Nuno Oliveira

[_DressageDiva]

The instructor that I fly in from the west coast every 4-6 weeks from April - September is from Portugal and underwent the FEI Training course there, which is heavily based off Nuno Oliveira’s methods and theories. He and I were discussing something, and he recommended a book to me, but i’m having trouble finding it online. I’m curious if maybe someone knows where I might be able to find it, or perhaps someone owns it and has ridden it from back to front countless times and no longer needs it. I would borrow my instructors, however his isn’t in English.

I believe the book’s title translates to “From an Old Rider to Young Riders” or something of the sort. His copy has a hand-drawn example of Nuno riding a Piaffe or Passage… I realize this is vague - any suggestions??

[pluvinel]

Perhaps this is the book
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Trainer-Young-Trainers-first/dp/0959189939

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/718397.From_An_Old_Master_Trainer_To_Young_Trainers

[Velvet]

Love it when people say they studied his methods. People who rode with him for years are still in the dark about a lot of his methods since he wasn’t a great teacher. He was a much better trainer.

[_DressageDiva]

Ooooof!! Yes that one is it I suppose, but I can’t spend almost an entire months board on a book! lol. Thank you for your research.

I have to agree Velvet, and my instructor has also said that himself. If they had modern video technologies back then, I feel we could learn just as much through watching video of him… sadly the footage is quite blurry given the technology at the time.

[snowrider]

I think you can learn a tremendous amount from his videos. How active his leg and seat are and how quiet his hands. He creates the bend and softness in the neck and jaw from the leg entirely. He rides the hot horse from an active leg until they relax and soften the ribcage. A trusting and brave way to ride and so different from many riders. He carries the collection from his hip. Watch the bend in his knee and hip and the carriage in his torso change and the corresponding level of collection in the horse. He doesn’t need the reins much because the horses are so attuned to his seat and leg. I think it is all there in the existing video.

Also I was relieved to learn that that you can be a riding master and spend most of your time staring at the horses’ ears

[CFFarm]

Love this!

Also I was relieved to learn that that you can be a riding master and spend most of your time staring at the horses’ ears :)[/QUOTE]

[merrygoround]

Snowrider-wonderful observations. As a rider he carries himself, but still stays plugged into the saddle.

This is an approach I like. Different from the approach of setting the hand and driving the horse up to it.

[_DressageDiva]

Yes yes, I absolutely agree and didn’t intend to discredit the videos available to us, just simply being greedy

[LookmaNohands]

If you are into classical dressage, there is a well respected classical dressage trainer and instructor in Rixyville, VA who rode with Nuno in Portugal for 10 years.

Here is her book:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Legacy-Master-Nuno-Oliveira/dp/0933316348

[Lusoluv]

And Frank Grelo is still teaching at his Lusitano farm in Caledon, ONtario. He studied under Nuno as a fellow Portuguese rider in his youth before moving to Canada in the late 70s. As quiet and classical a rider as you’ll ever see. Never a harsh aid of any kind, though horses melt under his invisible aids.

[snowrider]

[QUOTE=merrygoround;8466564]
Snowrider-wonderful observations. As a rider he carries himself, but still stays plugged into the saddle.

This is an approach I like. Different from the approach of setting the hand and driving the horse up to it.[/QUOTE]

Also easier on the riders spine! I watch some modern riders and want to buy stock in a company that makes artificial discs.

[CFFarm]

Bettina Drummond rode with NO for years. Doesn’t she do clinics? Here she rides with Axle Steiner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRlNnF1DZvQ

[Velvet]

[QUOTE=merrygoround;8466564]
Snowrider-wonderful observations. As a rider he carries himself, but still stays plugged into the saddle.

This is an approach I like. Different from the approach of setting the hand and driving the horse up to it.[/QUOTE]

Ugh. I hate the term “plugged” being used all the time these days. It seems to get interpreted by new riders as jamming seat bones into the saddle and locking the lower back. I think we need to create a new, and better, term.

[MysticOakRanch]

[QUOTE=Velvet;8467841]
Ugh. I hate the term “plugged” being used all the time these days. It seems to get interpreted by new riders as jamming seat bones into the saddle and locking the lower back. I think we need to create a new, and better, term. :)[/QUOTE]

Connected? I agree I think too many people think plug = jammed or forced.

[CFFarm]

If you can’t find that one (I would love a copy too)! get this one:

“Reflections On Equestrian Art”

Not a how to book but I refer to it all the time. Especially when I find myself getting frustrated.

[xQHDQ]

I’m in the middle of reading Sylvia Loch’s book The Classical Rider and read The Classical Seat last year. She is a great fan of Nuno Oliveira and is of the same school, so to speak. I’m finding her philosophy and methods extremely helpful.

[Equibrit]

Try this; https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/382289.Nuno_Oliveira

http://www.sylvialoch.com/page4.html