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 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.[O]
[O] Previously explained.
I would here treat immediately of the gallop; but this pace, more
complicated than the two others, demands an arrangement on the part of
the horse, and a power on the part of the rider, that the preceding
exercises have not yet been able to give. The proper placing of the
horse's head spreads his forces over the whole of his body; it is
necessary, 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 explain how this is to be
done.
_The use of the spurs._--Professors of equitation 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 auxiliary,
without which it would be impossible to break any horse perfectly. How!
you exclaim, you attack with the spur, horses 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 animal.
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 prevented 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 hands of a monkey." It is true that the use of the
spurs requires prudence, tact, and gradation; but the effects of it are
precious. 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 sensibility of different horses' flanks
than in their sensibility of mouth--that is to say, that 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 the
resistances to the hand. It is clear enough that if the nose 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 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 the bad position of the head caused by the stiffness of the
neck and the faulty construction of the loins and haunches of the horse.
If we carefully examine the causes that produce 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
attributing to the horse's flanks a local sensibility that had no
existence, have necessarily injured the progress of his education,
because it was based upon false data. The greater or less sensibility of
the animal proceeds from his action, from his faulty formation, and bad
position resulting therefrom. To a horse of natural action, but with
long weak loins, and bad action behind, every motion backward 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 feels 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 prevent every
displacement. We must separate 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 execution.
The best proof we have that the promptness 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 equilibrium and
organization are inferior.
But the spur is not useful only in moderating the too great energy of
horses of much action; its effect being equally good in combating the
dispositions which lead the animal to throw its centre of gravity too
much forward, or back. I would also use it to 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, that is, the middle of the animal's body; 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 practice these oppositions. It is also of the first
importance to put into our 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 explanation.
We will suppose a horse at a walk, employing a force of forty pounds,
necessary to keep the pace regular till the moment of the opposition of
the hands and legs which follow. By and by comes 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 perfectly 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
continue their pressure, to the end that these forces thus driven back
may not return to the focus they had left, which would 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 animal
will lose its instinctive energy. When the pressure of the legs becomes
insufficient to entirely collect the forces, more energetic means must
be employed, viz.: the touches of the spur.
The spurring ought to be done, not violently, 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 off, if
possible. The hand should ever be the echo to the light touches with
which we commence; it should then be firmly held, so as to present an
opposition equal to the force communicated by the spur. If by the time
being badly chosen, the hand does not exactly intercept the impulse
given, and the general commotion resulting therefrom, we should, before
recommencing, 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 increasing the
speed of his pace, or without displacing himself as 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 transfer
the weight with ease, when necessary.
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 that 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 his croup when the animal
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 their
true place, which they occupy in the finest organizations. It is this
that makes me assert that a well-formed horse will not make resistance
nor move irregularly, for to do so 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
transforms ugliness into grace, and gives elegance and lightness to
movements which were before heavy and confused.[P]
[P] I have often proved that horses that were considered dull, or
unable to move their shoulders freely, have not 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 wind-mill; the impulse given by the hocks
replaces the motive force. There undoubtedly exist some local
complaints that affect the shoulders; but this is very rare;
the defect, if there is 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.
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 finds in the hand the energy and _apropos_ necessary
to regulate its effects, the pain the animal sustains will be always
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
repeat, it is only by means of tact and delicate management that we will
gain this important point. If the legs give too vigorous an impulse,
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 presents 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 serious ones when no rational principle
gave the means of surmounting them. The application 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 become 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 getting
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 were
able to oppose the proper harmony of forces, and prevent 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 injuring any of the
joints of his hind-parts. In fact, since it is the hocks which propel
the mass forward, it suffices to destroy their motion to stop the bound.
The spur, by 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 decomposed, is scarce perceptible to either
horse or rider.
If, on the contrary, we stop the horse by making the hand move first,
the hocks remain far in the rear of the plumb-line; the shock is
violent, painful for the animal, and especially injurious to his
physical organization. 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 halting suddenly their horses, by making use of murderous
bits that break the bars of their horses' mouths. Thus, notwithstanding
the wonderful powers with which nature has gifted them, are these
excellent animals injured. 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 made felt. We will continue to make use of
it, at long intervals, until the horse, after his bound forward,
presents no resistance to the hand, and avoids the pressure of the bit,
by bringing in his chin towards his chest, of his own accord. This
submission once obtained, we can undertake the use of the spurs with
oppositions, but we must be careful to discontinue 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 gradation.[Q]
[Q] I would never have thought that this means, which serves as
a corrective to the processes used by all horsemen, would have
aroused the sensibility of some amateurs. These latter have
preferred to be affected by exaggerated or erroneous reports,
rather than satisfy themselves by observation, that this
pretended cruelty is in fact the most innocent thing in the
world. Must we not teach the horse to respond to the spur as
well as to the 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?
To the work, then, cavaliers! If you will follow my principles, I can
promise you that your purse 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 that 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 preserve his
equilibrium without the aid of the reins. The suppleness given to all
parts of 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 regularly, the horse must neither
increase nor diminish the speed of his pace, and his head and neck
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 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 immediately 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 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 supposing that he is preserving an entire
independence.
_Of gathering the horse, or rassembler._--The preceding exercise will
render easy to the 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 to great, we might say that the more or less absurd
theories that 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
_rassembler_. 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
defined before me, for it cannot be perfectly executed without the
regular application of the principles that I have developed for the
first time. You will be convinced of this truth when you know that the
_rassembler_ 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 _rassembler_ has never been practised until now? It
is, nevertheless, one of the indispensable conditions of the horse's
education; consequently I think I am right in saying that before my
method, horses of defective formation have never been properly broken.
How is the _rassembler_ defined in the schools of horsemanship? _You
gather your horse by raising the hand and closing the legs._ I ask, what
good can this movement of the rider do upon an animal badly formed,
contracted, and that remains under the influence of all the evil
propensities of its nature? This mechanical support of the hands and
legs, far from preparing the horse for obedience, will only make him
redouble his means of resistance, since, while giving him notice that we
are about to demand 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 one or other of the extremities,
which represent 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 position first, and then the use of the spurs, will make this
beautiful execution of the gathering 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 concentration 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 movements.
Need I recommend discretion in your demands? I think not. If the rider,
having reached this stage of his horse's education, cannot comprehend
and seize that 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.