FORCES 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 suffi 

 cient to enable him to make such a use of his 

 forces as to maintain his equilibrium 5 but 

 there are movements which it is impossible 

 for him to make, until a preparatory exer 

 cise shall have put him in the way of sup 

 plying the defects of his organization by a 

 better combined use of his motive power. 

 A horse puts himself in motion only in con 

 sequence of a given position ; if his forces are 

 such as to oppose themselves to this position, 

 they must first be annulled, in order to re 

 place 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 unreason- 



