There is no such Thing as an universal Horse; that is, as a Horse who works equally well upon all Airs, the Terre-a-Terre, the Curvets, Mezair, Croupades, Balotades, and Caprioles, each Horse having a particular Disposition, which inclines to some certain Air which suits him best. A Horse that is naturally inclin'd to the high Airs, ought to be managed with great Gentleness and Patience; inasmuch as he will be in greater Danger of being disgusted and spoil'd, as his Disposition to the high Airs is owing generally to the Gaiety and Sprightliness of his Temper; and as such Tempers are usually averse to Subjection, Constraint and Correction, Rigour and Severity would make him become timid and angry, and then he could not attend to and catch the Time, Order, and Measure of the high Airs; therefore if you would reduce him to the Justness of the high Airs, and teach him their Harmony and Measure, you must not expect to succeed by any other ways than by giving your Instructions with great Patience and Judgment, and soon or late he will be gain'd.

The Feet are the Foundations upon which all the high Airs, if I may use the Word, are built. They ought then to be attended to very strictly; for if your Horse has any Pain, Weakness, or other Defect in his Feet, he will be so much the more improper to leap, as the Pain which he must feel when he comes to the Ground, would shoot quite to his Brain.

As a Proof of this, when a Horse whose Feet are bad or tender trots upon the Stones, or hard Ground, you will see him shut his Eyes, drop his Head at each Step, and shake his Tail from very Pain.

The Capriole is the most violent of the high Airs. To make it perfect, the Horse is to raise his Fore-parts and his Hinder to an equal Height; and when he strikes out behind, his Croupe should be upon a Level with his Withers. In rising and in coming down his Head and Mouth should be quite steady and firm, and he should present his Forehead quite strait.—When he rises, his Fore-legs should be bent under him a good deal, and equally. When he strikes out with his Hind-legs, he ought to do it nervously, and with all his Force; and his two Feet should be even, of an equal Height, and their Action the same when he strikes out: lastly, the Horse should at every Leap fall a Foot and a half, or the Space of two Feet distance from the Spot from which he rose.—I don't assert, that in order to make Caprioles a Horse must necessarily pass through Curvets and Balotades; for there are Horses who are naturally more light and active in their Loins than strong, and who are brought to leap with more Difficulty, than to the other Airs in which their Strength must be much more united, and their Disposition attended to; but yet it is certain, that if the Horse is brought to rise by Degrees, and is work'd in the intermediate Airs, before he undertakes the Caprioles, he will not weaken and strain himself so much, and will be sooner confirm'd in his Lesson than one who begins at once with the Caprioles.

Having thus explain'd to Demonstration the Motions of a Horse, when he makes a perfect Capriole, you may hence gather that they have an Effect directly opposite to that of Curvets and Pesades.—These two Airs are proper to assure the Head of the Horse, and to make it light, and this by so much the more as the principal Action depends upon the Haunches, and a moderate Apuy of the Mouth; but Caprioles are apt to give too great an Apuy, because the Horse when he makes the strongest Action of his Air, that is, when he strikes out as he is coming to the Ground, is entirely supported by the Hand; therefore before he is put to leap, he ought to have a perfect Apuy, and his Shoulders should at least be suppled and lighten'd by having made Pesades; and he should be without Fear, Anger, or any kind of Uneasiness, because, as I have already said, by leaping he learns to know his own Strength and Power; and he may put it to bad Purposes to free himself from Obedience, and indulge his Caprice and Ill-humour. Some Horses have a Disposition to this Air, and sufficient Strength to go through it; yet have their Mouth so delicate, sensible, and averse to the Hand, that you can't support them without hindering them from advancing; hence it follows that their Action before is cold and slow, and never sufficiently high, and they can't be carried forward when they raise their Croupe and strike out; and it is impossible to keep them firm as they come down. To remedy this, begin their Lesson upon the Trot, and press them in it so smartly as to make them often go into the Gallop; observe a Medium however in order to save their Strength and Vigour, that they may furnish as many Leaps as is requisite to the Perfection of the Air. Do the same with a Horse that has too much Strength, and who retains and avails himself it, so as not to make his Leaps freely and readily; by this means you will abate his superfluous Vigour, which serves only to disunite and make him troublesome.

It is usual to supple a Horse that is light in the Hand by means of the Trot, before you teach him to leap: but a contrary Method must be observed with those which are heavy and clumsey, or that are heavy in the Hand. Gallop and trot them, and when they are made obedient and drest to the Caprioles, their Apuy in leaping will grow by degrees lighter and more temperate. The Exercise of the Trot and Gallop will take away all Fear of the Aids and Corrections, and the Day following they will present themselves more freely and willingly. With respect to the Horse who pulls or wants to force the Hand, don't try to correct him by making him go backward, because by working upon his Bars too much with the Bit, you would make them become hard and insensible; but compel him to make some Caprioles with his Face to the Wall, and keep him up to it closer or further off, as you find him heavy, or endeavouring to force the Hand; by these Methods you will constrain him to shorten his Leaps, and give more Attention to his Business. If he abandons himself, or bears too hard upon the Hand, hold him firm at the End of his Leap; and in the Instant that his Feet are coming to the Ground, yield it immediately to him, and he will abandon himself much less upon the Bit.—If he retains himself, and hangs back, easing your Hand to him alone will not be sufficient; but to make him advance you must push him up to his Bit, by aiding him briskly and in Time with your Legs.

To dress a Horse to the Caprioles, the Pillars may be employ'd, or they may be dispens'd with: let us explain the Rules we should follow with respect to both these Methods.

It is certain that the Pillars are of use in putting a Horse to this Air.—Tie him to them, make him keep up to his Bit properly, or what is call'd fill up the Cords, and endeavour by little and little to make him rise before, taking care to make him bend his Knees, and gather up his Legs as much as you possibly can. For this purpose use your Switch briskly; for if you can teach him to bend his Legs well, his Manage will be infinitely more beautiful; as well as that he will be much lighter in the Hand.

Having thus gain'd the Fore-part, put him in the Pillars again, making the Cords somewhat shorter in order to make him raise his Croupe from the Ground, and yerk out equally at the same time with both his Hind-legs, which you must teach him to do, by attacking and striking him upon the Croupe with the Switch or Chambriere.

When he is so far advanced as to rise before, and lash out behind, it will be proper to teach him to unite these two Times, and perform them together.—Let him then be mounted, and always in the Pillars; let the Rider support him in the Hand, and try to make him make one or two Leaps, without hanging upon the Cords of the Caveson, in order that he may learn to take a just Apuy, and to feel it. As soon as he begins to know and obey the Hand, he should be aided gently with the Calves of the Legs, should be supported, and you should pinch him delicately and finely with both Spurs. If he answers once or twice to these Aids, without losing his Temper, or being angry, you will have great Reason to expect that he will soon furnish his Leaps equally and justly with respect to the Hand and Heel.

Having brought him thus far between the Pillars, walk him strait forward for a certain Space, and if he don't offer to rise of himself, try to make him. If he himself takes the right Time, seize the Moment, avail yourself of it, and make him make two or three Caprioles, or one or two, according as you judge it necessary; by letting him walk thus calmly and quietly, in a short time he will of himself begin to make Caprioles strait forward; but in case he should discover any Signs of Resistance to the Hand or Heel, or the other Aids, immediately have recourse to the Caveson and Pillars.

This is in short the Method of adjusting and dressing a Horse for Caprioles by the means of the Pillars.—A Method extremely dangerous in itself, and capable of spoiling and making a Horse become desperate and ungovernable, if it is not practised by Persons of the most consummate Skill and Experience.

The Method which I prefer is indeed more difficult and painful to the Horse, but more perfect and sure.

The Horse having been well exercised in Pesades, walk him strait forward, keeping him together, and supporting him so as to hold and keep him in the Hand, but not to such a degree as to stop him entirely. After this strike him gently with the End of the Switch upon his Croupe and Buttocks, and continue to do it till he lifts up his Croupe, and kicks.—You should then caress him, and let him walk some Steps, and then attack him again, not minding to make him rise before, nor hindering him from it, if he offers so to do. Remember to encourage and coax him every time that he answers to the Aids, and obeys.—Being thus acquainted with the Aid of the Switch, put him to make Pesades of a moderate Height strait forward, and at the second or third, attack him behind with your Switch to make him lash out. If he obeys, make him rise before again in the Minute that his Hind-legs come to the Ground, in order to make him furnish two or three more Pesades, to work his Haunches. After this coax and caress him without letting him stir from the Place, if his Apuy be firm and good; and in case it is hard, make him go backward, or if it is light and just, letting him advance quietly and slowly.

To enable him to make his Leaps just, and to know the exact Time of making them, you should no longer regard what Number of Pesades he makes before or after his Leap, but in the Moment that you feel him ready and prepar'd, and whilst he is in the Pesade, aid him briskly behind, letting him in the Beginning not rise so high before, when you intend he should yerk out behind, as you would were he only to make a Pesade, that so his Croupe may be more at liberty, and he may yerk out with greater Ease; in proportion as his Croupe becomes light and active, you may raise his Fore-parts higher and higher, and support him while in the Air, till he makes his Leaps true and in just Proportion.

When you have sufficiently practised these Lessons, you may retrench by degrees the Number of the Pesades which separated and divided the Leaps. You may demand now of him two Leaps together; from these you may come, with Patience and Discretion, to three, from three to four Leaps; and lastly, to as many as he can furnish in the same Air, and with equal Strength. Remember always to make him finish upon his Haunches, it is the only sure way to prevent all the Disorders a Horse may be guilty of from Impatience and Fear.

There are some Horses who will leap very high, and with great Agility strait forwards, which when put to leap upon the Voltes, lose all their natural Grace and Beauty; the Reason is, that they fail for Want of Strength, and are not equal to the Task, in which all their Motions are forced and constrain'd.If you find a Horse who has a good and firm Apuy, and who has Strength sufficient to furnish this Air upon the Voltes; begin with him by making him know the Space and Roundness of the Volte to each Hand; let him walk round it in a slow and distinct Pace, keeping his Croupe very much press'd and confin'd upon the Line of the Volte, which ought to be much larger for this Air than for Croupades and Balotades.

This being done, make him rise, and let him make one or two Caprioles, follow'd by as many Pesades; then walk on two or three Steps upon the same Line; then raise him again, supporting him more and more, and keeping him even on the Line of the Volte, so that it may be exactly round, and confining his Croupe with your outward Leg.

If this Lesson be given with Judgment, your Horse will soon make all the Volte, in the same Air; and to make him furnish a second, as soon as he has closed and finish'd the first, raise him again, and without letting him stop get from him as many as you can, working him always upon this Volte, in which he walks and leaps alternatively, till he closes and ends it with the same Vigour and Resolution as he did the first.

Aid always with the outward Rein, either upon the Voltes, or when you leap strait forwards, you will narrow and confine the Fore-parts, and enlarge the Hind-parts, by which means the Croupe will not be press'd, but free and unconstrain'd.I will enlarge no further upon his Chapter; for what regards the making Caprioles upon the Voltes, you may look back to what has been already said on the Subject of Curvets: remember that the surest way to succeed, when you undertake to dress a Horse to Caprioles, is to arm yourself with a Patience that nothing can subdue or shake; and to prefer for this purpose such Horses as have a Disposition, are active, light, and have a clean sinewy Strength, to such as are endowed with greater Strength and Force; for these last never leap regularly, and are fit for nothing but to break their Riders Backs, and make them spit Blood, by their irregular, violent, and unexpected Motions.