re the two
things to be aimed at, from the putting the first halter on the colt, to
his performance of the pirouette renversee au galop--which is perhaps
the most perfect trial and triumph of the most exquisitely finished
horsemanship, and in which the horse must exert every faculty of his
mind to discover, and every muscle of his body to execute, the wishes of
his rider.

[Sidenote: The colt needs no suppling.]

[Sidenote: He wants to know your meaning.]

[Sidenote: And that he must obey.]

It is a vulgar error--an abuse of terms--the mere jargon of jockeyship,
to say that the horse needs _suppling_ to perform this, or any other air
of the manege, or anything else that man can make him do; all that he
wants is to be made acquainted with the wishes of his rider, and
inspired with the desire to execute them. For example, among the
innumerable antics which I have seen fresh young troopers go through,
when being led to and from the farrier's shop, I have seen them perform
this very air, the pirouette renversee au galop to the right, round the
man who leads them; I have seen them perform the figure perfectly, with
the exception that, instead of the right nostril leading, the head and
neck have been straight on the diameter of the circle. At the same time
detacher l'aiguillette, and mingle courbettes, ballotades, and even
cabrioles with it,--combinations which La Broue, the Duke of Newcastle,
De la Gueriniere, or Pellier would scarcely dream of. This a horse will
do in the gaiety of his heart, and without requiring any suppling; take
the same horse into the school, follow him with the whip, and try to
_make_ him do it, he will think you a most unreasonable person; he will
by no means be able to discover your meaning, and will, if you press
him, finish by being exceedingly sulky. Mount him, and try to indicate
your wishes to him through the medium of your hands, legs, and whip, or
if you prefer the terms, to give him their _aid_ and _support_. I will
venture to say that you will be nearer two years than one, before you
can get him to do what he has not only done but done for his own
delight. In the mean time, if during his two years of _suppling_ you
have never given him a false indication or ever forced him, he will be
no more stiff than when he first began to be _suppled_. But if, as a
million riders out of a million and one would have done, you have been
in the constant habit of doing both, the horse will long ago have