1 comments about LUNGEING German National Equestrian Federation.

1. Well, it's difficult to review a book that I have been waiting three months to receive and still don't have. It's ironic that you list this as a past purchase. What gives?

1 comments about Dressage Insights: Excerpts from Experts.

1. I really enjoyed reading this book...it was interesting getting the different viewpoints on each individual topic. It may be difficult for beginners to sift through, but I found it very entertaining and informative. It's amazing how differently, yet how similarly people think about this sport!

No comments about Perfectly Practical Advice on Horsemanship (John Lyons Perfect Horse Library Series).

No comments about Riding from the Heart: If Wishes Were Horses.

2 comments about Training the Young Horse: The First Two Years.

1. This book provides a great progression of training excercises to help riders SLOWLY work with young or poorly trained horses over the span of two years. A great tool for anyone who may be bringing a horse along without a professional trainer. Well written with great explanations.



2. One of the best parts in this brilliant book, from the author who obviously cares for the horse, related to LEG AIDS - I will quote : "The most common, not to say universal, method of calling on forvard action is the age old BACKWARD KICK. It may be a violent kick with the spur,or it may be a relatively gentle beckward movement of the leg against the ribs and away from the girth. The latter may not be cruel, but it is just as ILLOGICAL as the former. No dubt both metods can be made to produce forward action from the horse, but only because in principle it make the horse, or threaten to make the horse, too uncomfortable to stay where he is. If we want the INTELLIGENT CO-OPERATION of our horse we must clearly use the more intelligent form of communication than that. We express our wish to go forward by a distinct INWARD AND FORWARD ACTION of the leg ... sufficient to rub against the lie of the hair. When spurs are worn they also will ultimately come into contakt , but only in a comparatively sensitive and kind manner. ..."

No comments about Ground control: Conditioned response training program : teaching manual for broke and unbroke horses.

2 comments about Ultimate Guide to Horse Breeds.

1. Delivers on the title! Well written, gorgeous four-color lithography and loads of useful tips on tack and horse caring in the last 15% of the book. Highly recommend.



2. This book is great for the money, its full of large color full pictures and is packed full of info on the horse breeds around the world. I would really recommend his book, I mean its not the most informational book out there for horses but for the price its great.

5 comments about Blood Horses: Notes of a Sportswriter's Son.

1. This magnificent book is a subtle tribute to the author's father. Apparently, subtlety is lost on some of the philistines who posted reviews below - so let me help. If you want a book all about horsies - this is not it. If you want a series of reflections written in the "new journalism" style of Tom Wolfe and arranged around a journalist's coverage of the Kentucky Derby, "Blood Horses" will draw you in and astonish you time and time again. Sullivan is a genius, his elegiac and moving work will last, and we will hear more from him.



2. I read voraciously, and bought this one expecting a story about thorobred horse racing. Instead, I got a lot of whining from an obviously very insecure author. Except for 6-7 pages about Secretariat that were good, the rest of the book is a waste. My reaction to this author was: grow up and get a life. Tossed it into the garbage when I was done it was so bad I wouldn't even bother to pass it on to friends.



3. I first came across the article gleaned from the pages of this book (or in preperation of...) in a 2003 Harper's Magazine, October, I think. Mr.Sullivan's walk through the bizarre intricacies of the horse racing world from all sides, including his most personal, were raw genius. He nonchalantly drew connections between more humble pedigrees (his own, for example - nothing remarkable except that it, too, is now published) and those of these rarified creatures (thoroughbreds) in a way I didn't even notice until half way through. What a respctful tribute to his father. It seemed to me a sort of a come from behind type of writing style that crystalized into a fine read somewhere in the middle, and then just got better. All the way to the very last sentance.



4. Sullivan's work is lyrically written - at times laugh-out-loud funny and at others profoundly poignant. His description of Secretariat's win in the Derby is one of the most sublime passages I have read in any book. In his musings that run from horses to fathers, he gives us a glimpse of the nature of beauty. A moving work. Sullivan is one to watch.



5. ...shouldn't blame the author. This is a phenomenal book. Blood Horses is partly an experiment in narrative technique. Like most literary experiments, it has its less-than successful moments. There are places where the author's allusions to and quotations from other texts get overwhelming. But the book also contains some of the most amazing pages of flat-out writing I've come across in a long time--about horses, about pain, and about beauty. Given its ambitious scope the structure holds together surprisingly well, and pieces of it are wickedly funny. If you come to it looking for Seabiscuit II, you might find it frustrating and a little disjointed. I came to it looking for a new writer who was trying something different, and I was blown away. This book is destined to become a classic and Sullivan an author to follow. I say discover him before everyone else does.

2 comments about Dressage: Begin the Right Way.

1. I have read Lockies book over and over. He was also my trainer for many years until he recently passed on. This is a book any one and everyone should read. I loved it.... Thanks Lockie



2. A good introduction to Dressage. I found it an easy read when i was 12 and still enjoy it. HOwever there are a few major flaws- ie the shoulder in developing past 3 lines of travel to four-. I found most of the dressage to be more based off eventing dressage levels. And the photo's were very eventing based. GOod boook though.

No comments about Understanding Equine Behavior (Equus Reference Guide) (Know What's on Your Horse's Mind).