Yes. But all his actual training tips are behind a pay wall.
Oh dear. People have him in for clinics? I did not know that. It is possible he has a compelling personality IRL. Or an adorable French accent.
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There was a clinic in my area recently (Virginia) and it was $240 per 45 minute session, plus a $25 arena fee. Auditing was $35 per day or $50 for both days.
I was APPALLED at the pricing. Not that I had any interest anyways because it looks like insanity but the pricing was through the roof! I don’t know if they filled the clinic or not.
MTA: It looks like they had 15 sessions over 2 days, with “lecture” times scheduled as well as a “Saddle Fit- A Dynamic Perspective” time scheduled.
How adorable is this ? https://youtu.be/HWEouPBT1eo
Maybe the attraction is the fat dude with long hair thing.
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What these people never take in to account is that a warmblood type horse needs different training to a Baroque type horse.
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Yes and no. It’s true some Andalusians have pirouettes and piaffe factory installed. But they need to stretch even more because their problem will be getting too upright and constricted.
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Oh dear.
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Oh dear me.
I wouldn’t train a Baroque horse these ways either…
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from Stevens’ website; [h=3]What is happening with training today?[/h]
Within a few decades of Baucher’s death, the role of the horse and how riding methods were judged became driven by world wide competition where the personal preference of well placed individuals, money, politics and style would come to the fore as the arbiters of what was right and wrong. The committee that formed the rules for international competition, the FEI, was comprised of many German trainers who derived their understanding from Steinbrecht, who based his on d’Aure. The rules were established during the time just before world war two– a time when German nationalism was at a peak. And the highly controlled, human oriented physical d’Aurist/German riding style became the basis for the international rules. Thus, every contemporary national dressage federation is based around material that arose through d’Aure’s oppositional methodology. It’s very easy to assume that since it’s written in the official manuals, the oppositional method must be the one right way to work a horse. But although it is taught all over the world, this was a recent invention only made universal when the business of competition created the need for a universal method for judges to evaluate.
At present because this is where the money is: money found in sponsorships and lucrative winnings, in buying and selling horses, in the income produced by show fees and the “expos” that supply supporting material, it is the competitive world that drives horse breeding. Dressage competition is based on oppositional methods. And competitors buy horses, so horses are bred for a temperament that will withstand the unyieldingly precise, physical, tightly controlled oppositional style. Older breeds, such as the andalusian, arab, and thoroughbred won’t readily tolerate the mechanical approach of contemporary dressage. Riders no longer know how to work with a horse that has that sort of active, ready, curious mind. So where that hot mentality was once a cherished attribute, today these breeds are labeled “unsuitable”.
Modern dressage trainers know that their training damages joints, and many horses begin their cortisone injections in their first days of training, as it’s a given that the joints will be injured. In contrast, the older method training is like yoga for the horse. Every interaction improves the functions of the joints, helps the horse move better with his own structure, so that he remains sound not only longer than a competition horse will, but far longer than an untrained horse will.
It was not uncommon for a horse at Versailles to last as a riding horse for 25 to 30 years. Horses used in the military with the oppositional methods had a service life, if they survived battle, of about 10 to 12 years. That is the same predicted service expectancy of most modern riding horses. It was a known flaw in oppositional riding, and it was acceptable because the horse had a job to do and his life and ease of motion were no more important than the life and longevity of the soldiers riding him. Often he was destined to be eaten on the march home.
Competition makes the same devil’s bargain: if the rider wins, the monetary and status rewards are so great that the comfort and life expectancy of the horse is immaterial. [h=4]But competition is new, and it never has been the only way.[/h]
There are still trainers who prefer working in the more horse-oriented classical French method. And there are many riders who are more interested in a great riding horse than in trophies and ribbons. These riders are looking for options, and many find the older work that preceded d’Aure and Steinbrecht well worth investigating.
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Actually JLC has been around since the 70’s and did used to be more active… Even showing as I recall.
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Whos is this “Stevens?”
Ah maybe we are seeing slow decline
Still no training tips 
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Pre pay wall!
OK very interesting! I didn’t realize there was that stream of beligerent cray cray going on!
I used to board at a barn where one of the boarders came in one day and announced that she was “published”. Everybody thought it meant she had written an article that was accepted for a peer reviewed journal. Turns out she had been used as a model in a Dover’s catalog. :lol:
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:lol::lol:
I suffered greatly at a barn a while back because a Craig Stevens graduate was hired there. This person referred to him as “my master” and quoted him endlessly. Terrible, tight, rough rider, left after a while. Even the sweetest horses would rear with this rider and Barn owner finally got wise an Olympic rider came for a clinic and this rider argued about everything
Bumping up this ancient thread because a barn in my neck of the woods is now promoting itself as a Canadian “Science in Motion” centre, and advertising a boarding package that includes video lessons with JLC.
I had never heard of his before so I looked him up…
Anyone have any real-life experience with this “science” or any updates since this thread originated?
