THE REASONED EQUITATION 



Baucher in his method, though he includes the 

 seat as an aid, gives no theory as to the relation of 

 the seat to the assemblage; and his own position, 

 always correct, is always and invariably perpendic- 

 ularly above the center of gravity. Photographs of 

 Fillis in action show alteration in his position which 

 act upon the center of gravity in direct proportion 

 to the movement involved. But only in a few of 

 the movements explained in his method does he 

 maintain the need of a proper inclination of the 

 upper part of the man's body in the direction of 

 the horse's motion. 



The seat, simply as a means of staying on the 

 horse's back at all gaits and movements, cannot be 

 considered an aid, so long as the horse keeps to his 

 merely instinctive equilibrium. But as soon as this 

 instinctive equilibrium is replaced by the condition 

 of transmitted equilibrium, then the effect of posi- 

 tion of the rider's body, acting upon the center of 

 gravity of the horse, becomes very powerful. 



I discuss this better later on, after I have 

 considered the theory of the assemblage, rassembler, 

 and the state of collection. For the present, it is 

 important for the student's understanding of the 

 general idea of " accuracy of seat." 



A second and more important aid is the hand. 

 For this it makes no difference whether the horse is 

 in instinctive or transmitted equilibrium. In either 

 case, the effect of the reins passes to the mouth, 

 from the mouth to the neck, from the neck to the 



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