Antoine de Pluvinel (1552,

Crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

- 24 August 1620) was the first of the French riding masters, and has had great influence on modern dressage. He wrote ''L’Instruction du Roy en l’exercice de monter à cheval'' ("instruction of the King in the art of riding"), was tutor to

King Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

, and is credited with the invention of using two pillars, as well as using shoulder-in to increase suppleness.

History

Antoine de Pluvinel was born in the town of Crest, then in the province of the

in France. His date of birth is given as 1552 by Terrebasse, where it is based on the ''Mémoire'' of Pluvinel's son-in-law. It is given as 1555 by several other authors including Saurel, Christian, Mennessier, and Monteilhet, which according to Tucker does not coincide with other known details of his life. Antoine de Pluvinel left for Italy at the age of 10 or seventeen to begin studying horsemanship under Giovanni Battista Pignatelli, and trained under him until 1571 or 1572. He then returned to France to study under M. de Sourdis, before becoming the premier ecuyer to the Duc d'Anjou (who would later become

Henri III Henry III (french: Henri III, né Alexandre Édouard; pl, Henryk Walezy; lt, Henrikas Valua; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of L ...

) and accompanying him to his new throne in Poland. After the death of King Charles IX, Henri returned to France, taking Pluvinel with him. He gave several honors to Pluvinel, continued by his brother-in-law,

Henri IV Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

, from 1589, including chamberlain, tutor to the Duc de Vendôme, governor of Grosse Tour de Bourges, and sub-governor to the dauphin Louis (the future

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

) to whom he taught horse-riding. The diary of Jean Héroard (main witness of the childhood of

) describes the relationships between the King and his sub-governor. Louis XIII Richelieu devant La Rochelle

In 1594, Pluvinel founded the "Academie d'Equitation" near what is now Place des Pyramides, a long-time dream. There, the French nobility was trained not only in horsemanship, but also in all the accomplishments (dancing, fashionable dressing, etc.) It can be said that Pluvinel's influence on the aristocracy lasted from the late 16th century to the 17th century. Richelieu, the future Prime minister of King Louis XIII attended the Academie; so did William, duke of Cavendish. Pluvinel died on 24 August 1620, leaving no male heir. His name passed on his nephews La Baume, who were authorized to add Pluvinel to their own name and later became marquesses of la Baume de Pluvinel (1693). Pluvinel's book was published posthumously by the Dutch engraver Crispijn van de Passe the Younger and the royal

valet de chambre ''Valet de chambre'' (), or ''varlet de chambre'', was a court appointment introduced in the late Middle Ages, common from the 14th century onwards. Royal households had many persons appointed at any time. While some valets simply waited on t ...

J.D. Peyrol, first in 1623 under the name ''Le Maneige Royal'', with magnificent engravings, but having never been edited. In 1625 the book was published in its complete form, having been edited by Pluvinel's friend Menou de Charnizay, under its definitive name ''L'Instruction du Roy en l'exercice de monter à cheval'' ("Instruction of the King in the exercise of horse riding"). It has since been re-printed several times, and translated into many languages.

Riding theories

Pluvinel is perhaps most well known for his kind, humane training methods. Unlike his Italian teacher Pignatelli, who often used harsh methods to gain obedience from the horse, Pluvinel used praise, careful use of aids, and softer bits (simple

curb A curb (North American English), or kerb (Commonwealth English except Canada; see spelling differences), is the edge where a raised sidewalk or road median/central reservation meets a street or other roadway. History Although curbs have ...

bits) to get the horse to work with him. He is also credited with the use of the pillars (wrongly, for La Noue also has record of using them, as does the Greek

Eumenes Eumenes (; grc-gre, Εὐμένης; c. 362316 BC) was a Greek general and satrap. He participated in the Wars of Alexander the Great, serving as both Alexander's personal secretary and as a battlefield commander. He later was a participant in t ...

), and he used them extensively in his training of collection and

levade The airs above the ground or school jumps are a series of higher-level, Haute ecole, classical dressage movements in which the horse leaves the ground. They include the capriole, the courbette, the mezair, the croupade and the levade. None ar ...

. Additionally, he employed the three-track movement, such as

shoulder-in The shoulder-in is a lateral movement in dressage used to supple and balance the horse and encourage use of its hindquarters. It is performed on three tracks, where the horse is bent around the rider's inside leg so that the horse's inside hind leg ...

, and

volte Voice over LTE (VoLTE) is an LTE high-speed wireless communication standard for mobile phones and data terminals, including Internet of things (IoT) devices and wearables. VoLTE has up to three times more voice and data capacity than older 3G ...

s to supple the horse. His theories include that the horse must take pleasure in work, due to gentle, understanding riding, and that such a horse will move much more gracefully if he enjoys being ridden.

Published works

''Maneige royal ou l'on peut remarquer le defaut et la perfection du chevalier, en tous les exercices de cet art, digne des princes, fait et pratiqué en l'instruction du Roy, par Antoine Pluvinel, son escuyer principal ... Le tout gravé et représenté en grandes figures de taille-douce par Crispian de Pas ... ''
Paris: Guillaume le Noir et

Melchior Tavernier Melchior Tavernier (1594 – May 1665) was a French engraver, printmaker and print publisher. Heritage, early life, and training He was the son of Gabriel II Tavernier (1566–1607), an engraver, who in 1573 moved with his father Gabriel I Tav ...

, 1623. :
1626 edition

''L'Instruction du Roy en l'exercice de monter à cheval, par messire Antoine de Pluvinel,... Enrichy de grandes figures en taille-douce... desseignées et gravées par Crispian de Pas le jeune''
Paris: Michel Nivelle, 1625. :
another copy
:

:

History

Riding theories

Published works

References

Further reading