"Eric Flachaire is a gentle French man who speaks English beautifully but perhaps his first language is that of the horse, a silent unassuming language that is respectful, tolerant and all knowing. One that goes back to when time began, instinctive, genuine and noble....."

Read how it all began, what inspired Eric to follow his instinct and start his quest to understand these noble creatures.....

Eric Flachaire trains and works with horses naturally. He is renowned in France for his quiet, calm and inspiring work. Known as the French Cowboy, Eric spent months in America training and working alongside the famous John Lyons, 'Americas most trusted horseman.'

Eric's methods and results are truly inspirational. A man of few words, he listens to the horses he works with and communicates with each steed individually in the language of the horse.

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Horse Talk goes French  meets up with Eric and follows him as he works with the horses. A valuable and unique insight is gained into this very remarkable man and his life.

Eric was born in the East of France in the wine growing region Jura. Here the mountains are wooded and rolling and the many lakes reflect the beautiful scenery like shining mirrors in the bitterly cold winters. Eric Flachaire grew up here with horses.

He rode naturally and took lessons as any lucky child with a passion for horses would in France. He loved jumping, vaulting and riding through the forest. As he grew he developed a keen interest in classical dressage and was fortunate enough to be able to train with a professional master in this art. He was amazed and inspired and often overwhelmed when watching this master at work in riding and schooling his horses. Eric worked hard and spent hours training and learning the craft.

He was both fascinated and passionate. He loved to study the movement of the horse and their natural paces. Although he respected his tutor totally he started to realise that some things bothered him about the training.  When the trainer rode he could perform wonderful work, but Eric saw that once the trainer was no longer mounted the relationship between the man and the horse fell apart. The harmony and respect totally disappeared and often there were problems in handling these beautiful horses from the ground. Eric admits that it disturbed him greatly. It was not something that sat well with his feelings. He could not understand why the relationship changed so drastically and often broke down completely. It upset him to watch and the more he thought about it and the more he watched the greater his disturbance grew. 

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Throughout his childhood he had been helping his parents with the family horses, consisting of a couple of ponies  and a horse. The field for the horses was a few kilometers from the house and each day before school Eric would put the horses out in their fields and collect them again after school to box them for the night. It was a daily occurrence and as he grew, so he naturally became more able to do this alone. By the time he was questioning what he saw with his trainer he was  riding his horse daily, while leading the ponies at the same time. He was doing this with no tack and only a loose rope.

He started to think deeply about the relationship he had with his horses and how they worked together and with him so easily. Everything he did with them was not stressful and had evolved naturally. Everything he saw with the trainer and his horse when not ridden was difficult and there was no understanding or tolerance of  the horses. In the environment where Eric lived there was no one to discuss these thoughts through with and no one to explain exactly what it was that he felt was not quite right. It was something that Eric felt very strongly about. He realised that he had naturally come to understand the unspoken word between horses and how moving in a certain way caused them to react instinctively. He could manage a handful of horses together in all sorts of situations because he had closely observed them with tolerance and respect for their own way of communicating.

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 Being determined to find out more and learn as much as he could he sought explanations and instructors to help him. Unfortunately there was no one he could find in France. The work he was discovering was not really recognised and he had to search further afield to find the answers. During his travels he began to accumulate knowledge and teachings from all types of horsemen. He took something new from everyone and accumulated this information and worked with all he learned. He toured with a 'spectacle', all the time absorbing new thoughts and ideas from America, Switzerland and Belgium and other natural horsemen. 

He was introduced to Elisabeth de Corbigny, she saw what Eric was searching for and suggested he seek advice from a well known American. This turned out to be John Lyons, one of the most trusted horseman in America. Eric was invited to visit John and he jumped at the chance. In 2004 Eric spent a month at John's ranch, at last he had found a professional who could genuinely help him to answer his questions. When Eric's visit was over and he had to return to France he felt compelled to follow this route. Before long he found himself back with John Lyons, this time he stayed for seven months. Each course was three weeks long with a month before the next, so Eric worked hard on the course and then spent the interim month working on Johns ranch. He toured with John and helped him prepare the horses, all the time learning.

He feels he learned so much doing this. The real life, hands on experiences, where he was living with the horses day in, day out gave him even more time to watch, understand and interact with them. He could discuss with John Lyons how they communicated with each other in so many tiny subtle ways, their body language, the natural hierachy of the herds and the relationships between them. Their instinctive characteristics that had evolved from the prehistoric days of needing to survive and flee their predators. He learnt how to work with the horses and to truly listen to them and how to achieve your aims by understanding and working in harmony. This was equally as important to do from the ground as when ridden. The partnership becomes so much stronger and the work is performed so much easier. The valuable time spent with John Lyons is something that Eric will be eternally grateful for. Eric could now answer the questions he had asked when watching his former instructor, he fully understood why he had been disturbed at what he had often witnessed.

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Relocating to Rille in Maine et Loire back home in France, Eric quietly continues his work, training and helping horses. Hidden in the middle of the vast forests north of Saumur you will not find Eric and his lovely family using his skills to live a materialistic lifestyle and cashing in on his extraordinary natural ability. Eric maybe one of the respected John Lyons trainers but no flamboyant showman is he. Eric is happy to work with all types of horses, he is obviously vastly experienced in Western and Natural Horsemanship but that applies equally to ALL horses. They do not label themselves, eventers, dressage, hispanics, pure bred PRE, showjumpers or family pony. Horses speak the same language regardless of what 'type' we call them. Eric sees them as horses and quietly goes about his business where the horse comes first.