The Science of Motion, through the work of Jean Luc Cornille, is determined to make this world a better place for horses and riders.  He dreams of a world in which riders are empowered by knowledge and horses are treated in respect of their actual psychological and physiological function as they deserve.  A world in which high performance and soundness for life is not just the birthright of a few but of most, if not all.  A world in which horses and riders are in partnership and not a world in which the horse is the obedient servant and the rider the benevolent or malevolent master.  A world in which the horse is seen and treated like the intelligent, creative, thinking and willing creature that it is and not as an organism that responds to stimuli blindly, unthinkingly and with no will of its own or with a will that opposes ours.  He dreams of a better place, of a better way, of a just and compassionate world for the horse and rider.

Since 1952 scientists have produced research that explains the work of the back muscles, the flexion and transversal movements of the spine, the management of the forces of momentum and gravity by the back and limbs, the role of tendons, aponeurosis and fascia in transmitting energy and force, the sensitivity of the horse’s skin where the rider’s leg touches, the pathologies associated with mismanagement of force, and many other researches,  This momentous research came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of horses who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity in a system built on inaccurate observations and a lack of knowledge of their actual psychology and physiology.

But seventy years later, the Horse still is not free; seventy years later, the life of the Horse is still sadly crippled by the manacles of Tradition and the chains of a Training Pyramid, seventy years later, the Horse lives on a lonely island of ignorance and denial in the midst of a vast ocean of enlightened knowledge, 70 years later, the Horse is still languished in the traditions that keep him a faithful servant to an all knowing and powerful master.

So I, a student of the Science of Motion, am addressing you here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense the Science of Motion, through Jean Luc Cornille, is holding the equestrian world accountable for carrying out the promises that tradition makes to our horses Tradition promises the horse lightness, forwardness, an increase in athletic ability through training, an enhanced beauty in the work.  To these promises I add another, a lifetime of soundness which tradition does not represent as probable.

It is obvious today that the equestrian world has defaulted on these promises.  Scientific study has given equestrians the knowledge to keep these promises and gift the horse the joy of sound athletic performance, yet equestrians instead have taken the scientific research and found ways to mold it to their current system.

But the Science of Motion refuses to believe that this is the end of hope for the Horse.  Impassioned by the knowledge I have gained as a Science of Motion student I address you today to open your eyes to the injustice of having knowledge and solutions to improve the life of the horse and withholding it to protect tradition or a system.

I am addressing you to impress on you the fierce urgency of now.

This is no time to engage in the luxury of waiting for popular opinion to turn this direction or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

Now is the time to make real the promises of our ancestors; now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of ignorance and denial to the sunlit path of the application of accurate scientific knowledge to the riding and training of horses; now is the time to lift the equestrian world from the quick sands of an outdated system to the solid rock of a new paradigm built on accurate knowledge; now is the time to make soundness and improved performance a reality for all horses.

It would be a disgrace for equestrians to overlook the urgency of the moment.

This discord between what is known to be accurate research and how it is applied will not be resolved by finding solutions through traditions. This discord will not go away.  It will not resolve until there is a willingness to break free of traditions that are derived from the dark ages before scientific research began to explain what could not be explained through simple observation or experience, which is all our ancestors had.

But there is something that I must say to you, who is reading this in the hopes that there are answers here. In the process of upgrading our knowledge, we must not be guilty of disdaining the interpretations and instructions taught by tradition. Let us not deny the skill and intuition of many great riders and trainers from the past.

We must forever conduct our evolution from tradition to an upgraded riding and training methodology with dignity and discipline. We must continuously look for solutions and not fall prey to guilt or blame.

You will not walk alone on this path of evolution. And as you walk, you must make the pledge that you will always march ahead. I implore you to not turn back.

There are those who are asking of the upgraded knowledge, “can’t we just apply you to how we ride and train now?”

If current training systems and judging standards were not based on the horse as a servant and the trainer as master, the horse as an organism to be molded through responses to stimuli, the necessity for the horse to be obedient and subservient and fitting the horse to stylized athletic performances to get scores, then perhaps.  However, from this basis, there can be no application of this new knowledge that will yield soundness and enhanced athletic performance for the horse.

No! no, I ask you not to distort and contort scientific knowledge to fit observations, viewpoints, and training systems from the past.  I implore you not to be satisfied until the promise of sound athletic performance for life is realized, not just for your horse, but for all horses.

I am not unmindful that you may have come here out of great trials and tribulations.  You may have explored many ways to ride and train only to come to a dead end or feel like a failure.  You may have had successes and feel confident that what you do works but the athletic performance you crave seems to be tantalizingly just out of your reach.  You may have tried to find a new way only to come up against scorn and criticism from your fellow equestrians.  Your confidence may be very low from repeated attempts and failures trying to emulate and follow tradition.  You may have had experiences that cause you to feel that solutions are to be found in better saddle fit, better bitting, no bitting, chiropractic, muscle release, this supplement or that supplement, etc.  You may have a strong faith in these “solutions”.  

You have been the veteran of creative suffering.  You have been told by traditions, trainers, fellow equestrians, saddle fitters, bit fitters, body workers, veterinarians, feed companies, and others that if you apply the right aids, follow the training pyramid, teach your horse to submit and be obedient, that you will rise to the top of the training pyramid in a systematic and repeatable way.  That you will finally reach “Collection”, defined in the training pyramid as “Balance and lightness of the forehand from increased engagement”, yet you feel that no matter how well you apply the traditional approach you somehow have failed.  Or you may feel that at times you have made it but you cannot repeat it and it feels like a bit of luck instead of a skilled process which can be learned and applied to all with success.  You suffer guilt, lack of confidence, self-doubt, insecurity, and fear that you are not good enough.

You are capable of tremendous faith and faith is indeed a valuable asset.  Faith, well placed, is very powerful in bringing your dreams to fruition.  Faith, ill placed, is just as powerful in keeping your dreams just out of reach.

I say to you today, my friend, even though modern riding and training methods seem to have a firm grasp of the equestrian world, even in the face of research that disproves these methods, The Science of Motion still has a dream.  It is a dream for you and for your horse.  For all riders and horses.

The Science of Motion dream is deeply rooted in love and respect for the horse and a faith in you as a rider.

The Science of Motion dream is that one day the equestrian world will rise up and live out the true potential of what riding and training horses can be.

The Science of Motion dream is that one day judging standards will reward beauty and art resulting from riding that protects and preserves the horse, not stylized movements that damage the horse.

The Science of Motion dream is that one day veterinarians will embrace the application of scientific research to the riding and training of horses to prevent injury and the need for rehabilitation.

The Science of Motion dream is that horses will receive the gift of soundness for life and that riders will receive the gift of the incredible partnership with horses that is respectful of the psychology and physiology of each.

The Science of Motion dream is that horses will be viewed as the inherently willing, intelligent and creative creatures that they are.

The Science of Motion has a dream today!

A dream that the scales of tradition will fall from our eyes and with new eyes we will see the horse according to his true nature and physiology.  Science has given us the blueprint.  We just need to apply it undistorted to achieve the highest form of beauty, the horse, athletically developed for soundness and expression of his innate talents to their fullest.

The Science of Motion has a dream today!

A dream that you and your fellow equestrians will embrace new knowledge and have the confidence to learn to apply it free from tradition, the training pyramid and the ghosts of the past.

This is the Science of Motion’s hope. This is the faith that keeps Jean Luc Cornille relentlessly advocating for you and for your horse. With this faith he continues to chip away at the megalith of tradition to shine a light into its dark interior.

With this faith he hopes to liberate you and your horses from the chains of tradition and a system that fails because at its root is a deep misunderstanding of the horse both physically and psychologically. With this faith he invites you to learn from the scientific knowledge available to you and learn how to apply it.  The day of putting your faith in you and your horse through accurate knowledge and thoughtful application instead of worshipping tradition is today.

And this will be the day you turn from subservience, obedience and the slavery of a system to the freedom offered by scientific research applied accurately to your work with your horse.

This will be the day that lightness, balance, collection, impulsion, suppleness, and other terms used to describe our search for the ultimate goal of riding, takes on their accurate meaning free from misconceptions.  This is the day you and your horse gain your freedom!

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