Sylvia Loch is generally considered the leading authority on classical riding the English-speaking world.
Classical Dressage with Sylvia Loch: two concepts that have become synonyms over the years. Sylvia Loch has (and does!)lectured on the history and nature of classical dressage world-wide and has judged at both national and international championship level for the Spanish and Lusitano societies in the USA and Australia.
I met Sylvia in April 2005 (is it really that long ago already?) in Portugal. She introduced me to the ancient art of Classical Riding and I have been fascinated ever since. She also introduced me to the two men in my live: Junot, my Lusitano stallion, and Charles, the love of my life. Her friendship and support remains one of my most precious possessions.
Sylvia Loch has been training and teaching classical riding both overseas and here in the UK for many years. She believes that successful schooling involves enormous sensitivity, always acknowledging that every horse has a different character and confirmation. The basic principles of a good seat, good posture and the correct aids must always be retained.
Her first book, The Royal Horse of Europe was published in 1986 to international acclaim, earning the title "Book of the Year" in the UK magazine Horse and Hound. The Classical Seat, which followed a year later, has also become a best-selling video. In 1990, Dressage, the Art of Classical Riding, a book on the evolution of dressage, was published, and in 1997, The Classical Rider. Dressage in Lightness: Speaking the Horse’s Language is Sylvia's fifth major equestrian book. Several of Sylvia's books have either gone on into further editions or been translated into French and German, each enjoying a prominent place in the world's most prestigious book lists.
The first of her books I read was one she gave me as a gift, the Royal Horse of Europe, translated into French. It is a most exceptional book, lavishly illustrated with photographs as well as art from the Baroque period. Carefully and thoroughly researched, it's scholarly content is a real treat for anyone interested in the development of horsemanship in general and the Iberian horse breeds in particular. Classical Dressage with Sylvia Loch, par excellence.
In 1982 Sylvia co-founded The Lusitano Breed Society of Great Britain, and in 1995 formed The Classical Riding Club (CRC), a networking organization whose 800 members are scattered both at home and abroad, with a large contingent in the USA.
"Only by developing full contact of the seat can the rider hope to remain over the horse's strongest point at speed. However, before this concept can be appreciated, it is important to point out that no amount of good intentions will help unless the rider has learned to counter balance centrifugal force by projecting their own centre of gravity forward, commensurate with the horse's forward impulsion. This is what (Nuno) Oliveira meant by 'taking the horse by the waist.' Indeed this centring action is required in any sport which requires a marrying of balance and movement. " Sylvia Loch
Classical Dressage with Sylvia Loch
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Classical Dressage with Sylvia Loch: two concepts that have become synonyms over the years. Sylvia Loch has (and does!)lectured on the history and nature of classical dressage world-wide and has judged at both national and international championship level for the Spanish and Lusitano societies in the USA and Australia.
