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California Riding Magazine • April, 2010 Book Reviews |
Gallop To Freedom Gallop To Freedom is not your everyday, how-to-train-your-horse kind of book. It is part memoir, part biography (people and horses), mixed with a bit of philosophy as well as a guide to working with horses in a way that considers the horse’s point of view. The authors of this book developed the Cavalia show, an equine spectacular currently performing in Miami. Sadly, I have not had the experience of attending a live Cavalia event. What I know of these performers I have gathered from websites and YouTube videos. From what I have seen, and from speaking to people who have attended a performance, Cavalia consists of a group of presentations that beautifully celebrate collaboration and mutual enjoyment between people and horses. The authors live lives that I dreamed of living as a horseless, urbanite kid. I fantasized about riding bareback at a gallop through beautiful countryside on a proud stallion with tons of hair, and working with stallions at liberty. These are things the authors do routinely, with great flair and the horses clearly enjoying their work. What I’d love to know is: How do they accomplish these feats? The answer to the question is: by investing a lot of time studying, thinking about and working with each individual horse. The book does not so much propose a program of exercise or work as it suggests ways to interact with a horse. It will not directly help you to produce a winning dressage, barrel or trail horse. It will help you improve the relationship you currently enjoy with your horse, fostering more productive performance. There is very valuable information here regarding “reading” your horse and developing a relationship with him based on trust and respect. When outlining their training principles, the authors are clear in their methods of setting boundaries, especially when working with young horses and stallions. I was cheered by the absence of both new-age style language and vague references to making the horse respect you. There are many gorgeous color pictures that augment the text, like a miniature coffee-table book. The more you read this book and reflect on the principles it puts forth, the more valuable you will find it. Reviewer Kathleen Lynde is a veterinarian in Southern California.
The Ultimate Level of Horsemanship: Training Through Inspiration Al Dunning has, as the title of his book proclaims, reached The Ultimate Level of Horsemanship. He and his students have won numerous world titles, reaching a level of excellence that most riders can only dream about. His book is part autobiography, part memoir of great horses he has ridden and part philosophy of his training. What comes through in this book are Dunning’s deep love and respect for the horse. Although Dunning’s background and the stories of his horses are interesting, what I find fascinating are his training insights. Those insights are about forming a relationship between a horse and a human. Dunning makes the point that training is not an exact science. Instead, it is about feel and horse sense, about awareness and understanding. And since horse training is not an exact science, what Dunning shares with us is his philosophy, gained over decades of working with horses. The Ultimate Level of Horsemanship is a book of insights. The value of this book is that it affords the reader a glimpse into how a master horseman approaches horses and training. He encourages the reader to be flexible, have focus, be a great observer, and let the horse lead instead of pushing a specific agenda. Dunning wants readers to visualize what they want because “…what you think is going to happen is what does happen.” For Dunning, showing is the place to test the training because “…pressure inspires our best.” This is a short book, not quite one hundred pages. I read it in one sitting, which also means it kept my attention. The value of this book is that it gave me an insight into how a great horseman approaches working with horses. A highlight of this book for me is the photography by Robert Dawson. From the close-ups of Dunning’s spurs to the photos of him working his horses, they were nothing short of spectacular. Reviewer Dianne Chapman McCleery is a writer and editor who has ridden for the past 10 years with a natural horsemanship trainer in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Equine Fitness An invaluable training tool, Equine Fitness is an extremely well written guide to helping your horses become the best athletes they can be. Author Jec Aristotle Ballou emphasizes the importance of maintaining your horse’s overall fitness in addition to specialized training through a series of easy to understand exercises presented in a step-by-step format with detailed illustrations. In 2005, Ballou published her first book, 101 Dressage Exercises for Horse and Rider, which has been translated into three foreign languages. More recently, she published an article in the February 2010 issue of Dressage Today, titled “Cross Training for the Horse.” This article includes some of the most essential exercises from Equine Fitness, and serves as an introduction to the wealth of knowledge included in the book. Ballou is no stranger to the hard work and planning that are necessary to train to the highest levels. Not only has she successfully competed in dressage, she was also a national champion competitive trail rider. She shares her wealth of knowledge, along with exercises contributed by California Olympian Gina Miles, Betsy Steiner, Manolo Mendez, Jennifer Bryant and others in this marvelous book. Equine Fitness is organized into several sections. First Ballou explains how the muscles, tendons and ligaments work together to keep the horse comfortable. She illustrates how important it is for our horses to develop symmetric muscles, and that exercising a horse with tension will not build strength. Ballou describes how to assess the current fitness level of your horse by paying attention to their sweat patterns. She also gives wonderful suggestions on fitness training for both young horses as well as our elderly equine friends. The reader is shown the difference between conditioning work and schooling the equine athlete in their specialty. Ballou’s golden rule is that you should spend 50 percent of your time schooling your horse, and the other 50 percent conditioning your horse. She also notes that many times, when horses are only schooled in one specialty, they often reach a training plateau due to lack of general fitness. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and think it’s a perfect field guide for riders who are unable to work with an instructor on a regular basis. Ballou offers such wonderful guidance on developing a fitness program for all types of horses. To encourage readers to work with a variety of exercises provided, Ballou includes pull-out cards at the end of the book, which illustrate each exercise with a few bullet points to help you achieve success. This enables you to take the Reviewer Hannah Finder is a dressage and eventing enthusiast from the Central Coast.
Would you like to review a book for California Riding Magazine? We frequently receive review copies of books before they’re available to the general public. They range from beautifully illustrated, coffee table caliber books to training how-tos in every imaginable equestrian subject. You can be one of the first to read these books! Visit www.ridingmagazine.com for more information and to see a list of books available. |
