Good Books for Beginners?

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Permalink Reply by Anni on September 26, 2009 at 1:04am

Centered Riding by Sally Swift is one of my absolute favorites, it's a must read!

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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Pannell on September 26, 2009 at 5:15am

Riding with feel, By Zoe Harrison. Printed by Openbook Publishers, Adelaide S.A. This is a realy good book to start with, easy to read and understand.

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Permalink Reply by Kinni P on September 29, 2009 at 8:02pm

Sylvia Loch has several good books. Dressage in Lightness is a good starting point. It's very readable and assumes that both you and your horse are beginners.

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Permalink Reply by Ruth Hogan Poulsen on October 5, 2009 at 3:12pm

How about a few videos? have a look at these!! Ruth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ALCkUEaZIk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8z6jZg0N4I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYBP5C8olyQ

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Permalink Reply by Kathy Goucher on October 5, 2009 at 7:31pm

Thanks Ruth! Those were very informative videos!

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Permalink Reply by J.Everheart on November 10, 2009 at 12:07pm

Jane Savoie, who is an Olympic dressage coach, says the Bible of dressage for her is "Complete Training of Horse and Rider" by Alois Podhajsky. He was the director of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.
I love this book and re-read it all the time. He says the goal of a dressage horse is to be calm, forward and straight and so he begins there and bases all the more advanced stuff on that foundation.
I think it's a great book!

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Permalink Reply by Alaina Macdonald on November 11, 2009 at 4:49pm

I agree, Centered Riding is an awesome book to read when you're first starting... and even when you've been riding for years!

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Permalink Reply by slc2 on December 2, 2009 at 12:34pm

I think a book for beginner with green 4 yr old horse is very difficult, really. I honestly don't feel Sally Swift is a good place to start, nor is Dressage in Lightness. I think a person needs something much simpler and more basic, and to be very honest I think all books are little practical help to a person in this situation.

Help from an experienced dressage trainer is I think the best choice, with books ONLY as a supplement to instruction, never to interfere with it.

A book doesn't give you feed back, a book can't say, 'ok, that's good enough for today' or 'I see that horse is getting tired' or 'you just need to be quicker and more firm with your horse'. Since each horse and rider are a little different and react a little differently, a book can't cover all possibilities.

A beginner needs answers to questions like, 'what do I do if I use my reins and legs as it says here and my horse doesn't react as the book says it should?' 'What do I do if my horse bucks or pulls on the reins?' 'How can I tell if my horse is bending correctly'? 'How do I know if I'm doing something incorrectly?'

I hate to say it publicly because I know I will get lynched, but I'm no fan of Sylvia Loch's books or videos, though I feel she's a nice lady who adores her horses and means well. And Sally Swift's book I see as a supplement to the basic techniques a rider needs to master, not a substitute for them.

Too a lot of people get mixed up by books. They start to think they can't do ANYTHING because it won't be classical enough, or delicate enough. I have seen people sitting up on their horse, paralyzed with confusion, wondering what to do. I always tell the same silly story - about my friend who was riding her pony in a field, and the pony ducked its head down to eat grass. She begged, cajoled, twiddled the reins, tapped with the whip on his flank, and pony continued to crop grass at top speed. Finally I rode up and found her sobbing. I asked, 'why don't you pull his head up with the reins?' She replied, sobbing furiously, "because on page 234 of 'The Complete Training of Horse and Rider', Alois Podhajsky says I should NEVER pull on the reins!"

When I was a beginner, I had read 'The White Stallions of Vienna', a wonderful book in which you get to see how very much the learning process differs from that finished picture.

That is a children's book, and yet I think it is one of the ONLY dressage books that has ever been published, shows you really how that learning process really goes.

Another book I think is very good for a beginner is A Practical Dressage Manual by Bengt Lindquist, but even that is a little tough to get through for a beginner.

I think if the person can read without then questioning his instructor's every statement (more stories later on that, I am starting in giggling just thinking about that one!!!!) and can realize that the schooling of that green four year old won't always be approaching 'The Classical Art', it may sometimes be about just plain old insisting that horse responds to the leg or rein or he is going to get one in the slats.

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Permalink Reply by J.Everheart on December 11, 2009 at 4:30pm

I love that you mentioned "White Stallion of Vienna." That is my favorite children's book ever.
On a different subject, I recommended "Complete Training of Horse and Rider," and I will admit that as a beginning rider, a lot of it is over my head. The more I take lessons and spend time riding, the more I understand it. Often I will be riding my horse and think, "Ooooooh, that's what Podhajsky was talking about." It definitely does not replace lessons for me, but it is fun to become more in tune with my horse, develop better feel and have the book come to life for me.

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Permalink Reply by Hank on December 5, 2009 at 11:15pm

Mary Wanless is really great too and, of course anything by Reiner Klimke. If you can find any videos of Athur Kotas, the former head of the riding school in Samur, he's amazing.

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Permalink Reply by Barbara Ellin Fox on December 8, 2009 at 6:17pm

Basic Training of the Young Horse by Reiner Klimke would be an excellent book for someone with a 4 year old. He's a Gold Medalist. Also Cavaletti- same author.

For the rider , Classical Seat by Sylvia Loch and Dressage for the Young Rider by Pegotty Henriques. Don't let the title fool you.

Gee there are so many good books... and I agree with Ruth Poulson, videos are a fun way to learn

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Permalink Reply by Carla on December 13, 2009 at 10:33pm

Having a dressage trainer is always the best, but try "Practical Dressage Manual" by Bengt Ljungquist

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