A New System of Horsemanship

There are some Horses who will leap very high, and with great Agility strait forwards, which when put to leap upon the Voltes, lose all their natural Grace and Beauty; the Reason is, that they fail for Want of Strength, and are not equal to the Task, in which all their Motions are forced and constrain'd.

If you find a Horse who has a good and firm Apuy, and who has Strength sufficient to furnish this Air upon the Voltes; begin with him by making him know the Space and Roundness of the Volte to each Hand; let him walk round it in a slow and distinct Pace, keeping his Croupe very much press'd and confin'd upon the Line of the Volte, which ought to be much larger for this Air than for Croupades and Balotades.

This being done, make him rise, and let him make one or two Caprioles, follow'd by as many Pesades; then walk on two or three Steps upon the same Line; then raise him again, supporting him more and more, and keeping him even on the Line of the Volte, so that it may be exactly round, and confining his Croupe with your outward Leg.

If this Lesson be given with Judgment, your Horse will soon make all the Volte, in the same Air; and to make him furnish a second, as soon as he has closed and finish'd the first, raise him again, and without letting him stop get from him as many as you can, working him always upon this Volte, in which he walks and leaps alternatively, till he closes and ends it with the same Vigour and Resolution as he did the first.

Aid always with the outward Rein, either upon the Voltes, or when you leap strait forwards, you will narrow and confine the Fore-parts, and enlarge the Hind-parts, by which means the Croupe will not be press'd, but free and unconstrain'd.

I will enlarge no further upon his Chapter; for what regards the making Caprioles upon the Voltes, you may look back to what has been already said on the Subject of Curvets: remember that the surest way to succeed, when you undertake to dress a Horse to Caprioles, is to arm yourself with a Patience that nothing can subdue or shake; and to prefer for this purpose such Horses as have a Disposition, are active, light, and have a clean sinewy Strength, to such as are endowed with greater Strength and Force; for these last never leap regularly, and are fit for nothing but to break their Riders Backs, and make them spit Blood, by their irregular, violent, and unexpected Motions.

CHAP. XXI.

Of the Step and Leap

The Step and Leap is composed of three Airs; of the Step, which is the Action of the Terre-a-Terre; the rising before, which is a Curvet; and the Leap, which is a Capriole.

This Manage is infinitely less painful to a Horse than that of the Capriole; for when you dress a Horse to the Capriole, he will of himself take this Air for his Ease and Relief; and in time those Horses, which have been drest to the Caprioles, will execute only Balotades and Croupades, unless particular Care is taken to make them yerk out.

It is this likewise, which, next to running a brisk Course, enlivens and animates a Horse most. – To reduce a Horse to the Justness of this Air, you must begin by emboldening and making him lose all fear of Correction; teaching him to keep his Head steady, and in a proper Place; lightening His Fore-parts, by putting him to make Pesades; teaching him to know the Aids of the Switch, the same as in the Lesson of the Caprioles; and by giving him a firm and good Apuy, full in the Hand: though it is certain, that the Step contributes to give him this Apuy, inasmuch as that it puts him in the Hand; besides that it gives him Strength and Agility to leap, just as we ourselves leap with a quicker Spring while running, than if we were to stand quite still and leap; therefore most old Horses generally fall into this Air.

When your Horse is sufficiently knowing in these several Particulars, teach him to rise, and support or hold him in the Air; then let him make four Pesades, and afterwards let him walk four or five Steps slow and equal; if he forces the Hand, or retains himself too much, he should be made to trot these four or five Steps rather than walk; after this make him rise again, and continue this Lesson for some Days.

When he is so far advanced as to comprehend and understand this sufficiently, begin by putting him to make a Pesade, demand then a Leap, and finish by letting him make two Pesades together. There are two things to be observ'd, which are very essential in this Lesson; one, that when he is to make the Leap he should not rise so high before as when he makes Pesades only, that so he may yerk out with greater Ease and Liberty; the other Caution is always to make your last Pesade longer and higher than the other, in order to prevent your Horse from making any irregular Motions by shuffling about his Legs, if he should be angry and impatient, as well as to keep him in a more exact Obedience; and to make him light, if he is naturally heavy and loaded in his Fore-parts, or apt to lean too much upon the Hand.

Again, reduce the fourth Pesade into a Leap, as you did the first; then make two Pesades following, and after this let him walk quietly four or five Steps, that he may make again the same Number of Pesades, and in the same Order. In proportion as the Horse begins to understand, and is able to execute these Lessons, you should augment likewise the Leaps one by one, without hurrying or changing the Order, making always between the Leaps a single Pesade, but lower than those in the first Lesson; and then two more again after the last Leap, sufficiently high. By degrees the Horse will grow active and light in his Hind-parts, you must raise him then higher before, and support him longer in the Air, in order to make him form the Leaps perfect, by means of prudent and judicious Rules, often practised and repeated. If your Horse forces the Hand, or presses forward more than you would have him, either from Heaviness of Make, or from having too much Fire in his Temper; in this case you should oblige him to make the Pesades in the same Place, without stirring from it; and instead of letting him advance four or five Steps, you should make him go backwards as many. This Correction will cure him of the Habit of pressing forward, and forcing the Hand. Upon this Occasion likewise you should use a Hand-spur to prick his Croupe, instead of a Switch.

To make this Air just and perfect, it is necessary that the Action of the Leap be finish'd as in the Caprioles, except that it ought to be more extended, and the Pesade which is made between the two Leaps should be changed into a Time of a quick and short Gallop; that is, the two Hind-feet ought to follow the Fore-feet, together in a quick Time and briskly, as in Curvets in the Mezair; but in this the Horse should advance more, not be so much together, nor rise so high.

The Perfection of this Time of the Gallop depends upon the Justness of the Horseman's Motions. – They ought to be infinitely more exact in this Lesson, than in the Caprioles, or any other Airs, which are performed strait forward.

In reality, if the Horseman is too slow, and don't catch the exact Time which parts the two Leaps, the Leap which follows will be without any Spring or Vigour, because the Animal so restrain'd and held back, can never extend himself, or put forth his Strength; if he don't support and raise his Shoulders sufficiently high, the Croupe will then be higher than it ought to be; and this Disproportion will force the Horse to toss up his Nose, or make some other bad Motion with his Head as he is coming to the Ground in his Leap; or else it will happen that the succeeding Time will be so precipitate, that the next Leap will be false and imperfect, as the Horse will not be sufficiently united, but will be too heavy and lean upon the Hand. – If he is not together, the Leap will be too much extended, and consequently weak and loose, because the Horse will not be able to collect his Strength, in order to make it equal to the first.

Learn then in a few Words what should be the Horseman's Seat, and what Actions he should use in this Lesson.

He should never force, alter, or lose the true Apuy, either in raising, supporting, holding in, or driving forward his Horse. – His Head should be not only firm and steady, but it is indispensably necessary that his Seat should be exactly strait and just; for since the Arm is an Appendix of the Body, it is certain that if the Motions of the Horse shake or disorder the Body of the Rider, the Bridle-hand must inevitably be shook, and consequently the true Apuy destroy'd.

In this Attitude then approach the Calves of your Legs, support and hold your Horse up with your Hand, and when the Fore-part is at its due Height, aid with the Switch upon the Croupe.

If your Horse rises before, keep your Body strait and firm; if he lifts or tosses up his Croupe, or yerks out, fling your Shoulders back without turning your Head to one side or the other, continuing the Action of the Hand that holds the Switch.

Remember that all the Motions of your Body should be so neat and fine as to be imperceptible; as to what is the most graceful Action for the Switch-hand, that over the Shoulder is thought the best; but then this Shoulder must not be more back than the other; and care must be taken that the Motion be quick and neat, and that the Horse do not see it so plainly as to be alarm'd.

I have said, that when the Horse made his Leaps too long and extended, you should then aid with your Hand-spur; and for this Reason, because the Hand-spur will make the Horse raise his Croupe without advancing, as the Effect of the Switch will be to raise the Croupe, and drive the Horse forward at the same time; it should therefore be used to such Horses as retain themselves.

Remember that you should never be extreme with your Horse, and work him beyond his Strength and Ability; indeed one should never ask of a Horse above half of what he can do; for if you work him till he grows languid and tired, and his Strength and Wind fail him, you will be compell'd to give your Aids roughly and openly; and when that happens, neither the Rider or the Horse can appear with Brilliancy and Grace.

THE END