58 



METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP. 



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 horseman 

 ship ; it is this that has made the art sta 

 tionary 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 brutali 

 ty 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 de 

 gree of harmony that exists between the 

 forces and the weight. The want of this 



