Chapter X

SUCCINCT EXPOSITION OF THE METHOD BY QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS.

_Question._ What do you understand by force?

_Answer._ The motive power which results from muscular contraction.

_Q._ What do you understand by _instinctive_ forces?

_A._ Those which come from the horse--that is to say, of which he himself determines the employment.

_Q._ What do you understand by _transmitted_ forces?

_A._ Those which emanate from the rider, and are immediately appreciated by the horse.

_Q._ What do you understand by resistances?

_A._ The force which the horse presents, and with which he seeks to establish a struggle to his advantage.

_Q._ Ought we first to set to work to annul the forces the horse presents for resistance, before demanding any other movements of him?

_A._ Without doubt, as then the force of the rider, which should displace the weight of the mass, finding itself absorbed by an equivalent resistance, every movement becomes impossible.

_Q._ By what means can we combat the resistances?

_A._ By the methodical and separate suppling of the jaw, the neck, the haunches, and the loins.

_Q._ What is the use of the flexions of the jaw?

_A._ As it is upon the lower jaw that the effects of the rider's hand are first felt, these will be null or incomplete if the jaw is contracted or closed against the upper one. Besides, as in this case the displacing of the horse's body is only obtained with difficulty, the movements resulting therefrom will also be painful.

_Q._ Is it enough that the horse _champ his bit_ for the flexion of his jaw to leave nothing more to wish for?

_A._ No, it is also necessary that the horse _let go of the bit_--that is to say, that he should separate (at our will) his jaws as much as possible.

_Q._ Can all horses have this mobility of jaw?

_A._ All without exception, if we follow the gradation pointed out, and if the rider does not allow himself to be deceived by the flexion of the neck. Useful as this is, it would be insufficient without the play of the jaw.

_Q._ In the direct flexion of the jaw, ought we to give a tension to the curb-reins and those of the snaffle at the same time?

_A._ No, we must make the snaffle precede (the hand being placed as indicated in Plate No. III.), until the head and neck are lowered; afterwards the pressure of the bit, in time with the snaffle, will promptly make the jaws open.

_Q._ Ought we often to repeat this exercise?

_A._ It should be continued until the jaws separate by a light pressure of the bit or snaffle.

_Q._ Why is the stiffness of the neck so powerful an obstacle to the education of the horse?

_A._ Because it absorbs to its profit the force which the rider seeks in vain to transmit throughout the whole mass.

_Q._ Can the haunches be suppled separately?

_A._ Certainly they can; and this exercise is comprised in what is called stationary exercise.

_Q._ What is its useful object?

_A._ To prevent the bad effects resulting from the instinctive forces of the horse, and to make him appreciate the forces transmitted by the rider without opposing them.

_Q._ Can the horse execute a movement without a shifting of weight?

_A._ It is impossible. We must first seek to make the horse take a position which causes such a variation in his equilibrium that the movement may be a natural consequence of it.

_Q._ What do you understand by position?

_A._ An arrangement of the head, neck and body, previously disposed according to the movements of the horse.

_Q._ In what consists the _ramener_?

_A._ In the perpendicular position of the head, and the lightness that accompanies it.

_Q._ What is the distribution of the forces and weight in the _ramener_?

_A._ The forces and weight are equally distributed through all the mass.

_Q._ How do we address the intelligence of the horse?

_A._ By the position, because it is that which makes the horse know the rider's intentions.

_Q._ Why is it necessary that in the backward movements of the horse, the legs of the rider precede the hand?

_A._ Because we must displace the points of support before placing upon them the mass that they must sustain.

_Q._ Is it the rider that determines his horse?

_A._ No. The rider gives action and position, which are the language; the horse answers this demand by the change of pace or direction that the rider had intended.

_Q._ Is it to the rider or to the horse that we ought to impute the fault of bad execution?

_A._ To the rider, and always to the rider. As it depends upon him to supple and place the horse in the way of the movement, and as with these two conditions faithfully fulfilled, everything becomes regular, it is then to the rider that the merit or blame ought to belong.

_Q._ What kind of bit is suitable for a horse?

_A._ An easy bit.

_Q._ Why is an easy bit necessary for all horses, whatever may be their resistance?

_A._ Because the effect of a severe bit is to constrain and surprise a horse, while it ought to prevent him from doing wrong and enable him to do well. Now, we cannot obtain these results except by the aid of an easy bit, and above all, of a skillful hand; for the bit is the hand, and a good hand is the whole of the rider.

_Q._ Are there any other inconveniences connected with the instruments of torture called severe bits?

_A._ Certainly there are, for the horse soon learns to avoid the painful infliction of them by forcing the rider's legs, the power of which can never be equal to that of this barbarous bit. He succeeds in this by yielding with his body, and resisting with his neck and jaw, which misses altogether the aim proposed.

_Q._ How is it that nearly all the horsemen of renown have invented a particular kind of bit?

_A._ Because being wanting in personal science, they sought to replace their own insufficiency by aids or strange machines.

_Q._ Can the horse, perfectly in hand, defend himself?

_A._ No; for the just distribution of weight that this position gives supposes a great regularity of movement, and it would be necessary to overturn this order that any act of rebellion on the part of the horse should take place.

_Q._ What is the use of the snaffle?

_A._ The snaffle serves to combat the opposing forces (lateral) of the neck, to make the head precede in all the changes of direction, while the horse is not yet familiarized with the effects of the bit; it serves also to arrange the head and neck in a perfectly straight line.

_Q._ In order to obtain the _ramener_, should we make the legs precede the hand or the hand the legs?

_A._ The hands ought to precede until they have produced the effect of giving great suppleness to the neck (this ought to be practised in the stationary exercises); then come the legs in their turn to combine the hind and fore-parts in the movement. The continual lightness of the horse at all paces will be the result of it.

_Q._ Ought the legs and the hands to aid one another or act separately?

_A._ One of these extremities ought always to have the other for auxiliary.

_Q._ Ought we to leave the horse a long time at the same pace in order to develop his powers?

_A._ It is useless, since the regularity of movements results from the regularity of the positions; the horse that makes fifty steps at a trot regularly is much further advanced in his education than if he made a thousand in a bad position. We must then attend to his position, that is to say, his lightness.

_Q._ In what proportions ought we to use the force of the horse?

_A._ This cannot be defined, since these forces vary in different subjects; but we should be sparing of them, and not expend them without circumspection, particularly during the course of his education. It is on this account that we must, so to say, create for them a reservoir that the horse may not absorb them uselessly, and that the rider may make a profitable and more lasting use of them.

_Q._ What good will there result to the horse from this judicious employment of his forces?

_A._ As we will only make use of forces useful for certain movements, fatigue or exhaustion can only result from the length of time during which the animal will remain at an accelerated pace, and will not be the effect of an excessive muscular contraction which would preserve its intensity, even at a moderate pace.

_Q._ When should we first undertake to make the horse back?

_A._ After the suppling of the neck and haunches.

_Q._ Why should the suppling of the haunches precede that of the loins (the _reculer_)?

_A._ To keep the horse more easily in a straight line and to render the flowing back and forward of the weight more easy.

_Q._ Ought these first retrograde movements of the horse to be prolonged during the first lessons?

_A._ No. As their only object is to annul the instinctive forces of the horse, we must wait till he is perfectly in hand to obtain a backward movement, a true _reculer_.

_Q._ What constitutes a true _reculer_?

_A._ The lightness of the horse (head perpendicular), the exact balance of his body, and the elevation to the same height of the legs diagonally.

_Q._ At what distance ought the spur to be placed from the horse's flanks before the _attaque_ commences?

_A._ The rowel should not be farther than two inches from the horse's flanks.

_Q._ How ought the _attaques_ to be practised?

_A._ They ought to reach the flanks by a movement like the stroke of a lancet, and be taken away as quickly.

_Q._ Are there circumstances where the _attaque_ ought to be practised without the aid of the hand?

_A._ Never; since its only object should be to give the impulsion which serves for the hand to contain (_renfermer_) the horse.

_Q._ Is it the _attaques_ themselves that chastise the horse?

_A._ No. The chastisement is in the contained position that the _attaques_ and the hand make the horse assume. As the latter then finds himself in a position where it is impossible to make use of any of his forces, the chastisement has all its efficiency.

_Q._ In what consists the difference between the _attaques_ practised after the old principles, and those which the new method prescribed?

_A._ Our predecessors (that we should venerate) practised spurring in order to throw the horse out of himself; the new method makes use of it to contain him; that is, to give him that first position which is the mother of all the others.

_Q._ What are the functions of the legs during the _attaques_?

_A._ The legs ought to remain adherent to the horse's flanks and in no respect to partake of the movements of the feet.

_Q._ At what moment ought we to commence the _attaques_?

_A._ When the horse supports peaceably a strong pressure of the legs without getting out of hand.

_Q._ Why does a horse, perfectly in hand, bear the spur without becoming excited, and even without sudden movement?

_A._ Because the skillful hand of the rider, having prevented all displacings of the head, never lets the forces escape outwards; it concentrates them by fixing them. The equal struggle of the forces, or if you prefer it, their _ensemble_, sufficiently explains the apparent dullness of the horse in this case.

_Q._ Is it not to be feared that the horse may become insensible to the legs and lose all that activity necessary for accelerated movements?

_A._ Although this is the opinion of nearly all the people who talk of this method without understanding it, there is nothing in it. Since all these means serve only to keep the horse in the most perfect equilibrium, promptness of movement ought necessarily to be the result of it, and, consequently, the horse will be disposed to respond to the progressive contact of the legs, when the hand does not oppose it.

_Q._ How can we judge whether an _attaque_ is regular?

_A._ When, far from making the horse get out of hand, it makes him come into it.

_Q._ How ought the hand to be supported at the moments of resistance on the part of the horse?

_A._ The hand ought to stop, fix itself, and only be drawn sufficiently towards the body to give the reins a three-quarter tension. In the contrary case, we must wait till the horse bears upon the hand to present this insurmountable barrier to him.

_Q._ What would be the inconvenience of increasing the pressure of the bit by drawing the hand towards the body in order to slacken the horse in his paces by getting him in hand?

_A._ It would not produce an effect upon a particular part, but would act generally upon all the forces, in displacing the weight instead of annulling the force of impulsion. We should not wish to incline to one side what we cannot stop.

_Q._ In what case ought we to make use of the cavesson, and what is its use?

_A._ We should make use of it when the faulty construction of the horse leads him to defend himself, when only simple movements are demanded of him. It is also useful to use the cavesson with restive horses, as its object is to act upon the moral, while the rider acts upon the physical.

_Q._ How ought we to make use of the cavesson?

_A._ At first, the longe of the cavesson should be held at from fifteen or twenty inches from the horse's head, held out and supported with a stiff wrist. We must watch the proper times to diminish or increase the bearing of the cavesson upon the horse's nose, so as to use it as an aid. All viciousness that leads him to act badly is to be repressed by little jerks, which should be given at the very moment of defense. As soon as the rider's movements begin to be appreciated by the horse, the longe of the cavesson ought no longer to act; at the end of a few days the horse will only need the bit, to which he will respond without hesitation.

_Q._ In what case is the rider less intelligent than the horse?

_A._ When the latter subjects him to his caprices, and does what he wishes with him.

_Q._ Are the defenses of the horse physical or moral?

_A._ At first they are physical, but afterwards become moral; the rider ought then to seek out the causes that produce them, and endeavor, by a preparatory exercise, to re-establish the correct equilibrium that a bad natural formation prevented.

_Q._ Can the naturally well-balanced horse defend himself?

_A._ It would be as difficult for a subject uniting all that constitutes a good horse to give himself up to disorderly movements, as it is impossible for the one that has not received the like gifts from nature, to have regular movements, if art did not lend him its aid.

_Q._ What do you mean by _rassembler_?

_A._ The reunion of forces at the centre of gravity.

_Q._ Can we _rassembler_ the horse that does not contain himself under the _attaques_?

_A._ This is altogether impossible; the legs would be insufficient to counterbalance the effects of the hand.

_Q._ At what time ought we to _rassembler_ the horse?

_A._ When the _ramener_ is complete.

_Q._ Of what service is the _rassembler?_

_A._ To obtain without difficulty everything of a complicated nature in horsemanship.

_Q._ In what does the _piaffer_ consist?

_A._ In the graceful position of the body and the harmonized precision of movement of the legs and feet.

_Q._ Is there more than one kind of _piaffer?_

_A._ Two; the slow and the precipitate.

_Q._ Which is to be preferred of these two?

_A._ The slow _piaffer_, since it is only when this is obtained that the equilibrium is perfect.

_Q._ Ought we to make a horse _piaffe_ who will not bear the _rassembler?_

_A._ No; for that would be to step out of the logical gradation that alone can give certain results. Besides, the horse that has not been brought forward by this chain of principles would only execute with trouble and ungracefully what he ought to accomplish with pleasure and nobly.

_Q._ Are all riders alike suited to conquer all the difficulties and seize all the effects of touch?

_A._ As in horsemanship, intelligence is the starting point for obtaining every result, everything is subordinate to this innate disposition; but every rider will have the power to break his horse to an extent commensurate with his own abilities to instruct.