A Vision - A story of the TTT

When the TTT was set up as a charitable educational foundation in the summer of 1987 much thought was given to defining what its role and purpose should be.

The objects of the Trust were set out in legal form to satisfy the Charity Commissioners, and were widely drawn so that the Trustees could adapt to changing circumstances and develop their activities in the way which would best serve the interests of the people we intended to help – namely, the Young Professional Instructors – and the interests of the sport – or art, if you prefer – which so fascinates us all, not neglecting of course the interests of the horses who enable us to practise it.

The overall object was defined as being “the advancement of public education in the science and art of dressage and classical equitation in the European tradition”, and in particular to train judges, trainers and riders of the future in accordance with these principles and to educate riders of all ages in the art of dressage and equitation with a view to establishing a nucleus of dedicated British talent in these fields.

So there you have it. A very lofty ambition, you may think, the sort of thing that Emperors and Kings might have had in mind back in the sixteenth century. Is it really appropriate to humble folk like us, in a farmhouse setting, worrying about things like the council tax and whether we can remember to get the wheely-bin out on the right day for the dustman to collect it?

Of course it is. We can do what we like in this country, if we can afford it. By classical equitation no more and no less is meant than good horsemanship: classical, because it is an established tradition, and one which will endure, just as a classic suit, or coat and skirt, is one whose lines are accepted as simply being the best that experience has been able to fashion. And we do like to ride correctly, and train our horses to go correctly, so that riding is a pleasure to us both, and we derive immense satisfaction and enjoynment from it just as like–minded people have done for a matter of four hundred years or so. I will come back to the little matter of being able to afford it later on.