Philippe Karl?

Are these better examples of extended trots?

Some yes, some no.
In the extended paces, you want to see the whole frame of the horse lengthening, the hind and forelegs moving parallel to one another, and the horse should be overtracking. The hind legs need to reach under and step under the horse's centre of gravity.

There is so much more to extended paces than just kicking until the horse goes faster and flings its front legs further to stop itself falling over!

I think her point was that it's easy to get a bad extended pace... No matter what training method you follow.
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I think that if you like the way this trainer and her students work with your horse and he travels well and seems happier with them, go for it! Don't make a decision based on who the influencing trainers might or might not be, because there are very few trainers who are carbon copies of another... they all take a little here, a little there, and develop their own unique philosophy. (Or at least, that's what the good ones should do.)

Which is still not an excuse to be doing a bad extended trot.
Those pictures are candid and used by media. The Phillipe Karl pictures are used by him for promotional purposes, meaning he chose that extended trot photo and put it on his website believing it to be a good extended trot. That is the difference.

I also hate when people post Toto pictures and say "eww his extended trot sucks how does he get 80%". It's because it's one movement and yes, his extended trot does suck. That's why he never got 100%. If you watch the tests with instant scoring you'll see that he gets a 6 and maybe a 7 if it's really good that day. Test riding is very different than riding around at home in your arena. You have one shot to show the movements in a sequence that may be hard for your horse, and try to get the best possible scores. My horse's canter half pass is laughable after a walk-canter transition. Unfortunately for me, this is where it is in the tests. After a line of tempis I can easily get a 7 or 7.5 (which is what I get in the FS where they are placed) where I get a 6 in a technical test.


I guess I am getting really OT but train with whoever works for you. Personally I see PK or "classical" and I think "run far, far away". I personally prefer the traditional German style of training over anything as the coaches tend to focus on the rider and how your aids and position influence the horse. IMO most classically trained folks sit like a sack of potatoes and use their hands for an awful lot. I'm also not a huge fan of the dutch training system. But it is whatever works for you!

I went on a search, and frankly, I don't see what there's not to like about Karl. I didn't see any hollow horses. Of course, videos are always edited, and one's personal experience overrides anything on YouTube!

But if he ever came here, I'd want to go.