Check out Susannah's new book here!
Learn more about Juice Plus and CurOST
"To
be an equestrian in the classical sense is
not just to be a rider. It is a position in life"
- Charles de Kunffy
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Welcome to Torchlight Training and Cord Equestrian Cur-OST at Quail Run Ranch
in Gainesville, Texas
Systematically developing the horse according to his inherent and inborn abilities.
Torchlight Training/Cord Equestrian Cur-OST at Quail Run Ranch in Gainesville, Texas, is a small equestrian facility dedicated to correct Dressage as well as providing our horses with as natural a life as possible, while benignly and harmoniously developing their natural abilities as human companions and partners. With the tenets of classical dressage – drawing from both the French, German and Iberian schools - as the basic foundation along with ‘natural horsemanship’ techniques on and off their backs, we seek to identify the disciplines for which they are best and most happily suited, and then train them accordingly.
"...dressage is for the sake of the horse, as opposed to dressage for the sake of dressage."
- Susannah Cord
Our approach is one of the old school with some new twists. Like the old masters, we believe in crosstraining, wherein a horse has a varied life including dressage, jumping, trail rides and groundwork – the groundwork contains the newer twists, applying both the old school in-hand work and techniques drawn from the more recently defined Natural Horsemanship.
We believe dressage is for the sake of the horse, as opposed to dressage for the sake of dressage. The competition world today appears to have become our most extreme and eyepopping divergence from the principles and ideals of traditional, or true, dressage. At the end of the day, the question must be – how do we bring back real dressage? Dressage that is about the training of the horse, not the color of our coat and does it match our horse? Does it flow well with that extravagant toeflick? It is in the application of time proven principles to unusual subjects that we reach the core of real dressage. To develop any horse and rider to be the best and most beautiful their abilities will allow. Making the ordinary horse, extraordinary. It’s what we like to - somewhat tongue in cheek – call Organic Dressage.
For many years now, Susannah has enjoyed hosting clinics taught by classical dressage instructors that include Walter Zettl, Eddo Hoekstra, Carol McArdle, and Stephanie Millham. With her new book series, Fenella, and a new business, Cord Equestrian Cur-OST, Susannah has been busy restructuring the Torchlight Training objectives and agenda, but she will continue to teach a limited number of students and host a limited number of clinics.
Quail Run Ranch offers excellent facilities, including a large covered arena, in the scenic heart of Texas horse country, Gainesville, Texas. Please use the links provided at left to learn more about Torchlight Training and Cord Equestrian Cur-OST at Quail Run Ranch.