340 COMMENTARIES ON BAUCHER. 



exercises, and by rational training, and consequently he ruled 

 his horse by preventing him using these forces in his own 

 way. 



Finally, a horse can always escape from strength by strength, 

 in which case the rider will soon be exhausted. Therefore 

 the rider ought always try to prevent the horse knowing his 

 own strength, so that he may hinder him from using it against 

 himself. He can do this by feeling and divining in advance 

 the intentions of the animal. A rider who has tact foresees 

 the defences of his mount, feels them coming, and -wards 

 them off before the animal can make them. 



Baucher, after having passed his life in breaking horses such 

 as Partisan, Buridan, Capitaine, Stades, and others, complains 

 that his horses were not always light in hand during changes 

 of direction. The reason which he gave was that, with his way 

 of working, he obtained only eqiiilibruim of the second kiJid, 

 which I call " imperfect eqiiilibriuvi " or " incomplete rassem- 

 bler." According to him, " equilibrium of the first kind,'' 

 which I call "perfect equilibrium'' or ''complete rassembler," is 

 obtained by using the hands without the legs, or the legs with- 

 out the hands. But in this, Baucher seriously deceived him- 

 self, because the fact of his finding "equilibrium of the first 

 kind " towards the end of his career was due to the elevation 

 of the head and neck, which he finally adopted at a time when 

 he was no longer able to ride. He was not able to obtain the 

 complete rassembler by placing the head and neck of his 

 horses in the way he used to do. The head was too low, and 

 the neck was bent in the middle. Therefore it frequently hap- 

 pened that his horses were badly balanced. 



It is simply absurd to say that the " complete rassembler " 

 can be obtained by the hands without the legs, or by the legs 

 without the hands. 



We read on page 82 of the fourteenth and last edition of 

 Baucher's book that " my method places the horse so much 



