THE FIGURES OF MANEGE 



right, and therefore loads the left front leg, al- 

 though this has to gain more ground than the 

 unloaded right. Meanwhile, the rider's left leg 

 pushes the haunches to the right and upon the right 

 hind leg, directing these to the right instead of to 

 the left in order to turn the horse to the right. It is 

 even the more surprising that these same masters 

 execute the volte at the gallop by the very same 

 means as at the walk and trot, notwithstanding the 

 fact that these gaits involve an entirely different 

 disposition of the mechanism. 



My own honest opinion is that these masters 

 were asking, by lateral effects, movements which 

 the horse executed by diagonal gaits, and so con- 

 fused their mounts thereby that, when they at- 

 tempted such diagonal movements as the piaffer, 

 passage, Spanish walk, and Spanish trot, the ani- 

 mals resisted. The result was quarrels and fights 

 between man and horse. I, on the other hand, never 

 have fights. When my horse walks or trots, in di- 

 agonal, all movements are asked by diagonal effects. 

 But when the horse gallops, in lateral, all move- 

 ments are asked by lateral effects. My mount has 

 always all its natural forces in their instinctive 

 relation. 



THE HALF- VOLTE 



IN executing the half-volte, the horse makes two 

 successive changes of direction, so that he faces the 

 opposite way from his original position. Suppose, 



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