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My summary of Etienne Beudant's 1929 summary, "Dressage du Cheval de Selle."
An insurgence. Fear. Horses are excited. No more mention of human/equine unity, which after all today may exist only in the rider's imagination and the enclosure of a covered school. At best a make do type of management remains. Straight up the hill. Stay together. Stay on. Restraint released the horses gleefully buck. Finally an opportunity has arrived to close croups, mount backs and shed tensions.
The human liver sticks under the lungs. Kind of to one side the stomach follows. Gall bladder, kidneys, spleen and these roll around the cardio-vascular system, which incessantly pulsates oxygen into the body. Pancreas, colon, intestines and bladder also make for human energy. The uterus brings on new life. All these parts are held in place by a strong, delicate web, which as well places bones, muscles and other locomotive hardware parts. Core functions like an elastic inner rod support the body.
"... it is necessary to first place the horse correctly. The placed horse is like a well-tuned keyboard on which the rider plays ...". With these words Etienne Beudant in 1929 opens the summary of his work, which also serves as a guide to Baucher's research on how to ride the modern horse some one hundred years earlier. Only, what does he mean?
The biped human is upright. His hands act independent of his feet. Human balance is easily understood. The horse's horizontal backbone provides a place for the rider. But what about its balance? The body mass is placed on the forehand. A majority hangs from cantilevered vertebrae, which bridge front legs and hind quarters. The long and low horse walks with its weight on the forehand. In the horizontal balance the horse's weight is distributed evenly on all four legs. In the raised horse the hindquarters support the majority of the weight. The horse can walk on its hind legs and it can jump. When is it in balance?
No wonder Beudant does not speak of balance. He speaks of the placement of the horse's parts. Head and neck. Shoulders and croup. Back and tail. The ribs. The organs. The muscles systems. Brain, central, peripheral and autonomous nervous systems. Leave alone its feet. He makes no mention of these parts. But considering results he knew what he was doing when placing them.
