FORCES OF THE HORSE. 59 



liarmony occasions the ungracefulness of their 

 paces, the difficulty of their movenients, 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; 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- 



