Like a prophetic voice calling in the wilderness, Craig Stevens offers hope to the aspiring dressage rider. "I firmly believe the highest levels are accessible to us 'mortals,"' says Stevens, who moved his National School of Academic Equitation from Virginia to Washington in 1995. Operating out of a small barn in Snohomish, Craig works with an assortment of horses that few in the dressage world would describe as "elite." But through patience and application of the classic principles he has spent his life studying, these horses are brought to the point of the "high school" movements of passage, piaffe, tempe changes, and ultimately, barring serious physical impairment, to the "airs above the ground."

Though little known in the United States, Craig is considered a "master" in Sweden, where he has a large and enthusiastic following. He has traveled to that country seven times in the last year and a half, giving both clinics and private lessons. He has also taught in Canada and Finland, and has invitations from Denmark, Norway, Germany, Australia and the U.K. He has given a clinic at the Swedish National Riding School and an instructors' clinic for the Swedish National Equestrian Federation, and has had articles written about him in many publications, including Ridsport, Sweden's largest horse magazine. Dag Natterqvist, Sweden's most decorated rider, has called Craig "the most advanced instructor to come to Sweden since the early 1950s."

In the United States he has done a demonstration in the high airs for the International Arabian Sport Horse Association (IASHA), and a USDF-funded clinic for the Keystone Dressage and Combined Training Association in Pennsylvania. He also did a tour in Canada demonstrating high school dressage with the Royal Lippizaners.

I caught up with Craig on a rainy day in November, shortly after his return from another trip to Sweden. I watched as he rode and worked several horses in hand, perfecting such skills as pirouettes, terre a terre, a highly collected, two-beat canter, and levade. Each immaculately turned-out horse appeared happy in his work and eager to please. Most of the advanced level work was done on extremely light contact and sometimes on a completely loose rein! I was feeling a little heady over my good fortune in snagging this interview and very thankful when we finally sat down to talk.

Flying Changes: Craig, you're riding and teaching at levels most of us only dream of. What is your background? How did you get to where you are today?

Craig: I've been working with horses all my life. I went to a military prep school and rode on their cavalry team and have since studied just about every aspect of horsemanship. I've worked with harness racers, polo ponies, fox hunters, eventers, dressage horses and Arab show horses. I went to Kentucky to learn collection from the saddle seat people, then turned to the study of classical horsemanship.

I worked for several barns on the East coast, instructing in the various disciplines, training and barn managing. In the late '70s, I studied dressage and combined training with Francois Lemarie de Ruffieu in Readington, New Jersey. Then in the '80s, I was privileged to go to Europe on several occasions and studied with Joao Oliveira in Portugal, and Henri Bouzar, Michael Henriquet and Catherine Durand in France. I have also worked with several members of the Cadre Noir.

Flying Changes That's quite a resume'! It's amazing to me that you have such an extensive background and yet so few of us here in the Northwest have heard of you. Why is that?

Craig: To be honest, I've been so busy I haven't taken the time to do much promoting. We don't do a lot of showing, either, which is probably why a lot of people don't know us.

Flying Changes: In a nutshell, what are the essentials of your teaching?

Craig: In a nutshell, it is difficult to explain, but I suppose my main premise is that mechanical force has no place in ridingnot for training the horse, and definitely not for training the rider. I see way too much force going on in the name of horse training and that disturbs me. We need to be more horse-oriented in our thinking. So often our priorities are: Judge, trainer, rider, horse, when the reverse should be true. We should be most concerned with how our horse is doing, then with our own progress, then the trainer's opinion, and last with what the judge thinks. That philosophy has gotten me in trouble in some circles, but I believe it firmly.

The important thing is the joy of riding, the day-to-day relationship, and to develop any relationship requires communication. To achieve a harmonic riding-style, the rider must use a language that is understandable to the horse. Riders must be very focused; they must know exactly what they want to communicate.

I think a lot of riders today ask their horses for about five things at once, then feel that the horse is "bad" if he doesn't do as told. We must ask one thing at a time, using one aid at a time. The old French masters carefully blended the use of the legs and hands. Skillful separation of the hand and leg aids can bring the rider to a clear understanding of this blending. This separating of the aids leads to simplicity in the language and more skillful blending at the same time.

It's not muscle or force that make for a better rider, either, but a clear mind and relaxed joints and sinews. I start all my students, no matter what their background, on "seat work"systematic suppling exercises that are self-correcting and balance-proof. Riders must strive for total flexibility in their jointsloin, hip, knee and ankle. Only in such a way will they be able to ride in the sympathetic, "non-interfering" way that the horse needs.

Flying Changes: You are considered controversial in some circles. Why?

Craig: Well, I've already mentioned a couple of reasons! I totally disagree with the strong-leg-aids"driving"the-horse-into-a-fixed-bit mentality, and I don't believe in "disposable" horses. I also think our desire to compete is way out of line. It is often money-driven and needlessly severe. On the other hand, I'm not pointing fingers or naming names. The horse-world is a small one and I'd like to get along with as many people as possible! And I am not opposed to showingI just think it's important to consider the horse first.

Flying Changes: Tell us about your scholarly pursuits.

Craig: Horsemanship is an ancient art but we live in a generation that is always chasing the latest gimmicks and the fastest results. I've always thought that the serious student of the horse should develop a broad base in the equestrian culture. About twenty years ago I started sifting through the rare book collections at Harvard, Yale, the Universities of Virginia and Pennsylvania, the National Sporting Library and the Library of Congress, anywhere I could to find works on classical equitation. When I'd gone through all those and still felt I had holes in my knowledge, I started checking out dusty book collections in Europe. I now have over 400 rare and out-of-print materials on the art of riding, some of which date back to the 1500s. I have also translated thirty-one books from French because they weren't available in English.

Flying Changes Good griefyou're bi-lingual, too?

Craig (hearty laugh): Well, put it this wayI'd have a hard time asking directions in downtown Paris! Thanks to computer translation programs, good technical dictionaries and some French friends, though, I can muddle my way through written French pretty well.

Flying Changes Your school, the National School for Academic Equitation (NSAE), grew out of your experiences with classical equitation as well as your scholarly studies?

Craig: Right. I have learned a lot in the last twenty-five years that I want to pass on to the next "data base." Many of the French masters were recluses and their knowledge almost died with them. The NSAE offers the serious student of the horse a unique educational program that adapts the classical principles to the discipline of modem sport equitation. The method we use is not original but it is very old. It is gentle and produces very well-trained, happy horses without violence or physical or psychological damage. It can bring very ordinary horses and riders to the point of doing very extraordinary things!

Flying Changes: So you're serious when you say that someone like me, an unathletic, 40-something housewife and my backyard horse could acquire some of those exalted skills?

Craig: Absolutely! I would hesitate to give anyone time markers, of course, because so many things are relative and success has many levels. The longer I live, though, the more convinced I am that good riding is a lot like a good marriage. You don't have to look like Ken and Barbie to have a happy life!

Flying Changes: Hear! Hear!