This is a frank and encouraging guide aimed at everyone who knows their horse could be better. Key requirements of a perfect riding horse are identified and then explored in depth with a detailed breakdown of how to train each element. The perfect horse requires the perfect rider, and simple yet effective ways to become the rider your perfect horse deserves are discussed so you can train both yourself and your horse. This book takes the reader all the way from choosing the right horse through mastering the basics, lateral work and introducing jumping, all presented in a contemporary 'magazine-style' format. It also provides 'inside' knowledge and essential ingredients with clear step-by-step photography and text to help readers create their perfect riding horse for any discipline or level of ability.

This book offers a comprehensive gallery of ideas for improving the training of any horse.The chapters deal with a range of topics progressing from improving stable manners and ridden skills, to checking your own riding habits and honing your mental approach to schooling.It is published in an accessible format with easy-to-access information and cross-referenced advice.It is fully illustrated in colour throughout, with practical photography accompanying the detailed advice at every stage.

Designed to help develop a bond between the horse and the trainer, which leads to greater trust and the ability to get the most from the relationship. This book includes step-by-step guides on how to improve the horse's suppleness, obedience and education from the groundwork level. It teaches the trainer how to tune in to the subtle body language of the horse and communicate with it in a much clearer way. It also contains techniques developed and applied by top trainers and equine behaviourists.

Riding in perfect balance with the lightest application of aids is something most riders strive to achieve. But without the help of an instructor by your side at all times, it is easy for bad habits to develop unnoticed. With over 100 photographs showing common riding faults - such as tipping forward, weak lower leg position, heavy hands and incorrect application of the aids - this is an outstanding guide for anyone aiming for grace, balance and accuracy in their riding. Each of the 100 features includes a technique to work on and advice on what might go wrong and how to put it right. Focus is also given to the right mental approach, rounding off this complete riding problem solver. Classical riding instructor Susan McBane offers simple yet effective advice on how to identify and remedy 100 of the most common riding problems, with a straightforward and accessible approach to horses. Designed in easy-to-reference sections, 100 Ways to Improve Your Riding is the ultimate equestrian problem solver, helping you to get the most out of your ability and your horse. 'The instruction given in the book is ... based on sound classical principles ... a good buy for just about any rider and riding teacher.' The Classical Riding Club

Winner of the American Horse Publication's Best Equine Book Award of the Year (2004)
Finalist for the 2005 Ben Franklin Award
Spanning time and technique, THE ART OF THE WESTERN SADDLE is a celebration and visual feast of the graceful artistry of the western saddler and his craft. Filled with detailed photographs and illustrations, this book celebrates the saddle as a decorative hallmark of subtle beauty while fulfilling the utility of its principal purpose. The ability for early man to domesticate and ride the horse created the rapid advancement of man's capability to travel and explore. The saddle-the epitome of form following function-evolved to meet the utilitarian needs of the rider and his tasks, be they work or pleasure.
Illustrated with historic and contemporary examples of saddle style and decoration, THE ART OF THE WESTERN SADDLE highlights the work of makers such as Visalia Stock Saddle Company, Meana, Miles City Saddlery, Porter, Hamley, Edward H. Bohlin, McCabes, and Keyston Bros., along with contemporary makers such as Chas Weldon, Dale Harwood, Chuck Stormes, Don Butler, Chuck Treon, Jeremiah Watt, and many others. Many saddles of the stars are featured from the golden age of the Hollywood Western; these include outfits belonging to the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Barbara Stanwyck, Ken Maynard, and Buck Jones.
THE ART OF THE WESTERN SADDLE also provides a look at the many exquisite and unpublished examples of the finest in silver and gold overlay and filigree saddle silver created by the West's preeminent metalsmiths. Featuring 300 photographs, this volume is an absolute must for all equestrians, as well as for collectors and admirers of thisunique and totally American craft.

This detailed, practical guide to handling, breaking and training young horses, based on the experiences of a top trainer and world-class competitor, is an invaluable aid and source of inspiration. The whole process of raising a young horse successfully at times seems fraught with difficulties. When should one introduce the roller, and then the saddle, prior to backing? At what stage should lungeing start? How does one avoid over-facing a young horse, and asking too much too soon? Loriston-Clarke answers all these questions and many more. Backed with details on how she trains her own top-class horses and the problems she has overcome, she gives sound, practical advice on every aspect of working with youngsters. Jennie Loriston-Clarke was one of Britain's leading dressage riders and trainers and has competed in four Olympic Games. A Fellow of the British Horse Society, she also holds the National Pony Society Diploma, and is an examiner for both societies. Jannie lives in Whitchurch, Hampshire, England.

Girl on a Pony is the gritty, humorous, unflinchingly courageous story of five children growing up on a cattle ranch in the remote Valley of the Dry Cimarron in northeastern New Mexico near the little border town of Kenton, Oklahoma. Narrated years later by the oldest daughter, LaVerne, it is a vivid and authentic portrait of ranching life between the two world wars, from 1925, when the family moved to the Goodson Ranch from a half-dugout claim shack in Colorado, to 1936, when they began to disperse.

During those years, people in the region endured blizzards, sick and maddened animals, drought, the Dust Bowl, and the Great Depression-with stoic good humor. In Girl on a Pony, cowboys go about their daily tasks, teaching the children all they know. Women endure the hardships of life in an isolated area, coping with the brutal labor ranch life requires of them, and maintaining touches of beauty and civilization where they can-creating lawns from relentlessly rocky soil, holding dances for their children, and painstakingly tatting when all else fails.