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DRESSAGE WITH KYRA

by Kyra Kyrklund & Jytte Lemkow

One of the best books to read for everything from the correct basics to the highest level of Grand Prix dressage

Comparing training the young horse to a child learning to walk: "Imagine a child learning to walk. Everybody expects that he will frequently fall on his bottom, and his first clumsy attempts will probably look quite amusing. They know that in time the child will find his balance, and walk. Nobody would ever dream of punishing the child every time it fell (in which case, the child would certainly give up very quickly and refrain from any further attempts)."

"When I get on an unknown or a young horse, I do not have the same goal as many other riders, which is to get the horse on the bit as quickly as possible and at any price. Too many riders focus too much on this. This causes things to go wrong straight away. If you start to force a horse to give in the poll and to work in a fixed frame without really being submissive, the first tensions and resistances are created."

"I do not agree with the theory or the practice used by many riders of trying to squeeze or force collection. I prefer the idea of letting the horse find his own balance when the tempo is slowed so that he, himself, places his hind legs further under his body in order to maintain his balance in the shorter steps."

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