88 Horse and Man. 



consequence is that the French or German 

 cavalry can rival neither the impetuous rapi- 

 dity of the English charge, nor the Oriental 

 dexterity in single combat. Their horses are 

 deficient in action for the one purpose, and in 

 suppleness for the other. 



The peculiar merit of M. Baucher's sys- 

 tem is, that it teaches us how this great diffi- 

 culty can be successfully overcome. It begins 

 by enabling the horseman to take complete 

 possession of the horse's faculties while at rest 

 and in slow motion. This ascendency, once 

 gained, need never be lost; because a good 

 horseman is always able to reduce his horse to 

 that state in which it can be successfully reas- 

 serted. The horse is in this manner soon made 

 to perceive that, if he escapes from the equili- 

 brium required by his rider when at a pace 

 which gives him the opportunity of doing so, 

 he \\ill immediately find himself brought back 

 to a pace at which he may be forcibly pre- 

 vented from doing so. And when he once 

 understands this plain truth, his self-will is 

 subdued for ever. 



In order to exhaust the resources of this 

 system, the horseman must of course possess 



