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More Quotes of Dupaty de Clam
Dupaty de Clam
(1744 - 1782)
“The true qualities of the bit are to be found in the seat, the hand and the leg of the good rider.”
The Science and the Art of Equitation , demostrated according to nature (1777)
"The study of the laws of movement is, without a doubt, what has to occupy first and foremost everyone who plans to further horsemanship and who does not want to wander aimlessly by himself in a sterile landscape. He will find satisfying solutions to an infinite number of problems there that art ceaselessly presents us with. He will find, in a very palpable fashion, that the smallest movement of his body produces a real effect on his horse, and that it is by no means immaterial whether he acts in this fashion or in that, in order to produce a certain movement in the horse. The rider who knows the laws of movement calculates the cause and the effect and acquires the greatest skill by practicing. This skill consists of the exact knowledge and use of the movements the horse can make and what the rider has to do."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; translation: T. Ritter)
"The rider has to adjust his actions to the resistance the horse can put up, and he must not ask the horse’s limbs for movements that nature has forbidden. Otherwise, the art would be the declared enemy of this nature that he must regard as his master."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; translation: T. Ritter)
"If art joins nature to make the horse more beautiful, he is even prettier to watch. But it is only through constant consideration of the animal’s strength that he can be made more beautiful. Anger and rage can easily replace pride and vigor, if one inflicts pain on him. The animal is only beautiful if the posture that art gives him in the arena paints the same picture as nature at liberty: and that is the goal of art; it aims at uniting in one subject, for a brief moment in time, the scattered beauties of nature."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; translation: T. Ritter)
"I recommend above all to observe the good qualities of horses and to feel clearly all of their postures. They should enter into the work of the artist. If all horses were good, he would have little to do. The opposite is the case. And in order to be able to give a good posture to a bad horse, it is important to truly know the functions of all his limbs, and the reasons that nature provides for preferring pretty conformation in a good horse."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 122; translation: T. Ritter)
"It is in Spain that the best horses for the manège are found. They have brilliant shoulders, haunches and hocks full of springiness, strength and a generosity that are rarely found in other breeds."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 166; translation: T. Ritter)
"Our forebears, and perhaps also contemporary riders, have attached great importance to the bit: and they have made many different types of bits.
I personally think that it is only of secondary importance, and that the true qualities of the bit are found in the seat, in the hand, and in the leg of a good rider."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 166; translation: T. Ritter)
"When the animal is well trained and submits to reasonable demands, a mouth thus shaped makes a light contact with the bit, and the rider's hand merely carries the weight of the reins. The smallest movement suffices to communicate with the horse who obeys without disorder. This is ordinarily the contact of horses of light build and a gentle temperament. But as agreeable as this contact is, it has the inconvenience that it requires great attentiveness and great lightness of the rider's hand, which could otherwise jar and injure the mouth. That's why we prefer a firm and gentle contact."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 191; translation: T. Ritter)
"There are few mouths who cannot be taught contact, if the horse is good, provided one brings him into the degree of balance that is appropriate for him. On either side of this point, the true and agreeable contact is non-existent. Work, therefore, on the balance of the horse, and confirm it in the movements of good training. Then you will also shape his contact."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 192; translation: T. Ritter)
"Those who trot young horses briskly before having positioned them in a good posture ruin them and annoy them in a short period of time. On the other hand, those who only push their gaits as much as their strength and their balance allows succeed in training them, making them agreeable, and keeping their legs very sound. It is true that this is not at all easy, and that it is the result of great tact and the most reliable knowledge. The good posture is determined by the conformation and by the interrelationship between the horse's legs. And the suppling is founded on the consistent use he makes of his joints, according to the laws of their mechanism."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 200; translation: T. Ritter)
"Our present goal is to show that, well understood, nature always serves as our guide, and that we consult it rather than whims or fantasy.
Those who know and use the postures that are appropriate for the horse, who let the horse execute all possible movements in their full range, and who add gracefulness to their own posture as well as to the posture they give their horse are true horsemen. But those who merely have routine, whose work is confused and poorly thought out, who are only concerned with doing extraordinary things that are far removed from this beautiful simplicity of nature, certainly do not deserve this title. True talent consists of doing beautiful things, but with discernment and with reason: Those who sacrifice the horse's strength and his good will for a few pretty moments that may surprise uninformed spectators will therefore be far from acquiring a reputation. They will instead lose their reputation in the opinion of the true connoisseurs."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 200; translation: T. Ritter)
"A well conformed horse who works with action, will not carry his head low: he will carry it quite high; and this is what gives him pride.
This movement that I am talking about has certain properties. In order to visualize them well let us suppose that the head, the neck, and the withers form a lever of the second kind. The pressure is below the withers. The resistance that consists of the shoulders, the front legs, and so on, corresponds to the top of the withers. The power is at the top of the head. The power is very weak if the length of its lever arm does not surpass by far the length from the resistance to the pressure. Since the withers are very short, one can see that the length of the power is considerable. Having thus defined this lever, here is how it works.
The top of the animal’s head is carried backward. Several considerable muscles are attached to the head that move the shoulders, front legs, etc. The smallest anatomical notions suffice to attest to these facts. If the head moves backward, it can only do so if the limbs that are attached to it are lifted up, due to the construction of the lever. A strong objection arises here. But, one will say, does this movement have the power to load the hind legs in and of itself, because you cannot relieve the front without transferring its weight to the hindquarters? By which mechanism does this happen?
I answer that the main property of the lever’s pressure is its solidity, that if it is lacking the weight of the lever and its attached weights will move the support until it finds an insurmountable obstacle. This is what happens here. The withers is supported by the back vertebrae. These vertebrae are flexible. Now, the pressure of the lever reaches them successively, and this way the pressure is transferred to the haunches. The resistance of the lever is therefore shifted over the hocks of the horse. So this is how this body part is burdened by a simple mechanism, which depends uniquely on the horse’s willingness to change place.
Based on this fact, I thus have reason to claim that the animal’s first voluntary act produces, before any movement, a lightening of the front legs."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 103; translation: T. Ritter)
"Finally, we notice, albeit with difficulty, a small movement in the back vertebrae and in the lumbar vertebrae. And the haunch lowers considerably on the side where the shoulder is relieved. All the joints of this hind leg flex a little. But nothing leaves the ground. The other haunch therefore has a more considerable degree of elevation than the first one. Who could therefore contest that this first leg is the more burdened one, since it seems to flex under the weight."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 105; translation: T. Ritter)
"The more speed the horse puts into his step, the faster and more considerable the movement of his head and neck will be as well. The freer the shoulder is and the less it is burdened, the more apparent its movement and the more palpable its elevation will be as well. A horse who is frozen in his shoulder or tired in his limbs will hardly show this muscle contraction. If the croup is not lowered, one can be assured that it is not bearing weight. The more it is lowered, the more burdened it is. Also, in a horse who is on the shoulders, the hind legs appear to move as if they were made of one piece, without any flexion.
"This demonstration proves to us that the weight is shifted to the hindquarters, and that consequently the front end is merely a support that prevents falling."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 106; translation: T. Ritter)
"A tight throat latch is a big obstacle for a good head position. The upper part of the throat places itself into the canal that separates the two branches of the jaw. The more it is hollowed out, the easier it is to place the horse. The animal fatigues if there is not enough of an opening. Furthermore, if the throat latch is large, fleshy, etc., that is a little flaw for horsemanship: The excess mass adds to the weight of the head."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 136; translation: T. Ritter)
"The neck is the upper branch of a lever, which, as we have said, lightens the load of the horse's forehand with its play. A long neck will therefore be better, since the length of a branch of the lever determines its strength. It should not be too thick, because otherwise it would be too heavy for the legs to support it, and the horse would find it difficult to support. On the other hand, if it is short and thin, but in proportion to the head, it will be light, and its action will tend to relieve the front. The neck can be firm but short: muscles that are lacking fat are firmer and lighter than those that are surrounded by it.
It is also desirable that the neck rises well out of the withers, arching slightly as it rises, but without being completely circular, which is a shape that is considered as undesirable today as it was cherished by our ancestors. In the round neck the head is not carried at all backwards, and without this movement the horse cannot grow tall and lighten the front. A neck that is thus naturally elevated always tends to influence the animal and to support its forward movement. For in our work we try to place the horse's head so that one can draw a vertical line from the horse's ear to the toe of the grounded foot. If this posture comes naturally, it is a great relief.
The ewe neck is the one whose underneck shows a considerable bulge, while its topline shows a dip in front of the withers. Any horse with this conformation is light in front, but without contact: and he is quite difficult to train, because the neck is not connected to the withers, and since the vertebrae do not touch each other with their entire surfaces, they cannot support each other. The lever action is interrupted. These horses are not good for racing, either.
The short neck cannot stretch enough. It does not easily lighten the front. It is usually big, and quiet heavy for the front legs."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 136; translation: T. Ritter)
"The horse is not really useful for the human, unless he obeys the smallest orders. But for this purpose he has to be supple and in shape, which will never happen if one demands postures of him for which he was not designed, or that bother him. "
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 199; translation: T. Ritter)
"Although balance is the first thing the horse has to learn, it is impossible to succeed in forming this balance until certain preliminary steps have been taken. For this balance consists - as we have seen - of the even distribution of the mass of the horse's front end over the springs of the hocks, which it compresses. It is dependent on the suppleness that his legs acquire with age, on the strength of his muscles, that is increased by exercise, and on his willingness, which we cultivate through gentleness and exercises that are not very tiring, and that follow each other in the most natural succession.
It is true that a horse of any age takes the balance that is convenient for him, at liberty. And that does not cause him any trouble. But he does not know how to do this when he is carrying the rider, whose weight is added to the burden of his hocks: In order for him to reach this balance, his muscles must become stronger and more agile. "
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 214; translation: T. Ritter)
"I do not set a fixed timeframe for the horse to learn what I am asking of him. That depends on his strength and his age. But the longer one schools him on straight lines, the straighter he will become and the more he will go forward."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 224; translation: T. Ritter)
"Having achieved a willing bend with the inside rein, which must dominate in this work, one will let him feel the outside rein a little, so that the horse can become more united, which would never happen if only a single rein were to act. To the extent that he obeys both reins according to their intensity, I straighten him out and I proceed to fix his head without force, aligning it as much as possible with the snaffle, and asking him for a little bend."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 225; translation: T. Ritter)
"Having bent the horse with the inside rein, and having set the desired degree of the bend, one has to move the haunches a little to the outside by letting him feel the inside leg a little more than the outside one. Once he responds easily to this type of work, one can think of turning him, and all one has to do is to let him feel the outside leg and the inside rein: But one does not slacken the opposite aids, which have to frame the horse. The inside leg prevents the horse from yielding too much to the outside leg, and it drives him forward. And the outside rein prevents him from throwing himself onto the inside shoulder."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 226; translation: T. Ritter)
"It is good to let the horse walk at the beginning of the workout, so that he warms up and remembers what he has already learned, and that he subordinates himself under the rider. This reprise must take place at a free walk, and the horse should be left alone. He will then be in a better position to begin his trot reprise."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 229; translation: T. Ritter)
"It is good, from time to time, when the horse maintains himself well, to drive him forward with both legs once or twice, without yielding the reins, while keeping the head and neck in their degree of elevation. One should feel during the driving aid that the action of the haunches accelerates without the horse falling onto the forehand again. In fact, this is what must result from a slightly bigger aid of the legs, because they create a faster and more complete contraction of the abdominal muscles, and thereby the hind legs promptly step underneath the center of gravity."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 230; translation: T. Ritter)
"If one wants the horse's spine to become supple in the lesson of the walk and the trot on the circle, it is absolutely necessary that his body bend so that it forms a segment of the circle he is describing with every stride. Let us imagine a line that divides the horse's body into two equal halves, which passes between his ears and which ends in the middle of the iliac bones. If the horse is going straight ahead, this line is straight. But let us imagine that it is flexible. It will bend when the horse is going on a circle, and it still divides the horse's body into two equal halves. I say that if one wants to supple the horse, this line must correspond to a parallel line that one draws on the ground as the horse's track.
One has to observe that the part of the horse's body that is on the inside of the circle is shorter and therefore more compressed than the outside, while the outside has more play. There is consequently a great disproportion in the weight that the inside and outside legs are supporting. The same thing applies to the compression of the springs. The outside spring, or hind leg, is relieved, has more activity, and immediately transfers the body mass onto the inside one, which does not have the same elasticity, because it is more burdened. The outside shoulder is furthermore in advance of the inside one, like the thigh of that side. And if one does not take care, the stronger action of the outside body half will burden the inside so much that the animal leans to the inside, his legs will be too uncomfortable, and his balance will be destroyed."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 232; translation: T. Ritter)
"There are riders who claim that the horse should lean to the inside on the circle. I agree that the animal will position himself this way if one neglects to bend him and to support him with the inside leg so that he bends. But if one takes care to work him correctly, he will not lean: The driving aids of the inside leg will accelerate the activity of the hind leg on the same side of the horse. It will step underneath the center of gravity, and it will have enough force to send the body mass in turn over to the other leg."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 235; translation: T. Ritter)
"The challenge consists of maintaining the horse's balance without interfering with him, but also without giving him a degree of liberty he can take advantage of."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 250; translation: T. Ritter)
"The general effect of both reins is to elevate the front. The particular effect of each rein is that the inside rein bends to the inside. The outside rein sets the desired limits for the bend.
The general effect of both legs is to align the croup and to drive the animal forward.
The particular effect of each leg is that the inside leg lets the inside shoulder and hind leg advance and that it bends the sides. The outside leg frames the hind leg that wants to escape.
If the rider feels and distinguishes all these necessary aids in the correct bend, the horse will execute it. But in order to get him there, one must not mix up the actions. On the contrary, one must keep them clear by simplicity and by executing them the same way every day."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 258; translation: T. Ritter)
"The horse having been well placed on his haunches, well bent with as good as contact on both reins as possible, I carry both reins to the inside and raise them a little. This moves the shoulders away from the wall, and the bend increases more or less, after which I continue to hold the hand towards the inside. My leg on that side keeps the haunches round, and the outside leg works together with it, though much more lightly, in order to frame the haunches and to drive the animal forward.
Having placed the horse thus, I increase the aid of the inside leg. This leg performs three functions that are important to distinguish and to feel clearly.
It drives forward by stimulating and accelerating the contraction of the abdominal muscles.
It bends and rounds the sides, and it elevates the inside shoulder.
Finally, when all this is done, it drives the horse sideways."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 267; translation: T. Ritter)
"It is up to the intelligent rider to regulate his lessons according to the nature of the horse he is training. One cannot give hard and fast rules for that."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 275; translation: T. Ritter)
"I have followed nature with attentiveness, letting the lessons succeed each other according to what She tells me; and each lesson serves as a preparation for the following one. This way, the horse makes progress every day without getting tired. I have followed the same method to the degree that the training becomes more advanced and more difficult. For the exercise of bending is the principle that underlies all the others. When the horse does it well, he can successively move on to the next ones. This way, one leads him gradually to all those movements whose object it is to move the inside shoulder over the outside one: the main goal of the third class of movements. We have also worked this shoulder predominantly in all the positions that the horse can assume.
These movements bear a great resemblance, as far as the aids are concerned and as far as the horse's actions are concerned. When he can execute them well on both hands, he has acquired a great suppleness, and one has become master of the inside legs.
But one still has to make the outside legs pass over the inside ones, which is more difficult: We have had to begin with the simplest exercises, because the movements we just described serve as the foundation for the ones we are now going to reveal. As the first elements have led us to the work we just discussed, I have made it a rule for myself to follow in this book the order which nature imposes on everyone who wants to take the training to the highest perfection by following the direction She gives him. This is therefore what the rider has to do without undertaking any movement lightly, before having previously obtained the essential prerequisites that can facilitate it."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 279; translation: T. Ritter)
"Each individual has a certain tempo in which he can sustain himself. Below or above it, he is ill at ease, and displeases the human who is riding him. It is up to us to feel and appraise nature."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 315; translation: T. Ritter)
"All the footfalls must be equal; the harmony, and the isochronic measures continue without slowing down. With each stride, the horse covers the same amount of ground; if one has to reduce the stride length in the various measures within the gait, the ear of the spectator does not perceive it.
If nature has not endowed the horse with talent and a natural cadence, this cadence will never be brilliant, no matter how regular it may be. Each animal has his own: one must perfect it, but not change it."
(La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature; 1777; 323; translation: T. Ritter)
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