Add your email for free registration for newsletter.
Scan to register via mobile phone
"Imagination was given to man to compensate for what he is not, and sense of humor to console him for what he is." (Unknown)
In an equestrian world where opinions allow very little room for knowledge and humor, this newsletter is an Island. Anyone walking on the sand of a new Isle will explore the new world and discover than in fact the Island is a peninsula leading to a better world.
In this better world, horses and riders are partners. They are not business partners, they are life partners and it is a serious business to succeed in such partnership. It is also the success in life and humor is the smoother way to face adversity and preserve kindness
Walking on Water
As it is easier to evoque mystic power than question familiar beliefs, I am often credited with mysterious powers. When horses achieve performances previously impossible or reverse irreversible problems, people would rather grant me extraordinary abilities than exploring the possibility that conventional methods might not be the only ones.
The greatest credit I ever have been granted is to be "God". I decided that such opinion should be investigated. If I was God, I should be able to walk on water. So, I tried to walk on the water of my swimming pool and I sank to the bottom. The good news is that "impossible" recoveries and extraordinary horses' progress are solely the result of scientific studies. More exactly they are the outcome of the practical application of knowledge. Hence, they can be duplicated and achieved by everyone.
The secret is precisely to realize that no one can walk on water. The truth does not belong to one's opinion nor one's academic, scientific, or competitive credentials. "Knowledge," said James Rooney,"is a work in transition." A theory is nothing more than a stop over along the way, since knowledge of the equine physiology is in constant evolution. Some horses can recover from irreversible problems because the issues were irreversible until someone found the solution. Other horses may unveil outstanding gaits because the outstanding gaits were within their potential all along but their talent was altered by training approaches ill adapted to their physique, or temperament, or both.
Resistance to progress is the outcome of a pathetic and misplaced ego. It condemns both the horse and the rider to live and perform below their potential. For the rider, the situation engenders frustration. For the horse, the outcome is lameness.
The first step toward progress is to "update" whatever we have been taught to actual knowledge of the equine physiology. That is the aim of this newsletter. The journey is fascinating, sometimes provocative, definitively educational, and eminently focused on the partnership between humans and equines.
Ultra conservatives should not be overly worried; fundamental principles remain unchanged. The rider is still facing the horse's neck, the right leg naturally falling along the horse's right side and the left leg along the horse's left side. It is just that everything else is different.
Jean Luc Cornille
“Respect for tradition should not prevent the love of progress.” (Colonel Danloux, 1931)
