A New System of Horsemanship - Bourgelat Claude

Скачать книгу

close to the Body, would present but an awkward and disagreeable Appearance.

      It is this which determines the Situation of the Hand, which holds the Switch. The Left-hand being of an equal Height with the Elbow, so that the Knuckle of the Little-finger, and the Tip of the Elbow, be both in a Line; this Hand then being rounded neither too much nor too little, but just so that the Wrist may direct all its Motions; place your Right-hand, or the Switch-hand, lower and more forward than the Bridle-hand; it should be lower than the other Hand, because if it was upon a Level with it, it would restrain or obstruct its Motions; and were it to be higher, as it cannot take so great a Compass as the Bridle-hand, which must always be kept over against the Horseman's Body, it is absolutely necessary to keep the Proportion of the Elbows, that it should be lower than the other.

      The Legs and Feet make up the second Division, of what I call the moveable Parts of the Body.

      The Legs serve for two Purposes; they may be used as Aids, or Corrections, to the Animal. They should then be kept near the Sides of the Horse, and in a Line with the Man's Body; for being near the Part of the Horse's Body where his Feeling is most delicate, they are ready to do their Office in the Instant they are wanted. Moreover, as they are an Appendix of the Thighs, if the Thigh is upon its Flat in the Saddle, they will, by a necessary Consequence, be turned just as they ought, and will infallibly give the same Turn to the Feet; because the Feet depend upon them, as they depend upon the Thighs.

      The Toe should be held a little higher than the Heel, for the lower the Toe is, the nearer the Heel will be to the Sides of the Horse, and must be in danger of touching his Flank. Many Persons, notwithstanding, when they raise their Toe, bend and twist their Ankle, as if they were lame in that Part. The Reason of this is very plain; it is because they make use of the Muscles in their Legs and Thighs; whereas, they should employ only the Joint of the Foot for this Purpose; a Joint, given by Nature to facilitate all the Motions of the Foot, and to enable it to turn to the Right or Left, upwards or downwards.

      Such is, in short, the mechanical Disposition of all the Parts of the Horseman's Body. I will enlarge no further upon a Subject treated on already so amply by every Writer; as it is needless to write what has been already handled. I have had no other Design in this Chapter, than to give an Idea of the Correspondence that there is between all the Parts of the Body, because it is only by a just Knowledge of this mutual Relation of all the different Parts, that we can be enabled to prescribe Rules for giving that true and natural Seat, which is not only the Principle of Justness, but likewise the Foundation of all Grace in the Horseman.

      CHAP. II.

       Of the Hand, and its Effects.

       Table of Contents

      The Knowledge of the different Characters, and the different Nature of Horses, together with the Vices, and Imperfections, as well as the exact and just Proportions of the Parts of a Horse's Body, is the Foundation upon which is built the Theory of our Art; but this Theory will be unnecessary and even useless, it we are not able likewise to carry it into Execution.

      This depends chiefly upon the Goodness and Quickness of Feeling in the Hand, a Delicacy which Nature alone can give, and which she does not always bestow. The first Sensation of the Hand consists in a greater or less Degree of Fineness in the Touch or Feeling; all of us are equally furnished with Nerves, from which we have the Sense of Feeling, but as this Sense is much more subtle and quick in some Persons than in others, it is impossible to give a precise Definition of the exact Degree of Feeling in the Hand, which ought to communicate and answer to the same Degree of Feeling in the Horse's Mouth; because there is as much difference in the Degrees of Feeling in Men, as there is in the Mouths of Horses.

      I suppose then a Man, who is not only capable to judge of the Qualities of a Horse's Mouth from a Knowledge of the Theory, but who has likewise by Nature that Fineness of Touch, which helps to form a good Hand; let us see then what the Rules are that we must follow, in order to make it perfect, and by which we must direct all its Operations.

      A horse can move four different Ways, he can advance, go back, turn to the Right, and to the Left; but he can never make these different Motions, unless the Hand of the Rider permits him by making four other Motions which answer to them: So that there are five different Positions for the Hand.

      The first is that general Position, from which proceed, and indeed ought to proceed, the other four.

      Hold your Hand three Fingers breadth from your Body, as high as your Elbow, in such a Manner that the Joint of your Little-finger be upon a right Line with the Tip of the Elbow; let your Wrist be sufficiently rounded, so that your Knuckles may be kept directly above the Neck of your Horse; let your Nails be exactly opposite your Body, the Little-finger nearer to it than the others, your Thumb quite flat upon the Reins, which you must separate, by putting your Little-finger between them, the right Rein lying upon it; this is the first and general Position.

      Does your Horse go forward, or rather would you have him go forward? Yield to him your Hand, and for that Purpose turn your Nails downwards, in such a Manner as to bring your Thumb near your Body, remove your Little-finger from it, and bring it into the Place where your Knuckles were in the first Position, keeping your Nails directly above your Horse's Neck; this is the second.

      Would you make your Horse go backwards? quit the first Position, let your Wrist be quite round, let your Thumb be in the Place of the Little-finger in the second Position, and the Little-finger in that of the Thumb, turn your Nails quite upwards, and towards your Face, and your Knuckles will be towards your Horse's Neck; this is the third.

      Would you turn your Horse to the Right, leave the first Position, carry your Nails to the Right, turning your Hand upside down, in such a manner, that your Thumb be carried out to the Left, and the Little-finger brought in to the Right; this is the fourth Position.

      Lastly, Would you turn to the Left, quit again the first Position, carry the Back of your Hand a little to the Left, so that the Knuckles come under a little, but that your Thumb incline to the Right, and the Little-finger to the Left; this makes the fifth.

      These different Positions however alone are not sufficient; we must be able to pass from one to another with Readiness and Order.——Three Qualities are especially necessary to the Hand. It ought to be firm, 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

Скачать книгу