MANUAL OF EQUITATION AND 

 HORSE TRAINING 



GENERAL IDEAS. 

 Object and Divisions. —The object of military equita- 

 tion is to make troopers capable of managing their horses 

 in all circumstances and over any country. 



Mounted instruction therefor comprises the practice 

 of the approved methods for teaching the recruits; the 

 study and use of the principles necessary for the riding in- 

 struction of old soldiers and noncommissioned officers; 

 also the application of approved rules in the training of 

 young horses. 



The mounted instruction includes three divisions: 

 I. The education of the rider. II. The education of the 

 young horse. III. The application of the principles of 

 equitation and horse training to the use of the horse. 



Parti. Educationof the rider. —The education of the 

 rider supposes his horse to be trained. This part of the 

 instruction comprises all which is especially addressed to 

 the man; it describes the qualities of the instructor and 

 the method to be followed to develop the rider's aptitude. 

 Morally, it aims to establish his confidence; physically, his 

 muscular suppleness. It teaches the proper seat and the 

 best means for its maintenance, and it establishes the prin- 

 ciples for the guiding and use of the horse. 



The seeking of these results requires the following of 

 fixed principles and much practice. The instruction, too, 

 can not be the same for all grades of the military service. 

 Elementary equitation is that given to recruits, and 

 its phases are contained in The School of the Trooper, 

 Mounted; it comprises only what is absolutely necessary 

 to the trooper in ranks. Secondary equitation, whose de- 

 velopment forms the object of this manual, is entirely re- 

 served for the instructors; they can draw from it the ideas 

 to impart to the noncommissioned officers and selected 

 troopers in perfecting their instruction. 



The superior instruction in equitation is more es- 

 pecially reserved for officers who, besides accuracy and 



