and I support him with my Right-hand, my Leg determining his Croupe to the Left, facilitates the Action of the Shoulder which my Hand had turned to the Right.

I would make a Change to the Right, my Left-rein directs the Horse, and my Left-leg at the same time confines his Croupe, so that it can't escape, but must follow the Shoulders. – I would change Hands again to the Left, my Right-rein then guides the Horse, and my Right-leg does just the same as my Left-leg did in going to the Right. – I undertake to work the Shoulder and Croupe at the same time; for this Purpose I carry my Hand out. – The inner Rein acts, and the outward Leg of the Horse is press'd, either by this Rein, or by my outward Leg, so that the outward Rein operates upon the Shoulder, and the inner Rein with my outward Leg directs the Croupe. – I put my Horse to Curvets. – I aid him with my outward Rein, and if he is not enough upon his Haunches, my Legs, accompanied with the inner Rein, aid me to put him more upon them; if he turns his Croupe out, I aid and support him with my outward Leg; if he flings it in too much, I confine him with my inner Leg.

I put him to make Curvets sideways, my outward Rein brings his outward Shoulder in, because the outward Shoulder being brought in, his Croupe is left at liberty; but if I have occasion I use my inner Rein, and if his Croupe is not sufficiently confin'd, I support it with my outward Leg. – Again, I put him to make Curvets backwards, I use then my outward Rein, and keep my Hand near my Body. At each Cadence that the Horse makes, I make him feel a Time; one, and every time he comes to the Ground, I receive and catch him as it were in my Hand; but these Times ought not to be distant above an Inch or two at the most; I then ease my Legs to him, which nevertheless I approach insensibly every time he rises. Thus by making my Hands and Legs act together, I learn not only to work a Horse with Justness and Precision, but even to dress him to all the Airs; which I shall speak of distinctly and more at large.

As to the rest, be it remember'd, that it is not alone sufficient to know how to unite your Aids, and to proportion them, as well as the Corrections, to the Motions and the Faults in the Horse's Air, which you would remedy; but whenever you are to make use of them, you must consider likewise if they are suitable and adapted to the Nature of the Horse; for otherwise they will not only prove ineffectual, but be the Occasion even of many Disorders.

CHAP. X.

Of the Passage

The Passage is the Key which opens to us all the Justness of the Art of riding, and is the only Means of adjusting and regulating Horses in all sorts of Airs; because in this Action you may work them slowly, and teach them all the Knowledge of the Leg and Hand, as it were insensibly, and without running any risque of disgusting them, so as to make them rebel. – There are many sorts of the Passage: In that which is derived from the Trot, the Action of the Horse's Legs is the same as in the Trot; the Passage is only distinguish'd from the Trot, which is the Foundation of it, by the extreme Union of the Horse, and by his keeping his Legs longer in the Air, and lifting them both equally high, and being neither so quick nor violent as in the Action of the Trot.

In the Passage which is founded on the Walk, the Action of the Horse is the same as in the Trot, and of consequence the same as in the Walk; with this Difference, that the Horse lifts his Fore-feet a good deal higher than his Hind-feet, that he marks a certain Time or Interval sufficiently long between the Motion of each Leg; his Action being much more together and short, and more distinct and slow than the ordinary Walk, and not so extended as in the Trot, in such a manner that he is, as it were, kept together and supported under himself.

Lastly, there is another sort of Passage to which the Trot likewise gives birth, and in which the Action is so quick, so diligent, and so supported, that the Horse seems not to advance, but to work upon the same Spot of Ground. The Spaniards call the Horses who make this sort of Passage Pissadores. This sort of Horses have not their Action so high and strong as the other, it being too quick and sudden; but almost all Horses which are inclin'd to this sort of Passage, are generally endowed with a great Share of Gentleness and Activity.

No Horse should be put to the Passage till he has been well trotted out, is supple, and has acquir'd some Knowledge of the Union. – If he has not been well trotted, and by that means taught to go forward readily, his Action, when put to the Passage, being shorten'd and retain'd, you would run the risque of his becoming restive and ramingue; and was he utterly unacquainted with the Union, the Passage requiring that he should be very much together, he would not be able to bear it; so that finding himself press'd and forced on one hand, and being incapable of obeying on the other, he would resist and defend himself.

There are some People, who observing a Horse to have Strength and Agility, and naturally disposed to unite himself, endeavour to get from him some Times of the Passage. – They succeed in their Attempt, and immediately conclude that they can passage their Horse whenever they will, and so press him to it, before he has been sufficiently suppled and taught to go forward readily, and without retaining himself. – Hence arise all the Disorders into which Horses plunge themselves, which, if they had been properly managed at first, would have been innocent of all Vice. – Farther, you ought to study well the Nature of every Horse; you will discover of what Temper he is from the first Moment you see him passage, and to what he is most inclin'd by Nature.

If he has any Seeds of the Ramingue in him, his Action will be short and together; but it will be retain'd and loitering, the Horse craving the Aids, and only advancing in proportion as the Rider gives them, and drives him forward. – If he is light and active, quick of Feeling, and willing, his Action will be free and diligent, and you will perceive that he takes a Pleasure to work of himself, without expecting the Aids. – If he be of a hot and fiery Nature, his Actions will be quick and sudden, and will shew that he is angry and impatient of the Subjection. If he wants Inclination and Will, he will be unquiet, he will cross his Legs, and his Actions will be perplex'd. If he is fiery, and heavy at the same time, his Action will be all upon the Hand. If besides this, he has but little Strength, he will abandon himself entirely upon the Apuy. Lastly, if he is cold and sluggish in his Nature, his Motion will be unactive and dead; and even when he is enliven'd by good Lessons, you will always be able to discover his Temper by seeing the Aids, which the Rider is oblig'd to give him from time to time, to hinder him from slackening or stopping the Cadence of his Passage.

Having acquir'd a thorough Knowledge of your Horse's Character, you should regulate all your Lessons and Proceedings conformable to it. – If it hurts a Horse who partakes of the Ramingue to be kept too much together, unite him by little and little, and insensibly as it were, and quite contrary to putting him to a short and united Passage all at once. Extend and push him forward, passing one while from the Walk to that of the Trot, and so alternatively.

If your Horse is hot and impatient, he will cross his Steps, and not go equal; keep such a Horse in a less degree of Subjection, ease his Rein, pacify him, and retain or hold him in no more than is sufficient to make him more quiet. – If with this he is heavy, put him to a Walk somewhat shorter and slower than the Passage, and endeavour to put him upon his Haunches insensibly, and by degrees. By these means you will be enabled by Art to bring him to an Action, by so much the more essential, as by this alone a Horse is taught to know the Hands and Heels, as I have already observed, without ever being perplex'd or disordered.

CHAP. XI.

Of working with the Head and Croupe to the Wall

The Lessons of the Head and Croupe to the Wall are excellent to confirm a Horse in Obedience. In effect, when in this Action he is, as it were, balanced between the Rider's Legs, and by working the Croupe along the Wall, you are enabled not only to supple his Shoulders, but likewise to teach him the Aids of the Legs.

For this Purpose, after having well open'd the Corner, turn your Hand immediately, and carry it in, in order to direct your Horse by your outward Rein; taking always care to support the Croupe with your outward Leg directly over-against, and about two Feet distant from the Wall: Bend your Horse to the Way he goes, and draw back the Shoulder that is in with your inner Rein, because the outward Leg being carried with more care over the inner Leg by means of the outward Rein, the Horse will cross and bring one Leg over the other, the Shoulders will go before the Croupe, you will narrow him behind, and consequently put him upon his Haunches.

You ought to be careful at the same time, and see that your Horse never falsifies or quits the Line, either in advancing or going backward. – If he presses forward, support him with your Hand; if he hangs back, support him with your Legs, always giving him the Leg that serves to drive him on, stronger than the other which serves only to support him; that is, acting stronger with the Leg that is without, than with that which is within.

The Lesson of the Head to the Wall is very efficacious to correct a Horse that forces the Hand, or who leans heavily upon it, because it compels him to put himself together, and be light upon the Hand with less Aids of the Bridle; but no Horse that is restive or ramingue should be put to it, for all narrow and confin'd Lessons serve only to confirm them in their natural Vice. – Place your Horse directly opposite the Wall, at about two Feet distance from it; make him go sideways, as I have already directed in the Article of Croupe to the Wall; but left one Foot should tread upon the other, and he should knock them together and hurt himself, in the Beginning of both Lessons you must not be too strict with him, but let his Croupe be rather on the contrary Side of his Shoulders, since by this means he will look towards the Way he is going more easily, and be better able to raise the Shoulder and Leg which is to cross over the other. – By degrees you will gain his Haunches, and he will grow supple before and behind, and at the same time become light in the Hand: Never forget that your Horse ought always to be bent to the Way he goes; in order to do this readily, guide him with the outward Rein; for very often the Stiffness of the Neck or Head is owing to nothing but the confined Action of the outward Shoulder; it being certain, that either the Difficulty or Ease of working either of those Parts, depends entirely upon the other; your Horse going thus sideways, carry your Hand a little out from time to time; the inner Rein by this means will be shortened, and make the Horse look in, the more it enlarges him before, by keeping his Fore-leg that is in, at a distance from the Fore-leg that is out, which consequently bringing the inner Hinder-leg near to the outward, confines his hinder Parts, and makes him bend his Haunches, especially the outward, upon which he rests his Weight, and keeps him in an equal Balance. – Never put your Horse to this Lesson, till he has been work'd a long while upon large Circles, his Head in, or to the Center, and his Croupe out; otherwise you would run the Risque of throwing him into great Disorder.

The greater part of Defences proceed from the Shoulders or Haunches, that is to say, from the fore or hinder Parts; and thence the Horse learns to resist the Hand or Heel. It is the want of Suppleness then, that hinders the Horse from executing what you put him to do; and how can it be expected that he should answer and obey, when he is stiff in the Shoulders, Haunches, and Ribs? especially if, without reflecting that Suppleness is the Foundation of all, you press and teize him, and put him to Lessons beyond his Power and Capacity.

CHAP. XII.

Of Changes of the Hand, large and narrow, and of Voltes and Demi-voltes

A Change is that Action, whereby the Horseman guides and causes his Horse to go from the Right-hand to the Left, and from the Left to the Right, in order to work him equally to both Hands; therefore changing the Hand, when you are to the Right, is making your Horse go to the Left-hand, and when on the Left, making him go to the Right. The Changes are made either on one Line or Path, or on two, and are either large or narrow. Changing the Hand upon one Line, is when the Horse describes but one Line with his Feet; changing upon two Lines, is when the Haunches follow and accompany the Shoulders; and to make this Change, the Horse's Feet must consequently describe two Lines, one made by his Fore-feet, the other with his Hinder-feet.

Changing large, is when the Line, if the Horse makes but one, or both Lines, when he describes two, cross the Manage from Corner to Corner; changing narrow, is when these Lines pass over but a Part of it.

A Volte is generally defined to be whatever forms a Circle. – Voltes of two Lines or Paths, describe two, one with the Horse's Fore, the other with his Hinder-feet.

If the Circle then forms a Volte, by consequence half a Circle forms what is called the Half-volte. – These Half-voltes, and Quarters of Voltes, are made upon two Lines, as well as the Volte. – A Demi-volte of two Treads, is nothing else than two half Circles, one drawn by the Horse's Fore-feet, the other by the Hinder; it is the same with Quarters of Voltes. – A Horse can be work'd, and put to all sorts of Airs upon the Voltes, Half-voltes, and Quarters of Voltes. – But as the Rules necessary to be observed and followed in making Voltes of two Treads, and in changing of Hands in the Passage, are only general, I shall content myself with explaining them in this Chapter; reserving to myself a Power of pointing out the Exceptions, when I shall come to treat of the different Airs, and the different Manages, that are practised upon the Voltes. Three things equally essential, and equally difficult to attain, must concur to form the Justness of a Change; they are the manner of beginning it, of continuing, and closing it. – We will suppose you in the Manage, you walk your Horse forward, you bend him properly, and you are come to the Place where you intend to change large. For this Purpose, make a half Stop, and take care never to abandon the Rein which is to bend your Horse's Neck; the other Rein, that is, the outward Rein, is that, which you must use to guide and direct him, but you must proportion the Stress you lay upon one with the other. – As it is the outward Rein which determines your Horse the Way he is to go, make that operate, its Effect will be to bring the outward Shoulder in; if then it brings the outward Shoulder in, it guides and determines the Horse to the Side to which you are going, and confines and fixes the Croupe at the same time. This is not all, at the same Instant that your Hand operates, support your Horse with your outward Leg: Your Hand having determined the Shoulder, and fixed the Croupe, your Leg must help to secure it; for without the Aid of the Leg, the Croupe would be unconfined, would be lost, and the Horse would work only upon one Line. You see then, how requisite it is for the Horseman to be exact, active, and to give his Aids with the greatest Delicacy, in order to begin his Change with Justness; because it is necessary, that the Times of giving the Hand and Leg, should be so close one to the other, as not to be perceived or distinguished. – You should never abandon, I have already said, that Rein with which you bend your Horse; this is the Reason – Every Horse when he makes a Change, ought to look towards the Way he is going; this Turn of the Neck, this Attitude, enables him to perform his Work better, and makes him appear graceful in it; therefore if he is turned or bent before he begins to change, why should you abandon the Rein that serves to bend him; since in this case, you would be under a double Difficulty in wanting on one hand the Point of Apuy, which ought to be found in the Rein which serves to bend him, and the Point of Apuy which ought to result from the working of the other Rein, which is to determine him. – The outward Rein operates to bring in the outward Shoulder, your outward Leg accompanies the Action of your Hand; here then is your Change begun.