School of Lightness NZ

05/06/2026

When I am teaching riders how to train their own horses in Legerete, I’m teaching the rider the language we use to communicate, while also teaching the horse.

This intricate way of being with your horse, requires the rider eliminate ‘control’ from their psyche (& any sense of the egotic self) … because there is no room for resistance, especially in the body, but also the mind.

And what you get is freedom & flow. From a horse that has learning to carry itself and a rider also carrying themselves while communicating requests that the horse knows the answer to.

My lessons help bring a rider into coherence, so the horse can respond 💫

Why we ❤️ Legerete

05/06/2026

We can all relate!! 🫶🤗💯

Why we ❤️ Legerete

“This makes me feel like I don’t know how to ride!”

I hear that all the time when I’m teaching and I always have to chuckle. There is nothing I can relate to more deeply!

There is a huge difference between mashing a horse’s body around, and actually riding them.

When my teachers taught me to truly ride generating energy from behind and steering the shoulders, not the mouth, it became very apparent I was relying entirely on the head for control. It was extremely humbling, and very frustrating. I had many lessons that felt like purgatory - not advancing until I could learn to direct with my seat onto a track of travel, learning not to let my over active hands get involved and to actually funnel the energy through.

I went from overactive, micromanaging riding to being floppy and ineffective, afraid to be at the helm. I’ve been at this a while, and I always remind my students of this : I did not pop out of the womb understanding this- and if you are naturally gifted at it, I’m happy for you - but don’t be alarmed if it is hard.

If it were easy, everyone would be doing it!

If you’re feeling frustrated, inept, stuck in purgatory, and so on, try to remember this is not easy. It’s very simple - but it is the most difficult task you could undertake: mastering your body and mind to ride in a harmonious way with a horse. There are no shortcuts, no easy get out of jail free cards for learning how to direct fluidly without interference. Buddhist monks study a lifetime at a monestary to get control of their minds - so you have to direct that kind of energy and dedication into it, within the walls of your own arena.

It’s hard, and you will struggle and make mistakes, but you will be just fine, and so will your horse. It will come together in glimmers, in tastes- you’ll get motivated by a little feeling here and there, and you can remember that feeling to get you through the next plunge back into purgatory.

03/06/2026

YES!! 🙌 The answer that shoulder in is what we are asking the horse to do, be it on a circle, straight line or diagonal, etc…
Master Teacher Melanie Bulmahn simply explains ✅

(Melanie started my Legerete journey & who was one of my main Legerete teacher for many previous years 🤗)

https://www.facebook.com/stories/1792025947635045/UzpfSVNDOjgzNzg1NzIyNjA2NjMzNg==/?view_single=1&source=shared_permalink&mibextid=wwXIfr

30/05/2026

https://www.facebook.com/stories/1903151116385412/UzpfSVNDOjE1MjA5NTIxMDk0MDIwNjA=/?view_single=1&source=shared_permalink&mibextid=wwXIfr

19/05/2026

Blessed with perfect weather, the Feilding / Palmy crew are all showing SUPER progress!! Carefully guiding many quality & fun moments as they learn the next phase of their horses balance & openess in Legerete… very excited riders (& teacher!) about what they are achieving! And they should be proud, their practice & results is all the proof they need (even if it does include rosettes as well 😉👌)
💛🦄🪽🩰⚖️🤩
I’m so lucky to do what I do! 🥰

& It’s why we ❤️ Legerete!

26/04/2026

Teaching a language via the hand
👌🖐️🤌
In a clear way into the corners of the lips… 👄 and mobilise the tongue 👅
Why?
Because that is soft, light 🪶will not weight the forehand & helps the horse to learn to carry themselves.
⚖️🪽

Why we ❤️ Legerete

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1BHkf6hB1g/?mibextid=wwXIfr

10/04/2026

ATTENTION Calling on riders in
🌳 Cambridge
🌞 Tauranga
🌲 Rotorua
🔁 Waikato / BOP areas
Who have been asking for a lesson visits :)

We have a fabulous indoor venue available to us in Cambridge (with overnight adjistment if needed) so if riders are wanting to form a group, that is an enthusiastic supportive learning enviornment - spectators also welcome. Lets get this region progressing on their Legerete journey 🤩 Winter is a perfect time to go down to the core & teach your horse beneficial balance (without using tension), to move freely, lightly & understand exactly what you are asking for!

This is where you become the trainer! I teach you how to train your own horse.... because lets be honest, all conventional ways outside of Légèreté are just conditioning the horse to varying levels of pressure! And riders who know that more rein or more leg isn't giving them the results they dreamed of!

I have some regular riders that I teach, as I travel to & from Palmerston North, but I know they would love to have a group environment, so you can all learn from eachother 🫶

Please comment below & then I can create a Waikato group chat which is where lesson dates are decided, group wins & questions are shared - so we aren't working alone in between our visits. There is a lot of knowledge to share! No questions are too big or too small to ask.

Look forward to hearing from you (maybe again for those who are already part of our smaller Cambridge group 😉 )
Sarah x

04/04/2026

“Let the horse do it”

How many riders hear me say this?
Well, that’s Legerete! Training the horse…
Thank you Philippe Karl for bringing this to our world 🙏💗

Why we ❤️ Legerete

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FaZN7FbqF/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I often see riders constantly ‘doing’, pushing, holding, carrying their horse.

To me, that isn’t a horse in self-carriage. It isn’t lightness. And it’s probably not a horse that feels happy or proud in his movement.

“Let him do” is one of my favourite sayings and one I’ve heard Philippe Karl say on numerous occasions. When everything is going well, do nothing. Take the aids away. Let the horse just do.

It keeps them sensitive, willing, and happy. It gives them a moment to enjoy the feeling of not being asked for anything, of carrying themselves without interference. It becomes a reward. That’s when the horse becomes a joy to watch and the ride starts to feel effortless.

Learning the timing of doing less is key to happy, harmonious riding.

Picture of PK riding piaffe and ‘letting the horse do’ - soft reins and relaxed legs.

22/03/2026

Sharing this Legerete Perth video from 2019, because the images are mesmerising. All of them show softness & connection… and the overall impression, one of how much we love spending time with our horses 💞
Happy Monday everyone!

20/03/2026

Neck extension!!!!
Or in the case of a very ‘tucked in’ posture (that the Friesian breed is so likely to produce) a rider needs to teach the horse how to;
Open the gullet…

My student is a dedicated classical rider, horse breeder & all round star in my eyes… so we met for some progress lessons on Thursday 🌟 first we work with her Gyspsy Cob, who is really coming on 💖 we’ve move onto introducing posture to help with her shortened poll (nose poking out) which blocks her lumbar. Adding posture requests within exercises like correctly flowing reinback, walk to canter transitions (& all transitions)… suddenly all of the difficulties have melted away 😌😍

Secondly, we work with her pure bred Friesian, who has blossomed over the last year, despite pre disposed ‘issues’ from her history… and again the focus for her progress brings us to her upper neck - but this one is really unique 🧐

As a Legerete (trainee) teacher, we work with so many horses, with VERY specific, individual needs… & this gets me thinking… how many coaches really know how to help the riders train tricky horses? In my experience, not any outside of Legerete… because I use to be that rider! With a very difficult horse that no trainer could give me answers to. I was Always seeking, always hoping, that my horse would one day, progress.
And nothing did, in conventional riding… until I found Legerete.

… so I was feeling that vibe, before we even got started, I recognised it… the energy my student was carrying… frustration.
Because until we know better, we just do our best. That’s all we can do. And for that, all riders should give themselves grace!

And my approach, calm, knowing & eager… because I knew the starting point, the areas of concern - like a well travelled map - I now know the very logical answers & pathway… why? Because I’ve travelled this road a few times now. With my own exceedingly difficult horses, but also many students (difficult) horses too.

And meeting the space with this knowing, that everything has a clear pathway forward, towards the desired outcome, means I’m calm, I’m patient & I’m also excited 🤩 because I can’t wait for my student to know the same, feel the result & celebrate the outcome (a horse who we help to move in balance, with strength) because there is no better feeling in this world than to float around in harmony, riding our horses 💞

Which bring me to:
Opening the gullet!! Which is really where the main focus is for Anneke.
Also known as neck extension (to name the specific exercise), but to look at the gullet to start the process, based on this horse’s individual needs, is key.
With our gorgeous example Anneke (pictured), who didn’t even accept a bit prior to learning Legerete… we’ve built trust, a clear understood dialogue, we’ve established some stability (as she’s naturally hyper flexible) to now with neck extension to start ‘opening’ her body, because her mind in now confident too…
And the outcome is evident even in her every day life 🤩
The photo below, when she arrived home to greet her friends after her lesson…

It’s the little messages of glee from my students who then know, the pathway towards everything they’ve ever wanted to do with your horse, can be achieved logically through training the Legerete way 🥰
And there no better feeling in the world than being able to share this knowledge.

Why we ❤️ Legerete