Trafalgar Square Books (www.HorseandRiderBooks.com) is proud to announce the release of three new books from long-time contributors to the education of equestrians of all ages and interests.
In his third book, USEA Hall-of-Famer Denny Emerson once again masterfully intertwines his entertaining reflections from a life embedded in the equestrian world with serious philosophical questions faced by the industry today and practical advice honed by his immense experience. In BEGIN AND BEGIN AGAIN, readers discover:
- How to make your beginning with horses easier…and how to make it harder.
- How having the right horse versus having the wrong horse can affect a beginning…or mean you should begin again.
- The importance of a team (family, friends, trainers, coaches) you trust and rely upon.
- Ways to identify how you learn, see, hear, and feel, and how to apply that knowledge with horses.
- The need for knowing how far you want to go and how much are you willing to give up to go there.
With inspirational stories of beginning and beginning again from top equestrians, as well as personal reflections from “regular” horse people around the world, these pages promise to inspire a start or a change, and provide a roadmap we all can follow, whatever our ambitions. Emerson reassures us that it doesn’t matter where your beginning point is—start where you are. And, even better, there is a do-over button—you just have to decide to push it. This book is for every horse person who continues to dream of something else or something more, and just needs someone to say: “Begin.”
240 pages | 88 color and b/w photos
Division I collegiate riding coach Sally Batton has spent over 30 years perfecting her methods specifically designed to refine and polish riders, whatever their level. In her work with hundreds of varsity team athletes, she found that trouble with position and lack of specific horsemanship skills happens for two reasons: First, riders may not have an understanding of the biomechanics required to maintain the correct position. Second, they may not have attained the suppleness and strength required to maintain a fluid, elastic position on the horse.
Her secret to combatting these difficulties won her teams dozens of championships and awards through the years. In THE ATHLETIC EQUESTRIAN, you learn both her time-proven warm-up and her energizing “Equicize” routine: a series of progressive exercises similar to aerobics on horseback. Batton’s recommendations help you build and strengthen the major muscle groups used by equestrian athletes, and all exercises can be customized so you can raise or lower the intensity as needed to suit your age, level, and riding style. Plus, readers find dozens of creative training “hacks” that will get them on their way to greater levels of riding proficiency in no time at all.
184 pages | 254 color photos
Revised and updated with the most current USEF rules and tests, JUDGING HUNTERS & HUNTER SEAT EQUITATION is the world’s favorite book on how to judge hunter show competitions, and understand exactly how they are judged. This must-have resource gives anyone competing in or judging hunter or equitation classes the edge, with professionally reviewed and approved sections that examine:
- Conformation: structural composition; physical defects versus blemishes.
- Hunters Under Saddle and Over Fences: length of stride, frame, and straightness; rhythm, transitions, impulsion, and bending; locomotion and form faults; honest and dishonest horses.
- Equitation on the Flat and Over Fences: rider position; cadence, collection, and lengthening; approaching fences and in the air; USEF tests.
Written with both the aspiring judge and the avid competitor in mind, the book offers invaluable explanations of what judges look for as well as the training methods necessary to accomplish the desired results. More than 100 color photographs with top equestrians in the tack demonstrate correct and incorrect positions in both horses and riders, sharpening the reader’s eyes while also providing an unparalleled foundation of knowledge that makes self-correction in the saddle possible. In addition, readers will find a primer on both understanding and completing the Judge’s Card, with explanations of numerical scoring, terminology, abbreviations, symbols, comments, and general impressions. This remarkably complete two-in-one reference can be the difference in your success, whether in the ring or in the judge’s box.
176 pp | 218 color photos and diagrams
For more information about any of these books or authors, contact Rebecca Didier (rdidier@trafalgarbooks.com)
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Trafalgar Square Books, the leading publisher of equestrian books and videos, is a small business based on a farm in rural Vermont. We’ve published books “for the good of the horse” for over 35 years.