CIRCLES- BASIC PATTERN

 

Fig. 1. Basic pattern of circles from Cesare Fiaschi’s book (1556).

Video showing the execution of the simplest cirles pattern in a full winged hussar costume from the beginning of the 17th century. Rider: Marcin Ruda. Horse: Abin.

In Italian it is called ‘Rote’, ‘Torni’, ‘Volte’, or ‘Circoli’.

It is worth starting with the reason why the study of the big circles was introduced and why this pattern was one of the basic exercises. Claudio Corte in his work ‘Il Caualerizzo’ (1562) writes extensively about the profits brought by the circles:

‘Et non è dubbio, che le utilità, che ne derivano siano grandi per che danno lena al cavallo, lo sciolgono singolarmente nelle spalle & nelle gambe, lo aggiustano di collo e di bocca, lo allegeriscano, gli danno animo, & appoggio honesto sulla briglia, & li levano le credenze di qual si voglia mano, & li toglieno le creanze cattive, facendolo più agile, & presto al raddoppiare,& a tutte le sorti de gl’altri maneggi.

Sono utili assai anco nelle scaramuccie, nelle giornate, ne’ duelli, sì per diffendersi come per offendere, serveno anco à far più destro il cavallo ne’ torneamenti, & altre cose simili. Et apportano seco una certa gratia, che fanno che’l cavalliero che roteggi par molto valoroso, & disposto.’

‘And there is no doubt that the benefits that derive from [the circles] are great, for it give the horse a stamina, it relaxes its shoulders and legs, it adjusts its neck and mouth, it lighten [the horse], it gives [the horse] courage, and honest support on the bridle, it increases confidence in turning, also removes the horse from bad manners by making it more agile and faster in ‘raddopiare’ and in all the sorts of other excercises.

[Circles] are also very useful in skirmishes and in battles, in duels, for both defend and for attack, even to make the horse more correct in the tournaments and other similar things.

And [circles] bring certain grace that makes the knight seem brave and willing.’

For Pasqual Caracciolo the circles are one of the most important exercises.

 ‘Egli nondimeno di tutti questi i più frequentati, neceßarij modi sono i circoli; e i repoloni (…)’

‘Nevertheless, among all the most popular methods / exercises required are circles and repellons (...)’

VARIANTS

The Circles were a universal exercise performed in many diffrent ways. There were single circles, joined by two, by four or even interpenetrated or separated by a path.

The basis, however, was conected circles, which Cesare Fiaschi praised as not ‘confusing the horse’s head’ (Fig. 1).

Fig. 2. Single circle. Georg Engelhard Löhneysen (1588).

Fig. 3. Double circles. Valerio Piccardini (circa 1600).

Fig. 4. Triple circles. Cesare Fiaschi (1563).

Fig. 5. Quad circles. Valerio Piccardini (circa 1600).

Pasqual Caracciolo describes the number of conected circles as follows:

‘Ma i due soli son più lodati, e piu usati, per insegnare a un Cavallo giovane, senza intricargli il cervello.

I tre sono buoni per mantenerlo poi in lena, et in memoria delle cose insegnate, cangiandogli qualche siata la mano.

I quattro servono per fare essercitare in un medesimo tempo, e luogo piu d'un Cavallo; laqual cosa, oltra che fa uno spettacolo assai bello; produce ancora due importantissimi effetti, che i cavalli s'avvezzano al cangiar della mano con grande ubbidienza, attitudine, e prestezza: e s'aßicurano a passare l'uno vicino all'altro, senza far segno di spauento, ne motivo alcuno di testa, ò di bocca, il che sommamente giova nell'essercitio della guerra, e ne gli steccati:’

‘But the two ordinary [circles] are most praised and used to teach a young horse without confusing his head.

The three [circles] are good for keeping him strong and with the things taught in him by changing the hand [direction] several times.

The four [circles] are helpful to exercise more than one horse at the same time and place, which in addition to making a very beautiful sight, they give two very important effects: getting horses used to changing direction with great obedience, attidute and speed: and they safely pass [another horses] close together without showing any sign of fear or causing any head or mouth reflex which is extremely useful during the war, and in fighting in the square arena (…) ‘

     Another significant type of Circles was ‘the Snail’ (Fig. 6), which contained all sizes of circles, including the smallest circle, i.e. ‘Raddoppiare’- tight pirouette.

Fig. 6. ‘Snail’ (Wężyk). Krzysztof Dorohstajski (1603).

Video showing the execution of Snail. Rider: Marcin Ruda. Horse: Abin.

EXECUTION

Cavesson was always used in the early stage of training a young horse. On the other hand, a sandy or plowed field was chosen as the riding place (Fig. 2), so that the horse, after marking out a path, would not want to stray from it into the ridges. All patterns started always with the walk and the trot.  It was important that the horse walked correctly in a circle, carried its head in proper position, did not fall on the reins and turned softly on both sides.

Fig. 7. Basic pattern of circles. Künstlicher Bericht (1570).

    At the end of the straight path, the rider performs 'posata', which means lifting the front of the horse while engaging its hindquarters (Fig. 7) - useful later for performing tight pirouettes called ‘Raddoppiare’. Such an ending can be found in the following pattern from Federico Grisone's book (1550) – Fig. 8.

Fig. 8. Circles ending with a straight path and 'Redoppia'. Federico Grisone (1550).

The execution of the standard pattern consisted in starting the first circle to the right side, after which the rider changed direction and rode the circle to the left side. It was

often recommended that the first and last circles should be turned on the right side because people of that time were aware of uneven sides of the horse.

Claudio Corte recommended 2, 3 or 4 turns on one side. In total, the number of laps in one session reached 46 turns according to Federico Grisone for a young horse.

Usually Italians distinguishes between large (larghe) circles- executed on one track and narrow (strette) circles- on two tracks (‘Raddoppiare’).

Also Claudio Corte in his work ‘Il Caualarizzo’ (1562) includes a drawing of the circles (Fig. 9) and gives their dimensions but it remains uncertain what measure was used by Caludio Corte, the ‘canna’ measure for this period varies from 1.992 m to 3.17 m, which would give a large circle of 8-12m.

Fig. 9. Circles of Claudio Corte (1562).

In the work ‘Gli ordini di cavalcare’ (1550) by Federico Grisone we can find two sizes for large circles (Fig. 8).

‘(…) et chiascun di loro sia in tondo, circa ducento cinquanta palmi, (…)’

‘(…) and that each one of these should be round and measure about two hundred fifty palms,(…)’

Where we have 250 palmi [palms] x 0.2637 m = 65.9 m in circumference and dividing by the number π it gives a circle with a diameter of 20.9 m.

In the later part of his book (Fig. 10), Grisone gives the size of the circle slightly smaller:

‘Questa che segue é la stampa de i torni, la qual poco differisce da quella dinanzi, perche gira in ogni tondo, da circa ducento palmi, (…)’

‘What follows is the illustration of the rings, which differs just a little from the one before, becuse you go around each circle about two hundred palm lengths in circumference, (…)’

It is 200 palmi x 0.2637 m = 53.4 m in circumference, which is approximately 17 m in diameter. 

Fig. 10. Circles. Federico Grisone (1550).

The pattern was completed with a straight line (‘carriera’ – Fig. 1) and then a stop, making sure that the horse stood with its body and legs straight, as confirmed by Federico Grisone:

‘(...) che cosi come i primi, ancho l'ultimi torni saran dalla man destra, et al fin di essi uscendo, caminarete di trotto da dritto, poco più, ò meno di altrotanto spatio, quanto gira un di questi torni, che sarà da duecento cincinquanta palmi, ove poi vi fermarete un gran pezzo, tenedolo eguale, et giusto, fermo, et saldo (...)’

‘(...) the first and the last [circle] will be on the right hand, and at the end of it you come out at [a straight] in the trot, a little more or less than the size you turn in one of these circles, which will be two hundred and fifty hands [ 66 m in circumference – about 20m in diameter], where you will then stop for a longer time, keeping it even and correct, stable and solid (...)’

It was recommended to take a few steps backward from time to time after stopping to correct head position and contact on the reins.

 

CHANGING HAND

In Italian texts from that period, we can often find the phrase 'cambiare la mano' (changing the hand).

François Robichon de La Guérinière at the beginning of the 18th century explains to us that the old masters (Italians) by ‘changing hand’ meant not only a change of direction, but also a change of leading leg at a canter. Guérinière explains that the expression ‘change of hand’ was used because people tended to refer to the horse's body parts as human parts.

FIASCHI VARIANT

The difficult to conclude description of the making of a circle can be find in ‘Trattato dell'imbrigliare, maneggiare, et ferrare cavalli’ (1556) by Cesare Fiaschi.

‘Et quando a questo modo si trottaranno, overo gallopparanno, se si farà a mano destra bisogna fare, che’l braccio, & spalla sinistra vada inanzi, & se alla sinistra il destro, & spalla similmente. Et questo tal maneggio è sommamente profittevole, non tanto per cavalli giovani, come ancho, per quelli che non lo sono; per che giova in molti effetti a giovani per insegnare, & farli far lena, a quelli di più tempo per tenerli in memoria l’imparato, & mantenerli con lena.’

 ‘And when in this way whether they trot or canter, if it will be done on the right hand, the left shoulder and arm will have to go forward [lead], and if on the left the right shoulder and arm opposite. And this exercise is extremely profitable, not only for young horses, but also for those who are not [young], because it is of use in a lot of effects to the younger to teach them and to help them improve their endurance, while to the older to keep in their memory what they have learned and maintain their strength.’

This means that if a horse is cantering or trotting to the right in a circle then his left leg and shoulder will go forward- they are leading (Fig. 11).

Fig. 11. Interpretation of the description from the book by Cesare Fiaschi, where the horse is leading with its outside shoulder.

Niccolo Rossermini (also Italian) in 1723, it is 167 years after Fiaschi published the first edition, himself states that he does not understand what Cesare Fiaschi meant in the passage above.

‘(…) io non so comprenderla; che il Cavallo sia fuora di proporzione galoppando sulla mano destra in volta con portare il piede, e braccio sinistro avanti, (…)’

 ‘(…) I don't know how to understand it; that the horse disproportionately canters on the right hand [direction] in a circle with leading the leg and left shoulder forward (…)’

If Fiaschi had proposed to do this exercise also while trotting he would not have meant a counter-canter on a circle. Perhaps it was a kind of lateral movement on a circle with an inward bend and a leading outside shoulder (shoulder in?). Why Niccolo Rossermini, a contemporary of Gueriniere, did not recognize any useful exercise/movement in this description?

       Summing up the equestrian treatises from that period, we cannot resist the feeling that the reasons for introducing a young horse to circles, the aids used, the performance and the benefits of this exercise are still largely valid, despite the fact that almost five centuries have passed since they were first described in detail.