118 NEW METHOD OF HORSEMANSHiP. 



account that we must, so to say, create for them a reser- 

 voir that the horse may not absorb them uselessly, and 

 that the rider may make a profitable and more lasting 

 use of them. 



Q. What good will there result to the horse from this 

 judicious employment of his forces ? 



A. As we will only make use of forces useful for cer- 

 tain movements, fatigue or exhaustion can only result 

 from the length of time during which the animal will 

 remain at an accelerated pace, and will not be the effect 

 of an excessive muscular contraction which would pre- 

 serve its intensity, even at a moderate pace. 



Q. When should we first undertake to make the horse 

 back? 



A. After the suppling of the neck and haunches. 



Q. Why should the suppling of the haunches precede 

 that of the loins (the reculer)? 



A. To keep the horse more easily in a straight line 

 and to render the flowing back and forward of the weight 

 more easy. 



Q. Ought these first retrograde movements of the 

 horse to be prolonged during the first lessons ? 



A. No. As their only object is to annul the instinct- 

 ive forces of the horse, we must wait till he is perfectly 

 in hand to obtain a backward movement, a true reculer, 



Q. What constitutes a true reculer f 



A. The lightness of the horse (head perpendicular), 

 the exact balance of his body, and the elevation to the 

 same height of the legs diagonally. 



Q. At what distance ought the spur to be placed from 

 the horse's flanks before the attaque commences ? 



A. The rowel should not be farther than two inches 

 from the horse's flanks. 



Q. How ought the attaques to be practised ? 



