Foundation For The Equestrian Arts

The Foundation for the Equestrian Arts is dedicated to preserving the living art of classical French riding. Modern riding is based around military ideas and tested in competition, which is expensive and status oriented and exclusive. Whereas the older form was an art in which both participants, horse and rider, found unique beauty in the interchange between the two. It's inclusive, delightful, and brings out the best in both "animals" involved. The older form develops not only a great, peaceful, and "with you" riding horse, but a kind, peaceful and harmoniously alive rider. It's as though modern riding is heavy metal, and this older form is a flute in the woods-- it's a completely different paradigm, and it develops wonderful horses in any discipline, and centered, calm, focused and happy riders as well. We love it... so we're working hard to preserve it for generations to come. The F.E.A. was founded by a group of dedicated riders. First and foremost was trainer and instructor Craig Stevens, who has studied this art deeply since 1965, teaching himself to read French in order to learn the older form from the original masters in their own words. He has been teaching this art form all around the world for decades, collecting and copying old manuscripts from libraries and rare book stores and private homes from all over Europe and the Americas. He has developed several senior students who began to look for ways to perpetuate the work when he passes on. It was co-founded by his wife, trainer and instructor Mary Anne Campbell, and the board is comprised of students they've brought towards mastery in this beautiful art. The F.E.A. began to be active in publishing and various forms of instruction after we received our 501C3 status in 2014, having been incorporated as a Washington non-profit in 2008. Craig Stevens served as the first chairman, and riders deeply familiar with the art of the riding and the art of business and teaching form the rest of the board. Why did we form this group? Why does this particular form of training need mentors and support? Contemporary riding is military based, designed for competition: the perception is that in each of several different disciplines there is "only one flavor" and only one right way to work with horses. Winning competitions at any cost to horse or rider is considered the measure of success. Fashion and finances determine what's "correct" for horse and rider. But this is a modern convention, there's no reason for it to remain the only way we think about horses. For millennia there were many different approaches, often regional in affect, deeply influenced by culture which were developed by highly skilled practitioners. And yet, they respected and understood one another's work, as the measure of success was practical and clear. The idea of fashions in riding made no sense when riding was about developing a great riding horse-- not about winning a trophy. Today's riders have lost their roots in history, and don't know that there were other ways to work horses, much more gentle, much kinder and more effective ways that developed the mind and body of both the horse and the rider. Before the French revolution and the Industrial age, France developed a form of riding that was sought by all the states of Europe. This older, now almost lost art, developed true leadership in the practitioner, as it demanded perfect equilibrium in body, mind, and heart. It creates leaders through service and listening and real trust in one's partner, a powerfully humble curiosity. The creation of real harmony is used to call out something more than either horse or rider have the ability to create alone. In our modern society, board members of the FEA felt that this by itself would be enough to make this form of horse training worth any amount of time and investment. We've seen the positive changes in horses of every breed and disposition, in every discipline. We've experienced personally and seen in our students the life-changing effects of learning to listen with clarity to our equine partners. And so we work together to keep this beautiful form available to other riders who will follow us through time.

The Foundation for the Equestrian Arts (F.E.A.) works to promote not only the the preservation, but the living practice and ongoing study of the rare art of pre-revolutionary French riding. The FEA finds rare source material from old masters, translates them into English, and publishes them. We train students in the art of teaching, training, and riding in this older method. We demonstrate the older form in exhibition rides, teach online, and write extensively about it for equine publications. We support students of the art through grants and scholarships to study with the few living masters of the art, and we support those living masters by publishing their works and through artists grants. We train horses in the older method and teach students from all over the world through documenting the training that we do, and teaching them to train. F.E.A. is housed at the National School of Academic Equitation's barn in Snohomish Washington, where we have two school horses and offer several events each year to teach riders the noble art of classical French training.