MOBILIZATIONS MOUNTED 



Forty years ago, noting the confusion in the 

 minds of riders between pirouette and reversed 

 pirouette, I renamed the latter, rotation pirou- 

 ette for the mobilization of the fore hand; rotation 

 for the mobilization of the hind legs or croup. The 

 change is, at first sight, not important. It becomes 

 so only because it helps to clear the matter for 

 beginners., 



Even at first sight, the figure of the pirouette 

 is easy to understand. The difficulty comes in 

 executing it. Moreover, it is sometimes extraor- 

 dinarily hard to make the beginner comprehend 

 just the difference between pirouette and rotation. 

 I have seen really intelligent men confuse them, 

 month after month. Changing the name from 

 reversed pirouette to rotation has helped not a 

 little. 



Finally, for the sake of one of my pupils in 

 particular, who insisted that he was doing the one 

 when he was really doing the other, I hit upon the 

 following device. 



Stand facing the edge of an open door, and take 

 the knobs in your two hands. The hinges represent 

 the horse's front legs; your legs are the horse's hind 

 ones. Now pivot the door from right to left, passing 

 your right foot between your left foot and the door, 

 bringing it to the ground, and then bringing the left 

 foot into its usual place beside it. This imitates the 

 movement of the rotation. Taken from left to 

 right, everything reverses, both motions and effects. 



145 



