Women and their horses -- a symbiotic relationship based on trust, camaraderie, friendship, and love. In "Why We Ride," Verna Dreisbach collects the stories of women who ride, sharing their personal emotions and accounts of the most important animals in their lives.
This collection of stories includes the heartfelt thoughts of a range of women -- those who rode as children, those who spent their girlhood years dreaming of owning a pony, and those who have made a lifelong hobby or career out of riding. Each story reveals how horses have made an impact in the lives of these women. With a foreword by best-selling novelist Jane Smiley, "Why We Ride" offers a reflective view on the relationships between women and horses.

Written for riders who wish to extend their horses' athletic lives and make them better, happier performers, this guide defines the practice of collection and explains how to train horses in it. Collection, or self-carriage, involves a horse carrying more weight on its hind legs than its front legs, allowing it to move more easily and perform more beautifully--but it can be difficult to achieve. Exercises for varying skill levels, riding styles, and horses help riders learn what qualifies as collection and how to attain it. Tips on how to avoid the most common bad habits and mistakes are also included in this manual that is beneficial to riders and horses everywhere.Collection is one of the most misunderstood concepts in Western and English riding. Everyone wants it, but few people know how to get it. World-class rider, trainer, and clinician Lynn Palm now offers the one and only book that explains away the mysteries of collection while telling you exactly how to attain it. With 30 years experience riding and training champion all-around performance horses, and a background in dressage, Lynn has perfected an easy-to-use system of exercises that gradually collect any type of horse, regardless of his build, and that are of particular value to stock horse breeds such as Quarter Horses, Paints, and Appaloosas.
Lynn assures us that every horse can achieve and move in a collected frame with time and patience, and learning how to bring him into true collection helps you improve his performance; create a more willing equine partner; extend his physical and mental longevity; and enjoy riding him even more than you already do. Real collection proves elusive because--until now--the instructions for achieving it have been complex, incomplete, or even incorrect. The result (false collection) is often based on a forced headset and little else. This is uncomfortable and unhealthy for the horse, and can lead to behavioral problems and physical breakdown.
Real collection is actually a complete tail-to-nose package of supple muscle and hind-end-generated impulsion: the hind legs step further under the body, the horse's back rounds, he flexes at the poll, and the rider's seat, legs, and hands connect it all. It is with this "frame," as it has come to be called, that the horse becomes more athletic--his forehand lightens, enabling him to maneuver his front end more quickly, his steps become cadenced, and his movement free-flowing.
To achieve this desirable "fluidity," Lynn begins on the ground with in-hand exercises--free lungeing, ground-driving, and lungeing-and-bitting--to gain the horse's trust and improve his responses to cues and commands. She then explains how you start in the saddle with simple transitions--such as halt-walk-halt--and gradually progress through stages that include more difficult transitions between gaits and markers; lengthening and shortening of stride; yielding on diagonal, straight, and curving lines; turns on the forehand and haunches; shoulder-in and shoulder-fore; haunches-in and haunches-out; half-pass; and simple and flying lead changes.
As the horse gains conditioning and increases his strength over time, long-and-low work and stretching down encourage him to "give" to the bit and flex at the poll. This, in coordination with Lynn's progressive exercises and training figures such as loops, figure eights, and serpentines, eventually leads to the beautiful, balanced frame of the responsive, collected horse that every rider dreams of: happy, healthy, willing, and ready to be competitive in the show pen or just simply a great pleasure to ride.

Master the 40 basic elements essential to all riders in the classic disciplines of dressage, jumping, and eventing with this book and 90-minute DVD showing action sequences for each fundamental. These fundamentals include correct seat, leg, and hand positions for the rider; the three basic gaits of walk, trot, and canter; how to perform halt and half-halt; how to direct a horse's movement correctly and energetically; the stages of the training scale (rhythm, looseness, contact, impulsion, straightness, and collection); and how to perform basic schooling figures in the arena, from circles and serpentines to diagonals. Each fundamental is defined and explained in text and photos throughout the book, as well as in the 90-minute DVD, with an emphasis on how to avoid common errors. The DVD won a Telly Award for excellence in video production.

Derry Moore's photographs celebrate the extraordinary beauty in the trappings and traditions of the equestrian world. Offering a privileged glimpse into the lives of jockeys and cavalrymen, Spanish riding schools, and Midwestern rodeos, these pictures take the reader to paddocks, courses, and stables the world over and reveal the customs and passions of equestrian culture. From stablehands grooming before an English country hunt to blacksmiths shoeing showhorses to pull royal carriages in Spain, and from immaculate dressage riders at Chantilly to roughshod jockeys in the dusty fields of India, Moore's photographs offer a profound and romantic insight into the connection that binds us to these animals. With contributions from legendary owners and trainers, this elegant book paints a picture of an entire equestrian world, from the racecourses of Keeneland in Kentucky to the training stables at Newmarket, and from the majestic working Suffolk Punches to Frankel, the most valuable stud in the world. Moore's work-with a unique eye for character, not just in his portraits of the horses but in the details of their surroundings-is a fitting celebration of a lifestyle that continues to inspire.

This is the definitive book on grooming your horse to catch the judge's eye. It features over 400 detailed drawings illustrating every aspect of grooming. Completely updated, it details current practices and requirements and covers conditioning, daily care, tools and supplies, and grooming for shows. New chapters discuss blanketing, newly popular breeds, and the latest show ring clothing styles. A must-have reference, it covers all disciplines and includes trimming styles by type and event as well as by breed.

Final Calls to Absent Friends is a collection of newspaper columns and personal reminiscences in tribute to numerous jockeys, horses, and people related to horse racing.

Described as a horseman, raconteur, philosopher, entertainer and educator, Pat Parelli is truly a renaissance man in the universe of horses. "What I teach is so old, it's new," he says. But more importantly, he's brought a systematic, intelligent and savvy way to be with horses to people around the globe. Some of his knowledge and expertise has come easily, some with a high cost.
So, who exactly is Pat Parelli and what drives the man who's become known as the world's foremost proponent of natural horsemanship? Indeed, most people don't realize that he and his wife, Linda, coined this descriptive term used in headlines worldwide. He's the one person who has developed a methodical natural horsemanship program, and over the last 25 years, Pat's mission in life has been to help natural horsemanship evolve from a back-yard phenomenon to a mainstream movement.
Raise Your Hand if You Love Horses chronicles the first 50 years of Pat Parelli's life. From a kid growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area suburbs watching television Westerns to a young bronc rider, and from a typical horse trainer trying to make a living to an internationally renowned figure who has helped hundreds of thousands of people develop a partnership with horses, Pat Parelli has made a long and rewarding journey.
In his book, Pat describes the early experiences that shaped his life and reverently talks about the mentors who've influenced his thinking and helped him become a horseman. He details the struggles he's had to overcome on the long road to success, and explains how he created an unparalleled program to help other people accomplish their goals with horses. Along the way, he fondly portrays the specialhorses who've helped him grow into the extraordinary horseman he has become. Also, the reader gets a glimpse into the future with Pat's vision of where he thinks horsemanship is headed.
Pat is famous for his riveting way of making a point through the moral of a story. This book contains hundreds of Pat Parelli stories, from his earliest remembrances to the fabulous experiences and opportunities he has enjoyed in the last decade. As a bonus filtered throughout the chapters, readers are treated to People's Perspectives on Pat - anecdotes in which Pat's many friends, all well-known and respected in their fields, tell stories about him.
f0Pat Parelli has been able to break through the discipline barrier and touch every aspect of the horse world - English, western, racing, all breeds and activities. It's been his passion to share his hard-learned knowledge with everyone who seeks excellence with horses. His dream and life's work unfold on the pages of this book.

Features 24 chapters on key stallions and mares that have played prominent roles in establishing the Arabian breed in the U.S.

In 2021, horse racing's most recognizable face - Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert - had five horses that failed postrace drug tests, including that year's Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit. While the incident was a major scandal in the Thoroughbred racing world, it was only the latest in a long string of drug-related infractions among high-caliber athletes. Stories about systemic rule-breaking and "doping culture" - both human and equine -have put world-class athletes and their trainers under intense scrutiny. Each newly discovered instance of abuse forces fans to question the participants' integrity, and in the case of horse racing, their humanity. In Unnatural Ability: The History of Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Thoroughbred Racing, Milton C. Toby addresses the historical and contemporary context of the Thoroughbred industry's most pressing issue. While early attempts at boosting racehorses' performance were admittedly crude, widespread legal access to narcotics and stimulants has changed the landscape of horse racing, along with athletic governing bodies' ability to regulate it. With the sport at a critical turning point in terms of doping restrictions and sports betting, Toby delivers a comprehensive account of the practice of using performance-enhancing drugs to influence the outcome of Thoroughbred races since the late nineteenth century. Paying special attention to Thoroughbred racing's purse structure and its reliance on wagering to supplement a horse's winnings, Toby discusses how horse doping poses a unique challenge for gambling sports and what the industry and its players must do to survive the pressure to get ahead.

Horse Speak is not a training method or technique it is a practical system for listening and talking to horses in their language, instead of expecting them to comprehend ours. Horse Speak can be used by anyone who works with horses, whether riding instructor, colt starter, recreational rider, or avid competitor. It promises improved understanding of what a horse is telling you, and provides simple replies you can use to tell him that you hear him, you get it, and you have ideas you want to share with him, too. The result? Time with your horse will be full of what horse trainer and equine-assisted learning instructor Sharon Wilsie of Wilsie Way Horsemanship calls Conversations, and soon the all-too-common misunderstandings that occur between horse and human will evolve into civil discussions with positive and progressive results! Learn Horse Speak in 12 easy steps; understand equine communication via breath and body language; and discover the Four Gs of Horse Speak: Greeting, Going Somewhere, Grooming, and Gone. Practice regulating your intensity, and sample dozens of ready-made Conversations with your horse, as step-by-step templates and instructional colour photographs walk you through the eye-opening process of communicating on a whole new level.

The rise and fall of one of America’s first Black sports celebrities   Isaac Murphy, born enslaved in 1861, still reigns as one of the greatest jockeys in American history. Black jockeys like Murphy were at the top of the most popular sport in America at the end of the nineteenth century. They were internationally famous, the first African American superstar athletes—and with wins in three Kentucky Derbies and countless other prestigious races, Murphy was the greatest of them all.   At the same time, he lived through the seismic events of Emancipation and Reconstruction and formative conflicts over freedom and equality in the United States. And inevitably he was drawn into those conflicts, with devastating consequences.   Katherine C. Mooney uncovers the history of Murphy’s troubled life, his death in 1896 at age thirty-five, and his afterlife. In recounting Murphy’s personal story, she also tells two of the great stories of change in nineteenth-century America: the debates over what a multiracial democracy might look like and the battles over who was to hold power in an economy that increasingly resembled the corporate, wealth-polarized world we know today.

It is an often-forgotten fact that horses played an important part in Winston Churchill's life. They were his escape in childhood, his challenge in youth, his transport in war, his triumph in sport and his diversion in old age. Renowned author, broadcaster and former jockey, Brough Scott, follows in Churchill's hoofprints from galloping his pony in Blenheim Park, to topping the riding class whilst army training at Sandhurst, taking part in a famous cavalry charge in Sudan, playing polo in India, hunting foxes in Leicestershire and breeding racehorses near his home in Kent, after a minor interlude out of the saddle to tend to the historic task of winning the Second World War.

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica} Olympian Anne Kursinski's acclaimed book on riding horses over fences delivers on-target counsel and the kind of sophisticated, quality instruction you can only get in top stables around the world. Let this medal-winning international competitor show you 'how it's done' with step-by-step descriptions of 20 exercises to improve your position, your 'feel', and your overall understanding of how to confidently and successfully master a jump course. Throughout, explanations are clarified with hundreds of illuminating photographs, completely reshot in full colour for this new edition. Inside, you'll find a top-notch education in basic flatwork and jumping, including bending, adjusting stride length, moving laterally, riding straight lines and curves, jumping without stirrups, and flying changes. You'll also learn advanced flatwork and jumping, with lessons in flexion and collection, counter-canter, half-pass, ways to perfect distances and count strides, and tips for riding different kinds of combinations, bigger jumps, and natural fences. In addition, this revised edition includes a new chapter on riding derby-style courses. Now with all new colour photographs!

Francelia Clark finds and follows two of the oldest trails in New Hampshire's Monadnock region into history-on horseback. Along the way she studies the cellar holes and rock remains of houses, wells, and walled cow paths, as well as old journals, to illuminate for readers the lives of the early settlers who made them.

This book constitutes the first full volume dedicated to an academic analysis of horseracing in British cinema. Through comprehensive contextual histories of film production and reception, together with detailed textual analysis, this book explores the aesthetic and emotive power of the enduringly popular horseracing genre, its ideologically-inflected landscape and the ways in which horse owners and riders, bookmakers and punters have been represented on British screen. The films discussed span from the 1890s to the present day and include silent shorts, quota quickies and big-budget biopics. A work of social and film history, The British Horseracing Film demonstrates how the so-called "sport of kings" functions as an accessible institutional structure through which to explore cinematic discussions about the British nation-but also, and equally, national approaches to British cinema.

Widely known for her innovative teaching philosophy stressing body awareness, the value of "soft eyes," proper breathing, centering, and balance, Sally Swift has been a pioneering riding instructor for half a century. In book form for the first time, her methods enable horse and rider to achieve harmony, working together naturally, without pain.
Unlike traditional teachers, Sally Swift does not believe in forced training techniques that cause stiff bodies and tense riding. Instead, through the use of vivid, unusual, and highly creative images that transcend mechanics ("Pretend you're a spruce tree; the roots grow down from your center as the trunk grows up"), plus a thorough knowledge of human and equine anatomy, this wise and inspiring teacher enables the conscientious equestrian to reassess habitual responses, in order to ride in natural positions, break through frustrating plateaus, and achieve ever-rising goals with comfort, vitality, and precision.
Precise illustrations and photographs never before used in riding books explain anatomy and image work to give mind and body new and relaxed approaches to the inner process of riding.
"Centered Riding "is for those with little experience all the way up to world class.