A method of horsemanship : founded upon new principles: including the breaking and training of horses : with instructions for obtaining a good seat

Front matter

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

I. New Means Of Obtaining A Good Seat

IT may undoubtedly be thought astonishing 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 important 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 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 thorough 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 impracticable, or that they could not be applied without recourse to a seat still more impracticable. But now I have proved the contrary— that, upon my plan, horses have been broken by troops without regard to the men's seat. To give more force to my method, and render it more easily comprehensible, 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 published 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 the 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 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

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 difficulties which the plan pursued by our predecessors presented. The pupil used to understand 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 replaces all those sentences ; but we previously go through a course of supplings. This course will make the rider expert, and consequently intelligent. One month will not

PREPARATORY LESSON. 43

elapse without the most stupid and awkward recruit being able to seat himself properly without the aid of the word of command.

Preparatory lesson (the lesson to last an Tiour, two lessons daily for a month). — The horse is led upon the ground, saddled and bridled. The instructor must take two pupils ; 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 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 himself. The repetition of this exercise will soon teach him the use of his arms and loins.

Exercise in the saddle. — (This is a stationary 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 regard 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 recommended. 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 afterwards to fourteen, to ten, to four. Skill will be the exertion reduced to four pounds. If we commenced by a less, we would not attain 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 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 instructor will watch that the thigh does not fall back heavily; it should resume its position by a slowly progressive motion, and without 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 displacement. 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 4;o prolong the exercise beyond the powers of the pupil. The motions of drawing in (adduction, which makes the thigh adhere to the saddle), and putting out (abduction, which separates it from the saddle), 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 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 supple, 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 wrill be commenced 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 method : this, which at first sight will perhaps appear of slight importance, will, nevertheless, bring about great results. The instructor 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 prevent its slipping, while the instructor will draw it towards him slowly and progressively. This process will serve as a dynamometer 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 influence 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 position 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 all 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 experienced rider.

Fifteen days (thirty lessons) will be devoted 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 himself only with his seat, and not attempt to guide the horse. He will only exact that the pupil ride at first, straight before him, then in every direction, one rein of the snaffle 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 connection between the wrists and the legs, as well as their separate effects.

Education of the horse. — Here the rider will commence the horse's education, by following 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 expand 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 different paces 15 30

6. Education of the horse by

the rider 75 150

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 dividing 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 equilibrium, 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 remain fixed to the ground. It will be the same thing in other paces, the transfer acting from one diagonal to the other in the trot, from the front to the rear, and reciprocally, in the gallop. We must not then confound the weight with the force ; the latter determines, the former is subordinate to it. It is by carrying the weight from one extremity 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 mfiwitum, since it is spread 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 constitutes the true talent of the horseman.

But such a result cannot be attained instantaneously. The young horse, in freedom, 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 between 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 necessary to gain his point. The forces of the animal being the element upon which the rider must principally work, first to conquer, and finally to direct them, it is necessary 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 accordance with his nature, and his progress will then be rapid.

Unfortunately, we search in vain, in ancient 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 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 horsemanship ; it is this that has made the art stationary 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 brutality 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 degree of harmony that exists between the forces and the weight. The want of this

FOKCES 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 sufficient to enable him to make such a use of his forces as to maintain his equilibrium; but there are movements which it is impossible for him to make, until a preparatory exercise shall have put him in the way of supplying the defects of his organization by a better combined use of his motive power. A horse puts himself in motion only in consequence of a given position ; if his forces are such as to oppose themselves to this position, they must first be annulled, in order to replace 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 unreasonable demands, will not the animal experience still greater difficulty in executing certain movements ? The efforts we make to compel him to submission, being contrary to his nature, will we not find in it an insurmountable obstacle ? He will naturally resist, 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 becomes a moral one from the moment when — the struggle going on with the same processes— 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 resources, and of whom, with more discernment and tact, he could have made a hackney as docile in character, as graceful and agreeable in his paces. I have often remarked 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 obedience, we need thank nothing but the softness 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 attempts. The rider can make them go along 6 at different paces to be sure ; but how disconnected, 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 tJieir forces, and the stiffness caused by a bad conformation.

But, it is objected, since you allow that these difficulties are caused by the formation of the horse, how is it possible to remedy 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 impossible 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 resistances, to give more action to the weak parts, and to moderate those that are too vigorous, and thus make up for the deficiencies 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, unfortunately, 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 one, all of whose parts being regularly harmonized, 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 horsemanship 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 certainty of success, the horseman, gifted with

CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS. 65

some tact and experience, ends by accustoming 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 failure 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 6* 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 resistance 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 communicated 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 combat 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.

III. The Supplings

THIS work being an exposition of a method 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 mechanism. I will not, then, revert to the elementary 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 education is too intimately bound up in 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 necessarily teach the horseman to apply them himself; he will only have to practice tomorrow what I teach him to-day. Nevertheless, there is one thing that no precept can give ; that is, a fineness of touch, a delicacy of equestrian feeling that belongs only to certain privileged organizations, and without which, we seek in vain to pass certain limits. Having said this, we will return to our subject.

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

this would be to fall back into the old error, the inefficiency of which we are convinced of. The animal's muscular power is infinitely superior to ours ; his instinctive forces, moreover, being able to sustain themselves the one by the others, we will inevitably 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 disposition, 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 defective formation will make those contractions disappear, which are the causes of resistances, and the only obstacles to a perfect 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 precision of his movements. The equilibrium 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 movements 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 wish to go,