Like any self-respecting Frenchman, Philipe Karl is rancorous, arrogant, condescending, and ready for fight. ?I dig him.
He has no issues sending public hate mail to the FEI, and there is never any confusion about where he stands. ?By and large, I think he’s right as rain, and in the ongoing battle between Romanic and Prussian-based high equitation, he is the Che Guevara of the French style. ?(Please do not be looking up Che Guevara just now … but if you are, here is just another example of how equitation can teach us so much more about the world, oui?)
M. Karl has a respectable resume, with a history at Cadre Noir. ?He does a very good job explaining and illustrating his notions, and unlike so many morons who want to sell you the truth, he is always concerned with providing compelling, coherent, cohesive arguments to support his premises.
Because he is a clinician, and I don’t really attend clinics; and because I was already a converted Baucherist by the time I discovered his books, I cannot say Philippe Karl influenced my equitation to date. ?But I can?confirm – best I can tell – he drinks from the same fountain of goodness, ?pursues the same grail, and is among few people living I believe is worth?seeing if you get the chance.