Horse Listening - The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding is available for purchase through Amazon
*Update: Over 5 months in the top 10 list on the Amazon Kindle-Horses category! 37 5-star reviews!
What readers have said:
Excellent book! This is now my "go-to" book when I am not connecting with my horse. I totally get that it is typically rider error (me!) when I do not get the response I am expecting from my horse. It gives me a clearer picture in my head as to what body part I need to engage when asking the question. I have been waiting for a guide book such as this one to help me visualize lightness and balance in my riding. I can't put this book down! I carry it in my gear bag and even to work in my work bag so that I can reread certain segments of the book.
– East Coast Horse Lady
On the "must read" list for my students. Especially if you are a dressage oriented rider every page will hit home (or needs to!) Well worth the price of the book if you consider the cost of lessons and here you have reading that will sustain you for years. Can and needs to be read over and over.
– Sheryl Butler
Have you ever wished your horseback riding lessons could come with a user manual?
Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding focuses specifically on riding as a means of improving the horse. Based on the popular blog, HorseListening.com, the exercises and ideas are purposely handpicked to help you develop your path to becoming an effective rider, not only for your own benefit, but also for your horse's long-term well being.
Over 30 chapters on the most fundamental aspects of horseback riding have been collated according to five themes, and prepared in a tidy, all-in-one package for quick and efficient reading (or alternatively – long, thoughtful perusing of deep and meaningful concepts)!
You'll get 196 pages of information on the fundamentals of riding - terms are examined and strategies are discussed. Best of all, there are many practical, ready-to-use exercises and ideas aimed to help you improve your riding skills.
The book is divided into five sections.
Section I: The Reason is an analysis of why we are so enamored by horses. What drives us to put in the time and effort needed to rise to the challenge of becoming the best rider we can be?
Section 2: The Essentials is devoted to some of the basic riding skills that form the way we communicate with the horse. These techniques are the building blocks of future success.
Next, we look at Section 3:The Specifics - particular exercises that develop the quality of the horse's movement.
Section 4: The Solutions presents several chapters that give insight into correcting common problems. Try some of these exercises to develop good rhythm, hind end engagement and turns. A section on rein lameness analyzes something that is very common but rarely discussed. These solutions might help to put you on track toward developing your horse's highest potential.
Lastly, we pause to take a look back at Section 5: The Result of our work - what have we learned through this process? What happens when we dedicate ourselves to a regular routine of self-improvement and development of the horse?
Special feature: the In The Ring sections at the conclusion of many chapters. These sections are designed to give you suggestions on how you can take the ideas from the chapter into the riding ring. No book can ever take the place of a live teacher. However, what this book can do is give you action plans and strategies that you can take with you to your rides.
The book is thought provoking but also chock-full of useful, ring-ready practical suggestions. As with all Horse Listening material, the purpose is to help the rider improve so that the horse can benefit.
Purchase Here!
Horse Listening – The Book: Stepping Forward to Effective Riding is available in both digital and print (paperback) versions.
Buy the print version ONLY $24.99
Buy the digital version (supports all Kindle and iPad/iPhone readers). ONLY $9.99
Both versions of the book are available internationally. ** Additional charges (such as duty) may apply. **
PayPal/Personalized Signed copies!
Would you like your own signed copy? I can sign one and send it directly to your mailing address! Pay by PayPal.
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Kathy Farrokhzad is a talented writer. She has a unique ability to write about dressage and horse training in general. The principles of dressage can seem very complicated and overwhelming. Kathy has a special gift in communicating the concepts clearly and logically without making it seem like rocket science. I love her Horse Listening Blog and the book is a must have for dressage riders or riders of any equine discipline who want to learn effective and humane riding techniques that can improve the human-equine relationship, be more effective in their cues and free a horse's potential for flowing and powerful movement.
– Barbara