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.