Enlightened Equitation: Riding in True Harmony with Your Horse

I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who rides. Young, old, learning or advanced. This book has LOTS of great techniques, and ideas. I really liked this book because the approaches used are soft on the horse, and easy for the rider to execute. Two pieces of information I got from this book, that will always stick in my mind, are: 1. When buying or picking a saddle to ride in, look at the placement of the stirrup bars. If the bar is placed really close to the front of the saddle, your leg will be pulled forward, and therefore out of the Classical position and infront of your centre of balance. So choose a saddle that puts you in the "correct position so you are not fighting the very tool that is meant to assist you". 2. When riding in a circle or turning a corner, DO NOT turn your shoulders to the inside as suggested by almost ALL coaches!! It forces your weight to your outside and makes that leg stiff. Horses want, by nature, to keep us centred in the saddle, as it is uncomfortable for them to carry us if we are hanging off the side of the saddle. Horses will try to step under us to keep us balanced, and will therefore drift to the outside if you turn your shoulders in because your weight will be shifted the outside, and you will not be able to lighten and move the outside leg back to support the horses motion on the outside. Anyway, READ THE BOOK!! It is wonderful. You will learn a lot even if you are an Olympic rider, you will learn something!!!!! The soft approaches allow your horse to move freely. GOOD LUCK everyone with your horses!!! :)

This would have to be the best book that I have read. It is makes perfect sense and gives clear and logical instructions on aids.Not to mention that there is support websites ...for those who want to ask questions. No other author I know is willing to give that support.I would definately recommend this training book over any others.

This is a clear, concise guide to the way to use your body on a horse to make your riding experience a plesant one for both you and your horse. My riding has improved remarkably because I now understand what to do with my seat and legs in order to communicate with my horse. I have heard so many times, "OK now do a half halt", or "sit deep in the saddle" and had NEVER understood HOW to do it until I read this book. I highly recommend it to any rider, at any level. I very highly recommend it to any riding instructor!

I have been riding for many years and have had many instructors - all properly qualified - yet Heather's book gave me some new insights and ideas that no-one had offered me before. These have all contributed to a major improvement in both my riding and my horse's way of going and our overall performance as a result.I can't agree with your reviewer who feels it is wrong to advocate the use of the Pelham. My horse is very happy in a Pelham and I know many excellent riders who would agree with Heather that it can be a wonderful aid (although obviously it has to be used correctly and sensitively). Equally, I don't agree with the same reviewer about the pictures. I find it rather encouraging to see photos of ordinary riders with ordinary horses, all with problems, rather than a line-up of people who I (at any rate) will never be able to emulate. I believe a lot of these photos were of people who had only visited Heather for one or two lessons, not products of years of her teaching.I think this book would be of enormous value to anyone, whether novice or experienced, who feels that they are not making the progress they hoped for with conventional teaching and are looking for something different, simple and effective.

At last - a simple, easy to understand method of putting classical riding principles into practice- and it really works! I've spent years reading textbooks that described a quiet, elegant, horse-friendly way of riding but didn't explain how to achieve this. The "Enlightened Equitation" approach has revolutionised my riding style and my horse Carrie is happier too. Why didn't someone teach me this way when I started riding over twenty years ago? Carrie just wishes I'd read the book before I started riding her 4 years ago! The book is written in a chatty, conversational style. It's just like having a series of one-to-one lessons with a top dressage trainer but the techniques can be applied to any equestrian discipline. Now I understand how all those riders I admire (such as the late Reiner Klimke) manage to make riding look so graceful and elegant with little apparent effort. This book unlocks all the mysteries of absorbing the movement and working in harmony with the horse. Before I read the book I thought only those with natural talent could ride so gracefully. Now I know differently.I found it really helpful that the book used ordinary horses and riders to demonstrate the techniques. It really pressed home to me that you don't have to be a top level rider to ride safely, effectively and gracefully. All the horses photographed in the book ridden in the way that Heather promotes look so happy. Just look at the difference in the horse shown on the front and back covers of the book. The back cover shows the before photo. The front cover photo - taken 20 minutes later - shows the after! It looks like a different horse - the mare on the front cover is going forward in a good outline and she looks much more relaxed.Heather's emphasis on putting the horse's welfare first is very much in line with my thinking. I must admit that I was a bit taken aback to find that Heather actively promoted using the pelham as a remedial bit. But when I read the explanation and saw how happy the horses photographed looked I was persuaded by Heather's arguments for using a pelham. I'm lucky - with the new techniques my heavyweight cob mare will go sweetly in a snaffle - but on the basis of what I've seen demonstrated in the book I wouldn't hesitate to change to a pelham rather than "saw" away at her mouth in a snaffle.The book is invaluable for novice and experienced riders alike. I go back to my copy time and time again to check my understanding and I always learn something new. I also refer constantly to the definitions of equestrian terms and to the aid checklists for various movements. I now have a very clear understanding of the biomechanical basis for using the aids that Heather describes and can vouch for them working. This book should be compulsory reading for anyone who rides.