Blog Challenge Day 01~ Dreams and Ambitions ~ Dressage for the Not-So-Perfect Horse

Book Review Blog Challenge Day 01- Dreams and Ambitions
Alright here we go. For today's installment in the blog challenge I've decided to go with an equestrian self help book. Since I am still recovering from a broken ankle this is the perfect time to expand my craft through reading.

Dressage for the Not-So-Perfect Horse: Riding Through the Levels on the Peculiar, Opinionated, Complicated Mounts We All Love by Janet Foy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary:
Thousands of riders pursue the sport of dressage across the globe, and the majority do so on a budget and with the horse they already have, or quite simply, the one they can afford. This means riders daily face the challenge of mastering one of the world’s most esteemed equestrian pursuits on horses that may not be bred specifically for the task, or even if they have been, may not be top prospects for any number of reasons—behavioral quirks, conformational impediments, age or soundness issues, you name it.
International dressage judge, clinician, and riding coach Janet Foy has ridden many different horses in the course of her riding and horse training career—different sizes, shapes, colors, and breeds—to the highest levels of dressage competition. Now she has compiled her best tips for training and showing the horse you have (or the horse you love, despite his “faults”) through the levels. With lists of the common “imperfections and evasions” experienced when riding movements—from simple transitions and leg-yield to zig-zags, tempi changes, and piaffe— followed by training tips and creative ways to “perfect” the “imperfections,” riders are bound to discover countless ways to apply Janet’s advice in their dressage pursuits.

My Take:
Easy to understand and logically broken down this book de-mistifies some of the more confusing "basics" that many people struggle from. Myself included.
 I chose this book beacause the title really grabbed me. As an equestrian I am always trying to do things better. With more feel, or more accuracy, more impulsion or more control. Since my own horse would often prefer a lesiorly trail ride to flat work in the ring, finding new ways to engage his brain (and body) is of the utmost improtance. Just like people horses have diffrent learning styles and behaviours. Understanding your horse and diffrent methods to help your horse understand you can make all the difffrence in training.
I'll be honest with you. I have often found Equestrian non fiction to be kind of dry. Not nesecarily hard to understand but just hard to relate to. That is really where this one stands out. Each step is broken down and explained in an informative but relatable way. If you start at the begining and work your way through you can easily see the building blocks to each movement . If you are a more experienced rider or if you are thinkong of resolving just a certaian problem you can quickly find the chapter that interests you. I often enjoy learning how other instructors teach the basis since I teach beginners. Either way I'm sure you will learn a lot and be ready to put it into practice. Once we all get out of quarentine.

There is also a second book that focuses on training which I hope to pick up in the near future.

Special Thanks to Great New Reads for picking such a good topic for today!

#bookreviewblogchallenge