The End which the Horseman proposes to attain by his Art, is to give to the Horses, which he undertakes, the Union, without which, no Horse can be said to be perfectly drest; every one allows that the whole of the Art depends upon this, yet few People reason or act from Principles and Theory, but trust entirely to Practice; hence it follows, that they must work upon Foundations false and uncertain, and so thick is the Darkness in which they wander, that it is difficult to find any one who is able to define this Term of uniting or putting a Horse together, which is yet so constantly in the Mouth of every Body; I will undertake, however, to give a clear and distinct Idea of it; and for that Purpose shall treat it with Order and Method.

The uniting then or putting together, is the Action by which a Horse draws together and assembles the Parts of his Body, and his Strength, in distributing it equally upon his four Legs, and in re-uniting or drawing them together, as we do ourselves, when we are going to jump, or perform any other Action which demands Strength and Agility. This Posture alone is sufficient to settle and place the Head of the Animal, to lighten and render his Shoulders and Legs active, which from the Structure of his Body, support and govern the greater Part of his Weight; being then by these means made steady, and his Head well placed, you will perceive in every Motion that he makes, a surprizing Correspondence of the Parts with the whole. I say, that from the natural Structure of a Horse's Body, his Legs and Shoulders support the greatest Part of his Weight, in reality his Croupe or Haunches carry nothing but his Tail, while his fore Legs, being perpendicular, are loaded with the Head, Neck, and Shoulders; so that, let the Animal be ever so well made, ever so well proportioned, his fore Part, either when he is in Motion, or in a State of Rest, is always employed, and consequently in want of the Assistance of Art to ease it; and in this consists the Union or putting together, which by putting the Horse upon his Haunches, counterballances and relieves his fore Part.

The Union not only helps and relieves the Part of the Horse that is the weakest, but it is so necessary to every Horse, that no Horse that is dis-united can go freely, he can neither Leap nor Gallop with Agility and Lightness, nor run without being in manifest Danger of falling and pitching himself headlong, because his Motions have no Harmony, no Agreement one with another. It is allowed, that Nature has given to every Horse a certain Equilibre, by which he supports and regulates himself in all his Motions; we knew that his Body is supported by his four Legs, and that his four Legs have a Motion, which his Body must of necessity follow; but yet this natural Equilibre is not sufficient. All Men can walk, they are supported on two Legs, notwithstanding this we make a great Difference between that Person to whom proper Exercises have taught the free Use of his Limbs, and him whose Carriage is unimproved by Art, and consequently heavy and aukward.

'Tis just the same with respect to a Horse; we must have recourse to Art to unfold the natural Powers that lay hid and are shut up in him, if we mean he should make a proper Use of the Limbs which Nature has given him; the Use of which can be discover'd and made familiar to him no other way than by working him upon true and just Principles.

The Trot is very efficacious to bring a Horse to this Union so important, and so necessary; I speak of the Trot, in which he is supported and kept together, and suppled at the same time; this compels the Horse to put himself together: in effect, the Trot in which a Horse is well supported partakes of a quick and violent Motion: It forces a Horse to collect and unite all his Strength, because it is impossible that a Horse that is kept together, should at the same time abandon and fling himself forward. I explain myself thus.—In order to support your Horse in his Trot, the Horseman should hold his Hand near his Body, keeping his Horse together a little, and have his Legs near his Sides. The Effect of the Hand is to confine and raise the fore Parts of the Horse; the Effect of the Legs is to push and drive forward the hinder Parts: Now if the fore Parts are kept back or confin'd, and the hinder Parts are driven forward, the Horse in a quick Motion, such as the Trot, must of necessity sit down upon his Haunches, and unite and put himself together.

For the same Reason making your Horse launch out vigorously in his Trot, and quickening his Cadence from time to time, putting him to make Pesades, stopping him and making him go backward, will all contribute towards his acquiring the Union.—I would define his going off readily, or all at once, not to be a violent and precipitate Manner of Running, but only to consist in the Horse's being a little animated, and going somewhat faster than the ordinary Time of his Pace.—Your Horse trots, press him a little; in the Instant that he redoubles and quickens his Action, moderate and shorten, if I may so say, the Hurry of his Pace; the more then that he presses to go forward, the more will his being check'd and confin'd tend to unite his Limbs, and the Union will owe its Birth to opposite Causes; that is to say, on one hand to the Ardour of the Horse who presses to go forward, and to the Diligence and Attention of the Horseman on the other, who, by holding him in, slackens the Pace, and raises the Fore-parts of the Creature, and at the same time distributes his Strength equally to all his Limbs. The Action of a Horse, when going backward, is directly opposite to his abandoning himself upon his Shoulders; by this you compel him to put himself upon his Haunches: this Lesson is by so much therefore the more effectual, as that the Cause of a Horse's being dis-united, is often owing to the Pain he feels in bending his Haunches.

The Pesades have no less Effect, especially upon Horses that are clumsy and heavy shoulder'd; because they teach them to use them, and to raise them; and when they raise them up, it follows of necessity that all their Weight must be thrown upon their Haunches. A light and gentle Hand then, and the Aids of the Legs judiciously managed, are capable to give a Horse the Union; but it is not so clear at what time we ought to begin to put a Horse upon his Haunches. Is it not necessary before we do this, that the Horse should have his Shoulders entirely suppled? It is evident, that a Horse can never support himself upon his Haunches, unless his Fore-part be lightened; let us see then by what means we may hope to acquire this Suppleness, the only Source of light and free Action. Nothing can supple more the Shoulders than the Working a Horse upon large Circles.—Walk him first round the Circle, in order to make him know his Ground; afterwards try to draw his Head in, or towards the Center, by means of your inner Rein and inner Leg. For instance,—I work my Horse upon a Circle, and I go to the Right by pulling the right Rein; I bring in his outward Shoulder by the means of the left Rein, and support him at the same time with my inner Leg; thus the Horse has, if I may so say, his Head in, or towards the Center, although the Croupe is at Liberty. The right Leg crosses over the left Leg, and the right Shoulder is suppled, while the left Leg supports the whole Weight of the Horse in the Action: In working him to the left Hand, and following the same Method, the left Shoulder supples, and the right is pressed and confined. This Lesson, which tends not only to supple the Shoulders, but likewise to give an Apuy, being well comprehended by the Horse, I lead him along the Side of the Wall,—having placed his Head, I make use of the inner Rein, which draws in his Head, and I bring in his outward Shoulder by means of the other Rein: In this Posture, I support him with my inner Leg, and he goes along the Wall, his Croupe being out and at liberty, and his inner Leg passing over and crossing his outward Leg at every Step he makes.—By this, I supple his Neck, I supple his Shoulders, I work his Haunches, and I teach the Horse to know the Heels. I say, that the Haunches are worked, though his Croupe is at liberty, because it is from the Fore-parts only, that a Horse can be upon his Haunches.

In effect, after having placed his Head, draw it in, and you will lengthen his Croupe, you raise him higher before than behind, his Legs come under his Belly, and consequently he bends his Haunches. It is the same as when he comes down Hill, his Croupe, being higher than his Fore-parts, is pushed under him, and the Horse is upon his Haunches; since it is evident that the Hinder support all the Fore-parts, therefore in going along the Side of the Wall, by the means of the inner Rein, I put together and unite my Horse.

Behold then, in short, the most certain Methods of enabling yourself to give to a Horse this Union, this Freedom and Ease, by which learning how to ballance his Weight equally and with Art, and distributing his Strength with Exactness to all his Limbs, he becomes able to undertake and execute with Justness and Grace, whatever the Horseman demands of him, conformable to his Strength and Disposition.