Charles Mercier Dupaty, Marquis de Clam, born 4 December 1744
Andre Monteilhet has a short biography on Dupaty de Clam
in his book "Les Maitres de l'OEuvre Equestre" (1979,
106ff.)
There he says:
"Charles Mercier Dupaty, Marquis de Clam, was born on December 4, 1744, in La Rochelle, where his father was the president of the Tresoriers de France in the department of Finance, ... He received his first education as a young aristocrat at the academy in Caen, whose director was M. de la Pleigniere, a royal ecuyer, who was known for his talents in all areas, and who was married to de la Gueriniere's niece. Dupaty de Clam wrote a nice homage to his teacher, 'the zealous citizen who has worked unselfishly and with an integrity that always followed in the footsteps of truth'.
"La Pleigniere possessed an assorted anatomical collection with which he demonstrated to his students the relationships between the skeleton and the muscles of the horse and of humans, as they relate to the principles and the practical execution of horsemanship.
"Dupaty de Clam also seems to have appreciated very much Lafosse's Traite d'hippiatrique who, in his words, 'has made this science certain, clear, and very easy to understand'.
"Dupaty de Clam's works, his academic discourses, and finally his translation of Xenophon's 'Horsemanship' show that M. de la Pleigniere gave his students at Caen a quite comprehensive education, since it is unlikely that a young nobleman would have learned Ancient Greek once he joined the musketeers. In fact, in May 1762, Dupaty de Clam joined the 1st company of the musketeers (the 'greys'), at the recommendation of his 'patron', where he served until his discharge (1 December 1769). ... At that point he dedicated his first book, 'Pratique de l'equitation' to his captain, M. de la Cheze.
"He returned to La Rochelle, and became a member of the Academie des sciences et belles-lettres of that city, later of that of Bordeaux, where he published his main work: La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature (1776), preceded by the Discours sur les rapports de l'equitation avec la physique, la geometrie, la mecanique et l'anatomie.
"Dupaty de Clam died in Paris on November 12, 1782, at the age of 38. He was a very cultured man, sharing with many of his contemporaries an interest in the sciences and the traditional classical culture. He knew Ancient Greek and said that Xenophon's Horsemanship was 'one of the most beautiful monuments on horsemanship that the Ancients have left us.' He used the exact sciences and the natural sciences to demonstrate how well founded his equestrian theories were: 'geometry, anatomy and mechanics give us the first rules of horsemanship. Nobody in his right mind can doubt their validity. It is much wiser to take the known sciences as a guide, rather than merely following one's whims.'"
Dupaty de Clam is one of the great French authorities on classical dressage. Unfortunately, his name and his books are almost forgotten since he stands in the shadow of de la Gueriniere, and in the 19th century, Baucher's new training method drew everybody's attention to him and his students, away from most older authors.
"La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature", was published in Paris in 1777.
Link here to buy books http://www.classicaldressage.com/store/dressage/dupaty.html
There he says:
"Charles Mercier Dupaty, Marquis de Clam, was born on December 4, 1744, in La Rochelle, where his father was the president of the Tresoriers de France in the department of Finance, ... He received his first education as a young aristocrat at the academy in Caen, whose director was M. de la Pleigniere, a royal ecuyer, who was known for his talents in all areas, and who was married to de la Gueriniere's niece. Dupaty de Clam wrote a nice homage to his teacher, 'the zealous citizen who has worked unselfishly and with an integrity that always followed in the footsteps of truth'.
"La Pleigniere possessed an assorted anatomical collection with which he demonstrated to his students the relationships between the skeleton and the muscles of the horse and of humans, as they relate to the principles and the practical execution of horsemanship.
"Dupaty de Clam also seems to have appreciated very much Lafosse's Traite d'hippiatrique who, in his words, 'has made this science certain, clear, and very easy to understand'.
"Dupaty de Clam's works, his academic discourses, and finally his translation of Xenophon's 'Horsemanship' show that M. de la Pleigniere gave his students at Caen a quite comprehensive education, since it is unlikely that a young nobleman would have learned Ancient Greek once he joined the musketeers. In fact, in May 1762, Dupaty de Clam joined the 1st company of the musketeers (the 'greys'), at the recommendation of his 'patron', where he served until his discharge (1 December 1769). ... At that point he dedicated his first book, 'Pratique de l'equitation' to his captain, M. de la Cheze.
"He returned to La Rochelle, and became a member of the Academie des sciences et belles-lettres of that city, later of that of Bordeaux, where he published his main work: La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature (1776), preceded by the Discours sur les rapports de l'equitation avec la physique, la geometrie, la mecanique et l'anatomie.
"Dupaty de Clam died in Paris on November 12, 1782, at the age of 38. He was a very cultured man, sharing with many of his contemporaries an interest in the sciences and the traditional classical culture. He knew Ancient Greek and said that Xenophon's Horsemanship was 'one of the most beautiful monuments on horsemanship that the Ancients have left us.' He used the exact sciences and the natural sciences to demonstrate how well founded his equestrian theories were: 'geometry, anatomy and mechanics give us the first rules of horsemanship. Nobody in his right mind can doubt their validity. It is much wiser to take the known sciences as a guide, rather than merely following one's whims.'"
Dupaty de Clam is one of the great French authorities on classical dressage. Unfortunately, his name and his books are almost forgotten since he stands in the shadow of de la Gueriniere, and in the 19th century, Baucher's new training method drew everybody's attention to him and his students, away from most older authors.
"La Science et l'art de l'equitation, demontres d'apres la nature", was published in Paris in 1777.
Link here to buy books http://www.classicaldressage.com/store/dressage/dupaty.html
