Horse talk (Grossman - V gorode Berdicheve)]]

[Robert Chandler]

Dear all,

Thanks as always - I have learned all kinds of interesting things from the
many answers I have received both on and off the list.

The present version is
³The patrol would enter the main square.  The horses would prance and snort;
the riders would call out to one another in a language that was simple and
astonishingly human, and their leader, delighted by the humility of this
conquered town now lying flat on its back, would yell out in a drunken
voice, fire a revolver shot into the maw of the silence and get his horse to
rear.²

There may well be more precise translations for Œprisedat¹¹, but it does not
seem right to use a recherché technical term that would draw a lot of
attention to itself.

Because it is so very interesting, at least if one has any interest in
either horses or military history, I would like to share one of the answers
that was forwarded to me.  Here it is:

                *

It sounds to me like Nina is interpreting this as a piaffe, a classical
dressage move in which the horse's trot is shortened by collection until the
trot is stationary. It is a very collected, sproingy move with a lot of bend
in both back and front legs. See:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/miaouphoto/295079112/

Now, if the horses bent their leg and sat back on them, that would be a
levade. See: http://www.veress.se/hauteecoleespagnolo.htm ... for a
not-very-well-executed (or poorly photographed in terms of timing) levade.
(Also note the Cossack riding pics!) A better one would have the horse with
very bent back legs‹he would appear as if sitting. See:
http://www.lipizzaner.com/

Both of these moves were taught to and used by cavalry and war horses in
battle. In the levade, the horse could also be asked to wave its front feet,
striking foot soldiers. If really good, the horse could also hop on the back
legs n this position while waving his front feet, clearing a path though the
battle ground (the courbette), or jump up in he air will all four feet and
kick out with the hinds (the capriole). See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_dressage and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levade#.22Airs.22_above_the_ground). All of
which could be quite devastating to ground troops. In all of these moves,
the horse is schooled and physically conditioned to be highly compressed,
like a spring which then releases its force when let go.

Although now relegated to entertainment (i.e., the Lipizzaners stallions),
these moves‹airs above the ground‹were developed specifically for use in
battle, and would have been used by schooled cavalry as late as WWI.

                    *

Vsego dobrogo,

Robert


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