Page:Equitation.djvu/140

 Baucher in his method, though he includes the seat as an aid, gives no theory as to the relation of the seat to the assemblage; and his own position, always correct, is always and invariably perpendicularly above the center of gravity. Photographs of Fillis in action show alteration in his position which act upon the center of gravity in direct proportion to the movement involved. But only in a few of the movements explained in his method does he maintain the need of a proper inclination of the upper part of the man's body in the direction of the horse's motion.

The seat, simply as a means of staying on the horse's back at all gaits and movements, cannot be considered an aid, so long as the horse keeps to his merely instinctive equilibrium. But as soon as this instinctive equilibrium is replaced by the condition of transmitted equilibrium, then the effect of position of the rider's body, acting upon the center of gravity of the horse, becomes very powerful.

I discuss this better later on, after I have considered the theory of the assemblage, rassembler, and the state of collection. For the present, it is important for the student's understanding of the general idea of "accuracy of seat."

A second and more important aid is the hand. For this it makes no difference whether the horse is in instinctive or transmitted equilibrium. In either case, the effect of the reins passes to the mouth, from the mouth to the neck, from the neck to the