Bibliothèque mondiale du cheval

« This necessarily supposes some requisites in the person who undertakes to bring a horse to his bearings. He must be a man of judgment, temper, sagacity, and courage. Reason is, indeed, the inherent property of every man, yet every reasonable man is not a perfect rider, till he hath attained the reason of the art. And though it be allowed, that good properties receive their birth from nature, yet the growth and improvement of them is owing to the precepts of art, and perfected by knowledge and practice. For, as is observed, nature without knowledge is blind, knowledge without nature falls short, and practice without the former is imperfect. Therefore, unless nature, art, and practice; be united in the same person, he can never expect to be a good rider. An accomplished rider knows how and when to help his horse. And yet, if he has a jade to practice upon, he will find all his skill and labour lost. On the other hand, he who has a horse of a good disposition, if he has not judgment to manage him properly, will very much hurt, if not endanger, the total loss of the most excellent qualities in his noble beast.
To prevent such a misfortune, and to secure to himself a long enjoyment of so rich a treasure, as that of a good horse, let the rider consider whether he has learned the art of just management. He is therefore desired to exanine his own abilities by the following rules.
1. Has he learned to know the true and perfect shape of horses ?
2. Is he acquainted with the natural causes of their goodness and badness ?
3. When he practices, does he always examine the reason of his practice ?
For by this means he will see what a handmaid art is to nature; and discern, that the actions of a perfect shaped horse, are easy, quick, and ready, agreable to the perfection of his nature; qualities naturally bred in and executed by him, and not the result of correction; and which a good rider will cherish with all possible mildness and gentleness. ’Tis the unskilfulness of riders, that, for the most part, is the occasion of those complaints we frequently hear, of restive and ungovernable, horses, and their bad performances. It is the want of just taste that makes a bad horseman. Has a young sportsman got a horse he cannot manage, the method be takes to tame him is, by hunting, till he tires him. And yet, give the horse buta week’s rest, and he will be as ungovernable as before. And it is a very just observation, that if a man cannot manage his horse in full spirits, he cannot well be said to manage him at all.
The riding, or what is called riding the great horse, is an art, laught by professed masters. But this is generally considered only as of use to the military gentlemen; or to persons of rank, who value themselves on appearing on horseback with grace and dignity, Managed horses that are taught their motions only for parade, are not fit for the road, or hunting. And, therefore, this part of horsemanship is quite useless to the generality. We shall therefore say no more of this part of the art here, but confine ourselves to such rules as concern the general use and practice. » Présentation de l’éditeur (1815)