ii8 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



IV. The Art of Equitation 

 The custom of riding on horseback is very 

 ancient, but in the days of the Greek and 

 Roman civihzations it became an art in which 

 both man and horse were specially trained by 

 the 01ym]5ic games. A magnificent circus was 

 established in Constantinople, where horses 

 paraded and passaded in cadence, and even 

 danced, and where the art of equitation as a 



Henry VII, king of England, sent to Italy 

 for instructors ; and the Italian method was 

 also taught in Germany by Engelhardt in 1588. 

 The doctrine of the Italian school was, gen- 

 erally speaking, as follows. The body of the 

 rider has two movable parts, — the upper part 

 of the body and the lower part of the legs. 

 The part between the waist and the knees 

 should be motionless. The seat should be 



NORWEGI.XX I'.VSTl'RE FOR HORSF.S 



spectacle attained a high degree of dex'clop- 

 ment. The animals em]iloyed were the ances- 

 tors of the Neapolitan and Andalusian horses 

 afterwards so i-enowned, and the jK'rformances 

 foreshadowed the Spanish and Italian schools 

 that came later. 



In the si.xteentli century Pignatelli, an 

 Italian nobleman, established the first riding 

 schools in Naples and Pisa, although at the 

 close of the fifteenth centvuy ec|uitation already 

 followed certain fixed rules laid down by the 

 court of P"i-ance. 



straight, but inclining backward rather than 

 forward, and the thighs must be firm against 

 the saddle ; this position should be maintained 

 even at full gallop. The rider should have 

 recourse to none but the gentlest measures ; 

 he should ne\'er use the spurs unless the horse 

 refuses absolutely to obey the pressure of 

 the knees, neither should he use the whip or 

 the \Tjice. Rut besides these general rules the 

 Italian school had many little fanciful tricks that 

 were difficult both for horse and rider, among 

 them a passading step called the " Neapolitan." 



Digitized by IVIicrosoft® 



