THE SCIENTIFIC EQUITATION
It is what the public called with irony at Vienna, pudel dressierung, the training of poodle-dogs!"
The passage cannot be taught by this system. It requires a progressive education, based on the principles of the scientific equitation. A great many persons are not able to obtain it for lack of the perfect equestrian tact which inspires in the horse the confidence, the energy, the excess of power needed to make all his bodily mechanism move with cadence and rhythm, and to preserve perfect diagonal action, without the slightest interference of hand, leg, or seat, since this would instantly destroy equilibrium, and with it the rhythm, cadence, and tempo. Certain horses, indeed, by their naturally high and energetic action, do tend of themselves to execute the passage. But even these should be given the same preliminary training as the less energetic animals. Sometimes, also, the action of the fore legs is high and correct enough, while that of the hind legs is low and imperfect. But the passage cannot endure mediocrity of execution. That is painful to feel or to see. The air is possible only when the perfected state of equilibrium can be kept by the horse during all the movements of the progression of the scientific equitation.
The horse needs for the passage, after his complete education, soundness, developed muscles, the proportions of a perfect conformation, energy, a calm yet ardent nature. Most of all, it needs to be mounted by a master with the artistic tempera-
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