“When there are gaps in understanding, confusion, and thus frustration, worry, and even anger are sure to follow.”Horses often grow up with these “gaps” in their training and education. When this happens, it can be difficult for the horse to be a willing partner to a human, and he may need to be “restarted”—that is, given a second chance to learn what is expected of him and how he can find a place where he is confident and comfortable both beside a handler and beneath a rider.In order to restart a horse successfully, we need to know how to retrace the steps the horse’s education has taken and find the path missed the first time around. In this book, the first of the expansive library of books penned by Rashid to include full-color photographs, readers are guided through practical steps for restarting horses, using Rashid’s simple yet impactful concepts derived from years of study of martial arts. We walk along with him as he proceeds with the quiet sorting of experience that provides the insight we need to give any horse the new beginning he deserves.

    And everything we learnt along the way.

    It’s now fall—nearly a year later. Hannah is at college, making new friends and riding on the IHSA team. Chris is recently back from Europe and competing in the east coast fall shows in hopes of qualifying for the World Cup Finals. Both are trying to forget about each other. At first, they succeed in doing so as Hannah becomes involved with Theo, a basketball player, and also finds herself attracted to Nolan, the lone guy on the IHSA team. Meanwhile, what was supposed to be a European fling with the Princess of Denmark turns more serious when the Princess follows Chris back to U.S. soil. As the colors change and the colder weather sets in, forgetting about each other becomes harder and harder for Chris and Hannah. Will they be able to stick to their plans to live their own lives—or will they come back together?

    

    Barbaro was a favorite to be the twelfth until May 20, 2006, at the Preakness Stakes, when his jockey, Edgar Prado pulled him up a couple of hundred yards from the starting gate. Subsequent examination revealed that he had virtually exploded bones in his right rear leg so badly that under normal conditions he would have been euthanized right on the track. But his owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, chose another path, one filled with anxiety and tears—but also courageous determination to save his life.This touching, soaring book—filled with insights from Barbaro's trainers, breeders, caretakers, and owners—follows Barbaro from foal to colt to champion to perfect patient. But In the end it is not just a story of a down-but-not-out champion, but of human beings at their very best.

    It's a smart, honest, on-target kick-in-the-pants, guaranteed to rev your engines as you see how a few changes in your life, a few smart choices and strategic moves, can transform you from a run-of-the-mill rider into a GOOD one. How does Denny Emerson know what makes a good rider? For one thing, he IS one—he is the only rider in the world to have won both a gold medal in international eventing and a Tevis Cup buckle in endurance. Plus, he's been around great riders, and taught those on their way to becoming great, for over 40 years. How will what Denny knows help YOU become a good rider? It's simple, really. He's boiled the whole thing down into seven broad "Areas of Choice" that collectively determine whether you are a "gonna be" or "you're going to get it done" or whether you'll be stuck in the "wannabe" category for decades. You'll examine how your choice of riding sport may or may not be the best for who you are and where you live, and how those frustrating hurdles known as "life circumstances" don't necessarily hold you back like you think they do. Plus, find out how to build a strong support team by winning people to your cause and choosing the right teachers and mentors. Analyze your physical self (your body, how it is formed and how you care for it) and your intellectual self (your "horse smarts" and how you are adding to them or not) and apply the results to your "gonna-be-good" equation. Learn to take a good hard look at your partner—your horse—and think critically about his ability to help you attain your riding goals. In addition, discover the nine key character traits of successful riders and how you can learn to call each one of them your own. Along the way you'll read the stories of 23 of the world's top riders from different disciplines and sports—including dressage, reining, driving, show jumping, endurance, hunter/jumper, and eventing—and how they "got good" despite the same kinds of challenges and setbacks you face in your own day-to-day riding. You'll get an inside look at their path to success, as well as their very best tips for how to "make it" in the horse industry.

    They evoke a full range of emotions like hope and courage and valor. They can gallop straight to you with neck arched and tail flagged, and then instantly melt to a stop—just to share your breath.” We’ve been besotted with horses since they had three toes. From the popular Relaxed and Forward blog comes training advice combining the everyday fundamentals of dressage with mutual listening skills. Blake writes with a profound respect for horses and an articulate voice for humans, blending equal parts inspiration and un-common sense. It’s serious training communicated with humor and lightness, because horses like us when we laugh. Most riders want to build a better relationship with their horse. These short essays are geared as much toward attitude as technique, and include topics ranging from reading calming signals from your horse to using breath as your best communication tool. Blake’s writing uses clear descriptions, storytelling, and humor to inspire meaningful, positive communication. Less correction and more direction. Horses are honest; they answer us in kind. If we want a better response, a more fluid conversation and relationship with a horse, we have to be the ones to change first. The other word for that is leadership. By the author of Stable Relation, A Memoir of One Woman’s Spirited Journey Home, by Way of the Barn. “Excitement and delight surge through me every time I see Anna Blake's name as an author. Her writing is filled with deep understanding and heart connection, seasoned with a lively dash of humor. Reading her work is like giving myself a gift...one I can open again and again.” --Kim Walnes, winning USET Three Day Eventer, Riding Instructor/Trainer, and Life Coach.

    Beginning with the three golden rules of dressage training--clarity, consistency, and kindness--Jane Savoie walks you through her four stages of dressage education.Stage One is an introductory course in the basics, and Stage Two covers the nuts and bolts of training, including transitions, school figures, and movements.By the time you finish Stage Two, you'll have a happy, responsive horse that understands going forward and being straight; accepts contact so you can communicate with him through the reins; moves in a regular rhythm and a steady tempo in all three gaits; and can do transitions, circles, and turns, back up, lengthen his stride, and go sideways.In Stage Three, Jane translates the secrets surrounding the half-halt, enabling you to put your horse on the bit, and adding a whole new dimension to your training. You'll even be ready for some fancy stuff in Stage Four.Don't worry, everything in this book is well within the capacity of most horses. We're simply talking about the work required in the United States Equestrian Federation's (USEF) dressage tests up to Third Level, which concludes with collected, medium, and extended gaits; advanced lateral movements; and flying changes.

    He has represented our country as an athlete and a coach and, at one time or another, instructed many of our nation’s best horsemen and women. His carefully chosen, perfectly enunciated words are notoriously powerful. They can raise you up or cut you to the quick. His approval can be a rainmaker; his derision can end a career.But as much as people know and respect (or, perhaps, fear) the public face of George Morris, he has lived, in other ways, a remarkably private life, keeping his own personal struggles with insecurity, with ambition, and with love behind closed doors. It is only now that he has chosen, in his own words, to share the totality of his life—the very public and the incredibly private—with the world. This engrossing autobiography, the real story of the godlike George Morris, beautifully demonstrates his ultimate humanity.

    But when fellow competitor Frederick Twemlow snatches away their top horse, everything they have ever worked for is on the brink of falling apart before their eyes. Frederick Twemlow is gorgeous, rich, popular and at the top of the eventing ranks. When he sets his sights on something, he doesn't stop until he gets it. So when he begins to make eyes at Elsa, they both know it's only a matter of time before Frederick gets what he wants. Desperate to despise him for tipping their yard into turmoil, and to prove her loyalty to Sophia; for how long can Elsa resist his charms?

    With straightforward instructions and clear arena maps, this guide can be hung on a pole and easily referenced from the saddle. In addition to clearly articulated goals and progressively difficult variations, each exercise also includes encouraging advice on what the rider should keep in mind while jumping. Saddle up and get ready to fly through the air with grace and confidence.

    In these memoirs, he tells the story of the passion for horse-riding which revolutionised his life and made him the champion he is today. Carl grew up on the remote Channel Island of Sark, moving to the UK mainland at the age of 16 to work with horses, mainly as a way to leave home. He could never have predicted what a great affinity he would have for dressage. Carl's career enjoyed a stratospheric rise as he progressed from working as a groom/rider to riding international dressage horses full time for renowned owners Dr and Mrs Bechtolsheimer, to training his own horses, and other top riders, to international success. Carl's early career revealed someone capable of monumental achievements. He provides a rare insight into both the people and the horses that drove him to victory.

    Equine Fitness will have your horse looking and feeling his best with a series of fun exercise routines specifically designed to enhance his strength, stamina, and agility. Clear step-by-step instructions and detailed illustrations make the exercises easy to follow, and the book includes a handy set of pocket-sized cards that you can use in the ring. Jec Ballou’s simple conditioning program promises lasting results for healthy horses and satisfied riders.

    Focusing on the 1999 Derby winner Charismatic, Mitchell traces this horse's amazing and ultimately tragic story, from the birth of a foal through its surprising rise to fame. Mitchell also follows the major players in Charismatic's life, including the family who bred him, the trainer, the owners, and the famed jockey Chris Antley, whose own story is more tragic than that of his horse. Through these interlocking stories a sense of familiarity with the key players in the industry evolves, as well as a greater understanding of the heart and soul of a sport that has fascinated human beings for centuries.

    A university graduate and modern pentathlete, he suffered both a career–ending injury and a painful breakup, leaving him suddenly adrift. The son of prominent Canadian equestrians, Maynard decided to spend the next year as a “working student.” In the horse industry, working students aspire to become professional riders or trainers, and willingly trade labor for hands–on education. Here Maynard chronicles his experiences–good and bad–and we follow along as one year becomes three, what began as a casual adventure gradually transforms, and a life's purpose comes sharply into focus. Over time, Maynard evolved under the critical eyes of Olympians, medal winners, and world–renowned figures in the horse world, including Anne Kursinski, Johann Hinnemann, Ingrid Klimke, David and Karen O'Connor, Bruce Logan, and Ian Millar. He was ignored, degraded, encouraged, and praised. He was hired and fired, told he had the “wrong body type to ride” and that he had found his “destiny.” He got married and lost loved ones. Through it all he studied the horse, and human nature, and how the two can find balance. And in that journey, he may have found himself.