My $100 Chapters gift card has been spent. It took a long time for me to make my decisions because I could not for the life of me find a recommended horse related book list that didn't include sci fi, fantasy, or kid's books and it was painful sifting through the individual reviews one by one. Currently, my interest lies in training and competing young horses. So for now, this list will contain the books I've read that I've found really valuable in that regard. I have a pretty extensive collection, though there are many I haven't read that I'm sure deserve a spot on this list. If there is some interest in my favorite horse related fiction let me know and I'll post that too. This blog is getting a bit off track, so I'll let that list wait for a later date.
In no particular order:
This book is great in that there's common sense advice that transcends any specific discipline. The author is pretty much the go to guy for eventing and has many accolades as a rider and trainer (understatement of the day). Add to that his talent for writing, and I end up a little jealous. You could read this book knowing nothing about the sport, and by the end you'll feel like you are well on your way to competing. For more experienced riders, there's still an abundant amount of information. I love the competition photos in this one, the advice for getting your horse fit, and the sample practice exercises.
"Dressage With Kyra" Kyra Kyrklund and Jytte Lemkow
Again, an excellent introductory book, and also one with a lot of advice for experienced riders. Again, Kyra is an immensely experienced rider and trainer. I like this book's logical approach from the basics to Olympic level. The author makes it seem so simple when in reality it's anything but. For those of you, like me, who are easily confused by complicated descriptions and esoteric terms, this is the book for you. There are tons of illustrated diagrams of the more difficult concepts, lots of pictures, and you can't beat Kyra's straightforward, simple, approach. If only there was a little more advice for when things don't go according to the book!
"101 Exercises From Top Riders" Compiled by Jaki Bell
This one doesn't exactly tell you how to train your horse, but instead, takes useful exercises from some of the world's best riders. I like how each exercise comes with a diagram, a written description of what you should be accomplishing in the horses' training and what can go wrong and how to fix it. Very handy, and excellent for referring to when you have a particular training problem you'd like to address. I only wish it came in a small waterproof version that I could refer to on horseback.
"Hunter Seat Equitation" George H. Morris
No list would be complete without this one. George Morris is THE guy to go to for hunter or jumper advice, or even horse care, or even, well, pretty much anything. This book is irreplaceable as far as I'm concerned. Once again, we're getting advice from the best of the best. George Morris is a well known rider, trainer, coach, and author. Again, we have a straightforward, common sense approach, with no magical formulas. Pretty much all you need is some talent (I wish!), and a ton of dedication, self discipline and a commitment to doing the best for you and your horse. I love that this book doesn't deal strictly with as the title suggests "Hunt Seat Equitation". There is a lot of very valuable advice on the initial training and flat work necessary for the horse, and of course the training and fitness necessary for the rider to be successful. Again, everything proceeds in a logical manner with lots of photos so you can go from knowing next to nothing to having a fairly good grasp of what you need to do to be successful.
"Training the Young Horse" Pippa Funnel
Once again, an author who knows what she's talking about...I'm sensing a trend here! Another book that I couldn't do without. I love the photos in this one. This is one of the few 'How to" books where the pictures don't always depict a perfect moment in time. Pippa's inclusion of the not so perfect moments and her resulting critiques of herself and the horses is very refreshing and insightful. We start from the basics all the way up to some advanced level training and I just love the no nonsense, just do it approach she has. Some of the photos show horses that are a bit more lively than most of us would like to ride, yet she treats it as a normal part of training and doesn't make a fuss about it. Very inspiring.
There are about a million other books with a lot of useful advice, particularly some of the classical dressage trainers. I'll be quite honest though, most of these types of books can be quite dry and I end up picking and choosing what I read out of them. The above books are the ones that held my interest from cover to cover.
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