Glossary

Long distance race on horseback, either individually or as a team. The long distances are cut by vet checks to make sure that the horses are not mishandled.

The English thoroughbred is a breed of horses whose natural aptitudes and morphology make them particularly well adapted to gallop races. This breed is the result of selective breeding going back to the 17th century in England, through an initial crossing of English mares and Arab stallions. Found mainly on race courses, the thoroughbred may also be used in other disciplines such as show jumping, for instance, or three-day event. In the 20th century, it was the favourite horse of the riders of the Cadre noir.

Schools of the Ancien Régime copied from the Italian Renaissance model, for the aristocracy only, to learn soldiering and more specifically riding. There were some forty of them over Paris and in the main towns and cities in France. The first academies appeared from the years 1595. In Antoine de Pluvinel’s academy, situated in a place which has become the Pyramids Square nowadays in Paris, riding was not the only subject taught, but also fencing, literature, dancing, painting, mathematics, music. But in most academies, riding was the only subject actually taught. They were headed by a "King’s Ecuyer" (Squire / Master of the Horse / Riding master) who was given his provisions from the Grand Ecuyer of France. They started losing importance with the setting up of the Military Academy in Paris in 1756 and the creation of the various regiment schools. These academies disappeared in 1793 when the convention abolished all the schools of the Ancien Régime.