THE SCIENTIFIC EQUITATION 



by way of his seat the action of the hind legs, every- 

 thing is right for a beginning. One must be careful 

 at this stage not to keep the horse too long at the 

 exercise. Five or six repetitions are sufficient. 



As for the fingering of the hand on the reins, this 

 has to meet three conditions. The fingers should 

 close on the reins in the same tempo with the di- 

 agonal effect of the legs, and should be proportioned 

 to the cadence and strength of these. The fingering 

 must allow the center of gravity, so to say, to filter 

 imperceptibly to the front side of the medial plane, 

 and not under any condition let it get behind this 

 position. A fortiori the fingering must maintain 

 always the assemblage, collection, and equilibrium. 



As soon, therefore, as any derangement of these 

 conditions appears, no matter how slight, all di- 

 agonal effect must stop instantly, and the horse be 

 sent forward with decision and energy. After a few 

 forward steps, the horse is once more brought to a 

 stand, its calmness reestablished, the equilibrium 

 once more obtained, and the piaffer again asked. 

 As a general principle, every execution of the piaffer, 

 no matter what the stage of progress, should be fol- 

 lowed by at least one or two steps forward. Other- 

 wise, the horse would get into the way of stopping 

 with its legs inside the perpendicular, and this, with 

 time and habit, would create the acculer. 



When the piaffer is first obtained, no one can 

 prophesy how it will develop. It nearly always be- 

 gins as the quick form; and with this, at first, the 



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