A New System of Horsemanship. Bourgelat Claude
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 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