Her instruction correlates the relationship of rider position and aid implementation with the biomechanical function of the horse's anatomy. Dr. Ackerman believes that art consists of the communication of spirit through form. It is the union of external reality with inner knowledge. Dressage is the avenue to reflection, exploration and self-knowledge. Dressage offers a path to search for purity and truth, as the art is practiced only for the sake of art.
Art ends where violence begins and violence begins where knowledge ends.
The commitment to academic equitation, where the learning process is on-going admits to no finished product. There is a particular violence which can accompany finality and perfectionism that deprives humanity of its compassionate qualities and of its ongoing and endless journey whereby ends must never outweigh means. The goal is to strike a chord, to create a harmony between horse and human whereby neither partner is consumed by the other. Both can display their natural talents uninhibited by the other.