To Amaze the People with Pleasure and Delight

Book excerpt: William Cavendish, first Duke of Newcastle, was a man of great enthusiasms. A devoted Royalist and English Civil War General, his passions included women, music, writing, theatre and the finest horses. He was a widely acknowledged expert in the art of the riding house, which laid the foundations for classical dressage, and was the mark of a graceful and accomplished gentleman amongst the European nobility of the seventeenth century. Newcastle published two horsemanship manuals in 1658 and 1667, setting out his method for training the horse and, while he has been seen as a dilettante, his manuals reveal a level of dedication and precision which prove that to be untrue. In this first comprehensive study of Newcastle's manuals, Elaine Walker explores the insights they offer into his writing practice, personal philosophy and motivation, alongside their surprising relevance to the modern rider or any reader interested in the long history of human interaction with the horse. Through consideration of the manuals in their cultural context, Walker analyses Newcastle's contribution to the development of riding as an art and the way in which the texts were important to Newcastle himself during a turbulent life.