École de Versailles

Originating in Italy, the equestrian art developed in France during the Renaissance, thanks to famous equerries such as Pluvinel, followed by Mesmont, Antoine de Vendeuil, la Guérinière, Villemotte and François Pagès-Vitrac.[2] For the kings of France, the quality of their stables was a mark of their power. It was therefore important to them that the military nobility received high-quality equestrian training. In addition, hunting demanded that the Court had horses and carriages to match. When Louis XIV moved his residence to Versailles, it was only natural that he should build stables worthy of his plans. The Tuileries riding school was abandoned by the court, but taken over by François Robichon de la Guérinière.[3]

• 1680: creation of the École de Versailles by bringing together the King's Petite and Grande Écurie.
• 1682: inauguration by Louis XIV, then aged 44.
• 1793: the Convention abolishes all royal schools.
• 1796: the Executive Directory decides to create a "national riding school" at the Versailles riding academy.
• 1810: closure of the "Versailles riding academy", transformed into the "École spéciale de cavalerie de Saint Germain".
• 1814: reopening of the riding school under the direction of Viscount d'Abzac.
• 1822ː dissolution of the school after the general Breton who commanded it staged a Bonapartist-inspired coup d'état[3].
• 1830: permanent closure of the academy.

The École de Versailles was made up of the Petite and Grande Écuries. This distinction dates back to François 1st. The Grande Écurie housed war and parade horses, while the Petite Écurie housed post and carriage horses.

The Versailles stables housed up to 650 horses and certainly more than 200 carriages.[3]

The squires who made the Versailles riding school famous were:

• Du Vernet du Plessis (1620-1696) or Duplessis, to whom Louis XIV entrusted the equestrian education of the Dauphin.
• Du Vernet de la Vallée, mentioned by La Guérinière as well as the previous one, in his cavalry academy.
• Antoine de Vendeuil, La Guérinière's master.
• Cazaux de Nestier (1684-1754), First cavalcadour squire, gave riding lessons to the young King Louis XV. He remains famous for his perfect riding position. He used very soft bits for the time, which he himself transformed, with short shanks and straight barrels. Renowned for riding difficult horses, he also selected and trained the king's personal horses. He made Limousin horses fashionable.[1]
• François de Montrognon de Salvert remained a squire for 33 years, from 1718 to 1751. His pupils included the Comte de Lubersac and Montfaucon de Rogles.[1]
• Count of Lubersac (1713-1767) headed the school of light horses after having been a squire at the Grande Écurie. He trained his horses exclusively to walk. After years of perfect relaxation, the horse could be trained in all gaits. With the walk, he was able to detect any resistance in the horse and remedy it.[1]
• Montfaucon de Rogles (1717-1760), "ordinary squire of the Petite Écurie du Roi, commanding the crew of the late Monseigneur le Dauphin", defined the doctrine of the Royal stables at Versailles in his treatise on equitation (1788). He commanded the riding academy of light horses. He wrote a treatise on equitation (1778 and 1810), the only document to define the doctrine taught at the Versailles riding school.[1]
• Jean François Brunet de Neuilly, a squire until 1773, had as pupils the Prince of Lambesc and the Viscount of Abzac.
• Charles-Eugène de Lorraine, Prince of Lambesc (1751-1825), was the last Grand Squire of the Ancien Régime.
• Marquis François Étienne Michel de La Bigne (1742-1827), who took an hour to cross the Place d'Armes at full gallop.
• Viscount Pierre Marie d'Abzac (1744-1827), squire from 1763 to 1781, emigrated to Germany during the French Revolution.[1] He taught riding to 3 kings, Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X.
• Knight Jean François d'Abzac, brother of the former (1754-1820), took over his brother's position in 1781. He trained the Count of Aure.
• Antoine Philippe Henry Cartier d'Aure (1799-1863).
• Charles Antoine Count of Gourcy-Récicourt (1801-1858), successively hand squire and cavalcadour to King Charles X.

In the 16th century, cavalcadour was the name given to the rider who exercised foals and rode horses under the direction of the cavalerice, a term used to designate the horseman who combined experience with talent and knowledge. This term remained in use in France until the fall of the Ancien Régime, i.e. until 1830. However, as in La Broue's day, the term was no longer applied to the inexperienced horseman, but to the squire who, for the king and princes, commanded the stable of horses that served their person.

As for the qualification of ordinary squire, it applied to squires whose duties continued throughout the year, as opposed to those who served by quarter. There were around ten of them, and each was assisted by a cavalcadour squire who could be called upon to deputise for him in his absence.[3]

At Versailles, equestrian training was an important part of the apprenticeship reserved for the military nobility.[3] Pupils were few in number. A very small number of students came, as a special favor, to learn for themselves and for no other purpose.

At the time of its creation (1682), the heavy tack of the Middle Ages was disappearing. The great squires of the school therefore advocated a more flexible, natural position, with a finer, more diversified use of aids. It was at this point that the notion of equestrian tact was born. Riding became an art.

The first three years were devoted to perfecting the seat by working without stirrups. In addition to riding, the school taught mathematics, drawing, writing and various military disciplines.[3]

When the d'Abzac brothers were in charge of the manège at the King's two stables, from 1763 to around 1820, the École de Versailles rejected all allures of fantasy in favor of a classical Haute École and an equitation deemed refined:[1]

• To free "equitation from all the superfluities and uselessness in vogue at the time of Pluvinel" (d'Aure);
• Seek "regularity and elegance of position, finesse of aids, gentleness in the use of means of domination" (l'Hotte);
• Reject "everything that good taste rejects in equitation";
• Obtaining perfection in the rider's position: "In this riding school, the greatest care was given to the rectitude, the elegance of the position, to the point that it was enough to see a rider coming out of this school to be able to say: "He's a pupil of Versailles". In those days, it was said: "He who is not a handsome horseman cannot be a good horseman." (l'Hotte).

From the mid-18th century onwards, the École de Versailles came in for criticism. The mounted regiments of the Maison du Roi were severely reduced under Louis XV and Louis XVI. Arabian and English horses made their appearance at Court, to the detriment of Andalusian horses. The instruction given to military cavalrymen was itself criticized, notably by Guibert, who felt that riding exercises occupied an exaggeratedly important place.[3]