East Coast Classical Dressage

09/03/2024

We have space for one more rider! Please send $175 to reserve your spot by September 20, 2024

08/31/2024

A reminder that today is the deadline to sign up for the Wine and Working Equitation event. This event is strictly for fun! Come join us and enjoy the food, wine and obstacles. Please etransfer $57.50 to [email protected] to confirm your attendance 😊

08/28/2024

Welcome Iris, she is here for some training in September. What a beautiful girl 😊

08/24/2024

If you are interested in a kinder way of training your horse, join us Oct 5&6 to learn how Ecole de Legerete puts the horse first.

I think one of the most potent forms of gaslighting we see in the industry is the following:

“This horse couldn’t perform at this level if they were stressed or in pain.”

This single sentence justifies any means of getting a horse to perform at the upper levels on the basis that if they are there, they can’t be in pain.

That it’s impossible to get a horse to work at the upper levels without having a fully willing, pain free and stress free companion.

Despite the overwhelming evidence suggesting it’s not true.

This excuse is then combined with many others:

“If you haven’t ridden at this level, you can’t judge.”

(Ironically, these same people are okay with the judges who hand out scores not riding at the same level.)

“If the horse didn’t want to, they wouldn’t.”

(Meanwhile, the same people will have tons of reasons as to why their horse needs XYZ bit or equipment for control or why the horse can’t be allowed to get away with “naughty” behaviour.)

“These horses receive the best of the best care, they live like royalty.”

(If royalty was locked up into small little jail cells and isolated for much of their life outside of work…)

All of these excuses are attempts to “other” those who question the status quo while elevating upper level riders to such a point of perfection and knowledge that they’re free from criticism.

Ironically, anyone of any caliber can compliment these riders and comment their ability but as soon as you breathe a word of criticism, you’re unqualified to do so.

Shouldn’t it go both ways if it’s about experience before judging? 🤔

Also, that aside, if people are judging purely on horse welfare and not how to ride a test or jump a large course, why is it that we are shooting down expert opinions from behaviourists and equine scientists because they haven’t ridden at that level?

Why does one need to compete to speak on horse welfare?

To answer all of these rhetorical questions:

This is merely a feeble attempt to continue the status quo by alienating those who question it and implying they’re simply less educated and less talented riders despite the lack of evidence for such.

If this is the only defence we have for the actions occurring in competition, they’re not really defensible.

I’ve yet to see an argument in defence of the sport staying as is, with no welfare improvements whatsoever, that isn’t riddled with logical fallacies and personal attacks.

There’s a reason for that.

The research is not on their side and so they have to rely on intimidation tactics and gaslighting to try to silence discourse.

Don’t stay silent, there’s a growing number of people who are frustrated with the lack of change.

No amount of gaslighting will silence the movement.

We stocked up on gas beforehand, so miss us with that gaslight attempt.

08/22/2024

As promised! If you are looking for a way of training your horse that is centred around respect for the horse join us in October 😁

08/05/2024

Spa day for Trigger on this hot summer day 🥰

08/03/2024

The Olympics have been shining a spotlight on Dressage- The good, the bad, and the ugly. I don’t even know where to begin to bring it back to the good outweighing the bad and the ugly. We are not a competition barn, as Pippa told riders in one of the first clinics I attended “we do this for the horse, not for a judge “ So… with that in mind, I will say;
If you find pleasure in riding a relaxed and balanced horse
If transitions brought on by just a thought and a change in energy make you grin!
If watching a horse’s stride increase a few inches in good rhythm makes you geek out
If you love the feeling of a horse being light and totally in your hands…
Then you are my people, you are my tribe, and there is a safe place here for you and your horse to learn 🥰. Watch this page for fall clinic date.

07/31/2024

Britespan Atlantic is doing profiles on some of their customers. Love my Britespan Building!

07/27/2024

One of the golden rules of training according to the principles of the Ecole de Legerete is to always act upwards on the corners of the lips with our hands. This prevents painful pressure on the bars and tongue. Maintaining what Pippa refers to as a “hand holding contact” acting only on the corners of the mouth encourages the horse to relax into the contact allowing the rider to then “descends de mains”

07/26/2024

Feeling especially grateful this week for discovering the Ecole de Legerete and having the opportunity to learn from amazing equestrians like Melanie Bulmahn, Pippa Callanan and the one who started it all, Nicole Winstead of Mint Brook Farm. I’m living the dreams of a horse-crazy little girl. May I never do anything to a horse that would make that little girl cry.

07/17/2024

This morning we got together and played around with riding patterns together. Tons of fun!

06/27/2024

Today this lovely mare heads back home. Thank you Khemcy Height for trusting me with Octavia’s education. She has been an absolute pleasure to work with and I will miss her!

06/27/2024

Octavia is developing into a lovely relaxed and confident mare after spending most of her life raising beautiful babies 🥰

06/27/2024

Teaching flexions helps Octavia find good balance and helps her to understand the rein aids once under saddle. They also promote relaxation.

06/27/2024

This mare has such a lovely trot 🥰

05/20/2024

Pippa had me do this scallop turns down the long side exercise to help my young, very bendy horse, use his spine as one cohesive unit.

05/18/2024

A huge heartfelt thank you to Pippa Callanan for the incredible instruction! It was an incredible three days! I’m also grateful to Yorkfield Stables for hosting this clinic at their amazing facility and of course my hosts Fred and Michael who treat me like family 🥰

05/16/2024

Day 1 of the Pippa Callanan clinic was amazing. Brego has been such a great boy 🥰

04/15/2024

Sadly our Working Equitation clinic scheduled for May 11 & 12 with Lesley Elchuck is cancelled 😞

04/03/2024

We have had lots of interest in our Working Equitation clinic with Lesley Elchuck. Please send deposit of $175 by etransfer to [email protected] and message us to confirm your participation by April 15th. We need a minimum of 8 riders to move forward with this clinic.

04/02/2024

An amazing opportunity for horse owners!

03/20/2024

We have 2 rider spots available for our Legerete clinic. Please contact me if you are interested. Deposit is 50% of clinic fee.

03/14/2024

Raising the base of the neck. Kate Sandel of the UK’s Ecole de Legerete has this to say and it is so important!

If you don’t know where the base of your horse’s neck is, you’re not alone. The easiest way to find it is to stand in front of your horse and run your hands down either side of their neck to feel for the widest and hardest part, just in front of their chest. It’s the bottom curve of their neck, which then continues behind the scapula, rising up again to form the thoracic spine.

The horses head and neck are their balancing pole. The hindquarters are their engine. And the base of the neck has a huge impact on how balance and power relate to each other. It is a very important ‘juntion’ in your horses body. When it’s blocked and locked the horse will always be compromised. When it’s released and available, your horse can show you all their magnificence.

One of the main reasons horses get into trouble is because the rider has never been shown how to note what is going on with regards to this relationship in the body.

Questions a rider can ask themselves include;

How is the horse using their balancing pole (their head and neck)and why?

What are they doing with the base of their neck, what does it tell you about their balance, freedom of movement and emotional state? How might I be influencing that?

And, how do these things relate to their ability to use their hindquarters and hind legs?

This is an inventory we should all understand when we sit on a horse. We can also learn a lot by observing them without a rider on board too.

If we take away the horses ability to use their balancing pole by blocking their movement with low hands, or pulling backwards - even a little - this impacts on their capacity to raise the base of their neck. In order to ‘lift’ this lower curve in their cervical spine they have to be both physically able and emotionally available. According to most movement specialists a horse must be able to access a sling of muscles which sit under the base of the neck (Longus Colli and Scalenus) to lift this lower curve and lengthen their spine. This doesn’t happen in isolation of course - the thoracic sling, and the rest of the body are involved- but it CANNOT happen if the horse is blocked in their mouth and poll. Or if they feel they have to defend themselves from the bit.

It is only when the horse can raise the base of their neck that they can lift their thoracic sling and rib cage. This enables them to access and manage the power of their hind end.

In this school we pay attention to the horses ability to harmonise these things and understand that it is the base of the neck that we’re actually trying to ‘speak’ to - rather than our horses head. Our hands are a tool to communicate, not dominate.

03/13/2024

Apollo is learning to be a lesson pony. Huge thanks to student, Cheryl, for giving him a positive experience 😊

03/10/2024

Welcome to ECCD Chevy. Happy retirement! Congratulations to Kim on adopting this lovely boy.

03/03/2024

Legerete clinic! April 6&7 you may participate in one day or both. Cost is 175.00 for one day or 350.00 for both. We will be focusing on how to determine which gymnastics will benefit your horse the most and how to teach them to your horse. Auditors welcome 30.00/day or 50.00 for the weekend.

02/24/2024

We have an opening in our lesson program for Wednesday at 4pm starting in March. Youth or Adults welcome 😊. Please email [email protected] or message for more info.