Here are 89 books that Working Trot fans have personally recommended if you like
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In addition to being a writer, I am an avid horse-person who has been obsessed with these amazing creatures my entire life. I was a pretty feral child so I spent my teen years riding bareback around the countryside, daydreaming about going to the Olympics or thwarting horse thieves or discovering a herd of Unicorns…the usual. I’ve worked at many barns, taken internships, volunteered, and have been lucky enough to own a few horses of my own over the years. The horse books I’m drawn to always have realistic protagonists who are also kind, empathic, and who understand how special and magical these animals are.
This book is a great summer read. The relationship between young eventer Rio and her project horse is really special and the author does a good job of introducing us to this fun, quirky family, their many pets, and their dilapidated country house. The descriptions of the French countryside and the differences in how horses are cared for in France were really interesting. It is a fun, captivating read.
The moment Rio sees the skinny black gelding standing in the local meat man’s field, she resolves to save him. Gentle and exceptionally bred, Comet is the kind of horse Rio has always dreamed of owning - a horse to take on hacks through the vines, ride bareback at sunset, and maybe even compete in an event or two. Comet seems too good to be true, and Rio soon suspects that his past involved more than standing around in a field… But Rio has more to worry about than Comet. With five sisters to deal with - including Clemmie the…
“Horse Crazy” isn’t a description; it’s a way of life for me. I’ve loved horses since I could remember, selling Girl Scout cookies to finance my way through three years of horse camp, working weekends cleaning stalls, even pursing a degree in Equine Science. Discovering fantasy books with magical, sentient horses not only introduced me to fantasy fiction, but also just made my own experience with horses seem real. Currently, I write equestrian fantasy as well as equestrian literature (horse books for those who chose not to grow out of being horse crazy” and live on my homestead with my herd of rescue horses, who inspire me every day.
It may not be fantasy, but Anne McCaffrey is well known for her Dragonriders of Pern series, among other books (like The Ship who Sang with Mercedes Lackey). Take one English countryside farm, mix in a headstrong girl who wants to ride champion hunters and jumpers, a bit of romance, and fine horses, and you have a tale that demands to be on the screen.
Amidst the grandeur of the emerald countryside, a magnificent story unfolds. . . .
They are the Carradynes, who for more than 200 years have bred and trained horses of the finest caliber on Cornanagh—a land so beautiful it inspires the soul.
But all is not idyllic at hearth and home. At the center of the conflict is Catriona, the youngest child, a girl who dreams of riding her family’s big jumpers and show horses. Her father, Michael, is keenly aware of her immense talent, and he urges her on—only to lock wills with his insufferably pious and overbearing wife,…
In addition to being a writer, I am an avid horse-person who has been obsessed with these amazing creatures my entire life. I was a pretty feral child so I spent my teen years riding bareback around the countryside, daydreaming about going to the Olympics or thwarting horse thieves or discovering a herd of Unicorns…the usual. I’ve worked at many barns, taken internships, volunteered, and have been lucky enough to own a few horses of my own over the years. The horse books I’m drawn to always have realistic protagonists who are also kind, empathic, and who understand how special and magical these animals are.
This true-to-life series follows dressage rider, Lizzy, who gives up her job, her boyfriend, and her whole life in order to become a working student with a top trainer. It has a great cast of authentic characters, both humans and horses, and the training parts are spot on. A very enjoyable series.
You know what happens to all those girls who are just crazy about horses? Once they discover boys, the horses are history. Or maybe not. For Lizzy, and others like her, no boy, no man who knows what’s good for him, speaks the unspeakable. “It’s me or the horse.” It’s no contest. And so Lizzy snips the threads that hold her, however tenuously, to a conventional life, and begins her journey into the world of horse sports. She signs on as a working student for dressage superstar Margot Fanning, heading to south Florida with her six year old mare, for…
In addition to being a writer, I am an avid horse-person who has been obsessed with these amazing creatures my entire life. I was a pretty feral child so I spent my teen years riding bareback around the countryside, daydreaming about going to the Olympics or thwarting horse thieves or discovering a herd of Unicorns…the usual. I’ve worked at many barns, taken internships, volunteered, and have been lucky enough to own a few horses of my own over the years. The horse books I’m drawn to always have realistic protagonists who are also kind, empathic, and who understand how special and magical these animals are.
This whole series is so interesting. It follows the interconnected lives of top trainers and the (mostly wealthy) riders who show upper-level Saddlebreds. This is a world I’d known absolutely nothing about before. So, reading this series was fascinating and eye-opening. It’s like getting a glimpse of a completely different, and sometimes over-the-top, world. The author knows her subject so well that it’s like being transported to those high-stakes shows.
Stake Night is the story of a single year in the glamorous and competitive world of show horses, where the rewards are large and so are the lengths to which people will go to win. For the owners, it is about wielding power through money in their quest to proudly hold the prestigious World Championship trophy. For the riders, it is about demonstrating technical skill and nerve by out-riding their competitors and maneuvering their horse in the frenetic ring so the judges notice it. For the trainers, it is about finding the key that makes your horse out-perform others that…
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…
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,…
I have ridden horses for over sixty years. Regarding dressage riding specifically, I discovered that in the early 1980s and never looked back. The subject has held my attention since then in my work with my various horses. My preference has always been for classical dressage, not competition dressage. Any book that aims towards that is a winner for me. Formerly I wrote for a newspaper for twenty years, along with holding many other jobs in different professions. Now I write fiction based around the subject of the sport of dressage.
This is a dense book but well worth the read. It goes into the history of how some decisions have been made about the regulation of dressage internationally. It gives an excellent analysis of how classical dressage became the goal and should always remain so. It is more of an “overview” book on dressage rather than a “how to” but I have enjoyed reading it for background. One particularly interesting segment explained how modern day dressage relegates the lower level riders to use snaffle bits and how this decision came to be. There are not many books out there that focus just on this aspect. That is why I appreciate this one in particular.
I have ridden horses for over sixty years. Regarding dressage riding specifically, I discovered that in the early 1980s and never looked back. The subject has held my attention since then in my work with my various horses. My preference has always been for classical dressage, not competition dressage. Any book that aims towards that is a winner for me. Formerly I wrote for a newspaper for twenty years, along with holding many other jobs in different professions. Now I write fiction based around the subject of the sport of dressage.
This book unlocks several secrets held by Nuno Oliveira not only in its text but also with the many photographs. The author studied with the master for over a decade and it shows in this book. A must for any aficionado of dressage. I have used the tips in this book to help me with some of the movements such as proper weighting of the rider during dressage movements such as half pass. There are scant videos of Nuno riding and performing so this book fills out my curiosity about this man. That is why I am glad I own it.
This great book is the next in Xenophon Press’ series by the students of Master Nuno Oliveira. Eleanor Russell studied with Oliveira for over ten years. For an entire year, she studied horsemanship with her stallion, Victorieux in Avessada, Portugal. During this time, she took dutiful notes of her master’s teachings and faithfully recorded quotations of his lessons and discussions. Ms. Russell was permitted to photograph him in his daily work on average horses. This book is filled with candid, un-posed photographs seldom before seen. The lessons are practical and concrete. This volume illustrates daily life at the stables and…
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 have ridden horses for over sixty years. Regarding dressage riding specifically, I discovered that in the early 1980s and never looked back. The subject has held my attention since then in my work with my various horses. My preference has always been for classical dressage, not competition dressage. Any book that aims towards that is a winner for me. Formerly I wrote for a newspaper for twenty years, along with holding many other jobs in different professions. Now I write fiction based around the subject of the sport of dressage.
The author was a student of the renowned Egon von Neindorff. This book gives clear descriptions and a step-by-step guide on how to achieve the lightness and impulsion dressage riders seek. It explains how a younger horse’s exercises should differ from a more seasoned one. The explanation of an ideal seat is par none. I found the photos used as examples to be clear. The author uses bullet dots to make his key points and this enhances the importance and clarity of his descriptions. I can look at the short lists for critical pieces of info and use them as I work my own horses.
"Dressage Formula" was first published in 1980 and has been constantly in demand ever since. It has now been completely revised and extended for the third time and is presented in the same clear, easy-to-read format that has helped to make it one of the most consistently popular and widely quoted books on the subject of dressage in print today. Based on the principles of the classical school, the author covers both the aesthetic and practical aspects of riding and training in order to encourage everyone who rides, whether professional or amateur, to obtain maximum pleasure and education from their…
