X PREFACE. 



The one is from the artist Gerome, with the work of 

 whose conscientious pencil all are familiar. 



" My dear Colonel, 



For the propagation of a useful and rigorously exact work of 

 instruction, the enunciation of it will not suffice ; it must be written. 



After having widely travelled, seen much and observed much, I 

 believe you will be rendering a genuine service to artists, if you will collect, 

 in a volume written for their special benefit, the summary of the specialized 

 knowledge you possess of the gaits, habits, and exterior of the horse. 



I have often been able to appreciate this practical aspect of your 

 remarks, as well as the justice of your observations upon the hippie repre- 

 sentations in the recent Salons. I am under no self-imposed illusion about 

 the dryness of the work which I advise, as well as of the absolutely necessary 

 inclusion of numerous explanatory plates ; but I know to whom I am 

 writing. You will not recoil from a conscientious work, undertaken with 

 so useful an object, and for which all engaged in the study of the horse will 

 be grateful to you. 



Your very sincere friend, 



J. L. Gerome." 



The other is from the sculptor Guillaume, then 

 director of l'Ecole des Beaux Arts : — 



"My dear Colonel, 



We have so often discussed your studies upon horses, and your 

 observations have always appeared to me so accurate and of so great an 

 utility for artists that I shall be charmed to see you publish them. In 

 this it will be impossible for me to give you too much encouragement, so 

 convinced am I of the benefit I shall derive from your labours, and of the 

 profit which others, like myself, will thence obtain. 



From the aspect of tuition, which is the especial subject absorbing my 

 thoughts, I shall be glad to see the publication of a work intended to wage 

 war against the empiricism which still exerts almost absolute sway in that 

 important branch of study which has to do with the horse. 



I am not of the opinion of those who believe that, in Art, one should 

 be contented with the semblance. No doubt in the delicate instance of the 

 gaits, for example, the truth cannot invariably appear probable, the man of 

 taste must pause opportunely. But it may be affirmed that the conditions 

 of absolute probability may generally be found in the truth. 



Therefore, take courage. Believe in my sympathy and in my affec- 

 tionate sentiments. 



Eugene Guillaume." 



Encouraged by men of a competency so recognised, 

 I have commenced the editing of my notes. They first 

 appeared in the " Moniteur de l'elevage du cheval de 

 service," subsequently in a pamphlet. 



Some time after the publication of the first edition 

 of the " Studies upon the Horse," of which the preceding 

 kind letters formed the preface, several artists did me the 

 honour of coming to consult me, and I had to complete, 

 in improvised conferences, the chapters the reunion of 



