HARMONY OF FORCES. 71 



when he wishes to correct a false movement, or deter- 

 mine a new one. 



The walk, I have said, ought to precede the other 

 paces, because the horse having three supports upon the 

 ground, his action is less, and consequently easier to 

 regulate than in the trQt and gallop. The first exercises 

 of the supplings will be followed by some turns in the 

 riding-house at a walk, but only as a relaxation, the rider 

 attending less to animating his horse than to making 

 him keep his head, while walking in a perpendicular 

 position. Little by little he will complicate his work, so 

 as to join to the lightness of the horse that precision of 

 movement indispensable to the beauty of all his paces. 



He will commence light oppositions of the hand and 

 legs to make the forces of the fore and hind-parts work 

 together in harmony. This exercise, by accustoming the 

 horse always to yield the use of his forces to the direc- 

 tion of the rider, will be also useful in forming his 

 intelligence, as well as in developing his powers. What 

 delights the expert horseman will experience in the pro- 

 gressive application of his art ! His pupil at first rebel- 

 lious will insensibly yield himself to his every wish ; will 

 adopt his character, and end by becoming the living per- 

 sonification of him. Take care, then, rider ! If your 

 horse is capricious, violent, fantastic, we will have the 

 right to say that you yourself do not shine by the amen- 

 ity of your disposition, and the propriety of your pro- 

 ceedings. 



In order to keep the measure and quickness of the 

 walk equal and regular, it is indispensable that the im- 

 pulsive and governing forces which come from the rider, 

 should themselves be perfectly in harmony. We will 

 suppose, for example, that the rider to move his horse 

 forward, should make use of a force equal to twenty 



