Customer Reviews

The Athletic Development of the Dressage Horse: Manege Patterns

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

With all the books on dressage out nowadays, this is one that emphasizes developing the horse with daily exercises that he explains and then shows in lots of photos. The instruction is good and really helpful to a dressage rider.

The message is all there in this book but finding it is a treasure hunt. There is some excellent advice, excellent exercises, and great information on how to progress. In order to put it together logically, I needed to create my own index and map to the information.

At the risk of repeating what everyone says about every book that they like, you must be this book and digest it thoroughly if you are at all serious about dressage. I have nearly every training manual that has been published about dressage, but this book deals more with the theory of gymnastic training of the horse that is so vital if we are to understand why we do all the things that we do. It will also save you many hours of frustration and anguish as you are trying to perfect movements. I would write a proper epistle about more of the merits of this great book (get 'The Ethics and Passions of Dressage', too) but to tell you the truth, I'd just as soon get back to Chapter 10 right now!

very disappointing book. The writing is poor, the book is disorganized, and consists primarily of repetitive statements about the author's philosophy on dressage. I wasn't able to read more than half the book before giving up in disgust.

of great usefulness for riders of any level and discipline. The author discusses manege patterns that help achieving correct athletic development of your horse and help remedie faults such as crookedness. Too often, riders resort to use of equipment, such as draw reins, to control their horse. After reading this book, these people will realize that that is completely unneccessary and, moreover, is inhumane and has adverse effects. This book is more to the point than some of the other books by the same author.

A 'keeper' and invaluable addition to any 'classical' dressage library!!! A complete list of patterns / exercises, yet still within the description of Classical Dressage. DeKunffy is certainly among the elite group of 'masters'!!!

This is one of the best dressage books available - although the schooling patterns are extremely useful and well-described, I actually enjoyed it more for the discussions of dressage/riding philosophy and "big picture" schooling issues