Connecting the dots by seeing Ecole de Légèreté live. I was both humbled and awestruck auditing a PHENOMENAL Ecole de Légèreté (School of Lightness) clinic with Classical French Dressage Master Instructor Bertrand Ravoux.

By Jennifer Klitzke

Classical French Dressage Master Philippe Karl certified Bertrand Ravoux in 2007 as his first Licenced Ecole de Légèreté Master Instructor. Bertrand only teaches Instructor Training Clinics in the USA and Europe. Yet owners Rick and Kari of the Schmitt Training Center in Sommerset, WI were fortunate to have Bertrand come to the Midwest for the first time. Not only that, but the lucky eight riders were not in the Instructor Training program. Even more rare was that one of the eight horses was a naturally gaited Icelandic!

As soon as I heard Bertrand was coming to the Midwest, I signed up immediately, as did dozens of auditors traveling as far as Missouri. I didn’t want to miss out on live in-person instruction about this form of dressage that I have been studying the last seven years through Classical French Dressage Master Philippe Karl’s DVDs and books: Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage and The Art of Riding.

This Ecole de Légèreté clinic was composed of a diverse mix of horses such as an Icelandic, off-the-track Thoroughbred, Norwegian Fjord, Arabian/Holsteiner, Zweibrücken, Holsteiner, Dutch Warmblood, and an Arabian Saddlebred. Equally diverse were the mix of riders ranging from Intro level to Intermediare.

Bertrand’s kind and encouraging teaching style met each student and horse exactly where they were at in their training. He led both the rider and horse to relaxation and confidence, forwardness, straightness, and balance through the full range of motion: neck extension to collection to lateral bending.

For me, many dots were connected from studying Philippe Karl’s DVDs and books that only witnessing this form of riding in person can do. The only thing that could top auditing the clinic would be riding in it. And I am keeping my fingers crossed for future clinics and perhaps applying to participate in the three-year Instructor Certification program.

Throughout the Ecole de Légèreté clinic, Bertrand instructed each rider to lead their horse through exercises that helped achieve balance, relaxation, rhythm, engagement, connection, straightness, and collection. If a horse became heavy on the forehand, he offered useful instruction for lightness in the bridle and exercises to lighten the forehand. If a horse became sleepy, he encouraged the rider to engage the horse through forwardness along the long side of the arena in a neck extension.

Each rider was instructed how to help their horse become light to the hand and light to the leg and to work their horse in relaxation,  balance, straightness, and forwardness through its full range of motion (laterally and longitudinally) to improve its quality of gaits. Watching the riders lead their horses through exercises in hand and from the saddle better helped my understanding of this kind and humane dressage method.

My biggest Ecole de Légèreté clinic takeaways

1. The importance of rider clarity of the leg, rein, seat, and weight aids to help the horse’s understanding
2. The importance of the rider training the horse to be light to the leg and light to the hand:
   • ONE leg aid means “go” and what to do if the horse doesn’t
   • The difference between a rein aid to lighten a horse that is leaning on the bit (demi-arête) and a rein aid to ask the horse to follow the contact (action/reaction)
3. The importance of the position and use of the reins:
   • Always raise the hand(s) to communicate with the corner(s) of the horse’s lips which is less sensitive
   • Never pull the reins back and press the bit on the tongue which causes pain
   • The importance of the outside rein contact
   • The use of the inside rein to encourage the horse to soften the jaw, taste the bit, and flex at the poll
   • The neutral position of the hands close together and above the pommel with elbows relaxed at side
4. The importance of straightness of the horse’s shoulders and what to do when one shoulder dominates
5. The importance of working the horse’s full range of motion laterally and longitudinally, relaxed, balanced and actively forward as well as slow and engaged to improve the quality of gaits

Watching the naturally gaited Icelandic

I was so excited to watch how Bertrand instructed a naturally gaited horse during the four-day clinic and address the following issues:

• This 15-year-old gaited horse was lateral in all of its gaits: pacey camel walk, a hard pace, and lateral canter. 
• The horse leaned on the bit.
• The horse was on the lazy side.
• The horse was slouching its chest muscles which caused it to be heavy on the forehand. It leaned on its shoulders instead of carried its weight equally on all four legs. 

I was glued to how Bertrand addressed pace, laziness, and heaviness on the bit and shoulders (as my naturally gaited fox trotting horse and I struggle with the latter and my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse and I could be more forward and responsive to the leg than we are). 

Bertrand’s instructions:

1. Teach a lateral moving horse diagonal movements on cue:
   • The shoulder-in on a circle at an active yet slow walk is an excellent exercise to a diagonal movement. It is impossible for a horse to pace while performing the shoulder-in on a small circle.
   • A quality rein back is a diagonal movement. Teach the horse walk-rein back-walk-rein back transitions.
   • Lunge the horse over ground rails to establish trot on cue.
   • Trot is the diagonal gait. Teach the horse trot-walk-trot transitions and trot-canter-trot transitions.
2. Teach the horse to be light to the hands.
   • It is the horse’s responsibility to carry its own head and neck. The horse is not to lean on the rider’s hands. The rider needs to teach the horse to be light.
   • Anytime the horse leans on one or both reins, the rider make a QUICK motion upward (not back) with one or both reins. This tells the horse to stop leaning on the rein or reins.
   • It is important that the motion with one or both hands is quick and upward to affect the corner(s) of the horse’s lips and not pull back which would hurt the horse by pulling on the tongue.
   • The idea is to make one quick motion upward, the horse becomes light, and the horse stays at the same head and neck position that the rider desires, no lower. If the horse leans on one or both reins again, then the rider makes another quick action upward with one or both reins.
3. Teach the horse to be light to the leg.
   • Go means go. One leg aid means “go.” If not, the rider does not continue to squeeze and prompt the horse forward with the leg. No. The rider uses one leg aid and if the horse doesn’t move forward and stay forward, the rider lightly taps the horse’s hindquarters with the whip in a slow, rhythmic way, gradually increasing the tap until the horse moves forward. Eventually the horse will learn that one leg aid means, “go.”
   • For the horse that like to be on the lazy side, it means freshening up the horse with a REALLY forward gait, like trot, as fast as a canter forward. The rider posted to the Icelandic’s pace in a neck extension.
   • The rider encourages to the horse to take the rein contact into a forward neck extension straight along the wall. The horse extends its head and neck outward and down with the nose pointing forward. The poll is no lower than the height of the whither. The horse keeps an open throat latch (an open angle between the underside neck to jaw). The neck extension stretches the top line muscles of the horse, stretches the spine while engaging the horse from behind in forwardness and balance.
4. Teach the horse how to travel in a straight line with the neck bent 90 degrees to the inside (fléchi droit) before teaching circles.
   • It wasn’t until this clinic that I understood the purpose for this exercise that I learned a few years ago when I took lessons from a student of Philippe Karl. This exercise teaches the horse to be balanced equally on both shoulders without collapsing to the inside shoulder. It is very important to establish this before teaching circles to a horse, otherwise the horse will learn to fall onto the inside shoulder.
   • This exercise also stretches the horse’s outside neck muscles.
   • Once the horse has established the bend in the neck and is traveling balanced on both shoulders, then the horse can be led into a small circle (volte) in a neck extension position.
5. Teach the horse how to work its shoulders in balance.
   • For the horse that is heavy on the forehand (collapsing one or both shoulders), a terrific exercise is counter bending the horse and neck reining the opposite direction.
   • By neck rein, it means that the rider draws both hands to the opposite side of the bend. This teaches the horse to move the shoulders. If the horse isn’t moving the shoulders, then the rider makes side ways nudges until the horse moves. (Don’t use the inside leg unless you are cueing the hind leg to move over). 
   • This counter bend neck rein exercise can be done on a circle, figure 8, or serpentine changing the bend at each short side to the counter bend and walking straight between bends to the next counter bend loop.

Within the first 45-minute lesson, Bertrand had taught the rider how to lead her Icelandic into a natural four-beat walk instead of a pacey, camel walk. The naturally gaited Icelandic remained in a quality walk for the remaining three lessons.

Some progress was made in breaking up the hard pace, but it will take time. After all it is not realistic to expect a 15-year old hard pacing horse to learn a diagonal gait, like trot, in four lessons. I truly believe this horse can do it with the rider’s persistence in Bertand’s suggestions.

Friends, auditing the Ecole de Légèreté clinic with Bertrand, a Certified Master Instructor, was humbling, awe inspiring and educational. I wish I had photos and video to go along with this post, but photos and video were not allowed. Instead, I highly encourage you to purchase Philippe Karl’s DVDs and books. You will not be disappointed and if you live near an Ecole de Légèreté clinic, it is a must see!

Ecole de Légèreté 

I will continue to share approved photos from the Ecole de Légèreté community on the Naturally Gaited Facebook page. Make sure you “like” and “follow” to stay connected.

Stay tuned. I will begin sharing my application of what I learned in the clinic with my naturally gaited horses in future posts. I am especially excited to apply all that I learned with Lady, my naturally gaited fox trotting horse in helping her be light to the hand and help my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse be lighter to the leg.

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