courbette
/kʊəˈbɛt
/noun
(In classical riding) a movement in which the horse performs a series of jumps on the hind legs without the forelegs touching the ground.Not knowing a pesade from a pirouette or a courbette from a capriole, I was seduced by the riders’ dashing livery of black boots, white tights, brown dress coat and gilded bicorn hat....
- They then graduate to the ‘aerial exercises’, with pesades, levades, courbettes and caprioles.
- In different occasions they had shows where the horses performed courbettes on a volte or in a cross, capriols were performed and many more complicated movements were involved.
Origin
Mid 17th century: French, from Italian corvetta 'little curve', based on Latin curvus 'curved'.