Here are 93 books that Centered Riding fans have personally recommended if you like
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I am a life-long equestrian. I believe I was born with manure in my blood! I have always loved horses. I bought my own horse with my own money when I was thirteen and had to work to support him myself. I continue to own and ride horses more than fifty years later! I love competing in Dressage and riding the trails in the beautiful Colorado mountains. My interest in researching and writing historical horse stories grew out of my love of both horses and history.
Some books stay with you for a lifetime. Such is the case with Black Beauty for me.
This historical fiction novel (although it wasn’t “Historical” when it was written!”) is considered a classic because of its staying power and message. Anna Sewell’s work inspired the creation of the ASPCA because of the depictions of animal cruelty in the book.
Now, half a century later, it has inspired me to not only write historical fiction horse stories but I also chose to write in first person from the horse’s point of view the way Black Beauty is written.
Continuously in print and translated into multiple languages since it was first published, Anna Sewell's Black Beauty is a classic work of children's literature and an important text in the fields of Victorian studies and animal studies. Writing to ""induce kindness, sympathy and an understanding treatment"", Sewell realistically documents the working conditions of Black Beauty, who moves down the social scale from a rural carriage horse to a delivery horse in London. Sewell makes visible and tangible the experience of animals who were often treated as if they were machines. Though she died shortly after it was published, Sewell's book…
I wasn’t always a reader. Diagnosed with a learning disorder in elementary school, I hated reading and school. Eventually, I discovered my passion for psychology, neurolinguistics, and persuasion and influence, and have now become a lifelong reader! Through my boutique consulting firm Solutions In Mind, my colleagues and I have been coaching executive teams to make the changes required to improve sales, organizational behavior, and communication. In my latest book,Ignite a Shift, I equip readers to think about how they and those around them think, feel and do. With greater awareness you’ll be able to better establish and meet your goals and persuade and influence others to do the same.
This best-selling book, from the incredibly talented Karen Pryor, looks at behavior through a scientific and practical lens. When it comes to animals and humans, we aren’t that different in terms of our behavior and how it can be corrected positively. Through encouraging reinforcement, we can learn new ways of taking in and dealing with conflict in a more constructive way. I have found the methods suggested in this book extremely beneficial and have successfully incorporated them in my own life.
Karen Pryor’s clear and entertaining explanation of behavioral training methods made Don’t Shoot the Dog a bestselling classic with revolutionary insights into animal—and human—behavior.
In her groundbreaking approach to improving behavior, behavioral biologist Karen Pryor says, “Whatever the task, whether keeping a four-year-old quiet in public, housebreaking a puppy, coaching a team, or memorizing a poem, it will go fast, and better, and be more fun, if you know how to use reinforcement.”
Now Pryor clearly explains the underlying principles of behavioral training and reveals how this art can be applied to virtually any common situation. And best of all,…
In 1998 I launched the rapidly growing field of clicker training for horses with the publication of Clicker Training for Your Horse, the first reference for clicker training in the horse world. When you come across a training method that is as kind, safe, effective, and fun as clicker training, it’s not something you want to keep to yourself. Clicker training needs to be shared and that’s what I have been doing for almost thirty years. Through my books, DVDs, clinics, online courses, conference presentations, blogs, and podcasts, I have been teaching people how to clicker train their horses. Together we are changing the way horses are trained.
Clicker training shows you how to train. Now, what are you going to train? Let the beautiful photos in Anja Beran’s book on Classical Dressage inspire you. Anja Beran loves horses and that’s reflected in her desire to share her deep understanding of Classical Dressage.
We need images of beautiful horses being correctly ridden in good balance. Classical Dressage sits at the core of all good riding programs. Balance matters because it helps keep your horse sound no matter your riding goals. We are indeed lucky to have someone as gifted as Anja Beran sharing this work with us.
Every rider would like to ride their horse as well as possible, but how do we go about it the right way? This book explains why and, above all, how to classically train a horse, for example, we have to look at each horse as an individual - what problems does he have? How is his natural crookedness expressed? What is his personality like? In classical dressage, there is a strategy for bringing each and every horse into balance. Anja Beran wants to preserve this knowledge, which has now almost been lost, and make it available to every interested rider,…
In 1998 I launched the rapidly growing field of clicker training for horses with the publication of Clicker Training for Your Horse, the first reference for clicker training in the horse world. When you come across a training method that is as kind, safe, effective, and fun as clicker training, it’s not something you want to keep to yourself. Clicker training needs to be shared and that’s what I have been doing for almost thirty years. Through my books, DVDs, clinics, online courses, conference presentations, blogs, and podcasts, I have been teaching people how to clicker train their horses. Together we are changing the way horses are trained.
Anja Beran again shares her love of horses by helping us ride better.
Thoughtless riding damages horses. It breaks their bodies and their spirits. But we can ride horses into soundness. We can bring back the sparkle in their eyes even as we help heal their bodies. The Dressage Seat will help you ride effectively and support the well-being of your horse.
With stunningly beautiful photographs and clear descriptions, classical dressage authority Anja Beran breaks down the physical requirements of the rider's seat on the horse, as well as its responsibilities during various movements-from the gaits and paces to lateral work, lead changes, piaffe, passage, and pirouettes.
Beran provides a unique perspective on the use of breath when riding, citing the recommendations of a classically-trained opera singer who regularly works with Beran and her riding students to develop their deep breathing skills. 'A relaxed seat', Beran says, 'is never possible with restricted breathing'.
In addition, she explores the need for an improved…
My parents encouraged me to become a children’s author when I was very young. At first, I thought that was the silliest idea ever, but I found creating stories to be fun and inspiring. I’ve been an award-winning published author since 2009, when I had an intuition to try writing stories for children. I love being a role model for children; someone who can show them that they can achieve much more than they imagine if they persevere. My personal story, My Life at Sweetbrier; ALife Changed by Horses, is a testament that remarkable things can be accomplished through perseverance. I’m honored my work has earned many literary awards.
I grew up at a riding school so I love horses and stories that would connect with young readers who are equestrian enthusiasts. The King Family are the main characters in the book. They lease a horse farm named Genesis and begin making long-range plans for their future. What happens when young Jacqui outgrows her beloved pony? How does the family rely on their faith to help them through difficult times? It’s an engaging, story that will show readers ways they may manage changes and trials in their own lives. I believe readers will relate to this story because they have faced fears as well. It may help them to read about Vicky’s trials.
The King family have moved interstate to Victoria for Mr. King's job. Ten year old Jacqui King is excited that they're leasing a property where they can keep horses. She may get to learn to ride!
I was a horse-crazy young girl whose passion for equines went dormant for 30 years. It reawakened when I turned 40, and I was again a lovelorn teenager, daydreaming about horses, plotting treks, swooning over the mere sight of an equine, even if it was online. One day in the late 90s at the dawn of the Google search engine, I happened upon a picture of a beauty, a dark horse with a thick mane blowing in the wind. It was an Icelandic horse, the photo taken on a misty green tussock in Iceland. That was it for me. I focused my equine passion (fair to call it an obsession) to that horse and that country.
The title just made me laugh. Wade introduces herself and her co-partner in her adventures, Penelope Langley, as middle-aged women who refuse to surrender to age, and exhort themselves and others to reclaim their “yeehaw”—that feeling of freedom, wildness, that one we last had at the age of twelve. In this collection of short tales, her answer to the age-old problem of aging is a call to gallop. We follow her all very relatable equestrian pursuits through all her foibles and fun. A scene where she watches as Penelope makes friends with the most questionable character—why? because he owns horses—made me spit out my coffee. Hence the title of her book explained, they are horse sluts because they will do anything to pimp a ride.
Wade is honest about the challenges of riding as you start to get older. She is both fearful and fearless. She worries about hurting herself…
A swelling number of horse riders aren't nubile nymphs and don't start riding as toddlers. Horse Sluts - The Saga of Two Women on the Trail of Their Yeehaw winks at mid-life riders who relate to the feeling "when memories of who we were and what we used to do smash at our egos like bugs on a windshield." Candace Wade and Penelope Langley wrote Horse Sluts to give those riders a leg up on recapturing the yeehaw of youth. "It's how to stand up to fears, how to challenge ourselves. Horse Sluts is for women who refuse to surrender…
I’ve always been a horse-crazy girl (going on nearly 20 years now)! Horses are excellent teachers and even better friends. They never lie, and they always treat you fairly. I’ve been teaching lessons for the past five years as a PATH Intl. certified instructor, and it’s been such a joy to share my love of horses with others. Here’s to all the great real-life horses in the world that inspire such great books.
I absolutely love this book even though it’s written in British English. It’s a great rags-to-riches, character-driven story that communicates the thrill of eventing. You never know what you’re going to get with horses until you’ve got it. Sometimes the one-dollar horses can be just as great as the six-figure ones. The story will stick with you long after the book is finished!
A thriller set in the equestrian world about making the impossible possible, about reaching the top on a one dollar horse. Fifteen year old Casey Blue lives in East London's grimmest tower block and volunteers at a local riding school, but her dream is to win the world's greatest Three Day Event: the Badminton Horse Trials. When she rescues a starving, half-wild horse, she's convinced that the impossible can be made possible. But she has reckoned without the consequences of her father's criminal record, or the distraction of a boy with melty, dark eyes, with whom she refuses to fall…
I've been addicted to horses for as long as I can remember – not that I'm complaining. Reading The Black Stallion books as a youngster started me down the path of a life with equines. Everything fell into place, one step after another, as I became a racetrack groom, horse photographer, writer, traveler, Endurance rider, and author. I write and photograph for numerous magazines, and I’ve authored five books and several short e-stories on horses. My long-time love was my off-the-track Thoroughbred Stormy, who lived to be 30, and I currently own Hillbillie Willie, an off-the-track Standardbred who loves Endurance riding.
Back in the day when you could ride across the country, an inexperienced young John Egenes and his young gelding Gizmo left a broken home in California, looking toward the Atlantic Ocean. Over the seven months of their exploit, they learned to depend on each other and become true partners as they found their way eastward.
I loved this story as a journey, both as a long horseback ride and a personal journey. John has a candid and humorous way of looking at life and describing the people and adventures along the way – the good and the bad. It's an up close and personal adventure across the country, shared with man's best friend, one that I wish I could have done.
In 1974 a disillusioned young man from a broken home set out to do the impossible. With a hundred dollars in his pocket, a beat up cavalry saddle, and a faraway look in his eye, John Egenes saddled his horse Gizmo and started down the trail on an adventure across the North American continent. Their seven month journey took them across 11 states from California to Virginia, ocean to ocean.. As they left the pressing confinement of the city behind them, the pair experienced the isolation and loneliness of the southwestern deserts, the vastness of the prairie, and the great…
I’ve always loved horses, in real life and fiction. I guzzled up pony stories as soon as I was old enough to read, then I started writing them, tales of teenage orphans adopted by distant aunts who lived in crumbling stately piles with fields full of ponies. When I started writing fiction for a living, it stood to reason horses would feature, and three decades after one trotted into my debut novel French Relations – then galloped off into the sunset in its sequelWell Groomed- they’re still a mainstay. Of the twenty novels I’ve written, more than half have horses at their heart, including my new Comptons series.
The glorious Flambards series, starring gutsy heroine Christina, was a staple for pony-mad teenagers in the 70s and 80s and is still held in great affection by its legions of fans. It’s so full of heart and life that it’s stayed relevant and readable today. Orphaned at the turn of the twentieth century, Christina Parsons is sent to live with tyrannical, hunting-mad Uncle William and his two sons in their impoverished estate. One son, dashing thruster Mark, is thought to be a good match for Christina, but it’s his younger brother, the clever, awkward would-be aviator William who she falls for. Perhaps the most trusting and enduring love she finds, however, is that for horses, starting with the wonderful, kind Sweet Briar in this opening novel. The freedom they discover together, blasting across Flambards’ ancient turf from Uncle William’s angry bellowing, is a tour de force.
When Christina is sent to live in the grand country house, Flambards, she doesn't know what to expect. Once there, she meets two young men, Mark and Will, trying to cope with their bad-tempered father. She also discovers a passion for horse-riding and a love for life in the country. As time goes by Christina begins to embrace her new life and all the social engagements that it involves, but with both brothers vying for her attention Christina knows it's just a matter of time before she has to choose . . .
I’ve been in love with horses since I was a toddler and have read more horse books than I can count. My favorite books are about horses and their humans – the bond that holds us together. No other animal reads a human’s soul like the horse does, and it’s one of the reasons for their success in equine-assisted activities and therapy programs. I’ve written horse stories since childhood and am proud of my three award-winning books in the Believing In Horses series featuring horse rescue, equine assisted activities, show competition, and dude ranches. I hope to create and inspire more horse and human connections through my stories.
I really enjoyed this young adult novel and felt I traveled back in time to my younger self while reading it. The author’s characters, particularly Lucy, speak to readers' emotions, and Brittney Joy winds them into a good plot and a compelling story. I almost read this in one sitting and ordered the next in the series shortly thereafter. I’ve now read all three, and each is unique, while readers get to meet up with some of the same characters and watch them grow. A great read for horse lovers and those who appreciate “sweet romance,” no matter the age.
Young adult fiction enjoyed by fans of Canterwood Crest, Heartland, & The Thoroughbred Series. Featured in Pony & Style Magazine and Everything Horse UK Magazine.
Sixteen year old Lucy Rose is spending her first summer away from home and she has two things on her mind: an abandoned, violent horse and a blue-eyed cowboy. Only neither is hers.
Lucy has never attracted much attention from boys, but she can't seem to ignore her blue-eyed co-worker, Casey Parker. A true cowboy, Lucy is fascinated by his gentle way with the horses at Red Rock Ranch. However, she is very aware that…
