298 HIGH-SCHOOL RIDING. 



the egg strikes the coronet, and makes him raise the foot. 

 The man in the saddle uses the spurs, the one who is in 

 rear uses the driving whip, and the operator who holds the 

 caveson, and is in front of the animal's head, prevents him 

 advancing by giving him blows on the nose with the caveson. 

 The horse, thus imprisoned, shows great impatience, and as the 

 egg strikes his coronet, and makes him raise his foot each 

 time he puts it down, he performs a kind of hurried piaffer, 

 which is neither graceful nor regular. Besides, by this 

 method they teach a horse to piaffer in front of the stable 

 door, which no doubt is very ingenious, and does not require 

 much skill. It has, however, the drawback that the moment 

 the horse's head is turned away from the stable, his impatience 

 vanishes, and he stops the piaffer. This is a machine-made 

 horse. I shall not go further in this description, for my 

 intention is only to give a sketch of the system of breaking 

 used by the new school, who use the same means for every 

 kind of work. I do not undertake to describe these means. 



The horse which has been taught the piaffer, only by the 

 combination of reins and legs, will do the piaffer anywhere, at 

 the wish of his rider, no matter when or where. 



It is no less true that the system of the new school is 

 practised almost everywhere. Horses are broken now without 

 being ridden, and by means analogous to those by which one 

 would break in monkeys and nanny goats. In Vienna this 

 system is sarcastically called " Pudeldressiriing " (poodle 

 breaking).* 



It is easy to understand how the piaffer, which is learned 

 under these conditions, is always bad. At first, progress is 



* In the same category we should place the recommendation made by certain 

 authors, to hum a tune in two time to a horse which is being taught the piaffer 

 or passage. 



I have never broken a horse with any music. My only orchestra is the 

 spurs. When my horses hear music for the first time it puts them out, but 

 they soon take to it. 



