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CHAPTER XXIII

THE FIGURES OF MANEGE

The figures of manege include all the different known movements which a horse executes during training or after it is trained. The number is great and the character varied; but they are all compounded from only six elements. These are: forward, backward, turn to the right, turn to the left, half haunches to the right, and half haunches to the left, all done at walk, trot, and gallop.

The masters before Baucher had a wider range of figures than since his day, for the reason that they trained from movement to position, instead of from position to movement, as is now the practice except for the army, hunting, and polo. The progression for the ordinary equitation has, however, remained the same, and consists of the following figures: the double; the changes of direction or changes of hand; the diagonal; the half-volte, reversed half-volte, and volte; the circle, with change upon the circle and change of circle; the figure eight; the half-passage with head to the wall and with croup to the wall; the shoulder in; the centre-change of hand.

These movements, done at walk, trot, and gallop, have long constituted, and still constitute, the complete education of the horse. A park hack is not considered fully trained until it can execute these