THE PASSAGE 



sion, when they used the Spanish walk and the 

 Spanish trot as a preliminary to the passage. This, 

 moreover, has been the order generally accepted by 

 the equestrian world; since, of course, horses which 

 already have the idea of sustaining and lifting their 

 weight on diagonal bipeds, in cadence and tempo, 

 will the more quickly understand the passage, and 

 will require less equestrian tact on the part of the 

 rider. I also, in my youth, like other trainers, ap- 

 proached the passage by way of the Spanish trot. 

 But when, later, I came to look upon the passage as 

 the result of perfect equilibrium, I came also to un- 

 derstand that the passage is impossible until one has 

 obtained, first the assemblage, and then the piaffer, 

 to give the idea of the diagonal action. Then, after 

 the piaffer, comes the passage, with the extension 

 of the fore legs and the flexion of the hocks and 

 haunches. 



