THE SCIENTIFIC EQUITATION 



at the beginning of the training, works his horses for 

 a considerable time on foot, with the whip. All this 

 greatly aids the animals in understanding the move- 

 ments of the piaffer. Fillis works his horses on foot 

 very much less than Baucher, but has already 

 trained them in diagonal movements before he asks 

 the piaffer. Both, for a horse to be taught the piaf- 

 fer, select with the greatest care an animal that has, 

 to start with, the required conformation, strength, 

 and soundness, with the moral and physical qual- 

 ities that give action and energy. And since the 

 horse which has these qualities sustains the state of 

 equilibrium a great deal better than does one of 

 inferior grade, such an animal has really a value 

 equivalent to the time and effort needed to secure 

 the degree of education proved by the slow piaffer. 

 I, on the other hand, do not trouble myself over the 

 choice of a horse. The more inferior it is, the more 

 faulty its conformation, the more interesting be- 

 comes its education. The more difficult the work, 

 the more the fun of doing it. 



Both Baucher and Fillis have had some violent 

 fights with their horses. They put a young beginner 

 in the saddle to hold the reins, while they, beside 

 the horse on foot, direct its movements with small 

 or long whips. I work very little on foot. I never, 

 or rarely, use a whip. I do all the work myself ; and 

 I very seldom, when mounted, have a quarrel with 

 my horse or an act of defense from it. Six months 

 after I begin training, the horse has already ceased 



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