Everyone knows Billy and his trusty horse, Blaze. And now Aladdin is gently colorizing C. W. Anderson's elegant cover art so that new young readers will have a chance to see Blaze in full color for the first time. Introduce this classic series to your favorite horse lover with the exciting story of Blaze Finds the Trail. Billy and his horse Blaze start out one day for a ride in the forest. But their adventures soon lead them off the trail and deep into the woods. Before they know it, the sky grows dark with a coming storm, and Billy can't find the way out of the woods. Can Blaze find the trail and get them safely home again?

Porlock Vale Riding School played a major part in British equestrianism in the years following the Second World War. Under the auspices of Tony Collings, the establishment pioneered the development of cross-country and dressage. Collings himself was among the earliest competitors at Badminton, the founder of the Horse of the Year Show and trainer of the British 1952 Olympic Three-day Event team. After his tragic death in 1954, the team he left behind at Porlock fought to maintain the high standards he had set and increase the number of courses that he had established. This book presents the history of the riding school in its heyday. It is lavishly illustrated with over 150 images - most of which have never been seen before - which include atmospheric shots of the school and its environs, famous horses and riders, and the 1952 Olympic team in training. Written and compiled by the daughter of the manager of the school, it is essential purchase for anyone with an interest in the heritage of modern equestrianism.

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.

Learn to ride correctly, safely, and confidently

In this breakthrough guide, renowned riding expert Gincy Self Bucklin offers adult riders a unique, proven method for developing a good physical, mental, and emotional relationship with a horse. Whether you're a beginner, a more experienced rider looking to enhance your skills, or someone who used to ride but is reluctant to try again, Bucklin's step-by-step exercises-slowly and carefully practiced first on the ground and then on your horse-will have you riding with confidence and without fear. You'll build a safe and caring partnership with your horse as you:

• Understand how your actions affect your horse
• Improve your form, release tensions, and find balance
• Communicate with your horse to gain his trust
• Stay in charge without being controlling
• Observe your horse's responses and learn from them
• Increase your horse's comfort-both physically and psychologically

"If you' ve ever said to yourself, 'Why can' t I . . . ?, ' you' ll find the answer here to why you can' t, and exactly how to solve the problem. Whatever your level, you'll gain greater understanding and become a better rider and horseman from reading this book."
-George H. Morris, internationally renowned clinician, USEF Show Jumping vice-president, ARIA master instructor, and member of the U. S. Equestrian Federation Board of Directors

"How Your Horse Wants You To Ride is chock full of innovative and practical tools presented in a thoroughly entertaining style. A delightful read for riders at all levels!"
-Jane Savoie, olympic alternate and author of That Winning Feeling!, Cross Train Your Horse, MoreCross Training, and It's Not Just About the Ribbons

Techniques to help riders fine-tune their communication and riding skills

This follow-up to How Your Horse Wants You to Ride helps intermediate to advanced riders improve their communication with their mounts and polish their overall riding skills. Readers get a complete tutorial-much of which can be found nowhere else-on taking their riding skills to the next level.

Unless you're familiar with the sport, you're probably intimidated! This practical book helps you get your child off to a positive start. It answers your questions, helps you avoid common pitfalls, shows you how to get your child into the saddle without saddling yourself with debt, and helps you ensure that your child has a rewarding, enjoyable experience. It takes you step by step from the initial "get acquainted" period through decisions and purchases you need to make as your child progresses, covering: Sampling the sport, including package deals that give your child exposure without necessitating a commitment Choosing a stable, riding style, instructor, and course of lessons Comparison shopping to save on equipment and apparel Proceeding through more advanced training Participating in horse shows or other competitions Buying a horse (or not)

On the Fence gives you the inside scoop on how to help your child get started and progress as a rider. It shows you how your child can enjoy horseback riding in a way that suits her, your family's lifestyle, and your budget.

This book is a welcome relief for millions of riders. More than six million people in the U.S. ride horses, and many riders at all levels suffer from chronic back pain. Complete with photos and illustrations, this spiral-bound, take-anywhere book prescribes a unique core muscle workout with three progressive, easy-to-follow exercise routines to help riders develop a balanced and aligned body with strong core muscles to secure spinal alignment and stability. Riders minimize the risk of injury, maximize performance, eliminate back pain and post-riding soreness, and have a more pleasurable riding experience. Readers can take each of the exercise routines anywhere on three gatefold, tear-out posters.

Drawing on the theories of the old masters of dressage, Lessons in Lightness: The Art of Educating the Horse shows how both horse and rider can greatly benefit from traditional dressage techniques and exercises. Written by a thirty-year veteran horse trainer, this is the only book that takes the core elements of classical dressage and applies them as the basis for good general horsemanship today.
With this step-by-step program, both horse and rider learn from each other. The rider is taught to focus on subtle nuances of communication, while the horse develops gymnastically so he can respond correctly to the aids. Once the horse masters the basic exercises, the rider not only has a very ridable horse but one that can perform and advance in almost any discipline for which it is suited - from dressage and show jumping to Western pleasure and performance riding.
Inside you'll learn:
How to teach the horse to release inner tension
How to develop the horse gymnastically to facilitate relaxation, create flexibility, and build strength
How to enhance the horse's true and natural gaits
How to school the horse in hand and how to ride all the lateral movements
How to build engagement for advanced work
No other single source in the marketplace today provides the level of detail that readers will find in this book.

Beginning with equine evolution and domestication, Dr. Miller and Rick Lamb focus on the contributions of such classical horsemen as Xenophon, Pluvinel, nineteenth-century "whisperers, tamers, and professors," and modern masters like the Dorrances, Buck Brannaman, Pat Parelli, John Lyons, and their disciples, and the connection between rodeo and natural horsemanship. The authors describe how the horse's mind works, how horses learn, and how the revolution has used those principles, especially with regard to a training regimen for newborn foals developed by Dr. Miller that produces positive results to last a lifetime. These training methods include new techniques in riding, such as preliminary groundwork and the independent seat, as well as visualization and other aspects of sport psychology, yoga, and allied disciplines. Appendices assess innovations in hoof care, nutrition, and veterinary treatment, including so-called "alternative therapies."

Dressage Masters takes the reader into four of the greatest training stables in Europe. The master instructors express their philosophies and practices with regard to training horses and riders, preparing for and taking part in competitions, and the state of dressage in the United States and elsewhere in the world. They also share fascinating and enlightening stories about their own education and the triumphs and hurdles encountered along their paths to success.
The trainers are:
Klaus Balkenhol: Olympic individual bronze and twice team gold medal winner, who coached the German Olympic gold medal team and the USA Olympic bronze medal team; Ernst Hoyos: trained Ulla Salzgeber, winner of Olympic individual silver and bronze and two team gold medals, and Lisa Wilcox, member of the United States Equestrian Team bronze medal squad; Dr. Uwe Schulten-Baumer: trained Nicole Uphoff and Isabell Werth, each the winner of four Olympic gold medals. Isabell Werth also won two individual silver medals. These two riders are tied for the Olympic equestrian record of four gold medals. He also trained his son, Dr. Schulten-Baumer, Jr, winner of the Alternate Olympics individual silver and team gold, as well as an individual silver and team gold at the World Championships; George Theodorescu: trainer of many top international teams and riders, including his daughter Monica, three- time Olympic team gold medalist and twice World Cup champion.
Each interview includes insightful descriptions and sequence photographs of exercises and other teaching and competition techniques.
Already eagerly anticipated by the international dressage community, DRESSAGE MASTERS is destined to become both aninstant and a perennial classic in the literature of classical horsemanship.

No matter which style of horseback riding we do, our foundation is the seat--the rider's lower-body position that permits communication and control with the horse. A good seat, to which every rider aspires, is the result of coordinating one's body with the horse at rest or in motion. And although the process is the first thing a rider learns, perfecting a good seat often takes many years of study and effort.
Although many instruction manuals delve into the subject, until now there has not been a book entirely devoted to developing a seat that is applicable to all styles of riding. In The Seamless Seat, veteran instructor Kathleen Schmitt begins with a discussion of how we learn in terms of creating an environment in which we can understand and then build a good seat. She goes on to show how human and equine anatomy interact, creating the "platform" that is fundamental to a secure seat. Elements of such approaches as Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the Alexander Technique are also discussed.
How the horse moves at the walk, trot, canter, and gallop, as well as its position at the halt and rein-back and its movement during transitions between gaits--all have a bearing on the rider's form and control. Those elements lead to the various types of seats: the passive, active, resisting, and unilateral, and when each one is appropriate. They in turn lead to the rider's leg and arm positions and the rein and auxiliary aids, all of which become optimally effective when the secure "seamless" seat has been achieved.
Whether your discipline is English or Western riding for pleasure or for competition, The Seamless Seat will make you a more educated and capable horseman.

This is a comprehensive handbook of all aspects of horse tack and equipment: design, purpose, fit, function and problem solving. Whether riders are looking for guidance through the extensive choice of equipment available or want to solve specific problems and make their horse go better, "Horse Tack Bible" offers clear and impartial advice. It covers everything from the well-known traditional gear to the latest technical advances and designs, and English to Western tack. It also includes tips from top trainers and riders such as Lyn Russell, Clayton Fredericks and Janette Brakewell.

First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This is a coach in a book: Coaching and riding guidance from a highly sought-after equestrian trainer, teacher, and Olympic athlete. It features a highly visual presentation designed to appeal to junior and/or amateur riders, as well as their parents, partners, and support team. It presents the core fundaments of classic, American-style Hunter Seat Riding and Jumping along with Peter Leone's personal tips on preparing mentally as well as physically for high-level competition. Special features include Leone's "sticky phrases" for increasing mental concentration; checklists for evaluating rider progress; and inspiring full-colour photographs of top competitive athletes in action (including the author). The guidance and lessons are accompanied by full-colour photography and inspirational examples.

Jane Houghton Brown shows how to teach both horse and rider to successfully clear show jumps and cross-county fences with confidence--at all stages of horse and rider development from novice rider to advanced-level competitor. The book will serve as a specific reference for the career instructor following the British Horse Society examination system. For the rider, the book will also be a manual for the training of young horses or the retraining of older horses. This book shows how successful techniques can be taught effectively at all levels of competence, setting out key points, objectives and solutions to problems at all stages, including how to tackle fear and build confidence.

A growing number of individuals with special needs are discovering the benefits of therapies and activities involving horseback riding. Special Needs, Special Horses, by Naomi Scott, offers information about the amazing results possible with therapeutic riding, or hippotherapy. From recreational riding for individuals with disabilities to the competitions some riders enter (and win), Scott describes the various techniques of the process and its benefits to the physically and mentally challenged. The book explores the roles of the instructors, physical therapists, volunteers, and the horses, and explains carriage driving, vaulting, and educational interactions with horses. Scott profiles individuals involved in the therapy, including clients whose special needs arose from intrauterine stroke, cerebral palsy, transverse myelitis, Parkinson's disease, paralysis, sensory integration dysfunction, multiple sclerosis, shaken baby syndrome, sensory damage, stroke, seizures, infantile spasms, Down syndrome, and autism. Special Needs, Special Horses is an excellent guide for the families of the many who do - or could - enjoy improved lives from therapeutic riding. It will also appeal to practitioners of therapeutic riding as an overview of their profession.

A horse-handling clinician's time-tested techniques for effectively preventing and solving common horse problems. Develop a willing partnership between horse and human.
This book includes the most common problems people consistently seem to have with their horses including: groundwork, riding foundation, trailer-loading, barn-sour, spooking, crossing water and bridges, herd-bound, pulling back when tied and much, much more.

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.

April 1945. As Allied bombs rain down on Europe, a 400-year-old institution looks set to be wiped off the face of the Earth. The famous white Lipizzaner stallions of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, unique and precious animals representing centuries of careful breeding, are scattered across rural Austria and Czechoslovakia in areas soon to be swallowed up by Soviet forces - there, doubtless, to become rations for the Red Army. Their only hope lies with the Americans: what if a small, highly mobile US task force could be sent deep behind German lines, through fanatical SS troops, to rescue the horses before the Soviets arrive. Just five light tanks, a handful of armoured cars and jeeps, and 300 battle-weary GIs must plunge headlong into the unknown on a rescue mission that could change the course of European history. So begins Operation Cowboy, the greatest Second World War story that has never been fully told. GIs will join forces with surrendered German soldiers and liberated prisoners of war to save the world's finest horses from fanatical SS and the ruthless Red Army in an extraordinary battle during the last few days of the war in Europe.

If you are considering buying a horse or are about to receive a pony on loan, this superbly illustrated book will guide you through constructions that will benefit both animal and rider. May projects are discussed, along with step-by-step instructions on how to build them. Topics covered include accommodation, as well as background information on planning permission; post-and-rail fencing; dealing with destructive equines; easy to build, novice cross-country jumps; a step-by-step guide to building a pair of show-jump wings; and advice on purchasing the correct materials.

The relationship between horse owners, riders and their horses can be a wonderful and very close experience. Most riders will encounter problems from time to time, which they attempt to correct, not always successfully, by seeking solutions in the riding school or by talking to horse whisperers. This book explores how mutual trust and respect form the basis of a fulfilling partnership. Every horse needs a trustworthy leader. A rider in whom the horse has no confidence forces the animal to take charge. As soon as a rider understands this balance of power, he or she can establish a small herd relationship as the basis for a successful partnership, leading to a true friendship with their equine companion. This book explains why ranking is so important, and how to establish it. It promotes a sense of partnership and friendship with horses. It explores the challenges for the human leader. It explains how communication through energy transfer can work.

This title covers all facets of lateral work as a foundation for a classical training programme. Lateral work is an essential part of any training programme leading to a supple horse. This book offers a step-by-step guide through all of the lateral movements, introducing exercises to prepare horse and rider for the first lateral movements, through to training exercises, as well as stretching and loosening exercises. The exercises are intended for all types of horses - not just those preparing for competition. Following the many examples provided, the rider is taught how to structure a training session, how to ask the horse clearly for the required movements, and with the help of lateral work to systematically educate the horse.

Most horses benefit from free jumping--it encourages freedom of movement, increases muscular strength, and improves coordination and jumping technique. Using this practical book containing many helpful illustrations, the reader will gain a better understanding of how to prepare for and carry out free jumping, while developing an eye for the horse's general improvement during training.