Ecole de Légèreté - Sydney

The Contact!

I used to believe contact was created by the legs and seat.

For years I was told I would achieve that holy grail of the horse reaching forwards into a gorgeous soft contact, by riding forwards correctly from my leg and seat.

Meanwhile the advice for my actual hands was:

Keep them low (but not too low). Still (but not fixed). Hold the reins like teacups, thumbs on top. But please don’t ask too many more questions about what the hands should actually DO.

Because apparently the body parts in direct physical contact with the horse’s mouth didn’t have much to do with creating good contact at all 🤯.

Except I had ridden my horses forward into the hand for years and years.

I had worked and worked on my seat.

And STILL they usually carried themselves behind the vertical and the contact felt clunky at best.

Never did it feel like the elastic conversation I was searching for.

And when I looked closely at other horses trained this way… I saw it wasn’t just me struggling.

Now I know the hands matter. A LOT.

The seat and legs absolutely have a hugely important role to play in creating energy, posture and balance but without an educated hand and a vocabulary of rein aids, “contact” can so easily become something the horse learns to submit to, rather than a conversation that helps them find emotional and physical balance.

Learning that I could teach my horse a clear language of rein aids changed everything.

How many individual conversations do you and your horse have through the reins?

Can you ask:

• Mobilise your jaw (let go of tension)
• Bend laterally left and right
• Lengthen your neck
• Lift through the base of the neck and withers
• Rebalance without bracing

I genuinely can’t imagine trying to train a horse again without having this language available.

Grâce à la force des chevaux, nous avons des rêves

ces rêves mènent à des objectifs

ces objectifs à une passion profonde

à de nombreux moments de bonheur

aux chutes nécessaires qui nous rendent plus forts

pour vivre des rencontres émouvantes.

Tout cela pour une
vie professionnelle épanouissante et sécurisante

avec la grande chance de vivre tout cela au meilleur moment

Cheval
Rêve
Objectif
Passion
Force
Persévérance
Bonheur
meilleur Moment
quel merveilleux metier

Grâce au cheval

WE ARE LIVE! Theory with Mandy Maiden - ROTATION - The Elephant in the Arena 🎊

Book Now! Mandy Maiden Theory
ROTATION - The Elephant in the Arena!

7pm Tomorrow - Free Online Event via Zoom or come to our meet & greet at Leaning Willow Lodge and enjoy a great evening of learning, laughs and Dinner with like minded equine enthusiasts!

Only a few sleeps left to the 3 Day Mandy Maiden Clinic in Sydney.

BOOK NOW TO SPECTATE!

Amazing theory lecture with Mandy Maiden on Rotation - The Elephant in the Arena.

Free event sponsored by Horse & Soul & Leaning Willow Lodge.

If you can’t make it to our venue, then we are doing a live feed online so you can watch from the comfort of your own home.

Meet & Greet + BBQ Dinner at 6pm

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Sydney Légèreté

NOT LONG NOW!!! Spectator tickets available
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A summary of the EdL

The training path of the Ecole de Légèreté leads to a versatile companion, whether in dressage, show jumping, working equitation, or leisure riding. The goal is a mobile, supple, and actively forward-moving horse with a swinging back, ready at any time to change between a phase in a higher position “on the bit” to neck extension “toward the hand.” In the higher position, the horse should neither go over nor behind the bit. In extension, it should confidently take its nose forward and stretch its entire topline without losing balance or rhythm. The EdL rejects any excesses in a particular direction. The horse should neither be squeezed between hands and legs and driven forward, nor lose its natural gaits due to excessive focus on short, vertical strides or an artificial feather trot at a too slow pace. Lightness of the forehand and mobility are fostered through specific exercises and fluid transitions, without becoming rigidly fixed on a particular posture.

In his quest to find a natural and horse-friendly training method free of coercive means, Philippe Karl analyzed a majority of the writings and working methods of the old riding Masters. Based on his extensive riding experience and intellectual sharpness, the now 79-year-old Frenchman selected the most effective methods and supplemented them with contemporary scientific findings.

The result of his studies is a riding philosophy centered on respect for the horse’s nature and essence. In 2004, he founded his own school, the Ecole de Légèreté (EdL), and began training riding instructors according to his concept. The key pillars of EdL are establishing a good communication that never uses contradictory aids, as well as balance and mental relaxation combined with many gymnastic exercises. The riders aids are first explained to the horse, ensuring they are always clearly understandable to our fourlegged partner.

In 2006, his third book, *Twisted Truth of Modern Dressage*, was published, in which Philippe Karl highlights the negative effects of sportoriented riding and offers a classical alternative whose logic no thinking rider can ignore. With this, he made a highly acclaimed exclamation mark in his tireless mission as an advocate for the welfare and health of riding horses.

From Sylvia Stoessel (and APPEL)

Picture of the riding hall where P. Karl teaches the Swiss group of advanced EdL teachers. Taken in 2023 when I had the awesome opportunity to watch for a week.