CHAPTER I.

NEW MEANS OF OBTAINING A GOOD SEAT

It may undoubtedly be thought astonishing that, in the first editions of this work, having for its object the horse's education, I should not have commenced by speaking of the rider's seat. In fact, this, so important a part of horsemanship, has always been the basis of classical works on this subject. Nevertheless, it is not without a motive that I have deferred treating of this question until now. Had I had nothing new to say on this subject, I might very easily have managed, by consulting old authors, by transposing a sentence here and changing a word there, to have sent forth into the equestrian world another inutility. But I had other ideas; I wished to make a thorough reform. My system for giving a good seat to the rider, being also an innovation, I feared lest so many new things at one time should alarm even the best intentioned amateurs, and give a hold to my adversaries. They would not have failed to say that my means of managing a horse were impracticable, or that they could not be applied without recourse to a seat still more impracticable. But now I have proved the contrary--that, upon my plan, horses have been broken by troops without regard to the men's seat. To give more force to my method, and render it more easily comprehensible, I have divested it of all accessories, and said nothing about those new principles that concern the rider's seat. I reserved these last until after the indisputable success of the official trials. By means of these principles, added to those I have published upon the art of horse-breaking, I both shorten the man's work, and establish a system not only precise, but complete in these two important parts of horsemanship, hitherto so confused.

By following my new instructions relating to the man's seat on horseback, we will promptly arrive at a certain result; they are as easy to understand as to demonstrate. Two sentences are sufficient to explain all to the rider, and he will get a good seat by the simple advice of the instructor.

_The seat of the rider._--The rider will expand his chest as much as possible, so that each part of his body rests upon that next below it, for the purpose of increasing the adhesion of his buttocks to the saddle; the arms will fall easily by the sides. The thighs and legs must, by their own strength, find as many points of contact as possible with the saddle and the horse's sides; the feet will naturally follow the motion of the legs.

You see by these few lines how simple the rider's seat is.

The means which I point out for quickly obtaining a good seat, remove all the difficulties which the plan pursued by our predecessors presented. The pupil used to understand nothing of the long catechism, recited in a loud voice by the instructor, from the first word to the last, consequently he could not execute it. Here one word replaces all those sentences; but we previously go through a course of supplings. This course will make the rider expert, and consequently intelligent. One month will not elapse without the most stupid and awkward recruit being able to seat himself properly without the aid of the word of command.

_Preparatory lesson (the lesson to last an hour, two lessons a day for a month)._--The horse is led upon the ground, saddled and bridled. The instructor must take two pupils; one will hold the horse by the bridle, all the while watching what the other does, that he may be able to perform in his turn. The pupil will approach the horse's shoulder and prepare to mount; for this purpose he will lay hold of and separate, with the right hand, a handful of mane, and pass it into the left hand, taking hold as near the roots as possible, without twisting them; he will seize the pommel of the saddle with the right hand, the four fingers in, and the thumb outside; then springing lightly, will raise himself upon his wrists. As soon as his middle is the height of the horse's withers, he will pass the right leg over the croup, without touching it, and place himself lightly in the saddle. This vaulting being very useful in making the man active, he should be made to repeat it eight or ten times, before letting him finally seat himself. The repetition of this will soon teach him what he is able to do, using the powers of his arms and loins.

_Exercise in the saddle._--(This is a stationary exercise on horseback; an old, quiet horse to be chosen in preference; the reins are knotted, and hang on his neck.) The pupil being on horseback, the instructor will examine his natural position, in order to exercise more frequently those parts which have a tendency to give way or stiffen. The lesson will commence with the chest. The instructor will make use of the flexions of the loins, which expand the chest, to straighten the upper part of the pupil's body; he whose loins are slack will be made to hold himself in this position for some time, without regard to the stiffness which this will bring along with it the first few times. It is by the exertion of force that the pupil will become supple, and not by the _abandon_ so much and so uselessly recommended. A movement at first obtained by great effort, will, after a while, not require so much, for he will then have gained skill, and skill, in this case, is but the result of exertions combined and employed properly. What is first done with twenty pounds of force, reduces itself afterwards to fourteen, to ten, to four. Skill will be the exertion reduced to four pounds. If we commenced by a less, we would not attain this result. The flexions of the loins will be often renewed, allowing the pupil often to let himself down into his natural relaxed position, in order to make him properly employ the force that quickly gives a good position to the chest. The body being well placed, the instructor will pass: 1st. To the lesson of the arm, which consists in moving it in every direction, first bent, and afterwards extended; 2d. To that of the head; this must be turned right and left without its motions reacting on the shoulders.

When the lessons of the chest, arms, and head give a satisfactory result, which ought to be at the end of four days (eight lessons), they will pass to that of the legs.

The pupil will remove one of his thighs as far as possible from the quarters of the saddle; and afterwards replace it with a rotatory movement from without inwards, in order to make it adhere to the saddle by as many points of contact as possible. The instructor will watch that the thigh does not fall back heavily; it should resume its position by a slowly progressive motion, and without a jerk. He ought, moreover, during the first lesson, to take hold of the pupil's leg and direct it, in order to make him understand the proper way of performing this displacement. He will thus save him fatigue, and obtain the result more quickly.

This kind of exercise, very fatiguing at first, requires frequent rests; it would be wrong to prolong the exercise beyond the powers of the pupil. The motions of drawing in (_adduction_, which makes the thigh adhere to the saddle), and putting out (_abduction_, which separates it from the saddle), becoming more easy, the thighs will have acquired a suppleness which will admit of their adherence to the saddle in a good position. Then comes the flexion of the legs.

_Flexion of the legs._--The instructor will watch that the knees always preserve their perfect adherence to the saddle. The legs will be swung backward and forward like the pendulum of a clock; that is, the pupil will raise them so as to touch the cantle of the saddle with his heels. The repetition of these flexions will soon render the legs supple, pliable and independent of the thighs. The flexions of the legs and thighs will be continued for four days (eight lessons). To make each of these movements more correct and easier, eight days (or sixteen lessons), will be devoted to it. The fifteen days (thirty lessons), which remain to complete the month, will continue to be occupied by the exercise of stationary supplings; but, in order that the pupil may learn to combine the strength of his arms, and that of his loins, he will be made to hold at arm's length, progressively, weights of from ten to forty pounds. This exercise will be commenced in the least fatiguing position, the arm being bent, and the hand near the shoulder, and this flexion will be continued to the full extent of the arm. The chest should not be affected by this exercise, but be kept steady in the same position.

_Of the knees._--The strength of pressure of the knees will be judged of, and even obtained, by the aid of the following method: this, which at first sight will perhaps appear of slight importance, will, nevertheless, bring about great results. The instructor will take a narrow piece of leather about twenty inches long; he will place one end of this strap between the pupil's knee and the side of the saddle. The pupil will make use of the force of his knees to prevent its slipping, while the instructor will draw it towards him slowly and progressively. This process will serve as a dynamometer to judge of the increase of power.

The strictest watch must be kept that each force which acts separately does not put other forces in action; that is to say, that the movement of the arms does not influence the shoulders; it should be the same with the thighs, with respect to the body; the legs, with respect to the thighs, etc., etc. The displacement and suppling of each part separately, being obtained, the chest and seat will be temporarily displaced, in order to teach the rider to recover his proper position without assistance. This will be done as follows: the instructor being placed on one side, will push the pupil's hip, so that his seat will be moved out of the seat of the saddle. The instructor will then allow him to get back into the saddle, being careful to watch that, in regaining his seat, he makes use of his hips and knees only, in order to make him use only those parts nearest to his seat. In fact, the aid of the shoulders would soon affect the hand, and this the horse; the assistance of the legs would have still worse results. In a word, in all the displacements, the pupil must be taught not to have recourse in order to direct the horse, to the means which keep him in his seat, and, _vice versâ_, not to employ, in order to keep his seat, those which direct the horse.

Here, but a month has elapsed, and these equestrian gymnastics have made a rider of a person, who at first may have appeared the most unfit for it. Having mastered the preliminary trials, he will impatiently await the first movements of the horse, to give himself up to them with the ease of an experienced rider.

Fifteen days (thirty lessons) will be devoted to the walk, trot and gallop. Here the pupil should solely endeavor to follow the movements of the horse; therefore, the instructor will oblige him to occupy himself only with his seat, and not attempt to guide the horse. He will only exact that the pupil ride, at first, straight before him, then in every direction, one rein of the snaffle in each hand. At the end of four days (eight lessons), he may be made to take the curb-rein in his left hand.

The right hand, which is now free, must be held alongside of the left, that he may early get the habit of sitting square (with his shoulders on a level); the horse will trot equally to the right and to the left. When the seat is firmly settled at all the paces, the instructor will explain simply, the connection between the wrist and the legs, as well as their separate effects.

_Education of the horse._--Here the rider will commence the horse's education, by following the progression I have pointed out, and which will be found farther on. The pupil will be made to understand all that there is rational in it, and what an intimate connection exists between the education of the man and that of the horse.

_Recapitulation and progression._--

Days. Lessons.

1. Flexion of the loins to expand the chest 4 8

2. Extending and replacing of the thighs, and flexion of the legs 4 8

3. General exercise of all the parts in succession 8 16

4. Displacement of the man's body, exercise of the knees and arms with weights in the hands 15 30

5. Position of the rider, the horse being at a walk, trot and gallop, in order to fashion and settle the seat at these different paces 15 30

6. Education of the horse by the rider 75 150

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Total 121 242