The original old Knighthood was from the beginning an organization for the war- and school stallions trainers. The old Knighthood wanted this knowledge to be exclusively its own so that its pupils were the very best in warfare.
In 1997 Bent Branderup founded the Knighthood of the Academic Art of Riding. The members of this new Knighthood are meant to spread the old knowledge and to always keep on investigating for new knowledge. The new knighthood wants to protect the European cultural inheritance combined with the modern esthetic values for the interaction between horse and rider. The old Knighthood’s level of skill of acceptance was equal to the level of piaffe, passage, pirouette plus an air above the ground. It was necessary to lower the level of skill of acceptance, so that the Knighthood could again accept Members. That is why the level is now equal to that of a working rider, creating a basis for the Art of Riding.