Credit: Ievgenii Karanov, Chronicle.lu
From Friday 26 to Sunday 28 June 2026, Synergy ASBL, a Luxembourg non-profit association, organised a three-day event featuring renowned horse trainer and liberty dressage expert Jean-François Pignon at Reitsportcenter Feelener Hecken in Feelnerhecken.
The event opened on Friday with a liberty dressage show centred on the relationship between humans and horses. During the first part of the performance, the French horse trainer worked with one of the host stable's most challenging horses to demonstrate his approach before returning after the interval with a display featuring his own horses. The show attracted around 300 spectators, according to the organisers.
"This project was very personal for me because I had a horse for seven years and attended workshops with Jean-François Pignon. I felt it was something we should bring to Luxembourg because it teaches valuable skills and a unique mindset when working with animals. That's how we decided to organise it. It's our first event in this field," Sven Soares, a board member of Synergy ASBL, told Chronicle.lu. He added: "Synergy ASBL was created to promote movement, mental health and overall wellbeing. Until now, we've mainly organised movement and dance workshops, as well as dance battles and other artistic events.”
The organisers also offered complimentary tickets to around 30 children and several older people for Friday's show, saying they wanted to make the event accessible to groups who could particularly benefit from the experience.
The workshop continued over the weekend with practical sessions limited to twelve riders, each working directly with their own horse under Jean-François Pignon's guidance. A further 30 to 40 participants attended as observers, asking questions and learning without bringing their own horses.
"The main idea is to teach people that we need to learn the horse's language instead of expecting horses to understand ours," Sven Soares said. "We often project our own way of communicating onto horses, but they communicate in a completely different way. Understanding that difference is the key to building a better relationship with them."
