Book Report: Twisted Truths

I have just finished reading a book by one of my most favorite horsemen: Philippe Karl. The title of the book is "Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage, A search for a classical alternative."

I was first introduced to PK's work via his Classical Dressage video series. I appreciated his clear and straightforward approach to training then and this book continues the theme.

PK has been an outspoken critic of the modern German system of riding. What he does in this book is analyze the German system as it is documented in the German Federation's manuals and then offer an alternative approach based on the teachings of the classical masters such as de la Gueriniere and Baucher.

He begins the book with an overview of thoughts on a variety of subjects such as learning and training, crookedness and balance. He also talks at length, with photos and illustrations, about the negative effects of the current practice of over-bending, AKA "rollkur". Of course he doesn't just complain about what is bad, he provides logical, horse centric solutions as counter point. This is in fact the whole premise of the book.

He follows this with chapters on the hands, legs, and seat, on collection and how to get it, and he proposes an alternative to the German linear training scale. Each chapter follows a similar format in which he analyzes the German systems with quotes from the German dressage manuals followed by a discussion of his approach.

One of the points he makes toward the end of the book is how dependent the German system is on the German breeding program. After the First World War the head of German horse breeding laid down the directive that horses shall have, "all the characteristics of a schooled horse, right from the start." This meshes with my observation over the years that there are some horses who seem to come out of the womb at 3rd level! All wonderful if you can afford it. But what about 'the rest of us' who have regular horses? Rather than tell his pupils that they should get another horse (which has been said to me in years past) he says, let's take an approach to training that works with what the horse we have now offers and makes the best of it. A man after my own heart!

So yes I would strongly recommend this book to anyone with regular horses. It isn't cheap but it is worth it, IMO.

More Navicular bites the dust

About a month ago Lauren was contacted by Pam Lincoln who was literally traveling through the area on her way home to Florida from her summer place in Wisconsin. Or was it Michigan? Anyway, somewhere way up north! Pam and her hubby, with horses in tow, happened to stop at a farm where Lauren regularly trims. Well one thing led to another and when talk turned to navicular our clients suggested Pam call Lauren. The next day Beau, and his buddy JJ, arrived at our farm to partake in the Nexus magic.

The photo above is of Beau just prior to his first trim by Lauren. Pam said that Beau had been on and off lame all summer and it is no wonder. Our observations were of a horse with very contracted heels and long toes. He also surely was suffering from thrush up inside the 'butt crack' of his heel bulbs. The photo to the right is a good example of where his feet were when he arrived. We also saw signs of a metabolic tendency and felt that he would benefit from getting on a low sugar diet. So, we trimmed, treated for thrush, put him on our special diet and turned him out on the hills.

We thought it would be useful to film Beau's first trim as a record for the future. Anyone interested in watching it can just click on the Play button.



Now where is the video camera when you need it! Just today, just about 6 weeks into his rehab, we saw Beau galloping DOWNhill. Go Beau!!

Road Trip Report - Gigi Nutter clinic

Our new friend, Nell Walton, told us that Gigi Nutter would be doing a clinic on December 2-3, in Lenoir City, TN which is close enough (2 hour drive) to go watch. Gigi is listed as one of Karl Mikolka's few Certified Students on his website. I knew she was in GA and I'd wondered if she happened to get out this way. Well it turns out she comes this way quite regularly.

The original plan was for me, Lauren, Kathy Baker, Karla Foss, and Heather Halsey to all go together. Figured it would be a fun Road Trip. However, it actually snowed the day before and it was still snowing the day of the clinic. So, all but me and Lauren dropped out due to weather concerns. Which was too bad because by the time we got to Lenoir City it was a beautiful day! Oh well, next time!

I was interested in seeing if Gigi was someone I might want to ride with myself. I've really missed my lessons with Karl. Heck, I'm missed having regular lessons with anyone! So I wondered what would a certified student of Karl's be like? I can say for sure that the Karl influence was clear. But the fact remains Karl is special and very unique. No one can imitate his unique teaching style.

Although Gigi is very motivated by competition I was really glad to observe that she wanted the horse's necks up and out. So she wasn't just chanting "deeper, rounder, and more through!" as I've heard all too many times in the past. She's very creative when it comes to exercises for the horse, too, to improve balance and suppleness.

We saw some nice rides but second rider of the day really stood out. Although not exactly for good reasons. :-( She was on a pretty mare who was clearly, to Lauren's and my eyes, suffering from DSLD. She was severely post-legged, coon footed, and had bull-nosed hooves. Poor thing! It was a wonder and frankly a miracle that she managed to move at all. It was no wonder that she had problems with 'moving forward'. The good news is we know of several horses suffering from this condition and we've seen Dr. Kellon's protocol of AAKG and Jiagulan work wonders. Lauren turned to me and said, "do we tell her what we know?" and I said, "the Universe brought us here today so I think you have to!" Hopefully the owner of the horse acted on the information which was something she'd never heard of.

All in all it was a good day. We met some nice folks. Maybe next time we'll bring horses!