100 Manual of Equitation and Horse Training 



Only the determining aids have been spoken of; they 

 do not exclude the others. In regulating or strengthening 

 the demand addressed to the horses the latter contribute 

 powerfully to the execution of the movement. 



Summing up, the progression followed has consisted in 

 going from the known to the unknown, that is : Only using, 

 to teach the departs, the aids which the horse was able to 

 understand, according to the degree of his training; ob- 

 serving and using, at least in the beginning, the positions 

 of the horse at liberty, only modifying them little by little; 

 but with the constant thought of substituting the straight 

 for the traversed position and the exact balanced, instan- 

 taneous depart for the uncertain, disordered depart. 



To pass from the gallop to the trot or the gallop to the 

 walk, the horse is replaced in an absolutely straight posi- 

 tion. Thus placed, the horse modifies the combination of 

 legs and falls back into the trot or walk. 



As soon as the gallop is broken one should act with 

 more or less firmness on the reins, according to the gait 

 which it is desired to adopt and the quickness with which 

 one wishes to take it. The legs must be relaxed. Never- 

 theless, they remain in contact, ready to intervene to keep 

 up the forward movement when the horse is installed in 

 his new gait. 



Conditioning. — Conditioning of troop horses is only dis- 

 tantly related to the training of race horses. If the appli- 

 cation of the rules of hygiene and the respect of the physi- 

 cal laws are absolutely the same, if the progression in the 

 work is drawn from the same principles, it is not a question 

 here of preparing the horse to withstand trials of speed on 

 fixed days, but of permitting him, by the rational develop- 

 ment of all his organs, to acquire and to keep during his 

 whole military life the endurance, hardiness, and agility 

 on varied ground, which are indispensable to the horse for 

 war. 



Therefore, one cannot fix absolute rules for the con- 

 ditioning of the young horse. His state, appetite, the pre- 

 servation of his legs, his general appearance are the only 

 regulators and guides in an art which brings out all the 

 qualities which distinguish the true horseman. 



The conditioning of the 6-year-old horse moves hand 

 in hand with his suppling, of which the various exercises 

 have been studied. 



