Best horse riding books according to redditors
We found 45 Reddit comments discussing the best horse riding books. We ranked the 35 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 45 Reddit comments discussing the best horse riding books. We ranked the 35 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Ohooo, prepare yourself - I love them and I will talk about them for DAYS.
They're definitely really special animals. There are a couple mule groups on Yahoo still, as well as a couple message boards like the one I've linked here.
I recommend picking up the book The Natural Superiority of Mules by John Hauer. There are a couple other basic care books out there too that are available on Amazon. They're different to saddle, shoe, feed, and train than horses, and it's really important to spend time bonding with them on the ground- but one that's never been mistreated will seriously love you like a dog and seek you out for attention.
I'm a member of The American Donkey and Mule Society, which I also really recommend if you're looking to get into mules or donkeys. They have a quarterly magazine that they send to all members that's really informative (just not very pretty in terms of printing).
Mules and More Magazine and Western Mule Magazine are also really awesome.
Good luck with finding a long-eared friend! It takes awhile to find one sometimes just because they're not as common as horses, but a good one is seriously worth it's weight in gold.
This is a threshold issue, not a bit issue. You need to work her on controlling her impulses, not use more pain. It takes time, but is not complicated. The only change I would make is either use a full-cheek snaffle or a side-pull- something that has a safe lateral pull which will not pull through her mouth or cause damage. I have had success with a super-S, although that can be a bit severe- wrap the metal part with vetwrap.
The Reason- the "competitiveness" built into racehorses and often tortured into barrel horses in not a healthy one, often. It is based on fear. As a herd animal, being left behind meant being eaten. Using pain to control a reaction to fear creates more fear. I know she probably does love running, but the ROOT of the sudden urge to run is still fear.
Barrel horses are seldom given a chance to develop their speed (MANY EXCEPTIONS, I KNOW) in a healthy manner. I have seen 3 year olds barely 3 months into training ridden in twisted wire gags, ridden with sharp spurs and over-unders. If your horse was raced for many years, then it is DEEPLY ingrained that when she needs to run she NEEDS TO RUN NOW OR IT HURTSSSSSS.
WHAT YOU WANT- You want her to turn to you for instruction when she is startled or unsure. This is conditioning rather than training- meaning you need to make it a reflexive response rather than a conscious decision. Think about how long it would take you to teach yourself to stand on one foot and put your hands on your head instantly whenever you are startled... Teaching a horse to not run when they have the urge makes just as little sense to a horse as that does to us, and takes as much time.
Co-LESSON- You also want to re-set your horse's response to confinement. For the same reasons as above.
BEST RESOURCE- The best resource for both, in my experience, is John Lyon's methods. You don't have to do the round-pen part, but it helps. He has a book titled "Troubleshooting" which briefly describes good fixes for all these problems, and the Ground Control Manual is very in-depth, and worth every penny if you figure to be working with green or young horses in the future. I also like the Tellington method.
BRIEF EXPLANATION: For confinement, you need to go back to the basics of "give to pressure". I know she already seems to know this, but she doesn't retain it under pressure. Work on it every day. I use a clicker and treats to very great affect with abused and skittish horses- it works, but get the book so you don't accidentally create a treat-mugger. (Clicker Training For Your Horse, from the Karen Pryor website) The great thing about clicker training is that you can do a little bit- a minute or two several times throughout your visit with your horse.
For the bolting/barn/herd sour behavior- choose a pattern of basic movements. I do "walk 3 steps, stop, bend left then right, turn right, walk stop, repeat". Having a set of simple exercises you can turn to when your horse is upset is a great way to relax them, turn their attention back onto you, calm YOU, and gives you credibility with the horse. Do these exercises in the arena, a LOT, until you notice that your horse relaxes when you do so. Then, go out of the arena a bit. If she is calm, continue. As soon as she starts to get even the slightest bit tense, do several repetitions of your chosen exercise. If she gets too tense, go back until she is calm. I know it is the presense of the other horse which triggers her bolting, but start this exercise alone. When you can do the whole trail ride, including coming home, with her calm- THEN add another stressor in the form of another horse. Begin again in the arena. Walk side by side, then turn away and put her through the exercises as the other horse continues. Then do this as the horse trots, then canters, then runs away. Do not continue to the next step until she is calm, head down, ears to you, no matter what the other horse does. When the other horse can bolt away from yours, THEN repeat this exercise further and further away from the arena. Remember, you have to pull her head to the side BEFORE she takes more than a step, preferably as soon as she tenses to launch. If you drop the outside rein and pull her head towards your boot, she CANNOT run away with you. Unless you are a pixie and she is a draft horse, you are stronger than just her neck. Don't even try to pull back or make her stop that way. If she continues to freak out, bail off. (practice this!!!!!!!) If she DOES freak out, then you have exceeded her threshold and you need to go back a step or two.
Add these to your early xmas wish list:
http://www.amazon.com/John-Lyons-Troubleshooting/dp/1929164319/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408841539&sr=1-4&keywords=john+lyons
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Horse-Behavior-Training-Book-ebook/dp/B009Z76QE8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408841570&sr=1-1&keywords=tellington-jones
http://www.amazon.com/Clicker-Training-Horse-Alexandra-Kurland/dp/1890948357/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408841597&sr=1-1&keywords=clicker+training+for+your+horse
His self-help book?
I feel like Harry Potter was probably the gateway for a lot of us! Before HP I read Pony Club, Saddle Club, Marguerite Henry novels (horse books), Boxcar Children, etc. So...pretty much 90% horse books.
After (and during) Harry Potter, I read Animorphs, Tamora Pierce (a YA, female-oriented fantasy author), Dinotopia, the YA Star Wars books, etc. etc.
Quite a jump, but one that did stick through adulthood. I do still enjoy horse books, but nowadays they're more like this :)
edit: I realize you may have been just asking authors on the sub - I should mention that I'm not an author. Sorry!
I second Pony Club. Unfortunately the cut-off age is 25. However, Pony Club has some great manuals available that cover everything you will need to know. The manuals come in a set of three, The Beginner Manual (This will be absolutely essential in your case), The Intermediate Manual (This will be nice to have on hand), and The Advanced Manual (And this I wouldn't worry about, but it is a fun read!).
The beginner manual covers everything from basic riding techniques, grooming, tack and tack cleaning, stall cleaning, feeding, anatomy, health, first aid, and more.
Also, most stables cover the basics when you start taking lessons. Obviously they'll teach you the dos and don'ts of handling horses right away, but you'll learn more as you advance. Most instructors will be happy to answer any questions you have about care and management. Any good equestrian knows that is just as important as the riding.
Also, when looking for a stable, try to pick one with a good community of people riding there, and preferably a Pony Club. Knowledgable people are always at the ready to help beginners out. Good luck!
There’s a lot of garbage online, to be honest.
The Pony Club manuals are probably one of the best places to start as Pony Club is very safety focused. Start with the D manual.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1118123786/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_I8YYCb2FZT2N8
Real Riding
Most dressage resources talk about both the horse and the rider, since there is really no way to progress as a dressage rider without understanding how your aids affect the horse, nor to train the horse without good riding. So luckily there are a lot of good rider-focused resources out there, but be prepared to read a bit about the horse side of things in any dressage resources you find.
Some that I'd recommend are:
Your trainer may have other suggestions and will probably be psyched to know that you're excited enough about your riding to do some brushing up outside of lessons, so I'd recommend asking her/him as well.
It's a tough thing to learn from a book and most of my reading is dressage based but I have flipped through Bill Dorrance's book (I think it was this one) and what I remember of it, I liked: http://www.amazon.com/True-Horsemanship-Through-Feel-Second/dp/1599210568/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1421433622&sr=8-2&keywords=ray+hunt
You could try this Mark Rashid book too: http://www.amazon.com/Considering-Horse-Problems-Lessons-Learned/dp/1616081562/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1421434415&sr=8-7&keywords=mark+rashid
Maybe this John Lyons book? http://www.amazon.com/John-Lyons-Bringing-Baby-Progressive/dp/1929164122/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421434443&sr=8-1&keywords=john+lyons
There are a LOT of snake oil salesmen out there selling natural horsemanship. That's because it's really easy to screw up a horse and so there's a big market of people who love the horses they screwed up but want to make them better. Anyone can hang a shingle out there, publish a 10 part CD training series and charge $100 for it. Nothing substitutes for a real life mentorship with someone who is producing well adjusted, happy, useful horses. The proof is in the pudding.
The natural horsemanship stuff popped up initially as a humane response to a rough around the edges cowboy approach. There are some cruel methods out there but at this point, a lot of the wordless joining-the-spirits-as-one training approaches is just as harmful and consists more of hopeful marketing than anything else. Pat Parelli is the worst offender of this in my opinion and he's made himself an assload of money creating an industry out of it.
Go for no nonsense types if you have to. I like Ray Hunt, Bill and Tom Dorrance, Buck Brannaman and John Lyons. I don't know much about Clinton Anderson but I hear mixed things. Really, cut out the marketing middleman and just look for someone who is consistently producing purpose-bred and trained horses. It's not rocket science if you've grown up in it but it's not necessarily intuitive either. Dressage (or at least the kind I do--the classical folks are their own breed) doesn't buy into most of this stuff, they just back the horse and ride.
>I really don't have much experience with horses, but from the videos I've seen I would not want to do anything that might startle them....
Good instinct. If you are interested in the subject, this is the bible.
If you're really interested: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Horses-Fine-Getting-Right-ebook/dp/B004EYUD46
This has some decent stuff but won't cover lessons, or modern day riding: http://inkandquills.com/2015/05/10/the-fantasy-writers-guide-to-horses/
Googling "resources for writers" and various keywords will be more helpful than googling horse basics, I think
It does sound like a great opportunity for you and I'm so glad to hear that you're doing this the right way and looking for information and guidance. So many people would take this opportunity and just go ahead thinking they know best and end up doing more harm than good. Seems like it'll be a very good thing for you and the horse so good job doing it correctly!
You should do a lot of lunge work and pole with him. I dont know how frequently you plan on working him, but every other to every third time should be lunge work over poles. Right now, you don't need to be on him every time. Lunge work shouldnt just be about him going around in a circle at different gates (thats fairly useless other than to tire him out). On the lunge you can do a lot of bending exercises and pole work to get him using his body and going forward and engaging his hind end. If you want me to elaborate on what sort of exercises you can do Id be happy to explain.
Since youre just starting to ride and work him, keep your rides very short and mostly walk with some trot. They should be positive and about getting him thinking and forward. If he kicks off you have to sit back and ride him forward. If he decides he wants to be an ass and run then let him run but dont let him stop until you decide its time to slow down. If youre afraid of him bucking or rearing than spin him in tight circle (inside leg back, outside leg forward, open inside arm at elbow) and do that until he gives and softens and then his reward is to go forward. Tight circles are good bc its keeps them off balance enough that they cant be dangerous but still allows them to go forward so they release the energy and dont get claustrophobic or bouncy.
As for my background, I live in NH so I'm way too far to help you other than via the internet. I'm 25, a vet student, and have been riding for about 15 years, and intensively training dressage for the past 4. Ive spent a lot of time working with young or problem horses and getting them to learn to use their bodies and soften and move forward properly.
Regarding books, these are the three I recommend most and are my favorites. You should also subscribe to Dressage Today.
http://www.amazon.com/There-Problem-Horses-Only-Riders/dp/061812750X
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dressage-Kyra-Kyrklund/dp/1905693249/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337036500&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/USDF-Guide-Dressage-Jennifer-Bryant/dp/1580175295
Feel free to ask any questions you ahve and I'll do my best to answer. You're welcome to send me anything you want me to look at as well. I can pm you my email address if youd like as its easier to keep in touch long term that way.
This was, of course, before the publication of this book.
Relevant
> By the way, did the classical dressage of the Spanish Riding School influence American riding as well?
Yes, in the sense that the school at the SRS is based in the Austro-Hungarian/German (really, the differences between the two are excruciatingly academic) schools, and that school was brought to America by de Némethy, Lindgren, Wätjen, de Kunffy, and many other less illustrious equestrians. But there's a lot more to classical dressage than just the SRS and the German school! It's a bit harder to study the French school because a) not all the best sources made their way into English, and b) the FN basically wrote the rules of FEI competition in their favor. To take off the historian hat for a moment, I am an undeniable Baucherist after his Second Manner, and what attracted me to that school in particular was the harmony, lightness, and ease in which the horse is developed. While some of the French literature can be a little spartan in the details, it is to me the rational and horse-friendly school, and I'd recommend reading Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage if you want a crash course into the French school, and Baucherism in particular.
I was so frustrated when I started trotting! I could sit the canter, no problems - somehow the slower rhythm worked for me, but that canter -jeesh. I would be sore and cramp up and tense up.
I got my self some theoretical knowledge from Sally Swift in the book "centered riding" it really helped me and she has some great mind tricks you can use on yourself, as well as some interesting exercise you can talk to your trainer about.
I also really like that the book isn't just for beginners, so as I've progressed in riding, I've also advanced in the book.
Here is a link to amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Centered-Riding-Trafalgar-Square-Farm/dp/0312127340/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377851359&sr=1-1&keywords=sally+swift+centered+riding
also, try doing just short bits. so start trotting and once you loose your rhythm go back to a walk. then trot again, and back and just keep doing that. you'll notice that the trot sessions will get longer.
With the canter I found that the opposite helped me. I needed a few circles to get the rhythm down. which reminds me - are you on a lunge line? it really helped me concentrate on the seat and rhythm because I didn't have to concentrate on make the horse go and telling her where i wanted to go.
Ah, you're thinking of that self-proclaimed youtube 'expert' Rick Gore... His youtube channel is 'think like a horse.' He's... one of the worst, in my own opinion.
Pretty sure this poster is referencing this book, How to Think Like a Horse
Important distinction!
I have been in the same situation, with a horse above my level I mean. It is really important to build the trust slowly. Like Usinuk said just walk and trot. Change it up is the best way to keep him focused on you and not causing trouble. May I suggest trying to find a copy of this book. http://www.amazon.ca/101-Dressage-Exercises-Horse-Rider/dp/1580175953/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346257713&sr=1-1
It will give you lots of new things to try so you don't get bored.
Good Luck, and keep us updated!
Balanced Riding is a classic, and the exercises within are very well-tailored to improving your seat.
I learned it from the man himself but his book is very good!
https://www.amazon.com/Sport-Horse-Conformation-Evaluating-Potential/dp/1570765308
Dead3 or Crysis
This is a bit strange...and funny.
You can't go wrong with the Pony Club manuals. They're aimed at kids and teenagers, but they provide excellent information for anyone about riding and horsemanship. Start with Basics for Beginners and go from there.
Yes. I'm always a little fearful Everytime I mount up. I usually take a deep breath and tell myself I'll feel better once I'm on. I also choose to take it slowly and give myself permission to not ride if I'm not up for it.
This is also a great book that gives you exercises to help you work through your fear.
https://www.amazon.com/Riding-Fear-Free-Fearful-Teachers-ebook/dp/B008L3HVZ0/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1550501204&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=fear+horseback+riding&dpPl=1&dpID=51IMv9Z1aGL&ref=plSrch