Kip Mistral

Equestrian Culture and Classical Traditions to Inspire the Modern Rider

Recent Posts

  • Book Review: “Fragments from the Writings of Max Ritter von Weyrother, Austrian …

     Book Review: “Fragments from the Writings of Max Ritter von Weyrother, Austrian Imperial and Royal Oberbereiter” Vienna 1836

  • When Only a White Horse Will Do

     When Only a White Horse Will Do

Marie-Adélaïde de Savoie Takes Us On An Afternoon Ride Around Château Versailles

Marie-Adélaïde de Savoie Takes Us On An Afternoon Ride Around Château Versailles

(© Kip Mistral 2018. All rights reserved.)

Bienvenue, welcome to Château Versailles! I am Marie-Adélaïde de Savoie, Duchesse de Bourgogne, wife of Louis, Duc de France (and the adoring mother of a handsome little boy who will be the future King Louis XV!). It is such a lovely afternoon that we are gathering to ride a promenade around the Château. Our horses will be brought up to the Cour Royale (courtyard) in a moment. As always I will ride my beautiful white Spanish mare, La Colombe. She is sweet and soft like the dove for which she is named. Since you’re here, you must join us!

View Post

Herman Melville: the Noble Truck-Horses at the Quay

Herman Melville: the Noble Truck-Horses at the Quay

(© Herman Melville, Redburn: His First Voyage (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1976), pp 271-2. Photograph: Roadway and quay at Regent Quay West, Aberdeen, Scotland. More information at bottom of post.) 

“Among all the sights of the docks, the noble truck-horses are not the least striking to a stranger. They are large and powerful brutes, with such sleek and glossy coats, that they look as if brushed and put on by a valet every morning. They march with a slow and stately step, lifting their ponderous hoofs like royal Siam elephants.

View Post

Paul Belasik: Why are Fundamental Problems Persisting in Modern Dressage? (Part II of II)

Paul Belasik: Why are Fundamental Problems Persisting in Modern Dressage? (Part II of II)

(© Paul Belasik 2017. First published in www.horsemagazine.com. Reprinted with the permission of the author. Photographs courtesy of Paul Belasik.)

In an effort to understand and explain the persistence of certain fundamental problems in elite dressage, I have written a short series of articles. In the first article, I discussed the consistent misunderstanding of bend and its seismic effect on performances. In this article, I want to address hollowness in the horse’s back, which is increasingly seen, and worse, is becoming acceptable in modern dressage particularly as it relates to collection.

View Post

John Richard Young: Riding to Get Smooth, Balanced Transitions

John Richard Young: Riding to Get Smooth, Balanced Transitions

(© Text content John Richard Young. First published in Arabian Horse Express, 1991. Engraving credit Jean Daullé 1753: Louis de Cazaux-Laran de Nestier (1684-1754), premier écuyer cavalcadour of King Louis XV riding Le Florido in school walk exercise. Le Florido was a fine Spanish stallion given to Louis XV by the King of Spain. More about M. de Nestier at the end of this article.)

“Try to steal from a walk to a trot to a canter as gradually as the sun rises.” – Colonel M.F. McTaggart

“Good transitions are signs of accomplished riders with ‘feel’,” begins John Richard Young…

View Post

Paul Belasik: Why are Fundamental Problems Persisting in Modern Dressage? (Part I of II)

Paul Belasik: Why are Fundamental Problems Persisting in Modern Dressage? (Part I of II)

(© Paul Belasik 2017. First published in www.horsemagazine.com. Reprinted with the permission of the author. Photographs courtesy of Paul Belasik.)

After working with, and observing the work of so many up-and-coming modern riders, it is perplexing to see that there are still so many fundamental faults in the performances. At first I thought it was endemic to a particular national style that had proliferated through the exaggerated effect of certain teachers. Although this may not have been the case initially, I believe these problems are now universal among many modern dressage riders, regardless of country. I have chosen three areas of concern that, if addressed, could make a huge difference in the overall performance of dressage. In this series of articles, I will discuss 1. bend, 2. hollowness, and 3. the inattention to deviations in limb patterns.

View Post