You need to state the name of the person you are talking about first. So there is not misunderstanding.
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I was lucky enough to do a symposium with Walter Zettle and it was truly enjoyable despite the hard work. He was a great teacher!
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You beat me to itâŠI was going to mention de Kunffy. I rode with him several times and he was very astute in discerning issues with both horse and rider.
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de Kunffy and de Kenyeres.
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Who is this person? I see a Capt. John de Kenyeres, but canât find a lot on his background.
Edited to addâŠGoogle knows all. Seems de Kenyeres was one of those Hungarians that emigrated after WWII.
https://passages.winnipegfreepress.com/passage-details/id-86507/KENYERES_JOHN
JOHN de KENYERES Capt. John de Kenyeres passed away after a lengthy illness on May 30, 2004. John was born in 1918 in Hungary. In 1939 he graduated from the Ludovika Royal Hungarian Military College with the rank of lieutenant. He was assigned to the 4th Hussar Regiment of Nyiregyhaza. He participated in the Second World War, was wounded and decorated for bravery. In 1945 was captured by the Soviet forces and spent six years in a prisoner of war camp under very trying conditions. After his return to Hungary he was interned as a political prisoner for another three years. He was released in 1954 and worked in different menial jobs. In 1956 after the Hungarian Revolution was defeated by the Soviets he and his wife Kathy left Hungary and found refuge in Canada. They settled in Toronto where he was offered a position with the Eglinton Pony Club as manager and chief equestrian instructor. He became Honorary Captain of the Lieutenant Governors Horse Guard. In 1970 John was offered a position in Winnipeg with the Charleswood Riding Club later known as Westgate, where he continued as instructor until his retirement. He was also a judge of international equestrian competitions. His excellent training skill left his mark on many of his students who became also his loyal friends even after his retirement. His wife Kathy predeceased him in 1998. He is mourned by his loving daughter Erzsebet Karolyi and his son-in-law Laszlo, his two sisters and their spouses, a nephew in Hungary, two granddaughters and four great-grandchildren in Austria, two nieces in the United States and many friends and his former students in Hungary and Canada.
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The same as de Kunffy, except that John was much older, and had spent significant time in the Hungarian cavalry. He also spent significant time in a Russian POW camp after WWII, and always said that the horses he was allowed to ride in the POW camp kept him sane.
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Seems he was of the generation of Istvan Sorenyi-Sander. And I will also add Major Deszo Szilagyi. He is author of âBasic Classical Dressageâ, 1989.
An interesting COTH article by Denny EmersonâŠâThose old military guys.â
https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/those-old-military-guys/
The most visible difference between these âold military guysâ and modern instructors was that they were all males. They were invariably more formal than many of todayâs horsemen and horsewomen. I cannot think of a single one of them who would show up to teach dressed in much other than highly polished boots, flared breeches, a dress shirt, usually a tie, and unless the weather was hot, some sort of a riding jacket or tunic.
There was a formal distance between instructor and student. We called them Mr. van Schaik, Capt. Popiel, Maj. Rethy, never, ever by first names. Perhaps their older students, like Alec Mackay-Smith, when he took a lesson, might be on a first-name basis, but I never was, nor were any of my contemporaries.
There was a much more formal structure to lessons. We were expected to be scrupulously on time, dressed neatly, horses clean, tack clean, boots polished, and if we had questions it was always, âExcuse me, sirâWould you repeat/explain that, please?â
I donât recall a âboot campâ atmosphere of loud yelling or anything bombastic, but there was a definite line between âthemâ and âus.â At parties, there might be a letting down of some boundaries, but in the lesson structure, it was just that, a structure.
The phrase âan officer and a gentlemanâ implies a standard of deportment and a civility that is often more of a blurred line in 2016. I remember Roger Haller and I watched a lesson somewhere in New Jersey being conducted by Maj. Dezso Szilagyi. This would have been 50 years ago, give or take a year.
He was teaching a dressage lesson to a group of, shall we say, not entirely fit or supple middle-aged American riders. It was inevitable in those days that these European teachers did not consider the attainment of that elusive âindependent seatâ to be a goal. Rather, they considered a good seat to be virtually a prerequisite to anything beyond basic instruction, and Iâm sure it was often frustrating to them to watch their students bounce and flail at the sitting trot.
As I say, Maj. Szilagyi watched in well-hidden frustration as his panting, perspiring little group attempted to sit the trot without stirrups.
Finally, he allowed them to walk. âLadies and gentlemen, would you be so kind as to line up?â he asked. His manner, even when he must have been exasperated, was unfailingly courtly.
âLadies and gentlemen,â he began. âMay I respectfully suggest to you that dressage riding is not the last refuge of the non-athlete.â
No Easy Out
Jack LeGoff, who was a bit younger than the World War II generation and could be bombastic, explained to us some of the âsecretsâ to the cavalry training system, which had produced such a stream of accomplished classically trained riders and trainers.
An aspiring cavalryman couldnât just âbeâ a cavalryman. All the nations prior to World War II had cavalry schools under the auspices of their respective armies, to which young recruits could apply. Once accepted, the young man would be assigned a small string of horses which it became his duty to care for, feed, and keep in a âwhite gloveâ level of cleanliness. A sergeant or an officer might run his hand over a horseâs back or neck. If the glove came away dirty, you, the recruit, had failed inspection. Woe betide you, because penalties and disciplinary measures ensued.
Each candidate, riding his assigned string, would, for a year or so, be subjected to the hard realities of what was essentially boot camp for riders. There would be hours of struggling without stirrups and often without reins, until the gradual process of melding horse and rider into one entity was achieved.
The young officer candidates couldnât âswitchâ to an easier instructor if they found this process arduous. Warrior pride and the hard realities of mounted warfare left them no âout.â They either became one with the horse, or they didnât become mounted warriors. Cossacks, Huns, Mongols, Sioux, Cheyenne, Stuartâs Cavalry, Custerâs Seventh, Alexanderâs legionsâall the mounted warriors in the long litany of the relationship consisting of man and horse had the same basic reality. They were in it for survival, and they had better get it right, or they might, very literally, die.
So these were the men who were the teachers and the coaches and the event organizers, the judges and the officials during the 1950s, 1960s and into the 1970s in dressage, eventing and show jumping. They had been forged in a hard system, where adherence to discipline was normal and simply accepted. I canât say this as a known fact, but I find it hard to think that these were men who would have drugged horses to win ribbons or would have abused them by withholding water all night before some class to make the horse more subdued. They had more pride than that, and that code of âofficer and gentlemenâ would have rejected these attempts to contravene the rules.
But all of this was a long time ago. World War II ended in 1945. The youngest of these surviving horse soldiers would be 90 today. There are few of them left. Our current riders, those born after about 1980, scarcely know they existed. But each time some young rider faces down her fear and gallops at some yawning ditch and wall, she âbecomes,â if just for that transcendent moment, an âold military guy,â maybe not in uniform, but in every other fundamental way that matters.
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I had the good luck of being able to audit a few of his clinics last year. Every word that came out of his mouth was directed at increasing freedom of movement in the horses and being fair in what is being asked. Harmony, correctness in riding were emphasized. One rider started his lesson riding in a rather harsh way. By the end of the session, Stefan had corrected so many things (and did it all very kindly and without ridicule). The horse left much more relaxed and was moving beautifully. Hopefully the rider left enlightened and didnât immediately revert to his methods, but Stefan Peters was top notch.
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George Theodorescu was a delightful man who loved the horses and would present meaningful challenges for riders rather than any strenuous words. I held clinics with him at my farm for the 5 years right before he passed away. He specifically said I didnât need to screen riders. One time I had a pair who signed up, saying they were first level and wanted to move up to second level. They stabled overnight at a farm 1 mile away from me on a very quiet road. They hadnât shown up by the time of the lesson, I tried calling, and 30 minutes later they showed up having both ridden their horses up the road because they couldnât get them on the trailer. George took it in stride, said he would teach them together. It quickly became obvious they barely knew how to ride a 20 meter circle. He gave them as much attention and input as he would an experienced rider. I was so impressed. On the other hand, he also was cheeky with riders whose egos seemed to limit their interest in working on certain more basic things. For example, upper level riders who relied too much on their hands might be asked to do tempis with only one hand on the reins. It was always interesting to see the spectrum of reactions if things fell apart. Either recognition of the issue with laughter and enthusiasm for figuring out how to improve or completely being in denial, cheating with the other hand or stopping. I remember having trouble getting my horse to move enough sideways in right canter half pass. Rather than telling me about my crookedness or weight placement, he said âlook at the right hind footâ, I thought he meant figuratively so I just kind of leaned over and turned my head. No he said it again, âcan you see it?â While in that position, I ended up at the wall so fast we almost ran into it. Point made. Few words. The 5 months I spent riding at his stable the year before he died changed my life. Even watching him teach in German and French, I knew what he was saying when certain things were happening because his system was so consistent.
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I had the opportunity to ride with Lendon Gray about a billion years ago and I would be very surprised if there was reason not to include her on this list.
But⊠you never know with these things. There are a couple people mentioned here that make me go 
based on my limited experience with them. Itâs hard to truly know someone, plus people change at different phases of their lives.
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So when I was a child I spent almost every summer in Hungary with relatives. My uncle was formerly in the cavalry. I also took lessons with âold military guysâ and one had a penchant for teaching wearing nothing but speedos (and his big handlebar mustache!!!). 
Unfortunately one of the ex-cavalry guys I knew could be quick tempered around the horses.
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Thank you for sharing this and I hope you donât mind me sharing with a friend who gets herself completely pretzelized in her brain because she has an older, pretzelized body. âIâm crooked, if I do this and this and this and this, maybe I can sit straighter. You can yell at me.â Me: âYelling at you to do something your brain wonât let your body do or your body cannot do, isnât going to fix this. We need to find a way for you to communicate with the tools you have. Ok, now try this completely wonky exercise!â LoL
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I never rode with her but met her several times because she was a friend and mentor to my boss at the time. I really liked her and agree that I would be surprised if she were on there
He has since passed away but I rode with Col Alfred Kitts for 2 years and I would definitely have put him on this list.
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Iâve been lucky enough to clinic with her a few times in the past. She was lovely and ever so patient with my green butt head of a horse (I say that as an affectionate term of endearment!).
Some of you commented on horses purchased from Steffan Peterâsâ barn seemingly defensive due to poor handling/training in that program. Interesting as I had a friend comment on his ride and how Mopsie looked like he expected a beating and freaked out. Astute of my friend if the comments here are true. Sad. I enjoyed seeing the Basquinâs ride - a Cadre Noir rider as well. No knowledge of her, obviously, but hopeful we do have riders with the knowledge that could turn the sport around, if the judges also went that way.
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I audited a Janet Foy clinic with riders from 1st level to Grand Prix. She was fair, patient, strict and so tactful. Every rider was treated with the same respect. Every rider left with something they didnât have in their pocket before their ride. She took time to answer all auditorâs questions, even mine being on placement of elbows- having me stand up and place arms hands and elbows. She is my favorite snippet of advice I have ever gotten from a pro: âSqueeze your boobs together with those elbows, just like that every ride forever.â
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Nothing against JF, I rode in clinics with her, but I would not agree 100% with your evaluation. First of all she never rode on the level she is judging⊠and on social media she is always supporting the riders she is judgingâŠ. And she is harshly criticizing anybody who is not on her line . She is not somebody supporting any change in the current way of ridingâŠ
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Here is a video of Reiner Klimke with Ahlerich, Margit Otto Crepin with Corlandus and Christine Stuckelberger with Gaugin de Lully performing a Pas de Trois in Stuttgart Germany back in the dark agesâŠohâŠ2012.
Interesting to watch the subtle/invisible aids especially for the tempi changesâŠoh and all 3 horses stand perfectly still at the end with a screaming crowd.
So, what did these riders know that is missing today?
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There you go â another old Cavalry guy!
I knew a student of Lendonâs years ago. She learned a great deal from Lendon and was the only person who could help me get a good ride from my âevil mareâ (Janet Foyâs name for her). But Lendon would throw rocks at students from time to time for whatever reasons. And she was accurate!
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Not sure what you mean by she has never ridden at the level she is judging? Her USDF score record lists her as showing through Grand Prix. So maybe not international championships, but sheâs competed at Grand Prix.
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