New Method of Horsemanship Part 10

_A._ Although this is the opinion of nearly all the people who talk of this method without understanding it, there is nothing in it. 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, consequently, the horse will be disposed to respond 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 into it.

_Q._ How ought the hand to be supported at the 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 drawing the hand towards the body in order to slacken the horse in his 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, in displacing the weight instead of annulling the force of impulsion. We should not wish to incline to one side what we cannot stop.

_Q._ In what case ought we to make use of the cavesson, and what is its use?

_A._ We should make use of it when the faulty construction of the horse leads 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 object 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 held at from fifteen or twenty inches from the horse's head, 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 that leads him to act badly is to be repressed by little jerks, which should be given at the very moment of defense. As soon as the rider's movements begin to be appreciated by the horse, the longe of the cavesson ought no longer to act; 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 intelligent than the horse?

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

_Q._ Are the defenses of the horse physical or moral?

_A._ At first they are physical, but afterwards 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 a 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 const.i.tutes a good horse to give himself up to disorderly movements, as it is impossible for the one that has not received the like gifts from nature, to have regular movements, if art did not lend him its aid.

_Q._ What do you mean by _ra.s.sembler_?

_A._ The reunion of forces at the centre of gravity.

_Q._ Can we _ra.s.sembler_ 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 _ra.s.sembler_ the horse?

_A._ When the _ramener_ is complete.

_Q._ Of what service is the _ra.s.sembler?_

_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 movement of the legs and feet.

_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 perfect.

_Q._ Ought we to make a horse _piaffe_ who will not bear the _ra.s.sembler?_

_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 ungracefully what he ought to accomplish with pleasure and n.o.bly.

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

_A._ As in horsemanship, intelligence is the starting point for obtaining every result, everything is subordinate to this innate disposition; but every rider will have the power to break his horse to an extent commensurate with his own abilities to instruct.

CONCLUSION.

Everybody complains now-a-days of the degeneration of our breeds of horses. Apprehensive too late of a state of things which threatens even the national independence,[U] 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 mention the decline of horsemanship, nor do they consider that the revival of this art is indispensable in bringing about the regeneration of the horse.

[U] Much in this chapter, though written for France, applies with great appropriateness to our own country.

The difficulties of horsemanship have long been the same, but formerly constant practice, if not taste, kept it up; these stimulants exist 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 indispensable 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 _manege_, in the end they all became hors.e.m.e.n, 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 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 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 frivolous, sometimes lead gentlemen of our times to commence the study of horsemanship, but, soon wearied of a work without satisfactory results, they find only a monotonous fatigue where they sought a pleasure, and are satisfied they know enough as soon as they can stick pa.s.sably well in the saddle. So insufficient a knowledge of horsemanship, as dangerous as it is thoughtless, must necessarily occasion sad accidents. They then become disgusted with horsemanship and horses, and as nothing obliges them to continue 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 improvement of horses, raise up horsemanship 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, that each of his efforts brings a success with it; and we will soon see young persons of fortune become pa.s.sionately fond of an exercise which has been rendered as interesting to them as it is n.o.ble, and discover, with their love for horses, a lively solicitude for all that concerns their qualities and education.

But hors.e.m.e.n can aim at still more brilliant results. If they succeed in rendering easy the education of common horses, they will make the study of horsemanship popular among the ma.s.ses; they will put within reach of moderate fortunes, so numerous in our land of equality, the practice of an art that has. .h.i.therto 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 counting many skillful hors.e.m.e.n in its ranks, the system they are made to follow, impotent 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 allowed by government for horses of remount, causes few horses of good shape to be met with in the army, and it is only of these that the education is easy. The officers themselves, mounted upon a very common 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 construction are perpetually recurring. Disgusted by difficulties that appear insurmountable, 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 communicate his own thoughts to him; the uniformity of manoeres, the necessities of command, the perils of the battle-field, all 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 in manoeuvring a squadron.

My method will give military men a taste for horsemanship, a taste which is indispensable in the profession they practise. 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 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 horsemanship as he previously felt _ennui_ and disgust. 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 hors.e.m.e.n. I am sure that if my method is adopted and well understood in the army, where the daily exercise of the horse is a necessary duty, we will see equestrian capacities spring up among the officers and sub-officers by thousands. There is not one among them who, with an hour a day of study would not soon be able to give any horse in less than three months the following qualities and education:

1. General suppling.

2. Perfect lightness.

3. Graceful position.

4. A steady walk.

5. Trot steady, measured, extended.