Stillwater Dressage

10/26/2025

Philippe Karl, renowned rider and teacher of French classical riding, shares his passionate critiques of modern dressage riding, and discusses how we can tra...

10/24/2025

This also applies to our daily attitude about maintaining the discipline to keep going, especially as we get older.

Expectancy x Value = Motivation (and Why It’s Not Just About Trying Harder)😎

Here’s a cracking little formula for understanding why motivation often feels like a dodgy light switch: Motivation = Expectancy × Value.

That’s right - not plus, not divided by, but multiplied. Which means if either expectancy (the belief you can do it) or value (the belief it’s worth doing) drops to zero… so does motivation.

You can see this everywhere. A horse that’s drilled past comprehension eventually gives up because the task no longer makes sense (expectancy tanks). Or the person who could learn good groundwork but thinks it’s “boring” (value evaporates). Either way, the momentum dies faster than New Year’s resolutions in February.

For horses, this means they need to feel they can do what you ask - not once, but repeatedly, until it’s smooth, predictable, and easy.

Mastery builds expectancy. Consistency builds value. When you change the rules every three minutes because you saw a new method on Instagram, you destroy both.

And for people? Well, if you want someone to adopt better horse practices, you’ve got to tick both boxes too. They must believe they can do it (expectancy) and believe it matters (value). One without the other is just motivational tofu — looks like effort, tastes like nothing.

So next time you think someone’s lazy or your horse is “being difficult,” remember — they’re not unmotivated. They’re just not convinced it’s possible, or worth it.

This is my Collectable Advice Entry 60/365 (can't believe it has been 60 days!) to SAVE, hit the SHARE button but please no copying and pasting (remember that is uncool).

IMAGE📸:Magnificent Impi, who I will never forget as he taught important lessons on motivation ❤

10/23/2025

10/17/2025

Over the next few weeks we will run a series of posts looking at the impact of Francois Baucher (1796–1873) on the Ecole de Légèreté .

To this day the influence of Baucher can still be felt, with a recent rise (yet again) in conversations about this controversial horseman, and many modern trainers claiming links to Baucher. I am sure this working class rider, so disregarded publicly (but often called up privately) would have a wry smile if he could see how many riders are still talking about his methods, and arguing about their application and truths. The impact of his work and ideas has travelled across the centuries in a way he could never have dreamed of.

Philippe Karl, the founder of the Ecole de Légèreté and author of ‘The Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage’ has long cited Baucher as one of his central influences. However, there are also key differences and additions witnessed in this school, as Mr Karl also drew upon his time jumping and eventing, as well as our ever developing understanding of equine physiology and psychology, in order to ‘graft a modern approach to the classical tree’. The Ecole de Légèreté does not claim to be a pure Baucherist system, but instead takes what is most useful and relevant. There are challenges with the application of ‘just Baucher’ (PK himself might say ‘Too much is too much’) which I will also attempt to discuss.

Primarily, we draw upon what Baucher shared in his lesser known ‘Second Manner’, where he revised many of the principles and applications of his ‘First manner’. This often makes scholars uncomfortable, as these can be seen as contradictions - but surely any good student is always learning and developing? Following the infamous chandelier accident Baucher was forced to make some changes, but most likely what we see in the ‘Second Manner’ was a result of his never ending quest to do better by the horse; and this gentler, more horse friendly approach would have revealed itself anyway.

There are some aspects of the ‘First manner’ which can occasionally be witnessed in the teaching of the EdL. For instance, the 'Effect D’essemble' is still extremely useful for some horses when taught with tact and understanding.

Over the next few weeks I will address some of the key tenants of Baucher’s work and how they are applied in the Ecole de Légèreté including;

-The Flexions and the importance of the 'cession de mâchoire'
-Raising the neck
-Separation of the aids
-Balance before movement and position before action
-Mobilization exercises as the critical gymnastic

And where there may be some differences or adaptations - such as the significant inclusion of neck extension and forwards movement within this balance; and the development of Ramener at different stages for different horses.

As ever, this is a reminder that I am not Philippe Karl himself, and am merely a student of the school trying to share information in an accessible way. I hope you enjoy this upcoming series.

10/15/2025

I've been lost in thought recently over the needs of young horses and role we must play in their lives to ensure their success in this world of turmoil and man made law.

I have witnessed treatment of horses in my short life that would make the strongest stomachs turn, and where I get so lost is in how wildly different our perspectives can be in these situations.

As I wrestled with this exact thought I turned to a teacher I will never meet and decided to calm my mind by reading before bed. Horse Training: Outdoors and High School by Etienne Beudant.

I opened the slight paperback book and set my makeshift bookmark down. I picked up reading where I had left off and in a matter of paragraphs was hit in the face with the following:

"The ill-treated horse first gets excited, then, especially if a nervous type, he becomes maddened and exasperated, and the greater his exasperation the less he understands. Finally, he stands with all four feet firmly planted, al muscles contracted. I cannot imagine how, in such a condition, he can be brought to reason by continuing the abuse.

It is calmness, and nothing else, which converts disordered jerky gaits into smooth, flowing ones. Here is one very important phase of training in which there must be no struggle. A teacher must first get the confidence of his pupil, then reveal the presence of kindness, gentleness and a will, that though calm, is inflexible. This is the immutable and sovereign law of teaching, whether the pupil is man or beast."

This spoke deeply to me and I find myself wondering how, in many ways, we have regressed as a culture since these words were first published in French in 1931.

Then I turn to the weight of responsibility. It is our job to find, maintain, and be stewards of horsemanship that builds confidence calmly through kindness, gentleness and a clarity of our will.

Horses have given me everything, and if there is anything I can do for them in return, it is to attempt daily to bring these words to life.
~Justin

PC Erin Gilmore Photography

10/13/2025

Today I felt a wave of reflection… about the horses who lived through my learning curve.

They didn’t stay with me because they had the choice.
There were ropes, bridles, halters and fences—expectations.
There were times I led them without asking, touched them without listening,
and taught them what I had been taught.

They didn’t get to walk away when I did harmful things.
And that’s what humbles me the most.

I used to believe I was being kind.
And in many ways, I was doing my best.
But now I see how often doing my best still meant asking too much…
still meant silencing what they were trying to show me.

Most stood through it.
They bore it quietly.
They adapted—not because it was easy, but because it was safer to comply.

And still, they gave moments of softness.
A look. A breath. A leaning in.
Moments that taught me more than any lesson I ever tried to teach them.

I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
But now that I do… everything has changed.

I listen more now.
I question more.
And I honor every horse I meet as a being with their own life—not an extension of mine.

So this is for those horses, past and present.
You endured more than I saw at the time.
You lived through my becoming.

I owe you everything.

And I hope that now, in this quieter chapter,
I am someone worthy of standing beside you—without asking you to carry me.

With reverence,
🌿 Stormy

10/13/2025

Acceptance and compromise

Recently, I listened to a well known and much loved horsewoman talking about her teacher and how he didn’t turn his horses out once he began training them. He believed that once you started to prioritise balance in a horses training, you should never compromise that by putting them out with their friends to play. They stayed in and they were trained.

I know several modern day classical trainers who still adhere to this practice - prioritising a precise way of moving which can be found through ridden training in balance, and not wanting that in any way sullied by life in the pasture.

It is also ‘may’ be more likely that a horse will receive an external injury * from playing with their friends if we turn them out together, especially young boys. That’s why many valuable competition horses also don’t get turned out much, or if they do, it’s often solo.

I decide to compromise. I want to prioritise good balance in my horses training and understand there are risks attached to turning them out with friends. But, right now, I believe the positives for these social, movement primed, experient expectant, open landscape adapted creatures - far outweighs the negatives.

There are things I can do to mitigate risk. Most often no back shoes; provide everyone with enough space; monitor herd dynamics (as I’m the one making those choices after all); take care to ensure everyone has enough resources. It’s not just a free for all in a small paddock.

However, to my (tiny) mind the risk of not giving my horses freedom and friends, far outweighs the positives.

Horses are not, after all, lumps of clay to be shaped by my hand. They are not pieces of art work which we sculpt and mould to demonstrate our ability to train. They are sentient beings with complex social lives and a keen desire to make decisions and have agency.

While they may have cost us a lot of money and many of our hopes and dreams can be wrapped up in what they might do for us; they are not cars or yachts or a computer. They are not merely tools for us to show everyone else how marvellous we are. They are Horse.

This decision to have my horses living out with other horses may cost my ego its desires. They may get injured as a result. But the pay off for not doing my best to enable this is more than I can bear to witness. When it comes to what my heart knows to be true, that’s currently where it lands. And I have to accept the compromises this may entail.

————-

*I say an external injury, as we know how many horses develop emotional, mental and systemic ‘injuries’ from a life with little free movement and no direct access to friends. Ulcers, a decrease in bone density, breathing disorders, and the development of stereotype behaviours such as crib biting and wind sucking.

10/08/2025

Imaging (such as scans and X-rays) shows your current anatomy, not your pain.⁣
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A lot of people with back pain are keen to get an x-ray or MRI scan as they feel this will show them what the problem is.⁣
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But there is a large and growing body of research which shows that not only do the results of scans correlate poorly with symptoms in people with back pain, but also that people without any back pain have changes on scans and x-rays. It has been shown that using scans can cause false alarms, and make people fearful of moving. This fear of movement can actually make the symptoms worse.⁣
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A large scale study in 2015 looked at the results of scans in over 3000 asymptomatic people (people with no back pain). They showed that the prevalence of disc degeneration increased from 37% of 20 year olds up to 96% of 80 year olds. The prevalence of disc bulges increased from 30% of 20 year olds up to 84% of 80 year olds. And the prevalence of disc protrusions increased from 29% of 20 year olds up to 43% of 80 year olds.⁣
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Their conclusions were that many imaging findings are likely to be a normal part of the aging process. Think of it like wrinkles on the inside.⁣
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➡️ This is not to say that MRI scans or x-rays should not be used for back pain. In the presence of serious or sinister signs and symptoms, MRI and other investigative radiology are essential to make a quick and accurate diagnosis and fast intervention.⁣
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➡️ Scans are there to exclude the worst of the worst pathologies, but when it comes to everything else they cannot, and do not, tell us where the pain is coming from.⁣
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➡️ If you have severe, unremitting back pain with referred symptoms then it is definitely good to see your GP or a Chartered Physiotherapist for an assessment.⁣
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➡️ If you have had a scan and are worried about the findings, remember that people with no pain also have disc bulges, wear and tear, disc degeneration, etc on scans and that these findings might not necessarily correlate with your pain.⁣
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Don’t fear the language and don’t fear movement - movement is your friend 🤸‍♀️⁣
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💙 Breathe better, move better, ride better⁣
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Maeve⁣
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10/07/2025