Gymnastics and Dressage

Michel Henriquet, Catherine Durand – Éditions Vigot. In the eleven years since Gymnastics and Dressage was written and its second edition published, daily work with each horse has confirmed for me the unsurpassed excellence of the rules set down in 1731 in 'École de Cavalerie' by La Guérinière, and of their wonderfully expressed philosophy: 'Principles, rather than opposing nature, must serve to perfect it through the aid of art.' Every moment spent in the saddle, I have paid tribute to the memory of Master Nuno Oliveira, who passed away eleven years ago. Restorer of the golden age of equestrian art and subtle revealer of the finest elements of the Baucherist heritage, he brought them together in a synthesis he himself described as classical equitation in the French tradition. During this period, I have regularly taught at a high level, both with the instructors of the Cadre Noir at the French National Riding School and at home and abroad with riders from all backgrounds. Time and again, I have seen how the neglect of classical principles explains the real decline in basic riding. The desire of those in charge of instructor training to produce activity leaders rather than skilled technicians has created a generation sorely lacking the tools that many pupils, keen to improve, expect from them. This almost political demagogy poses a genuine problem for all those who aspire to serious training at the riding centres they attend. Finally, in the research I have continually pursued, a new element led me to revise the section devoted to stretching and lowering of the neck. This new edition allows me to share this study with all those dissatisfied with draw reins and 'pulling upwards to make the horse pull downwards'. Michel Henriquet