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Equestrian Riding Techniques Reading Material

Hello! I am a returning rider - learned a lot in my youth and then had a good span of 20 years off from riding, and am now getting back into it. I am currently in weekly group lessons with ladies the instructor thought were my skill level, but I find the instructor doing a lot of exercises that use skills that I am not familiar with (reflection and half halts were some more recent examples). I would like to do some reading up on these things so I don’t keep sounding like such a newbie. Does anyone have any good book recommendations for these types of things? I have tried researching it on my own but my local library does not have a good selection of horse books.

TIA!

Your instructor is your best source of information on these things. If you don’t ask questions, your instructor will not know that you need more explanations.

There are two different kinds of knowledge gaps in riders.

It’s possible you are a competent rider with good balance and timing, but you didn’t take formal lessons as a kid, and so missed learning some of these fine points and terms. But if you look like you can ride, people might be expecting that you must also know these points. For instance, when I went back to riding lessons as an adult, I did not know what a 20 metre circle was :slight_smile: though in fact as a teen I had taught my pony flying lead changes riding circles and figure eights.

On the other hand, it’s also possible that you are still struggling with balance and timing.

I would say the solution to both possible situations is the same. Book a private lesson with your coach. Have her go through all the moves used in your group lessons, and determine if (a) they are within your skill level, you just need some clarification on the terms and techniques or (b) they are not within your skill level and you need to move down a level.

As far as books, there are many books on basic equitation out there. Visit a local tack store to browse. There are also many videos. But the problem with trying to learn a physical skill from a book, is that the idea you get from the printed word may be totally different from what the instructor wants.

Here are some on-line glossaries:

http://www.dressage-academy.com/dressage-glossary.php

http://www.statelinetack.com/statelinetack-articles/horseback-riding-terminology-for-beginners/10076/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_equestrian_terms#H

http://www.nodarider.org/education/dressageterminology.pdf

I don’t know how useful these will be to you.

There is a lot of variation between what different instructors mean by terms like “half halt.” You can start Googling this if you want to see what I mean :).

As far as “reflection,” that’s not a term I have ever heard used in regards to riding, so you must have misunderstood.

Your instructor should be your guide here.

That book by col. P

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Training-Horse-Rider-Podhajsky/dp/0879802359

And books do help sometimes; my first instructor was useless, and i learned what i was supposed to do to sit the trot from a book :slight_smile:

Podhajsky is great, and this will help you get there-

http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Seat-Guide-Everyday-Rider/dp/0044401779/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457828082&sr=1-1&keywords=the+classical+seat

Commonsense Horsemanship.

The Pony Club manuals.

I had a horrible time in her clinics but some of Mary Wanless books are good. Start with Ride with your Mind Essentials.

If you are interested in dressage try Jane Savoie’s Dressage 101 and sign up for her newsletter www.janesavoie.com

Another good one is Lessons with Lendon (Grey)

I thought this was interesting
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TXS4DN0/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1

What are you riding? For basic dressage, Sally Swift’s Centered Riding is good. For hunt seat, George Morris. I will say that when I came back, riding had become jargon to some extent. To the initiated, jargon is a quick and easy way to describe a series of actions. To the uninitiated, jargon is mysterious. It all sounds so very scientific, when it really isn’t.

The Pony Club Manuals are quite good. So are the English versions of the German FN riding manuals. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_16/188-5906929-3462044?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=german+national+equestrian+federation&sprefix=German+National+%2Caps%2C1793

I found this book to be an excellent breakdown of what to do with your body and how the horse’s body should feel in response. It’s oriented to dressage but obviously dressage basics apply to all disciplines:
Riding in the Moment
And de Kunffy is great to read. I liked this one