In the pirouette ordinaire of the French manége the horse turns upon one of his hind-legs, walking on the other three around it, just as in in pirouette renversée
ORDINARY PIROUETTE.
of Lesson XI. he turned upon one of the fore-legs, around which he walked upon the other three; and now, as then, the chief difficulty is to keep him from
GOING ON "DEUX PISTES."
moving the leg which is to serve as a pivot. The means for accomplishing this you have already
THE PASSAGE.
acquired, and a pressure of the heel on the one side, or of the crop on the other, will prevent an intended movement of the croup, while by the rein against the neck you move the forehand to the one side or to the other. In wheeling to the left it is the left hind-foot, and to the right the right hind-foot, which serves as a pivot. If your horse is stiff and clumsy in this exercise it will probably be because you have not got him together, with his hind-legs well under him, but at best you will probably find him less supple on one side than the other. Begin by moving the forehand but one step at a time, keeping your horse calm, so that he may not wound one foot with the other, holding your own person motionless, and gradually accustoming him to slight and delicate effects of hand, heel, and whip, so that he may to a by-stander appear to move of his own volition.
The piste (literally "trail" or "track") in the French manége is an imaginary circle lying three feet distant from the wall; which imaginary line, however, becomes in practice a well-defined path, which the horse soon learns to follow with little guidance from his rider. To go, then, "on two pistes " is to cause the horse to advance with his body placed obliquely, so that the hind-feet move on a different line from the fore-feet. In the cut the horse is shown directly across the piste.
The passage is a side movement without advancing. By it the cavalry close up their ranks, and to a civilian it is useful in many ways. Both of these movements you are now able to execute at pleasure.
