You ought to be careful at the same time, and see that your Horse never falsifies or quits the Line, either in advancing or going backward.—If he presses forward, support him with your Hand; if he hangs back, support him with your Legs, always giving him the Leg that serves to drive him on, stronger than the other which serves only to support him; that is, acting stronger with the Leg that is without, than with that which is within.
The Lesson of the Head to the Wall is very efficacious to correct a Horse that forces the Hand, or who leans heavily upon it, because it compels him to put himself together, and be light upon the Hand with less Aids of the Bridle; but no Horse that is restive or ramingue should be put to it, for all narrow and confin'd Lessons serve only to confirm them in their natural Vice.—Place your Horse directly opposite the Wall, at about two Feet distance from it; make him go sideways, as I have already directed in the Article of Croupe to the Wall; but left one Foot should tread upon the other, and he should knock them together and hurt himself, in the Beginning of both Lessons you must not be too strict with him, but let his Croupe be rather on the contrary Side of his Shoulders, since by this means he will look towards the Way he is going more easily, and be better able to raise the Shoulder and Leg which is to cross over the other.—By degrees you will gain his Haunches, and he will grow supple before and behind, and at the same time become light in the Hand: Never forget that your Horse ought always to be bent to the Way he goes; in order to do this readily, guide him with the outward Rein; for very often the Stiffness of the Neck or Head is owing to nothing but the confined Action of the outward Shoulder; it being certain, that either the Difficulty or Ease of working either of those Parts, depends entirely upon the other; your Horse going thus sideways, carry your Hand a little out from time to time; the inner Rein by this means will be shortened, and make the Horse look in, the more it enlarges him before, by keeping his Fore-leg that is in, at a distance from the Fore-leg that is out, which consequently bringing the inner Hinder-leg near to the outward, confines his hinder Parts, and makes him bend his Haunches, especially the outward, upon which he rests his Weight, and keeps him in an equal Balance.—Never put your Horse to this Lesson, till he has been work'd a long while upon large Circles, his Head in, or to the Center, and his Croupe out; otherwise you would run the Risque of throwing him into great Disorder.
The greater part of Defences proceed from the Shoulders or Haunches, that is to say, from the fore or hinder Parts; and thence the Horse learns to resist the Hand or Heel. It is the want of Suppleness then, that hinders the Horse from executing what you put him to do; and how can it be expected that he should answer and obey, when he is stiff in the Shoulders, Haunches, and Ribs? especially if, without reflecting that Suppleness is the Foundation of all, you press and teize him, and put him to Lessons beyond his Power and Capacity.
CHAP. XII.
Of Changes of the Hand, large and narrow, and of Voltes and Demi-voltes.
A Change is that Action, whereby the Horseman guides and causes his Horse to go from the Right-hand to the Left, and from the Left to the Right, in order to work him equally to both Hands; therefore changing the Hand, when you are to the Right, is making your Horse go to the Left-hand, and when on the Left, making him go to the Right. The Changes are made either on one Line or Path, or on two, and are either large or narrow. Changing the Hand upon one Line, is when the Horse describes but one Line with his Feet; changing upon two Lines, is when the Haunches follow and accompany the Shoulders; and to make this Change, the Horse's Feet must consequently describe two Lines, one made by his Fore-feet, the other with his Hinder-feet.
Changing large, is when the Line, if the Horse makes but one, or both Lines, when he describes two, cross the Manage from Corner to Corner; changing narrow, is when these Lines pass over but a Part of it.
A Volte is generally defined to be whatever forms a Circle.—Voltes of two Lines or Paths, describe two, one with the Horse's Fore, the other with his Hinder-feet.
If the Circle then forms a Volte, by consequence half a Circle forms what is called the Half-volte.—These Half-voltes, and Quarters of Voltes, are made upon two Lines, as well as the Volte.—A Demi-volte of two Treads, is nothing else than two half Circles, one drawn by the Horse's Fore-feet, the other by the Hinder; it is the same with Quarters of Voltes.—A Horse can be work'd, and put to all sorts of Airs upon the Voltes, Half-voltes, and Quarters of Voltes.—But as the Rules necessary to be observed and followed in making Voltes of two Treads, and in changing of Hands in the Passage, are only general, I shall content myself with explaining them in this Chapter; reserving to myself a Power of pointing out the Exceptions, when I shall come to treat of the different Airs, and the different Manages, that are practised upon the Voltes. Three things equally essential, and equally difficult to attain, must concur to form the Justness of a Change; they are the manner of beginning it, of continuing, and closing it.—We will suppose you in the Manage, you walk your Horse forward, you bend him properly, and you are come to the Place where you intend to change large. For this Purpose, make a half Stop, and take care never to abandon the Rein which is to bend your Horse's Neck; the other Rein, that is, the outward Rein, is that, which you must use to guide and direct him, but you must proportion the Stress you lay upon one with the other.—As it is the outward Rein which determines your Horse the Way he is to go, make that operate, its Effect will be to bring the outward Shoulder in; if then it brings the outward Shoulder in, it guides and determines the Horse to the Side to which you are going, and confines and fixes the Croupe at the same time. This is not all, at the same Instant that your Hand operates, support your Horse with your outward Leg: Your Hand having determined the Shoulder, and fixed the Croupe, your Leg must help to secure it; for without the Aid of the Leg, the Croupe would be unconfined, would be lost, and the Horse would work only upon one Line. You see then, how requisite it is for the Horseman to be exact, active, and to give his Aids with the greatest Delicacy, in order to begin his Change with Justness; because it is necessary, that the Times of giving the Hand and Leg, should be so close one to the other, as not to be perceived or distinguished.—You should never abandon, I have already said, that Rein with which you bend your Horse; this is the Reason—Every Horse when he makes a Change, ought to look towards the Way he is going; this Turn of the Neck, this Attitude, enables him to perform his Work better, and makes him appear graceful in it; therefore if he is turned or bent before he begins to change, why should you abandon the Rein that serves to bend him; since in this case, you would be under a double Difficulty in wanting on one hand the Point of Apuy, which ought to be found in the Rein which serves to bend him, and the Point of Apuy which ought to result from the working of the other Rein, which is to determine him.—The outward Rein operates to bring in the outward Shoulder, your outward Leg accompanies the Action of your Hand; here then is your Change begun.
The outward Shoulder and Leg never could have been brought in, without passing over or crossing the inner Leg and Shoulder; this is the Action which the outward Leg should constantly perform through the whole Change. In order to arrive at a just Execution of this, you should be able to feel which Feet are off the Ground, and which are upon it. If the inner Leg is in the Air, and the Horse is ready to put it to the Ground, raise your Hand, and carry it in insensibly, and your Horse will be oblig'd to advance his outward Leg and Shoulder, which must by this means cross the inner Leg and Shoulder whether he will or no.