Master Dressage : Ride More Beautiful Tests, Achieve Higher Marks and Have a Better Relationship with Your Horse

A NEW Edition Revised and Expanded based on the top 25 bestselling book on Amazon which now includes chapters on ground work and rider fitness. Completely revised including new colour photographs and diagrams. Approaching Dressage from a newcomer's perspective can be a little daunting, so follow our 5 Step System and you can start mastering dressage from day one. Learn how to: RIDE more accurate tests. The chapter on accuracy covers how to ride all of the main shapes with greater balance and accuracy. Stop throwing away marks due to inaccurate shapes which make the job of your horse more difficult that it needs to be. Improve your FLUIDITY: Improve the appearance of the suppleness of your horse. Learn how to prepare your horse for each movement correctly and produce a beautiful looking test. Increase your dressage UNDERSTANDING: Understand the purpose of the movements in a dressage test, learn what the judge wants to see and what each movement is meant to demonstrate to the judge. Avoid typical rider traps, and bust some of the typical dressage myths. Your horse will thank you for it. Learn what to PRACTICE and in what order: Have you ever entered the arena to school your horse and not known what to do? Have you ever hit a major problem teaching your horse something? This section not only tells you what you should be practicing, but how to go about it, and what you should do when you get into trouble. Learn how to properly REVIEW your progress: Learn to review your progress using different tools, how to understand judge s comments and how to change your practice to improve. Guest chapters from Mary Wanless BHSI BSc, Jo Cooper, Sue Palmer MCSP and Demelza Hawes Whilst the horse world is rich in descriptions that tell us what horse and rider should look like, we lack good information about exactly how to produce the desired results. Good horsemen ride well without knowing how they do it, and without understanding why you are not like them and cannot do it too. During 23 years of research it has been Mary Wanless's personal mission to expose the secrets of horsemanship, breaking down riding skills into bite-size chunks and finding ways of describing them that work for average riders. By using the learning strategies given here the rider should discover how to connect with the horse in a way that makes sense to him and enables him to carry himself well, in self-carriage. At the same time the techniques aim to offer the rider security, stability and effectiveness in the saddle. This title sets out to simplify Ride With Your Mind methods and to provide a basic tool-kit for the acquisition of a truly independent seat in walk, trot and through transitions, on straight lines, turns and circles - and, importantly, how to make corrections when things don't go exactly to plan. Mary explains how to use the hands, legs and body correctly, and gives the ingredients for perfect contact. In each section, the instruction is backed up by practical self-tests and exercises to ensure success, and there are ideas for troubleshooting during the learning process and in the future In this practical, educational, and easy-to-follow book, the author shares the knowledge and skills you need to massage your own horse. Learn about equine anatomy and the seven key muscles you will work onand how to draw them in chalk on your own horse. Get to grips with the different massage techniqueseffleurage (stroking), petrissage (compression and kneading), tapotement (cupping), and friction (cross-fiber friction)and know how and when to apply them. Find out how to combine the moves to develop a complete massage routine that your horse will enjoy and find beneficial. The author's wide variety of experience, combined with traditional qualifications, behavioral qualifications and physical therapy qualifications, allows her to offer a holistic approach to working with owners and their horses. She shows that massaging your horse regularly will mean that you can understand him better. Communication between you and your horse will improve as he realizes that you are listening to him as much as he tries to listen to you. Through this and the well-documented physical benefits of massage, his health and wellbeing will be enhanced and his performance will improve. And, best of all, massage is something that will be enjoyed by both you and your horse. Riding skills guru Mary Wanless looks at a series of common rider faults or problems and, through words and photos, explains how to correct them. Each fault or problem is demonstrated by a different rider - some working at basic level, others advanced. Mary gives each rider a lesson, taking them through the (often subtle) changes they have to make, and recording their progress with specially taken photographs. Readers can witness the changes taking place and understand through Mary's gifted teaching, how to make the necessary shift to improve their own riding skills.The 'before' and 'after' pictures show not only the improvements in the rider's position and effectiveness but also in their horse's way of going, for the two are interconnected. Among the topics for in-depth discussion are rider position, muscle tone and stabilisation; how our minds and bodies learn new techniques or change old habits; rider asymmetry; mental attitudes; lateral work; advanced work; and faults such as tipping forward, leaning back, hollowing the back, rounding the back, and pulling on the inside rein. You dont need to have been born under a lucky star, or with incredible wealth, or with terrific contacts and connections, or even special skills ... but what you do need to succeed in any of your life goals is self-discipline. Unfortunately, most people give in to the two worst enemies of success: they take the path of least resistance (in other words, they are lazy) and/or they want immediate gratification: they dont consider the long-term consequences of the actions they take today. No Excuses! shows you how you can achieve success in all three major areas of your life:Your personal goals. Your business and money goals. Your overall happiness. Each of the 21 chapters in this book shows you how to be more disciplined in one aspect of your life, with end-of-chapter exercises to help you apply the no excuses approach to your own life. With these guidelines, you can learn how to be more successful in everything you do instead of wistfully envying others who you think are just luckier than you. A little self-discipline goes a long way ... so stop making excuses and read this book! 'talent. You've Either Got It Or You Haven't.' Not True, Actually. In The Talent Code, Award-winning Journalist Daniel Coyle Draws On Cutting-edge Research To Reveal That, Far From Being Some Abstract Mystical Power Fixed At Birth, Ability Really Can Be Created And Nurtured. In The Process, He Considers Talent At Work In Venues As Diverse As A Music School In Dallas And A Tennis Academy Near Moscow To Demostrate How The Wiring Of Our Brains Can Be Transformed By The Way We Approach Particular Tasks. He Explains What Is Really Going On When Apparently Unremarkable People Suddenly Make A Major Leap Forward. He Reveals Why Some Teaching Methods Are So Much More Effective Than Others. Above All, He Shows How All Of Us Can Achieve Our Full Potential If We Set About Training Our Brains In The Right Way. Most people think success comes from good luck or enormous talent, but many successful people achieve their accomplishments in a simpler way: through self-discipline. No Excuses! shows you how you can achieve success in all three major areas of your life, including your personal goals, business and money goals, and overall happiness.

Each of the 21 chapters in this book shows you how to be more disciplined in one aspect of your life, with end-of-chapter exercises to help you apply the "no excuses" approach to your own life. With these guidelines, you can learn how to be more successful in everything you do--instead of wistfully envying others you think are just "luckier" than you. A little self-discipline goes a long way so stop making excuses and read this book!

Most people think success comes from good luck or enormous talent, but many successful people achieve their accomplishments in a simpler way: through self-discipline. No Excuses! shows you how you can achieve success in all three major areas of your life, including your personal goals, business and money goals, and overall happiness. Each of the 21 chapters in this book shows you how to be more disciplined in one aspect of your life, with end-of-chapter exercises to help you apply the'no excuses'approach to your own life. With these guidelines, you can learn how to be more successful in everything you do --instead of wistfully envying others you think are just'luckier'than you. A little self-discipline goes a long way -- so stop making excuses and read this book! In order to succeed in any of your life goals, you need self-discipline. Unfortunately, most people give in to the two worst enemies of success: they take the path of least resistance, or, they want immediate gratification and don't consider the long-term consequences of the actions they take today. Tracy shows you how to achieve success, and provides exercises to help you apply the approach to your own life This book shows you how to grow talent by tapping into a newly discovered brain mechanism. Drawing on cutting-edge neurology and firsthand research gathered on journeys to nine of the world's talent hotbeds, author Coyle identifies the three key elements that will allow you to develop your gifts and optimize your performance in sports, art, music, math, or just about anything.--From publisher description Daniel Coyle, a revered journalist, spent years investigating the possible origins of skill. Whether it is sports, language, mathematics, or science, Coyle asserts the biology and myelin are the two biggest factors in producing success. Based on his findings, Coyle presents an easy, foolproof program that will allow listeners to develop their own path toward success. Looks at a series of common rider faults or problems and, through words and photos, explains how to correct them. Here, each fault or problem is demonstrated by a different rider - some working at basic level, others advanced. It gives each rider a lesson, taking them through the changes they have to make, and recording their progress with photos. 'Talent. You've either got it or you haven't'. Not true, actually. This book draws on research to reveal that, far from being some abstract mystical power fixed at birth, ability really can be created and nurtured. It explains what is really going on when apparently unremarkable people suddenly make a major leap forward. Practical, educational and easy to follow, the author shares with you the knowledge and skills you need to massage your own horse. With the emphasis on how you can work with your own horse, Sue offers an insight into how to reduce pain and stiffness in your horse as well as improve performance. The author uses her experience in physics, psychology, and being an untalented rider herself to delve beneath riding instructor cliches, and cultivate a causal understanding of the horse-rider relationship that enables a journey of self-directed progress where your horse is your best teacher. The author's Ride with your Mind teaching methods can successfully turn average riders into talented ones. This book sets out to simplify her methods with practical self-tests and exercises to ensure success. The techniques offer riders security, stability and effectiveness in the saddle. This book sets out to simplify Ride with your mind methods and provide a basic tool-kit for the acquisition of a truly independent seat in walk, trot and through transitions, on staright lines, turns and circles - and how to make corrections when things don't go exactly to plan. In this volume, Mary Wanless discusses the underlying principles of riding as she sees them. Eleven illustrated lessons demonstrate these theories, which are based on increasing each rider's understanding of what "is", instead of what "ought to be". This book is a must for anyone who would like to improve the health, wellbeing or performance of their horse. Practical, educational and easy to follow, the author shares with you the knowledge and skills you need to massage your own horse Using an innovative method that combines visualization techniques and sports psychology, Mary Wanless shows how to achieve a new level of relaxed concentration and harmony so that horse and rider move as one. Discover how to learn more effectively, how to develop a better relationship with your horse and how to successfully compete at dressage. Foreword by Mary Wanless BHSI BSc. Includes sections on self-discipline and personal success; business, sales and finances; and the good life