FEATURE STORY the
National School of Academic Equitation
Bringing Classical Education to the Pacifi c Northwest by Jack Kintner and Jackie Braverman
PHOTOS: JACK KINTER Jackie Braverman receives instruction from Mary Anne and Craig I
f price were no object, what kind of training would you look for to improve your riding experience? If the answer has any- thing to do with European traditions as practiced in an arena,
you might be surprised to learn that some of the best in classical training available anywhere, including overseas, can be found much closer to home on a 10-acre complex just outside Seattle called the National School of Academic Equitation. The lofty title has you expecting to meet some spit-and-polish
ramrod, but trainer Craig Stevens is more like a friendly guy you might have a beer with after work, a gregarious and chatty native of New York City. His partner, Mary Anne Campbell, is from Port- land and is equally appealing — kind, soft, and smiling. Though he may not look the part, Stevens is one of the most sought-after trainers in Europe, someone that legendary Swedish trainer and jumping star Dag Natterqvist said is “the fi rst really good riding teacher to teach dressage in Sweden since the 1950s.” Stevens has spent much of the past 15 years training overseas and leading clinics in England, France, Sweden, Italy, Portugal and Germany. His students include world class competitors and Olympic medalists.
Locally, Mercer Island rider Diana Kramer, who’s been at NSAE
for six years, said that because of Stevens she has what she wants, “a horse that’s truly light on the hand, light on the leg and, above all, trustworthy.” Campbell explained their approach as “matriarchal, based on co-
operation, not coercion, ideas that originated around the shores of the Mediterranean Sea [that] made their way through equitation to become high school — haute école — dressage. [It’s] not [about] what to ‘do’ with our horses, but an exploration of how we can better ‘be’ with our horses.” She explains that this is why their method applies to every- thing, “regardless of the discipline we follow in training. Mediterra- nean work is the heart of the aids and the aids are an expression of tact, of timing, and of harmony.” This resembles natural horse-
manship, but goes much farther than that in emphasizing its an- cient historical roots. “The Mediterranean work teaches a student the habit and science of slow, mindful, habitual, listening gentleness such that the horse is brought willingly and calmly to its highest level,” said Campbell. “Riding at its best is an art practiced for its own sake. It’s not
Craig puts Lochinvar, a PRE Andalu- sian gelding, into a Spanish Walk.
about winning something,” Stevens said, “because who cares what a judge thinks? Success is not in winning a trophy, but in pursuing the best kind of rapport between horse and rider, and the ultimate judges of that are you and your horse.” That said, his students have typically excelled in competition, the horse and rider doing things together because they’re comfortable, not forced or fear-induced. “Why does a horse move forward?” Stevens asked. “Because
Craig explains the use of the secondary rein to student Nicola Dymond 22 August 2012 The Northwest Horse Source
he wants to. Other methods will work, of course, but nothing else works as well as this in producing the result you want from a horse
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