ADVANCED DRESSAGE by Anthony C

ADVANCED DRESSAGE by Anthony Crossley

This book is good for anyone wanting to train a horse correctly even without the desire to ride advanced dressage,,,

"It is quite possible for a horse to be ridden round an arena or manège for an hour or more in walk, trot and canter, in various conventional patterns but with little or no serious advantage to his education or physical development. On the other hand, the rider who understands how to make his horse work, in the sense that every muscle and joint is brought into energetic and interrelated play so that the horse operates as a single piece of machinery, can achieve a great deal, and twenty or thirty minutes may suffice for the day's work."

"We need impulsion and straightness first, and lightness after that. A good, positive, and even strong contact is better by far than too little, and should certainly be expected and accepted without fear by the less experienced riders."

"The rider should not be satisfied unless he can work his horse in trot, on a full 20-metre circle, on either rein, in the fully stretched position - and he must be able to do this at will, at any time. Then he will know that his horse's back is still unspoilt and that he can, with normal discretion, continue to make major collective demands on it."