Lessons in Lightness: The Art of Educating the Horse - Hardcover

Veteran horse trainer Mark Russell studied twenty years ago with legendary dressage master Nuno Oliveira, an experience that revealed to him the concept of riding in lightness and forever changed his outlook on horsemanship. Today he trains horses and riders from his home base in Tennessee.

Andrea W. Steele is a native of England and a lifelong equestrian. She met Mark Russell in the early 1980s and has followed his vision for riding in lightness ever since. She lives on a small farm in Durham, Connecticut, with her husband and their horses and many other animals.

Drawing on the theories of the old masters of dressage, Lessons in Lightness: The Art of Educating the Horse shows how both horse and rider can greatly benefit from traditional dressage techniques and exercises. Written by a thirty-year veteran horse trainer, this is the only book that takes the core elements of classical dressage and applies them as the basis for good general horsemanship today.

With this step-by-step program, both horse and rider learn from each other. The rider is taught to focus on subtle nuances of communication, while the horse develops gymnastically so he can respond correctly to the aids. Once the horse masters the basic exercises, the rider not only has a very ridable horse but one that can perform and advance in almost any discipline for which it is suited - from dressage and show jumping to Western pleasure and performance riding.

Inside you ll learn:
How to teach the horse to release inner tension
How to develop the horse gymnastically to facilitate relaxation, create flexibility, and build strength
How to enhance the horse s true and natural gaits
How to school the horse in hand and how to ride all the lateral movements
How to build engagement for advanced work

No other single source in the marketplace today provides the level of detail that readers will find in this book.