70 NEW METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP. 



ferent paces, will alone be able to give them these quali- 

 ties, indispensable to a good education.* 



The walk. — This pace is the mother of all the other 

 paces ; by it we will obtain the cadence, the regularity, 

 the extension of the others. But to obtain these brilliant 

 results, the rider must display as much knowledge as tact. 

 The preceding exercises have led the horse to bear the 

 combined effect of hand and legs, which could not have 

 been done previously to the destruction of the instinctive 

 resistances ; we have now only to act on the inert resist- 

 ances which appertain to the animal's weight ; upon the 

 forces which only move when an impulse is communi- 

 cated to them. 



Before making the horse go forward, we should first 

 assure ourselves of his lightness ; that is to say, of his 

 head being perpendicular, his neck flexible, his hind-part 

 straight and plumb. The legs will then be closed lightly, 

 to give the body the impulse necessary to move it. But 

 we should not, in accordance with the precepts of the old 

 method, give the bridle hand at the same time ; for then 

 the neck, being free from all restraint, would lose its 

 lightness ; would contract, and render the motion of the 

 hand powerless. The rider will remember that his hand 

 ought to be to the horse an insurmountable barrier, 

 whenever he would leave the position of ramener. The 

 animal will never attempt it, without pain ; and only 

 within this limit will he find ease and comfort. By the 

 application of my method, the rider will be led to guide 

 his horse all the time with the reins half tight, except 



* It must not be forgotten that the hand and legs have their vocabulary 

 also; and a very concise one. This mute, laconic language consists of these 

 few words. You are doing badly ; this is what you should do; you do icell now. 

 It is sufficient for the rider to be able to translate, by his mechanism, the 

 meaning of these three remarks, to possess all the equestriaa erudition, and 

 share his intelligence with his horse. 



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