Today we launch the website for the Foundation
…and with this launch the Foundation really takes its first step into the wider world. While the Foundation for the Equestrian Arts is very much Craig Stevens’ inspiration, it is not “his” or any other person’s– it truly belongs to the horses, and to any rider who is reaching out for a better way to interact with them.
SO many questions arise when we talk about horse training! Let’s just look at one… “With all our understanding of biomechanics and ethics, isn’t modern riding more evolved than earlier forms? There were people, once, who depended on horses for their lives. They did not “mess about” with training that didn’t work. Stressed, ulcer ridden, arthritic and short-lived horses by definition were not a workable partner. Horses are and were expensive– even if a person didn’t have a heart connection that had them want the horse to live a long and healthy life, resources were scarce and they certainly had a financial one.
Consider this…”Wonder Bread” is modern bread, “Velveeta” is modern cheese…. and they certainly have all the benefits of science behind them! And they use all that science to answer only one question… “let’s consider shelf life“. Modern disciplines are asking a very limited question, “what wins in competition?” It is fairly easy to see, when you begin to know the alternatives, that not all modernization is an improvement.
The team that put this together includes Craig Stevens and Mary Anne Campbell, we’re married and more or less joined at the hip in this endeavor. But as the vision began to take form people from all over stepped up to make it happen. We have the honor to work with riders from across Europe, Asia and Australia as well as the Americas– and one of the things I love about this old form is that whether we’re working with horses or with each other, it is always a joyful collaboration.
We invite you to join us as a member of the Foundation by contributing funds. Your money will be put to good use supporting the preservation of this old form through publishing texts about it, developing on line lessons to teach it where people can’t easily get to an instructor, and through the direct education of future masters of this beautiful old form.
Learn more about the programs on tap by following this link…Today at the Foundation
and follow this link to find out how to become a member by donating at a level that works for you. Donate today
And, please contact us at any time to discuss ideas about how you can contribute your time and expertise, or your heart! To this wonderful project. We need translators who speak fluent English and any of the European languages, we need historians interested in finding old manuscripts, we need carpenters and electricians, we need sign painters and muralists and graphic artists, we need poets, writers, computer geeks, mathematicians and musicians. We need dancers and seamstresses, yogis and farmers. We need old people, young people, rich people, poor people, fat people, thin people, beautiful people and aesthetically interesting ones.
In short… we… need… you.
Joyfully submitted,
Mary Anne Campbell
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