Quotes and Commentary: on the classical training of the horse and rider (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781500234874)

Craig P. Stevens is an acknowledged master of the French school of classical equitation who has studied the art of horse training for more than 50 years. He is a sought-after teacher and an active trainer who has brought many horses of a variety of breeds from the earliest handling to high school. He has students who show at high levels on several continents, though he himself has no interest in competition. Craig is an often published author and scholar who writes and lectures on the French and school. He is also an active international clinician. Mary Anne Campbell is co-director at their school and Craig's closest student. They work together teaching French classical equitation, a harmony-based approach to training horse and rider that pre-dates the military riding that underlies all contemporary training. They also teach even older work called "Mediterranean Horsemanship", work that was inherited through verbal transmission for millennia before dressage began to be systematized. Mediterranean horsemanship informs and influences all of their work. The two are married and live on a farm near Seattle where they work with students who come from all over the world for short and long term study. Campbell and Stevens offer in house clinics and seminars as well as continuing to train horses and they still work with local weekly lesson clients of all ages and skill levels. Both write extensively on classical training, and have been published regularly in equestrian magazines around the world. While this is historically rooted French classical dressage, and it is undeniably and exquisitely elegant, the old work was not about the way it looks. It was created to develop a wonderful riding horse and as such their teaching is "non-denominational". While many of their students focus on dressage, many do other disciplines. Some of their students work cattle, some ride endurance, some do show jumping and eventing, and many simply enjoy riding privately. This is horse training for the horse lover, not to impress any judge but the horse itself. It was the foundation for the development of nobility in the nobleman and it develops a wonderful horse, and a wonderful rider as well. For more information about the authors or the work please see our website, www.classical-equitation.com.