What do I believe in?
First of all, I am devoted to the vision of harmony between human and equine, as manifested in art for art's sake. Not utility, not servitude, nothing less than Art. Equestrian Art for Art's sake is the pursuit of beauty, harmony, and balance in the relationship that binds horse and human. The absence of coercion and violence, the presence of cooperation, gentleness, enlightened leadership and willing acquiescence, these things are worthy of high art, and necessitate the cultivation of the most civilized of human character traits: self discipline, reason, patience, kindness, rigorous self examination, compassion, perseverance, decisive leadership, and humility. Such virtues are much needed in any age, our own perhaps more than ever.
FRANCES
CARBONNEL
In fact, in the process of passing on the principles of classical equitation to the next generation, we are concerned with the development of Character in ourselves and in our students, with struggling to teach, by personal example, the civilized virtues, and with the active cultivation of Beauty. The great Masters of the 17th and 18th Centuries, the Age of Enlightenment, understood this, which was why the equestrian arts were an essential part of the young nobleman's education, along with rhetoric and reason.
