The Trot is very efficacious to bring a Horse to this Union so important, and so necessary; I speak of the Trot, in which he is supported and kept together, and suppled at the same time; this compels the Horse to put himself together: in effect, the Trot in which a Horse is well supported partakes of a quick and violent Motion: It forces a Horse to collect and unite all his Strength, because it is impossible that a Horse that is kept together, should at the same time abandon and fling himself forward. I explain myself thus.—In order to support your Horse in his Trot, the Horseman should hold his Hand near his Body, keeping his Horse together a little, and have his Legs near his Sides. The Effect of the Hand is to confine and raise the fore Parts of the Horse; the Effect of the Legs is to push and drive forward the hinder Parts: Now if the fore Parts are kept back or confin'd, and the hinder Parts are driven forward, the Horse in a quick Motion, such as the Trot, must of necessity sit down upon his Haunches, and unite and put himself together.
For the same Reason making your Horse launch out vigorously in his Trot, and quickening his Cadence from time to time, putting him to make Pesades, stopping him and making him go backward, will all contribute towards his acquiring the Union.—I would define his going off readily, or all at once, not to be a violent and precipitate Manner of Running, but only to consist in the Horse's being a little animated, and going somewhat faster than the ordinary Time of his Pace.—Your Horse trots, press him a little; in the Instant that he redoubles and quickens his Action, moderate and shorten, if I may so say, the Hurry of his Pace; the more then that he presses to go forward, the more will his being check'd and confin'd tend to unite his Limbs, and the Union will owe its Birth to opposite Causes; that is to say, on one hand to the Ardour of the Horse who presses to go forward, and to the Diligence and Attention of the Horseman on the other, who, by holding him in, slackens the Pace, and raises the Fore-parts of the Creature, and at the same time distributes his Strength equally to all his Limbs. The Action of a Horse, when going backward, is directly opposite to his abandoning himself upon his Shoulders; by this you compel him to put himself upon his Haunches: this Lesson is by so much therefore the more effectual, as that the Cause of a Horse's being dis-united, is often owing to the Pain he feels in bending his Haunches.
The Pesades have no less Effect, especially upon Horses that are clumsy and heavy shoulder'd; because they teach them to use them, and to raise them; and when they raise them up, it follows of necessity that all their Weight must be thrown upon their Haunches. A light and gentle Hand then, and the Aids of the Legs judiciously managed, are capable to give a Horse the Union; but it is not so clear at what time we ought to begin to put a Horse upon his Haunches. Is it not necessary before we do this, that the Horse should have his Shoulders entirely suppled? It is evident, that a Horse can never support himself upon his Haunches, unless his Fore-part be lightened; let us see then by what means we may hope to acquire this Suppleness, the only Source of light and free Action. Nothing can supple more the Shoulders than the Working a Horse upon large Circles.—Walk him first round the Circle, in order to make him know his Ground; afterwards try to draw his Head in, or towards the Center, by means of your inner Rein and inner Leg. For instance,—I work my Horse upon a Circle, and I go to the Right by pulling the right Rein; I bring in his outward Shoulder by the means of the left Rein, and support him at the same time with my inner Leg; thus the Horse has, if I may so say, his Head in, or towards the Center, although the Croupe is at Liberty. The right Leg crosses over the left Leg, and the right Shoulder is suppled, while the left Leg supports the whole Weight of the Horse in the Action: In working him to the left Hand, and following the same Method, the left Shoulder supples, and the right is pressed and confined. This Lesson, which tends not only to supple the Shoulders, but likewise to give an Apuy, being well comprehended by the Horse, I lead him along the Side of the Wall,—having placed his Head, I make use of the inner Rein, which draws in his Head, and I bring in his outward Shoulder by means of the other Rein: In this Posture, I support him with my inner Leg, and he goes along the Wall, his Croupe being out and at liberty, and his inner Leg passing over and crossing his outward Leg at every Step he makes.—By this, I supple his Neck, I supple his Shoulders, I work his Haunches, and I teach the Horse to know the Heels. I say, that the Haunches are worked, though his Croupe is at liberty, because it is from the Fore-parts only, that a Horse can be upon his Haunches.
In effect, after having placed his Head, draw it in, and you will lengthen his Croupe, you raise him higher before than behind, his Legs come under his Belly, and consequently he bends his Haunches. It is the same as when he comes down Hill, his Croupe, being higher than his Fore-parts, is pushed under him, and the Horse is upon his Haunches; since it is evident that the Hinder support all the Fore-parts, therefore in going along the Side of the Wall, by the means of the inner Rein, I put together and unite my Horse.
Behold then, in short, the most certain Methods of enabling yourself to give to a Horse this Union, this Freedom and Ease, by which learning how to ballance his Weight equally and with Art, and distributing his Strength with Exactness to all his Limbs, he becomes able to undertake and execute with Justness and Grace, whatever the Horseman demands of him, conformable to his Strength and Disposition.
CHAP. VIII.
Of the Pillars.
It is the same with respect to the Pillars, as with all other Lessons which you must teach a Horse, in order to make him perfect in his Air. Excellent in itself, it becomes pernicious and destructive under the Direction of the Ignorant, and is not only capable to dishearten any Horse, but to strain and ruin him entirely.
The Pillar partly owes its Origin to the famous Pignatelli[1]. Mess. de la Broue and Pluvinel, who were his Scholars, brought it first into France; the first indeed made little use of it, and seem'd to be very well appriz'd of its Inconveniencies and Dangers; as for the other, one may say, that he knew not a better or shorter Method of dressing and adjusting a Horse. In effect, according to his Notions, working a Horse round a single Pillar could never fail of setting him upon his Haunches, making him advance, suppling and teaching him to turn roundly and exactly; and by putting him between two Pillars, provided he had Vigour, he was taught to obey the Heels readily, to unite himself, and acquire in a shorter time a good Apuy in making Curvets. If he wanted to settle his Horse's Head in a short time, the Pillars were very efficacious. He tied the Horse between them to the Cords of the Snaffle which he had in his Mouth, instead of the Bridle. There he work'd his Horse without a Saddle, and maintain'd, that if the Horse tossed or shook his Head, bore too much, or too little upon his Bridle, he punish'd himself in such a manner, that (as he imagin'd) the Horse was compell'd to put himself upon his Haunches, and to take a good Apuy; especially as the Fear of the Chambriere or Whip, always ready behind him, kept him in awe. The Horse was often taken out of the two Pillars, in order to be put to the single Pillar, with a Cord tied to the Banquet of the Bit as a false Rein; here he was work'd by being made to rise before, and driven round the Pillar, with a design and in hopes of making him step out and embrace, or cover well the Ground he went round, as well as to give him Resolution in his Work, and to cure him of Dullness and Sloth, if he had it in his Temper. We don't know whether Mr. Pluvinel designed any real Advantages from this Method or no; but be that as it will, it prevails no longer among us.—It must be owned, that the two Pillars of his inventing are still preserved, and that no Manage is without them; but at least we have suppress'd the single Pillar, which serves only to fatigue and harrass a Horse: Learn never to put a Horse between the two Pillars till he is well suppled, and you have given him the first Principles of the Union between the Legs, which are the natural Pillars that every Horseman should employ. We must take care to work the Horse with great Prudence at first, and as gently as possible; for a Horse being in this Lesson very much confined and forced, and not able to escape, nor to go forward nor backward, he oftentimes grows quite furious, and abandons himself to every Motion that Rage and Resentment can suggest. Begin then this Lesson in the plainest Manner, contenting yourself with only making him go from side to side, by means of the Switch, or from fear of the Chambriere. At the End of some Days, the Horse, thus become obedient, and accustomed to the Subjection of the Pillars; try to make him insensibly go into the Cords, which when he will do readily, endeavour to get a Step or two exact and in time of the Passage or Piaffer.
Footnote 1: He liv'd at Naples, and was the most eminent Horseman of his Time.