A New System of Horsemanship. Bourgelat Claude

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СКАЧАТЬ gentle, and light; I call that a firm or steady Hand, whose Feeling corresponds exactly with the Feeling in the Horse's Mouth, and which consists in a certain Degree of Steadiness, which constitutes the just Correspondence between the Hand and the Horse's Mouth, which every Horseman wishes to find.

       An easy and gentle Hand is that which by relaxing a little of its Strength and Firmness, eases and mitigates the Degree of Feeling between the Hand and Horse's Mouth, which I have already described.

      Lastly, a light Hand is that which lessens still more the Feeling between the Rider's Hand and the Horse's Mouth, which was before moderated by the gentle Hand.

      The Hand therefore, with respect to these Properties, must operate in part, and within certain Degrees; and depends upon being more or less felt, or yielded to the Horse, or with-held.

      It should be a Rule with every Horseman, not to pass at once from one Extreme to another, from a firm Hand to a slack one; so that in the Motions of the Hand, you must upon no account jump over that Degree of Sensation which constitutes the easy or gentle Hand. Were you at once to go from a firm Hand or a slack one, you would then entirely abandon your Horse; you would surprize him, deprive him of the Support he trusted to, and precipitate him on his Shoulders, supposing you do this at an improper time; on the contrary, were you to pass from a slack to a tight Rein all at once, you must jerk your Hand, and give a violent Shock to the Horse's Mouth, which rough and irregular Motion would be sufficient to falsify the finest Apuy, and ruin a good Mouth.

       It is indispensibly necessary therefore, that all its Operations should be gentle and light; and in order to this, it is necessary that the Wrist alone should direct and govern all its Motions, by turning and steering it, if I may so say, through every Motion that it is to make.

      In consequence then of these Principles, I insist that the Wrist be kept so round, that your Knuckles may be always directly above the Horse's Neck, and that your Thumb be always kept flat upon the Reins. In reality, were your Wrist to be more or less rounded, than in the Degree I have fixed, you could never work with your Hand, but by the means of your Arm; and besides, it would appear as if it were lame: Again, were your Thumb not to be upon the Flat of the Reins, they would continually slip through the Hand, and, by being lengthen'd, would spoil the Apuy; and in order to recover them, you would be obliged every Moment to raise your Hand and Arm, which would throw you into Confusion, and make you lose that Justness and Order, without which no Horse will be obedient, and work with Readiness and Pleasure.

      It is nevertheless true, that with Horses that are well drest, one may take Liberties; these are nothing else but those Motions which are called Descents of the Hand, and they are to be made three different ways; either by dropping the Knuckles directly and at once upon the Horse's Neck, or by taking the Reins in the Right-hand, about four Fingers breadth above the Left, and letting them slide through the Left, dropping your Right-hand at the same time upon the Horse's Neck; or else by putting the Horse under the Button, as it is call'd; that is, by taking the End of the Reins in your Right-hand, quitting them entirely with your Left, and letting the End of them fall upon your Horse's Neck: these Motions however, which give a prodigious Grace to the Horseman, never should be made but with great Caution, and exactly in the time when the Horse is quite together, and in the Hand; and you must take care to counter-balance, by throwing back your Body, the Weight of the Horse upon his Haunches.

      The Apuy being always in the same Degree, would heat the Mouth, would dull the Sense of Feeling, would deaden the Horse's Bars, and render them insensible and callous; this shews the Necessity of continually yielding and drawing back the Hand to keep the Horse's Mouth fresh and awake.

      Besides these Rules and Principles, there are others not less just and certain, but whose Niceness and Refinement it is not the Lot of every Man to be able to taste and understand. My Hand being in the first Position, I open the two Middle-fingers, I consequently ease and slacken my Right Rein; I shut my Hand, the Right Rein operates again, and resumes the Apuy. I open my Little-finger, and putting the End of it upon the Right Rein, I thereby slacken the Left, and shorten the Right. I shut my Hand entirely, and open it immediately again; I thereby lessen the Degree of Tension and Force of the two Reins at the same time; again I close my Hand not quite so much, but still I close it. It is by these Methods, and by the Vibration of the Reins, that I unite the Feeling in my Hand with that in the Horse's Mouth; and it is thus that I play with a fine and made Mouth, and freshen and relieve the Bars in which the Feeling or Apuy resides.

      It is the same with respect to the second Descent of the Hand: My Right-hand holding the Reins, I pass and slide my Left-hand upon the Reins up and down, and in the Degree of Apuy of the easy and slack Hand; by the means of which the Horse endeavours of himself to preserve the Correspondence and Harmony of that mutual Sensation, between his Mouth and the Rider's Hand, which alone can make him submit with Pleasure to the Constraint of the Bit.

      I have thus explained the different Positions and Motions of the Hand; let me shew now in a few Words the Effects which they produce.

      The Horseman's Hand directs the Reins; the Reins operate upon the Branches of the Bit; the Branches upon the Mouth-piece and the Curb; the Mouth-piece operates upon the Bars, and the Curb upon the Beard of the Horse.

      The Right Rein guides the Horse to the Left; the Left Rein to the Right. Would you go to the Right, you pass to the fourth Position of the Hand, that is, you carry and turn your Nails to the Right; now in carrying thus your Nails to the Right, and reversing your Hand in such a manner, that your Thumb point to the Left, and your Little-finger being raised turns to the Right, you by this means shorten your Left Rein; it is this Left therefore that turns and guides the Horse to the Right: Would you go to the Left, pass to the fifth Position, you will carry the Back of your Hand to the Left, so that your Nails will be turned down a little, your Thumb will be to the Right, and the Little-finger to the Left; this will shorten the right Rein, and the right Rein determines your Horse to the Left.

      I have already said, that the Effect which the Mouth-piece has upon the Bars, and the Curb upon the Beard, depends upon the Branches of the Bitt; when the Branches rise or are turned upwards, the Mouth-piece sinks, and when the Branches sink, the Mouth-piece rises; so that when your Horse is going strait forward, if you keep your Hand low and close to your Body, the Mouth-piece then presses strong upon the Bars, and the Chain or Curb having, in consequence more Liberty, acts less upon the Beard; on the contrary, if you keep your Hand high, a little forward, and consequently a little out of the Line of the End of the Branches, the Mouth-piece then sinks, and the Branches of necessity operate upon the Curb, which presses then very strongly upon the Beard; now, in order to place, and to bring in your Horse's Head, you must hold your Hand low, and in order to raise and lighten a Horse that weighs upon the Hand, and carries his Head too low, you must advance your Hand a little, and keep it high.

      Would you have your Horse go backward? Come to the third Position, but take care to round your Wrist exactly, in order to work equally with both Reins, and by this means to aid your Horse more effectually to go backward strait and ballanced between your Legs, which he could never do, if one Rein was to operate stronger than the other.

      There are particular Cases, where the Reins are separated, and one held in each Hand; it is usual to separate them when you trot a young Horse, or when you are to work one who is disobedient, and resists his Rider; upon these occasions, keep both your Hands upon a Level, low and near your Body: To turn to the right, use your right Rein; to go to the left, use your left Rein; but in order to make them have their Effect, move your Arm gently, turning it a little from your Body, keeping your Hand always low and even near your Boot.

      Such are the Principles upon which the Perfection and Justness of the Aids of the Hand depend, all others are false, and not to be regarded; Experience has so much the more evinced the Truth of this, as the new Discoveries which some People imagine they have СКАЧАТЬ