When barefoot running guru Christopher McDougall takes in a neglected donkey, his aim is to get Sherman back to reasonable health. But Sherman is ill-tempered, obstinate and uncooperative - and it's clear his poor treatment has made him deeply fearful of humans. Christopher knows that donkeys need a purpose - they are working, pack animals - and so when he learns of the sport of Burro Racing or running with donkeys, he sets out to give Sherman something worth living for. With the aid of Christopher's menagerie on his farm in rural Pennsylvania, his wife Mika and their friends and neighbours including the local Amish population, Sherman begins to build trust in Christopher. To give him a purpose, they start to run together. But what Sherman gains in confidence and meaning is something we all need: a connection with nature, the outdoors, with movement. And as Christopher learns, the side benefits of exercise and animal contact are surprising, helping with mental and physical health in unexpected ways.

Ground training is the key to safe, successful riding and a strong bond between horse and rider. In "101 Ground Training Exercises for Every Horse & Handler, "best-selling equestrian author Cherry Hill offers a comprehensive series of exercises that cover every aspect of ground training, from haltering to driving, from turning to transitions, from backing to body languages. The book is appropriate for work with horses of every age and breed, and it features a pre-cut hole placed so that the book can be hung in the barn or on a fence post, allowing for easy reference during training. With this book in hand, riders of all disciplines and levels can help their horses become responsive companions that are a pleasure to ride.

Opens up a hidden aspect of women's history, imperial history and social history Includes contemporary illustrations, vividly bringing the subject to life Based on important new archival research

For those who have denied their inner cowgirl for far too long, it is time to level up, jump back in the saddle, and return to life's passion with Promote Your Inner Cowgirl. Lifelong cowgirl, entrepreneur, and nurse practitioner, Dr. Lynda Flowers has the answer. Throughout her life she's had to balance the rigors of work and family with time to enjoy her love of horses. Now, after founding several startups, including her cowgirl coaching business, Dr. Flowers guides fellow horse lovers away from their frustration and toward the lifestyle they've always wanted. In Promote Your Inner Cowgirl, Dr. Flowers sets forth a framework to launch a business, generate income, and free up time to do what horse lovers love, along with how to: Set boundaries while aligning their goals and passions Stand out as a leader and team player Find and launch a business that works Turn past failures into future successes Identify a team that is supportive

* A unique and groundbreaking analysis of how to succeed in equestrian sport. * This book unpacks the winning habits of successful equestrians to form a toolkit for readers to develop their own winning habits. * Applying psychological understanding in peak performance, this book is bolstered by interviews with top contemporary professional showjumping athletes to explore and show how leading equestrians have interpreted various methods and built them into approaches for their own training. * Theoretical concepts such as mindset, deliberate practice, focus and flow are broken down and translated into practical steps for a more powerful and effective way of thinking, training and performing. * Renowned equestrian mental coach Annette Paterakis reveals factors of success, as well as answers common questions, from building lasting confidence to responding to failure. * Smashing the myths of talent and hard work, Paterakis offers a refreshing take on mindset, focus and approach to success both in and out of the show ring. * An essential read for anyone who would like to learn or improve their mental game, this book is uniquely suited for equestrian riders, coaches, and other athletes, as well as supplementary reading for applied sport psychology courses.

Opens up a hidden aspect of women's history, imperial history and social history Includes contemporary illustrations, vividly bringing the subject to life Based on important new archival research

Every horse, no matter in what discipline it is ridden, will benefit from working with cavalletti. For Olympic champion Ingrid Klimke, riding over cavalletti is key to success. Cavalletti training improves the horse's basic gaits, develops rhythm, suppleness and cadence and increases fitness and agility. This handbook describes how to work with cavalletti on the lunge, provides valuable new schooling ideas and inspiration for dressage work, as well as numerous layouts for gymnastic jumping. Since its first publication in 1969, Cavalletti has become a standard reference book. This fourth editon has been further revised with new photographs.

After a fifteen-year career as a sled dog racer, musher Dave Olesen turned his focus away from competition and set out to fulfill a lifelong dream. Over the course of four successive winters he steered his dogs and sled on long trips away from his remote Northwest Territories homestead, setting out in turn to the four cardinal compass points - south, east, north, and west - and home again to Hoarfrost River. His narrative ranges from the personal and poignant musings of a dogsled driver to loftier planes of introspection and contemplation. Olesen describes his journeys day by day, but this book is not merely an account of his travels. Neither is it yet another offering in the genre of ""wide-eyed southerner meets the Arctic,"" because Olesen is a firmly rooted northerner, having lived and travelled in the boreal outback for over thirty years. Olesen's life story colours his writing: educated immigrant, husband and father, professional dog musher, working bush pilot, and denizen of log cabins far off the grid. He and his dogs feel at home in country lying miles back of beyond. This book demolishes many of the cliches that imbue writings about bush life, the Far North, and dogsledding. It is a unique blend of armchair adventure, personal memoir, and thoughtful, down-to-earth reflection.

"His lordship's Arabian," a phrase often heard in eighteenth-century England, described a new kind of horse imported into the British Isles from the Ottoman Empire and the Barbary States of North Africa. "Noble Brutes" traces how the introduction of these Eastern blood horses transformed early modern culture and revolutionized England's racing and equestrian tradition.

More than two hundred Oriental horses were imported into the British Isles between 1650 and 1750. With the horses came Eastern ideas about horsemanship and the relationship between horses and humans. Landry's groundbreaking archival research reveals how these Eastern imports profoundly influenced riding and racing styles, as well as literature and sporting art.

After only a generation of crossbreeding on British soil, the English Thoroughbred was born, and with it the gentlemanly ideal of free forward movement over a country as an enactment of English liberties.

This radical reinterpretation of Ottoman and Arab influences on horsemanship and breeding sheds new light on English national identity, as illustrated in such classic works as Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" and George Stubbs's portrait of "Whistlejacket."

This book advances current literature on the role and place of animals in sport and society. It explores different forms of sporting spaces, examines how figures of animals have been used to racialize the human athlete, and encourages the reader to think critically about animal ethics, animals in space, time and place, and the human-animal relationship. The chapters highlight persistent dichotomies in the use of and collaboration with animals for sport, and present strategies for moving forward in the study of interspecies relations.

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.

A no-holds-barred story of what it takes to reach the top, and stay there, in the world's most dangerous sport - three day eventing. At the age of forty-seven Mary King won a Team Bronze at the Beijing Olympics. In the two 'Cavaliers' - 'Call Again Cavalier' and 'Imperial Cavalier' - she has two of the very best event horses in the world. Mary King's success in the world of eventing (now officially classed as the most dangerous sport in the world) has been hard won. She does not come from a privileged background - her father a verger and a long-term invalid so money was very tight. Her first pony was the ancient 'cast off' from the local vicar's children - and success with this pony gave her an iron will to succeed. And succeeded she has. To support herself in the early days she had a variety of unglamorous jobs (this included butcher delivery rounds and cleaning out toilets in the local campsite). Her talent was apparent from very early on and she first competed at Badminton in 1985, had her first win there on King William in 1992 and her second on Star Appeal in 2000. Just when everything seemed to be going well she suffered a terrible fall in 2001 and broke her neck but she was back competing at the very top level the following year. Fully updated for the paperback with the 2010 season, including Team GB's gold medal-winning performance at the World Equestrian Games, this is a fascinating account from inside the world's most dangerous sport.

The Science of Equestrian Sports is a comprehensive study of the theory and practice of the rider in equine sport. While most scholarship to date has focused on the horse in competition, this is the first book to collate current data relating specifically to riders. It provides valuable insight into improving sporting performance and maintaining the safety of both the horse and the rider. Drawing on the latest scientific research, and covering a wide range of equestrian disciplines from horseracing to eventing, the book systematically explores core subjects such as: physiology of the rider sport psychology in equestrian sport preventing injury biomechanics and kinematics coaching equestrian sport the nature of horse-rider relationships This holistic and scientific examination of the role of the horse rider is essential reading for sport science students with an interest in equestrian sport and equitation. Furthermore, it will be an invaluable resource for instructors, coaches, sport psychologists, or physiologists working with equestrian athletes.

PONIES PAST AND PRESENT - THE BREEDS OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. By Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart. Originally published in 1900, this rare early work on Native British Ponies is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. READ COUNTRY BOOKS has republished it using the original text and illustrations. The author was a respected authority on all equestrian matters and published several important books on the subject as well as contributing numerous articles to the sporting and farming press of that era. This title was the first comprehensive work on British Ponies ever written, and the first to draw attention to their important contribution to polo pony breeding. The book consists of one hundred and thirty six pages, including eight full page plates. A lengthy introduction takes the reader through some of the early history, origins, and laws relating to the pony breeds. This is followed by eight Detailed chapters: The New Forest Pony. The Welsh Pony. The Exmoor and Dartmoor Ponies. The Cumberland and Westmoreland Ponies. Ireland The Connemara Pony. The Ponies of Scotland and the Shetland Islands. Uses and Characteristics of the Pony. Breeding Polo Ponies. This is a fascinating read for any pony enthusiast or historian of the breeds, and also contains much information that is still useful and practical today. Many of the earliest equestrian books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. READ COUNTRY BOOKS are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

The best-selling guide to horsemanship — for English and Western riders

THERE ARE NO PROBLEM HORSES, ONLY PROBLEM RIDERS has stood for twenty years as an indispensable text in its field. As Mary Twelveponies writes in her introduction, "It is the hardest pill for all of us would-be horsemen to swallow, but it is absolutely true — if the horse is not responding properly, we are doing something wrong." This easy-to-read guide offers sensible advice on every common problem you may have in handling your horse, and provides highly effective solutions.

Newly introduced by John Lyons, America’s Most Trusted Horseman, this reissue covers everything from dressage to barrel racing, show jumping to endurance riding.