NHE Equine Anthology, 9 by NevzorovHauteEcole

Collection: Dead or Alive school

school

NEVZOROV HAUTE ECOLE Equine Anthology, Vol. 9

school Collection: Dead or Alive

Collection: Dead or Alive 6

NEVZOROV HAUTE ECOLE Equine Anthology, Vol. 9

The Russian Federation is deaf when it comes to horses. The scandal that has recently shocked the horse world in Europe and Ame rica remains absolutely unknown of here. When the the news broke, it seemed that its terrible and great theme described by the main editor of the German magazine “ST.GEORG”, Gabriella Pochhammer, would turn the European and American equestrian circles upside down.

Collection: Dead or Alive school the aspirants for the gold medals, made two cessations of blatant cruelty. In one case the audience witnessed Nadine Capellmann’s sorrel gelding Elvis revolt. He took off running in stead of doing piaffe. The explanation was that he had a pinched sciatic nerve, but everyone understood what it was really about. In Las Vegas an audience demanded the intervention in the training of the Olympic champion Anky Van Grunsven. The judge gave her a warning for cruel methods.

sic testing proved the presence of the blood of many horses on them…” When the scandal erupted, the term “sadism” was practically on every page of “ST. GEORGE”, and Gabriella Pochhammer began playing with fire. The letters of the magazine’s readers were published in abundance. For example, this is a letter from Silvia Kruschke-Schaht from Lupendorf: “You stand near a riding hall and feel ashamed that you haven’t got enough courage to set a note of infamy to the sadism”.

cialists are aware of the painful nature of the horse training system and what is more, they are ready to speak about it openly. And they began speaking.

When Judge Vitkhages frankly acknowledges, “This training requires the interference of veterinarians.” He is referring to the methods of Olympians. In Bielefeld the German prosecutor’s office has already begun a court case against J.Berndt and H.Jurgen, trainers in sport dressage. The “New Westphalian Agency” in Bielefeld reported: “During the process of teaching piaffe the horse was cruelly beaten and, covered in blood, fell in the stable passage way. The whips used for the beating were confiscated and foren-

At the center of the scandal was the Olympic champion, Anky Van Grunsven, the grim demon with her cruel method of collection, called rollkur.

The upshot of the story was that the most authoritative trainers, journalists, judges and veterinarians are aware that methods of horse training used for sport dressage are excruciating for horses. Everything erupted. The Olympic champions’ medals are tarnished, their colour diminished from golden to dirty and bloody. The sponsors, who financed the competitions, thought about what they had been supporting and stopped funding. Suddenly it has emerged that even in sporting Europe – hundreds of spe-

The authoritative trainer Klaus Balkenhol has based his reasonings on the findings of German veterinarians. He frankly confirms on the pages of ”ST.GEORG” that the execution of all modern dressage causes permanent pain. In Aachen (2004) the judge Kristof Gess, whilst observing training by

The legality and honesty of Anky’s medals became doubtful. Naturally, the question arose about the need to reconsider the Olympian’s results. And it was understood that if this situation was to follow its logical course, it would also be necessary to dismiss all the FEI leaders; to disqualify 99 percent of the worlds leading sportsmen;

NEVZOROV HAUTE ECOLE Equine Anthology, Vol. 9

school Collection: Dead or Alive to dismiss the FEI veterinarians. Moreover, the whole system of refereeing in sport dressage (which even previously was very questionable and loose) after such a strong blow as this, would be dismissed. The Viennese horse-breakers (as well as the Saumur, the Brussel’s Academy, and the School of Baron Neidorf, along with their legitimate mental children of endless Oliveira, Karls, Henrikets and their bastards as well) alertly observed the scandal as they knew that they also had their faces in the trough. Obsessed with trying to maintain civility, Europe realized that publicity of the truth about horse training methods for equestrian sport would destroy not only the sport but also the so-called “classics”, which are related to sport and are sympathetic with its sporting methods. Indifference to the scandal came only from the Royal Andalusian school and the Portuguese. In these countries where cow killing is turned into public fun as a norm, where the public knows perfectly well that bullfighting kills 1500 to 2500 bulls every year, but continues apotheosize this cretin entertainment, the horse tormentors have nothing to worry about. But the Spanish and the Portuguese, who due to bullfighting manage to emulate the image of a living pithecanthropus, make no weather in Europe. Every scandal participant, when made aware of the consequences of this conflict and the understanding that the veterinary moral-fire could destroy both sports and classical dressage, have come to their senses and rushed to douse it. By the way, the beauty Gabriella Pochhammer, the firebrand and the incendiary, was one of the first. The veterinary research suffocated under the asses of “FEI specialists” who sat heavily on the topic. Toothless disputes and sweet politicallycorrect conferences brought down the huge problem which had “suddenly” appeared. The court case of Anky Van Grunsven against “ST.GEORG” had announced a decision which satisfied them all. As it was, the court did not consider the veterinary part of the question, and

NEVZOROV HAUTE ECOLE Equine Anthology, Vol. 9

considered only the harm to Anky’s honor. As a result, the magazine, with its accusations, has appeared as not guilty, and Anky appeared innocent too, because she “has worked according to the norms of horse sports”. Of course, the condemnation of the norms of horse sports was not and could not be included into the competence of the court. The scandal was over. Done away with. Disappeared. The followers of equine sports and equine “classics” have relaxed with a deep breath, wrongly supposing that the worst is over. They haven’t understood that people and times have changed. They have not understood that the nasty Anky incident was only one of the first signs in the revaluation, changes and the tectonic placement in history between the relationship of the man and horse. And they can’t even imagine what will follow. Refreshing our minds about the scandal hasn’t been that necessary, but it will help in the research of the most important question to which this article is devoted. The scandal prompted German and American veterinarians to begin detailed exploration of the horses’ neck for the first time. (It is true that the enormous cruelty of the training and electric shockers, villainous with its cruel methods of control, have remained outside the scandal, because they were not proven. And nobody even tried to prove it, because the magazine staff thought that the Germans were unprepared for this. But you cannot hide an awl in a sack, and some methods have nevertheless became known; for example, forcing a horse to raise up its legs with the help of special gear that dooms the horse to arthritis and arthrosis. But all of this, are non-things and particularities.) So, the reason for the initial situation, which almost nullified dressage as an Olympic discipline, was the socalled collection used by Anky Van Grunsven, the method that is called rollkur.

Rollkur in its essence is a very overdone collection, done in utmost secrecy it is very severe and strict. My colleague, Professor Robert Cook characterizes it as “false collection, practically paralyzing the horse’s back and assisting the development of unnatural constrained movements”. It is these movements which are considered by sportsmen of all riding levels as “perfect” and are highly marked by the judges. The fact that at the base of these movements lies a pathology, the distortion of horse biomechanics and definite torture, is hardly understood by anyone and is interesting for only a few people. These movements are extracted from the horse by the use of force, and because the training is based exclusively on pain, such as rollkur, also serves as a fundamental guard against revolt. But, honestly, this aspect is additional. The main function of rollkur is the blocking of the horse’s back and entire top line and as a result causes severe limitation of sight which leads to blindness and the stretching or breaking of the intervertebral cartilages of the cervical spine. Deformation of the cervical spondylus is clearly visible in these photos – the result of collection methods used by equestrian sports. I repeat again: these vertebras are not after rollkur, but after common dressage collection. Rollkur, the Olympic collection, deforms them even more severely. Relying on the known facts about blindness caused by rollkur, we can now talk about the horse’s sensations (For informational purposes for vets: you can get acquainted with detailed consequences of rollkur and common collection by looking through works by autopsist Horst Weiler. It is available). Opinions of authoritative veterinarians are the same: rollkur leads to absolute and specific destruction of the cervical and lumbar spine. The consequences are tragic. Nevertheless, rollkur is the ultimate of forced collection in equestrian sports, it is the mo del (judging by the number of glossy ribbons on necks of Van Grunsven, Isabelle Verte, Nadine Capellmann

Collection: Dead or Alive school

Practically the same business is in the Viennese and Saumur schools as well as by Bartabas, Bragants, Kate Enrike. The classics just don’t call it rollkur, however, it is simply the utmost of cruel false-collection that has the same purpose as rollkur. It has exactly the same mechanism for its execution. It looks a little different. Yes! In a dilet tante’s judgment, the flexion line of the occiput and neck somehow differs. But this is explained by the fact that the Iberian, Andalusian, Lipizian and Lusitano horses (used in so-called “classics”) have a neck that makes resentment to collection a bit more effective than other “liquidneckers” or warmblooded (if to compare to the Andalusians) breeds of Europe.

which produce a forced, reflectory affected, marionette-like kind of movement.

The scene, but only the scene, is a bit different. The essence remains the same. Absolute cruelty in the process

and other dressage-queens). Any rider who wants to have high scores in international competitions must doom his horse to rollkur. In the veterinarians’ opinion rollkur cripples a horse, but it brings Olympic gold. For those who want to be successful in dressage, rollkur is unavoidable. But why am I telling you all this? It is clear that equestrian sport attracts only the people who cannot empathize with the horse – otherwise they wouldn’t do it. What else can we expect to see from them, the sportsmen, taking into account their phenomenal platitude and absence of feeling for a horse? It must be said, that it is a big mistake to think that rollkur is a sports invention. Rollkur is an invention of classical dressage. Engravings of that era clearly represent it. Actually, it is absolutely unscientific to base serious opinions on those engravings or paintings. It would be better to examine the style of the heirs of classical schools: Louise Valence, the Peralta brothers, Nuno Oliveira, Luraschi and his School. The same thing is seen everywhere. We can examine the work, as you may have already guessed due to the colours of the poitrel on the black horse – of the Royal Andalusian School of Riding. Everywhere here we see the epitome of hard, painful, forced, pulled flexion and the forced, painful bringing of the hind limbs under the body.

Lipisina and Perst in natural collection

of attaining vertical flexion, that from time to time turns into severe flexions between the third and fourth cervical vertebras. In the so-called “classics”, as in sports, is the use of special tools

Because this style is unnatural and absolutely harmful, the horse is kept in the very posture that makes any antagonism impossible. In fact, the horse is paralyzed by pain no differently than in sports.

NEVZOROV HAUTE ECOLE Equine Anthology, Vol. 9

school Donna Condrey-Miller

Donna Condrey–Miller Official NHE Representative in California, USA

21st Century Renaissance To hear about how people came to have horses in their lives is to sit back to a rendition of a classic story. They are often romantic tales filled with emotional destiny. They are rarely without an element of sadness, perhaps leaving us with a sense of despair or longing or regret. Still, some may elicit feelings of compassion, gratitude and even heroism.

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When the sagas are also rife with deceit, cruelty and servitude put upon the horse to varying degrees, it is then we realize the troubled portrait of human nature that dominant society has created to uphold and justify superiority in the name of our self appointed classification of Homo sapiens. If one does not interpret such character as suspect, then the rest of this essay will be of no interest.

Yet, if your journey through life with horses – or even without them – has tripped an emotional and intellectual switch that compels you to question the way things are, to honor your intuition that says authority and tradition do not automatically denote righteousness, you can undoubtedly be inspired, as I am, by Alexander Nevzorov and his New Haute Ecole.

Donna Condrey-Miller school His visionary trail blazing has proved that man can develop a mutually cooperative relationship with a horse, including physical exercises that increase the horse’s strength and joyous expression of health, and further, including interactions that engage the horse’s mind, all by acknowledging the horse as an intelligent and rational being capable of willingly entering and maintaining the friendship with freedom of choice. He has demonstrated that the horse training methods of inflicting force, pain and fear belong to a dark age of ignorance, and we may add selfishness and greed, as to why humans continue to treat horses as commodities and disposable entities. By now Nevzorov has gone on to build upon his foundation principles to showcase the mental affinity horses have to humans by his investigation into brain anatomy. His conclusions led him to revive Lectio Equaria Palaestra (LEP) or Manege Horse Reading. To see him practicing this congenial art with his stallion Kaogi underscores Nevzorov’s genius to tap into the deep reservoir of natural phenomena and dispel the myths that suppress such truths to the realm of science fiction, supernatural miracles or charlatan trickery. To loyal NHE enthusiasts and earnest students this line of thought is second nature and we follow in Alexander’s footsteps developing relationships with our horses to the levels most appropriate for each horse and his person. To interested newcomers just reading the books and articles by Alexander Nevzorov or his students for the first time, it is an exciting preview of what is possible in their equine relationships. It is a validation of their brave decision to step out of the mainstream and embrace an enlightened outlook. It is important to note that none of Alexander Nevzorov’s achievements came without soul searching, without studying the horse completely, without his willingness to lay down his egoism and see himself as part of a bigger picture. NHE students develop in the same way. Each of us has our own experience that reflects our personal situation that centers on the simple te-

nets: Primum non nocere (First do no harm), The Horse is Always Right, and The Horse is an Exact Science. For the students that come to NHE from any of the various conventional equestrian disciplines, or a combination of them, as I did, there is a sense of relief. This is also a safe haven for those who never could accept any traditional equine theory, but felt isolated

to say that I couldn’t have been more wrong. My learning curve became very steep – not because I didn’t know anything about horses, but because just about everything I knew about them was a lie. Within NHE the falsehoods fell like dominos. My skepticism vanished and I felt grounded by this philosophy while a whole new way of thinking opened up before me.

in their ideas while bombarded by the insanity of the equine industry. At last we are among a group of like minded people who do not think we’re out of our minds for being uneasy with the status quo. I can admit that, at first, I was a little skeptical that NHE was really going to be all that different. In hindsight, I can say it was because my mind was still half paralyzed by the prevailing paradigm of how we live. I’m delighted

Even in my profession as a barefoot trimmer I was given pause when I saw the horse behind the eyes. The ubiquitous “behavior issues” and the sick, sore and broken bodies were not what horses were; they were what we had made them. Most domesticated or captured horses are subjected to lives as enslaved prisoners to be used in hard labor, entertainment or as sports equipment – even with “love” they are indentured. They are

NEVZOROV HAUTE ECOLE Equine Anthology, Vol. 9 17

horse revolution Rodeo: Intimate details of a national shame

rodeo:

Intimate details of a national shame

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Rodeo: Intimate details of a national shame horse revolution

Rodeo exists in America. In that country it is known as a FUN NATIONAL PASSTIME. Moreover, rodeo has become romanticized. In order to make it appear so big money is regularly put into it. Organizers of rodeos are delaying as long as possible the moment of explosion. Once all the details of the truth are known, they understand that what they sit on is like a keg of gunpowder that will one day blow apart. The real truth about the nature of rodeo is so horrible, that a civilized world could never continue it after the truth becomes common knowledge. This knowledge will be a treasure to humanity. But the keg will explode, and it will happen very soon. It is impossible to hide the truth about the horrible and ignorant dark side of rodeo forever. This article gives a brief description of the basic principles of rodeo; these are principles that organizers love to hide. Of course, we apologize to the readers for this ruthlessness, but sometimes pure and accurate facts are stronger than any journalistic tricks and work better than any “expressions of feelings”.

RODEO When talking about rodeo we can only be surprised at how shameless the fairy tales are about this horrible activity. In bullfighting there is a least some semblance of an operatic storyline explaining the sequence of events, although the horse is ill-fated from the beginning. Rodeo is just a typical and primitive way for absolute idiots to have fun. Even the word idiot sounds a bit complementary towards these guys in hats and the audience who watch the rodeo. Rodeo and bullfighting are very, very similar. Both events share that “naked zoology”, when the true nature of a creature who claims its “unique origin” so loudly is bared. The idea of bullfighting is to watch death and torture. Maybe it is an atavism that came to the XXI century from the “homo erectus”, when the torture and death of a living creature, pierced with spears before the cavemen’s eyes was associated with the food supply, and that’s why the spectacle is so “pleasurable” for the spectators. OK, so bullfight spectators have some excuse: the past cave life of humanity,

poverty and famine, the public murder of the cow and the horse as a symbol of the coming food. Spectators, remembering the ancient tales, applaud and shout happily, watching from under their low hairy brows. Rodeo spectators do not even have this simple “scientific” reason. The death of the horse does not happen very often in front of the rodeo spectators. Of course, it happens, but much more rarely than in bullfighting. At rodeos people just come to watch torture. To be made happy from torture, to laugh at torture. This is not even a caveman scenario. It is something worse. If we get rid of all unnecessary words, the idea of rodeo can be expressed in this manner. Let’s look at the classical variant, the bucking bronco. The aim of the cowboy is to hold onto a horse as long as possible, during his “furious jumps”. The cowboy has in his arsenal horrible sharp spurs, with which he beats the horse on the neck and shoulders, but it’s not these spurs that make the horse so “furious”.

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research

Research Endogenous mechanisms of modification of pain sensitivity in horses

Endogenous mechanisms of modification of pain sensitivity in horses

Responsiveness to noxious stimuli and endogenous mechanisms of modification of pain sensitivity in horses Introduction There is quite a lot known nowadays about pain, anatomical structures and physiological processes which condition the processes of pain reception, perception, modification of this perception, emotional reactions to pain and the generation of response to pain. This article deals with two small but important aspects of pain sensation which are crucial for understanding how horses perceive pain and react to it. These aspects are responses to noxious stimuli and endogenous mechanisms of modification of pain sensitivity in horses.

1. Responsiveness to noxious stimuli Despite numerous studies, science struggles to find a big difference in the pain perception of different species of

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large mammals. This is not surprising, as the biological purpose of pain is to warn an animal and to insure against factors which can cause harm to it. Subsequently, the reduction of the nociceptive system, the reduction of the ability to feel pain is unprofitable biologically speaking. What does differ between species is the reponsiveness to noxious stimuli, i. e. the degree of the expression of the sense of pain and the amount of response to it. The responsiveness to noxious stimuli is defined considerably by inheritable reactions which are developed evolutionarily. It can also be modified depending on the individual’s anatomic and physiological characteristics or as the consequence of acquired experience. For example, primates, if harmed, cry loudly to get the attention of their

«tribe members», they make faces and try to avoid making faces, try to avoid the harmful factor in any possible way or act defensively. Pigs show similar behavior. But most ungulates act completely differently. Most of them attempt to keep silent even if they are seriously wounded and try not to show any signs of injury, including... not tailing off their kin retreating from a carnivore. This is a display of an evolutionary adaptation. While crying, an ape or monkey attracts the attention of its family and they try to fend off the aggressor together. On the other hand, the defensive reaction of a herd of ungulates is built on the «don’t stand out» principle: when a group of ungulates flees from a carnivore, it is hard for a carnivore to find its potential victim if all the animals are alike. The moment a carnivore takes to consider can save the lives of all the members of the herd.

Endogenous mechanisms of modification of pain sensitivity in horses Research

But if someone shows signs of weakness it becomes the target and, very possibly, the victim.

2. Endogenous mechanisms of modification of pain sensitivity

The fact that a lot of people don’t know anything on the matter of the responsiveness to noxious stimuli allows yahoos to cultivate the myth that horses, unlike humans, feel less pain; that the use of traumatic tools is painless for horses. According to the scientific studies, it is a myth.

A lot of humans believe that other species display the degree of pain with loud cries like humans themselves do. So they consider vocalization to be the main indication of someone being in pain. But the vocalization of pain is defined by the inherited specific responsiveness. For example, pigs, if castrated without anesthesia, cry extremely loudly. But horses, on the other hand, stay silent during the same manipulation. They have much lower responsiveness to noxious stimuli, but feel the same pain. They stay silent while twitched, while their lips are torn with bits, while their legs break, while their hooves are pierced with nails, while suffering from laminitis, while being branded with cold or hot branding-irons. The last example gives stud-farm owners the cause to believe, basing on their «personal experience», that hot branding is almost painless for horses. This is not true.

The main characteristics of the nociceptive system is the threshold of its irritation (the pain threshold), i. e. its ability to activate only as the reaction towards harmful or nearly harmful stimulus. Pain thresholds can differ in different representatives of one species. It depends on inherited anatomic and physiological characteristics such as the speed of the conduction of nervous impulses, the sensitivity of

Responsiveness to noxious stimuli — the degree of the expression of the sense of pain and the amount of response to it

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reviews

reviews books

books Peacemonger … or The Art of Rumination Michael Peace The Q&A Guide to Understanding Your Horse Astrel, Moscow, 2006

Rumination (Lat. – ruminatio) – the secondary mastication of cud, returned back to the mouth from the stomach. Regurgitation and re-mastication can be observed in cud-chewing animals. Heretofore this capacious and nice term was lost in the oblivion of veterinary and agricultural manuals, absolutely unaware of its brilliant literary, scientific and philosophic future. But now, considering the goodness of this buzz word and its capability to describe whole trends and schools in literature, art and science, its long and happy life is ensured. This is due to everybody ruminating (giving themselves up to rumination) on the sly. All those politicians and newspersons, fashion designers and cesspool cleaners, glamour girls and skinheads are ruminating. It goes on and on. It is the same old merry-go-round: chewed up and long forgotten mot-

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tos, fashions and trends are regurgitated and chewed once again. Some ruminate with a kind of recklessness, others do it in a melancholic way. Some have made rumination a delightful process which looks like a goal in itself. Others ruminate hopelessly and desperately because there are not enough new and fresh things in our lives. An informational rumination creates the main and the most typical problem of Russian horse magazines. They have already understood everything about themselves and now they ruminate fatefully (coming within the “melancholic ruminants” category). However, according to the scientific facts, oxen, sheep and other socalled cud-chewing animals can ruminate only once. It’s a rare ruminant that contrives to return the twice chewed cud to the mouth for the third time. But the equestrian press can do it. The Russian equestrian press has al-

most brought rumination to the state of art, chewing the old topics, swallowing them, regurgitating them, chewing them again, swallowing them again and regurgitating them again. And so it goes till the end of eternity. The process is almost enchanting. Just look through the horse magazines. Everything is repeated and repeated again. Everything goes over the old deep track. The same themes, the same faces. An interview with some aged sadist... racing charts... rotten advice repeated for the hundredth time – how to give a pluck at the little horse’s mouth, how to make a cute injection, how fat should an old sack be to ride a pony, how bridles should be hung in the tack room and what the best way is to arrange the jumping poles. The good old merry-go-round. Nevertheless it is necessary to say that the Russian press is in some way lucky.

ÂŠâ&#x20AC;&#x2030;Lydia Nevzorova

Here we introduce to you a list of rare and ancient things which were not known to hippological history or were completely forgotten. In this cartularium there will be forgotten articles and texts, which are vital for attaining an understanding of Equine History.

cartularium

cartularium Krall's Book

Krall's Book

Among all the lifetime editions of Karl Krall’s book, it is the fourth lifetime edition (Leipzig, 1912) that is the most important and valuable for the researcher. Of course, as a relic, the first edition is more precious, but a reader should keep in mind that Krall, being a rare pedant, who made his life’s work on horse education, used to add in not only new illustrations, but also shading nuances in each following edition of his book.

For example, I can tell you that having the same font size the edition of Leipzig has 532 pages, and the Russian one – has 232 pages (!), and just taking into account the random omissions, can’t be considered either a full-bodied translation, or a full-bodied edition. Remember that the Russian variant was published in a series “Issues of Depth Psychology” under the editor-

In terms of finality – it is the fourth of Leipzig 1912 edition that is absolutely without rival, though it is essential to study all of the lifetime editions, beginning with the first (see picture). A Russian reader is terribly unlucky in this case. In 1913 Krall’s opponents were the ones who translated and published the book in Russian, having ruthlessly and thoughtlessly cut it, removing at their own discretion whole chapters and paragraphs and most of the illustrations, including schemes and photos of vital importance.

ship of some N. Kotik, who didn’t simply edit the text, cutting it almost in half and making it senseless, but also introduced the translation of Krall’s work with his own purely mocking and light-minded foreword, from the outset striking out both sense and meaning of Krall’s book. I wouldn’t wish to quote here those clumsy pieces of nonsense which accompany the foreword of the Russian editio. If you wish you can see them by yourself. (Moscow, 1913, publishing house “Nachalo” typography “Ya. Dankin and Ya. Khomutov”, – editor’s foreword, page XV.)

NEVZOROV HAUTE ECOLE Equine Anthology, Vol. 9

Krall's Book cartularium

NEVZOROV HAUTE ECOLE Equine Anthology, Vol. 9

RENE FRANSUA cartularium

Rene Fransua “Essay about Some Wonders of Nature and the Noblest Tricks”

The book by Rene Fransua belongs to a number of hyppological rarities. This “Essay about Some Wonders of Nature and the Noblest Tricks” was published in Ruan at the royal publishing house owned by Jan Osmond in accordance with the order by Ludouwick the XII. Our primary and most sincere interest lies with Chapter 56 entitled “The Horse” which has accumulated in the most peculiar way the main ideas of the time regarding psychology, physiology and conformation of the horse (out-of-School ideas, hostile ideas). This very chapter (N 56) containing the essay by Rene of France was most frequently quoted. Later, all the views and concepts from that book were put into circulation and became quite commonplace. This book can be approached as a controversial attack on the School ideology which was gathering pace and the first step in developing Christian views on the horse. One cannot deny its value, taking into account the highest status of its author under the nickname – Rene of France – who was no more and no less than a “General of Ideology” in the Order of the Jesuits headquartered in France). “Padre” Etienne Bines (1569–1639), the royal prophet, rector of a powerful royal Jesuit college, a friend and companion of the saint Francisco (de Salya) and, to crown it all, a determined opponent of the School, of Mr. Pluvinel, Menu and other Masters. What is even more peculiar, Bines headed the secret department of the Jesus Society which was responsible for disclosing secret followers of the Templars among poets, scientists and architects of this time. What is more remarkable about the essay is that it was a bestseller of the XVII century and shaped public opinion in France which had reasonable claims to be the “centre of universe” at that moment and was able to spread any French fashion craze all over the world. The book was reprinted 24 times during the XVII century. It was the result of the Jesuits’ efforts and regular substantial financing by them which consciously positioned the book as a “programmatic” document which led to the extensive reprintings! Its regular number of copies printed exceeded five times the circulation of any other similar book of the time. Naturally, special authorship and generous financial support from the Order Generals are striking evidence of the fact that the essay by Rene of France was a large scale ideological Christian campaign launched in the XVII century.

NEVZOROV HAUTE ECOLE Equine Anthology, Vol. 9

The Horse Crucified and Risen

epilogue

The Horse Crucified and Risen

suspected when I started to write this book that, essentially, it is for very few readers. It is only for those who sincerely try to understand the horse’s fate, his soul and his history, whose brains have not been befouled by twaddle and the fantasies of stable girls or Olympic champions. It is for those in whom the protest against the wrongness of mankind’s attitude toward and treatment of the horse always lives, even though this order of things seems unshakeable. It is for those who know how to call things by their true names. This book is completely useless for all others and will be incomprehensible to them. One cannot count on certain illuminations which would have arisen under its influence. Unfortunately, not one sportsman or jockey will be mortified and driven to hang himself. Not those people! I have heard many outrageous yells from titled “horsemen” about the fact that I am unfairly disregarding them. They cite their great, or even extreme length of service as a fundamental argument in favor of their certain participation in the art of establishing a proper relationship with the horse. It is their favorite argument. Some of them have been tormenting horses for 20 years, others 30, and still others for 50. And the “horsemen” demand recognition and respect on the basis of this length of “service” of perpetrating narrow-minded torture, if not as masters, then at least as men who have a certain relationship with horses. What a load of rubbish. One can run the bow across the back side of a fiddle (where there are no strings) for 30, even for a hundred years, but there still won’t be any music and the person holding the bow still won’t become a musician.

NEVZOROV HAUTE ECOLE Equine Anthology, Vol. 9

Epilogue

The continuation of such fiddling is a sign of idiocy, not of any kind of mastery. Though among this group of folks are a few warm-hearted, essentially good people, who have neither enough common sense nor the heart to know that they must turn over the fiddle. It is understood that I have absolutely no interest in sportsmen. They are creatures that are not worthy of discussion. There is neither mastery, art, nor thought in what they do with horses. They are legion, but not one of them is worthy of mention or discussion. All their experience is only weakness, and equestrianism has occasioned such evil and suffering for horses that I would not want to soil the pages of this book with any of their names. *** So, one may with absolute confidence assert that any search for the answer to the mystery of the equine soul in the distant and not so distant past is useless. It is equally useless to search history for the secrets of friendship with the horse. One now can confess, finally, that all the human experience accumulated in reference to the horse is only weakness, and, therefore, one must start from a clean slate, as if man and horse had met only today. Everything that happened along that terrifying path to crucifixion on which the horse traveled throughout the history of the world, dragging the cross of humanity’s cursed love and need for him, prostrating himself millions of times merely for man’s amusement and just as many times for the sake of questionable necessity — this is one of the most disgraceful pages in mankind’s history. He who wishes to get to know the horse, become friends with the horse, establish a relationship with him that is founded on love and understanding, he who wishes to train the horse and see the staggering results of this training and this friendship, can totally scrap, can relegate to complete oblivion, the so called “experience of the ages.” The only exception is the principles of Haute École, which were formulated by Pluvinel: 1) if the horse doesn’t do something, that means you did not teach him; 2) if the horse does something poorly, that means you taught him poorly (ineffectively); 3) the horse is always right. Moreover, the “haute école founders” left very exact concepts of the technique for teaching the horse the most complex elements and figures. The real “haute école” technique has nothing to do with iron pieces and straps, so it can be used with complete success with a perfectly “naked” horse.

NEVZOROV HAUTE ECOLE Equine Anthology, Vol. 9

ÂŠâ&#x20AC;&#x2030;Lydia Nevzorova

This section is dedicated to discourses with those who are capable of turning the cold searchlight of science on any hippological problem. World-known hoof-trimmers, luminaries of veterinary sciences, historians and professors of higher educational institutions of hippology will tell you about their work, their ideas and horses.

colloquium

colloquium Interview with Lydia Nevzorova

Interview with

Lydia Nevzorova By TT TT: At last the significant and long awaited moment for the equestrian world has come. The book “The Horse Crucified and Risen”has been published in English. As far as I have seen, in Russia this book made a splash. There was a storm of protest, and sportsmen led by the president of the FEI burned the book in public during a major equestrian event. It was even broadcast on TV! I suppose it is a bit early to speak of any consequences of the English publication, but I’d like to know what reaction you think this book might cause in foreign readers? Aren’t you afraid? Lydia Nevzorova: It is difficult to project, we’ll see (by the way, it was our magazine which has been burned in public, not the book). The book became available on Amazon. com just a couple of days ago (August 2011), I haven’t seen it yet myself. As for the reaction of the public, I think it’ll be similar to the Russian one. But let’s not forget that the book was written in 2004 and a lot of time has passed. The minds of people have changed; they will not be overwhelmed with the facts stated in the book. Everybody knows now of the pain horses feel when used in equestrian sports, everybody knows of the harmful effects of the bit, etc. For all these years we’ve tried to enlighten equestrian people, we’ve shot the movies and published the Equine Anthology.

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TT: Why did it take so long to translate the book into English? LN: It was a really difficult thing to do. When we presented the book at the Leipzig Book Exhibition, there were 16 publishing houses that wanted to buy the rights for publication. But we found out that there are no professional translators-hippologists who can translate Russian in the entire world! We searched for about two years. Nobody could manage to translate the text written by Alexander. There are too many hippological, historical and medical terms in it. Also, Alexander Nevzorov (A.N.) has his special beautiful and intricate turn of phrase, his subtle humor and sarcasm. A lot of it was lost in translation. In the end, the book was translated by a professional translator from America who had nothing to do with anything equestrian. And after that we edited the book over another couple of years. We had to start over and over again. In short, it was a very difficult task.

TT: Maybe, it’s a kind of good fortune? I think the Western public could not have agreed with what is stated in the book if it were available seven years ago. And now, when people are more or less ready, they can accept it instead of opposing it. LN: The book was written in 2004, and I haven’t updated it on purpose.

I didn’t want to adapt it for the modern reality, when a lot of things have changed. I want the reader to walk the Nevzorov way. For many it is virtually impossible to understand and accept our present point of view in one single step. People need time for transformation. This book really changes peoples’ minds. I don’t know of anyone who was not really impressed by the book, if nothing else. Besides that, the book helps to enlarge the reader’s scope; it is full of historical facts and interesting stories that were not known to most of the audience. Also I’d like to stress that this book is not only for equestrian people.

TT: What has changed since the book was written? LN: In the book Haute École is praised. Now we do not even ride. During this time we have made a vast case against equestrian sport. We have tons of terrible photographs and videos picturing the cruelty of equestrianism. Also we’ve done a lot of research. In the book only the first of our ideas and discoveries are mentioned. The first and the most important ones. Without reading this book one can never understand how Nevzorov Haute École (NHE) has developed.

TT: Your photographs of horses (your own and the poor ones used by sportsmen) are tremendous. After looking at

Interview with Lydia Nevzorova colloquium them I can’t bear to watch horses jumping over painted poles or even simply seeing bridled horses.

LN: Well… If they are really waiting for new pics… I’ll have to think about it.

LN: It’s a pity we had to remove the color pictures from the English version of the book. Thus we’ve made the book a bit more affordable. Co lor-printing is very expensive, and we want our book to be accessible for anyone who wishes to read it. So, you can see the original photographs on our web site.

TT: About the idea that there is nothing interesting in taking pictures of “horses who do nothing”, I think people would like to see how your horses live, how they sleep, eat, play.

TT: Well, if we’re speaking of cheaper versions, there is Kindle! It’s very popular. Have you thought of that? LN: Of course we’ve thought of it, and we will make a Kindle version for sure. Just not right now. And speaking of photographs, we are planning to translate more books into English, including a book on how to take photographs of horses in the NHE and Horse Revolution (HR) way. Maybe you don’t know that we were the first ones to notice the cruelty of equestrian sport and to start taking photographs - not just of “dancing” horses, but of the truth - mouths, necks, pain, blood. We’ve founded the new genre of hippophotography.

TT: Yes, those books sound like ones that would be loved by readers. By the way, when I was looking through the photos on your site, I’ve noticed that the latest ones were taken two years ago. Why aren’t you showing us new ones? LN: Really? The time just flies by. The thing is that we’ve stopped any riding, and there is nothing interesting in photographing horses doing nothing. Plus there is no need and no time for it. And one must be brave enough to stop at the peak. I think, I’ve told everything I ever wanted to tell with the photographs. Also, I have a beautiful rising generation following me. There are really amazing photographers among our students. I am very happy and proud of them!

TT: Oh, Lydia, you can’t talk like this! People are waiting for your photos. I myself have Lipisina’s photo as my desktop picture!

LN: I don’t like everyday photos, not of myself or of our horses. It’s an aesthetic thing. You have seen the pictures of our manège. Everything is beautiful there. It is not this way with everyday pictures. I have plenty of them, but they all have some minor flaws like a yellow bucket in the background, or a horse looking dull because he is dozing and his lips are slack, sometimes a horse has his sides covered with mud after a good roll, or there is some unpainted fence or a heap of fresh manure somewhere near him… in short, I like everything to be beautiful and to teach people how to make beautiful pictures. I’ve written plenty of articles on the subject, how can I show pictures of mine that contravene my own teaching? Plus, I don’t like to display my private life. I don’t see the need for it. There are some special display photographs and movies, and there is private life and family.

TT: But what is so bad about a horse with a slack lip? LN: There is nothing bad about it, but would you publish your own photos with you wearing a bathrobe and haircurlers? Why should we show horses like this? Besides that, our horses are our family members; they live in our home, which I also don’t like to display. Sad to say, A.N. is a public person and we live according to certain rules with a lot of limitations. I just can’t post my personal photo archive on Facebook. You should understand this as you are a journalist.

TT: Of course I understand. You absolutely have your right to privacy. Forgive me for trying to intrude. LN: Nothing to beg forgiveness for at all, I won’t let anybody do it.

TT: Well, let’s go back to the books. I really loved your interview on the School published in the latest Anthology (No. 7). I think it was the first time I’ve managed to arrange my thoughts on the subject. Why won’t you write a book about A.N., his methods, lessons, the School, the management rules and everything? I don’t want to sound offensive, Nevzorov’s manner of writing is brilliant, but you, Lydia, speak in a plainer language, which is clearer for common readers. LN: I have to think this over. In truth, I’m writing constantly, we publish my books on equine management on a regular basis in Russia. Maybe, some of them would be interesting for Western readers -the ones concerning the NHE views on horse keeping and equine management in particular. I also have a very detailed book on hoof trimming. It took me two years to complete it, but we just can’t translate it, it would be too difficult. I’m afraid even to think of it. Sad to say, we have a very few trusted people to work with, and we also have to make our magazine, the Equine Anthology, and publish new books. Plus we have a series of other big projects, including ones outside the equine theme. But recently we’ve translated a small book about paddocks and shelters (from the equine management series of picture books). It is now in the process of editing.

TT: Oh, I’m eager to read it! Despite the many discussions and explanations, there are a lot of questions about the rules of keeping and educating horses that still wait to be answered. LN: Those questions are still unanswered only because people want to compromise between their desire to ride and their wish for a horse’s wellbeing. Sad to say, nothing good can come with such compromises.

TT: Do you mean that as soon as you stop riding you immediately become good at everything else? LN: The important thing here is not only to stop riding, but to not want to do it anymore! It’s very important that

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