Claude Bourgelat

“ 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 lately made, have produced nothing but Hands, cold and unactive, without Firmness, whose irregular and capricious Motions serve only to render a Horse's Mouth uncertain and fickle, and who, by their manner of holding them high, have ruined absolutely the Hocks of all the Horses, that they have worked according to these absurd Notions. ”

“ It is the Foundation of all Justness; it constitutes and directs the Cadence, Measure and Harmony of all the Airs; it is the Soul of Delicacy, Brilliancy and Truth in riding; and as a Person who plays upon a musical Instrument adapts and suits his two Hands equally to the Instrument, so the Man who works a Horse ought to make his Hands and Legs accord exactly together. I say his Hands and Legs should accord and answer one to the other with the strictest Exactness, because the nicest and most subtle Effects of the Bridle proceed entirely from this Agreement ”

“ 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 ”

“ It is well known, that in working upon every Air, the Strength, the Vigour, and the Disposition of the Horse should be consider'd; the Importance of this Attention to these Qualities is sufficiently acknowledged; and it is granted and allowed, that Art serves, and can serve, to no other end than to improve and make Nature perfect.—Now it will be easy to discover to what Air a Horse should be destin'd, and to what he is most dispos'd and capable of executing, by seeing his Actions, and by the greater or less Degree of Pains which will be requisite to supple him. ”

“ 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. ”

“ That sort of Exercise which hits the Temper, and best suits the Strength of a Horse, will appear graceful, and preserve his Health; while that which is opposite to his Temper and Genius will dishearten him, make him timid and abject, and plunge him into numberless Ails and Vices. ”

“ If he has any Seeds of the Ramingue in him, his Action will be short and together; but it will be retain'd and loitering, the Horse craving the Aids, and only advancing in proportion as the Rider gives them, and drives him forward.—If he is light and active, quick of Feeling, and willing, his Action will be free and diligent, and you will perceive that he takes a Pleasure to work of himself, without expecting the Aids.—If he be of a hot and fiery Nature, his Actions will be quick and sudden, and will shew that he is angry and impatient of the Subjection. ”

“ Riding consists of two Parts, the useful and the ornamental. That the latter of these may be dispensed with, is most readily granted; but that it behoves every one who puts himself upon a Horse to have some Knowledge of the first, is most evident.—For who would trust to the Mercy of an Animal that may prove wild and ungovernable, who knows himself to be incapable of controuling him, and of acting for his own Safety? ”

“ The Union not only helps and relieves the Part of the Horse that is the weakest, but it is so necessary to every Horse, that no Horse that is dis-united can go freely, he can neither Leap nor Gallop with Agility and Lightness, nor run without being in manifest Danger of falling and pitching himself headlong, because his Motions have no Harmony, no Agreement one with another. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Truth and Soundness of his Principles, and the Extensiveness of his Knowledge, have opened to us an easier, a shorter, and more certain Way to Perfection in the Art, than was known before. His Precepts have accordingly been adopted by all succeeding Professors, and his Writings consider'd as the Oracle of Horsemanship, notwithstanding a Want of Method and Exactness, which has been objected to them. To remedy these Imperfections, is the Design of the present Undertaking, and the Labours of a judicious and experienced Foreigner, must consummate in the Knowledge of the Art he professes. ”

“ It is not therefore sufficient in giving Directions for the Seat, to keep altogether to trivial and common Rules which may be followed or left at pleasure; we ought to weigh and examine them with Skill and Judgment, in order to know how to apply them properly and suitably as the Shape and Figure of the Person to whom we undertake to give a Seat will allow; for many Motions and Attitudes that appear easy and natural in one Man, in another are awkward and ungraceful ”

“ All Horses are by Nature rather aukward than nervous and strong; fearful than bold; hot and fretful than mischievous or ill-temper'd; whenever they grow desperate and absolutely ungovernable, it is often rather to avoid the extreme Pain which they feel, or expect to feel from too great a Constraint, than merely to resist the Horseman. ”

“ A Horse may be but weak in the Loins, and yet execute any Air, and accompany it with Vigour, as long as his Strength is united and intire; but if he becomes disunited, by having been work'd beyond his Ability in the Trot, he will then falter in his Air, and perform it without Vigour and Grace.
There are also some Horses, who are very strong in the Loins, but who are weak in their Limbs; these are apt to retain themselves, they bend and sink in their Trot, and go as if they were afraid of hurting their Shoulders, their Legs or Feet. ”

“ It is very difficult to feel exactly, and perceive these Times of the Gallop; but yet by Observation and Practice it may be done.—The Times of a Horse, who covers and embraces a good deal of Ground, are much more easy to mark than his who covers but little.—The Action of the one is quick and short, and that of the other long, slow, and distinct; but whether the natural Motions and Beats of the Horse are slow or quick, the Horseman absolutely ought to know them, in order to humour and work conformably to them ”

“ Thus it may happen, that a Horse may make his Stops very defectively, either from some natural or accidental Faults in the different Parts of his Body; or it may be owing to the Unskilfulness and Ignorance of the Rider, or the Effect of Faults and bad Lessons all together. Principles that are true and just will assist and reform Nature, but a bad School gives birth to Vice and Defences that are often not to be conquer'd. ”

“ It is not proper to use severe Correction to make a Horse obey, who refuses to turn to one Hand; if he is cold and dull, he will lose all his Vigour and Courage; if he is of an angry Temper, hot and brisk, you would make him desperate and mad; work him then upon the Principles of Art, and pursue the Methods you think most likely to reform his ill Habit, and reduce him to Obedience; if he obstinately refuses to turn to one Hand, begin the next Lesson, by letting him go to his favourite Hand a turn or two ”

“ To compel a Horse to stop upon his Haunches, nothing is so efficacious as Ground that is a little sloping; this is of service to exercise such Horses upon as are naturally too loose in their Paces, who are heavy and apt to abandon themselves upon the Hand, by this means they become light before; you must nevertheless examine if his Feet, his Loins, his Shoulders and Legs are sufficiently able to bear it, for otherwise your Horse would soon be spoil'd: The whole therefore depends in this Case, as in all others, upon the Sagacity and Experience of the Horseman. ”

“ It is allowed, that Nature has given to every Horse a certain Equilibre, by which he supports and regulates himself in all his Motions; we knew that his Body is supported by his four Legs, and that his four Legs have a Motion, which his Body must of necessity follow; but yet this natural Equilibre is not sufficient. All Men can walk, they are supported on two Legs, notwithstanding this we make a great Difference between that Person [Pg 56] to whom proper Exercises have taught the free Use of his Limbs, and him whose Carriage is unimproved by Art, and consequently heavy and aukward. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It would be a Proof of great Ignorance to undertake to reduce a Horse to the Justness of the Stop, before he had been work'd and push'd out in the Trot and Gallop to both Hands, or before he was so ready as never to refuse to launch out immediately into a full Gallop ”

“ 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. ”

“ An Aid may be termed whatever assists or directs a Horse, and whatever enables him to execute what we put him to do.—Corrections are whatever Methods we use to awe and punish him, whenever he disobeys: Aids therefore are to prevent, and Corrections to punish, whatever Fault he may commit. ”

“ 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. ”