21/11/2025
Mistakes, far from being failures, are essential. They are windows into the horse’s current coordination, strength, and comfort. Each error teaches us something about what the horse can or cannot yet manage. Instead of provoking guilt, mistakes should guide our next step.
Maintaining the horse at its highest level without compromising health is a challenging responsibility. Excellence in riding and the horse’s soundness are not separate paths—they are one and the same. Acknowledging our own abilities as riders is not a judgment; it is a beginning. Improvement is lifelong, and the process is endlessly fascinating. Link to new course with details - Jean Luc Cornille 2025 & The Science of Motion.
There Is a Better World, But It Is In This World
A better world for horses does exist—one where riding feels effortless, the horse reaches the fullness of his athletic potential, and soundness is not sacrificed along the way. Yet the reality of today’s horse world often slows this evolution. Prevailing methods tend to reinforce limitations rather than promote development. Tradition holds tremendous value, but when followed rigidly, it restricts both horses and riders from realizing their highest abilities.
During a discussion in our Navicular Syndrome Forum, a student wrote, “Although I’ve often read your words—multidirectional forces, lateral and transversal shifts—I still tend to assume longitudinal forces are primary.”
This honest reflection reveals the deeper issue: no classical master ever claimed to have written the ultimate truth. Their work was a step along the path, yet today their ideas are treated as doctrine. Riders possess the skill to apply new knowledge, but longstanding customs narrow the lens through which they interpret the horse’s balance, biomechanics, and movement potential.
For much of my own journey, balance was viewed through a linear perspective. Tradition rooted this belief so deeply that it was difficult to see beyond it. But horses, experience, and later science revealed a more complex reality. Just as human balance involves managing forces in every direction, the horse’s balance depends on mastering multidirectional forces. Long before research confirmed it, the horses themselves, through subtle cues and consistent demonstrations—were the ones who led me toward this understanding.
The lateral, transversal, and rotational forces we encounter in riding can feel overwhelming. They stretch our perceptions and challenge us to respond in ways that exceed conscious thought. Scott Grafton, in Physical Intelligence, describes how our nervous system is equipped to sense and respond faster than conscious awareness. Horses live naturally at this level; their tactile sensitivity is far greater than ours. By cultivating this physical intelligence within ourselves, we refine our communication and meet the horse within his own world of heightened perception.
Rehabilitation offers another revealing contrast. Human physiotherapists provide precise guidelines to restore function, and we consciously attempt to reproduce these movements. Horses, however, approach rehabilitation instinctively. Rather than executing a prescribed motion, they prioritize protecting a physical weakness. Compensation feels safer to them than correction. What humans misinterpret as resistance, laziness, or disobedience is often a horse simply trying to avoid discomfort.
Whether we aim for high performance or long-term soundness, repeating an exercise is not enough. We must understand the athletic demands placed upon the horse—and more importantly, we must communicate these demands in a way the horse can accept and truly embody. The horse’s willingness has been underestimated for too long. His desire to cooperate is profound, but he needs clarity, precision, and fairness from us.
Mistakes, far from being failures, are essential. They are windows into the horse’s current coordination, strength, and comfort. Each error teaches us something about what the horse can or cannot yet manage. Instead of provoking guilt, mistakes should guide our next step.
Maintaining the horse at its highest level without compromising health is a challenging responsibility. Excellence in riding and the horse’s soundness are not separate paths—they are one and the same. Acknowledging our own abilities as riders is not a judgment; it is a beginning. Improvement is lifelong, and the process is endlessly fascinating. Jean Luc Cornille Link to new course with details https://www.scienceofmotion.com/documents/chrysalis.html
