Dedication |
|
vi | |
Acknowledgments |
|
vii | |
Foreword |
|
viii | |
|
Preface |
|
ix | |
|
Part I: Mount Up and Ride |
|
|
1 | (100) |
|
|
2 | (15) |
|
I'm Uncomfortable Mounting from the Ground |
|
|
|
My Horse Won't Stand Still for Mounting |
|
|
|
Holding the Reins and Saddle While Mounting |
|
|
|
Dismounting: Should I Jump Off or Slide Off? |
|
|
|
|
|
Staying On: What's Your Position? |
|
|
17 | (12) |
|
|
|
What Is Correct Knee Position? |
|
|
|
|
|
I Lean Sideways, and My Horse Does Too |
|
|
|
|
29 | (12) |
|
How Should I Move My Arms at the Walk? |
|
|
|
|
|
Young Horse Won't Walk, He Jogs |
|
|
|
Lengthening a Short Walk Stride |
|
|
|
My Horse Anticipates Walk-Trot Transitions |
|
|
|
|
41 | (18) |
|
Help! Can't Master Posting Trot! |
|
|
|
How Do I Learn Diagonals? |
|
|
|
|
|
Please Provide Sitting Trot Image |
|
|
|
First Lengthenings at Trot and Canter |
|
|
|
What Is Correct Trot Lengthening? |
|
|
|
Trot Lengthening or Medium Trot? |
|
|
|
|
59 | (17) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rider's Leg Swinging at Canter |
|
|
|
Better Canter for Rider and Horse |
|
|
|
|
76 | (13) |
|
Explain Crest Releases, Please |
|
|
|
I Can't ``See My Distance'' |
|
|
|
Losing Stirrups over Jumps |
|
|
|
Learning to ``Fold'' over Jumps |
|
|
|
Hunt Seat Compared to Cross-Country Position |
|
|
|
Strong Legs for Cross-Country Jumping? |
|
|
|
|
89 | (12) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Essential Equine Trail Skills |
|
|
|
Part II: Physical and Emotional Issues |
|
|
101 | (116) |
|
Figuring Out Horse and Rider Size |
|
|
102 | (15) |
|
Is This Horse Too Small for Me? |
|
|
|
|
|
Finding the Right Size Horse |
|
|
|
|
|
Can My Horse Carry My Weight? |
|
|
|
How Heavy Is Too Heavy to Ride? |
|
|
|
When Your Body Doesn't Cooperate |
|
|
117 | (23) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Swinging Legs and Stirrups |
|
|
|
Strengthening Rider's Legs |
|
|
|
Why Don't My Toes Point Forward? |
|
|
|
|
|
Too Much Ballet Turnout on Horseback |
|
|
|
Rider with Painful Stitch |
|
|
|
|
|
|
140 | (21) |
|
|
|
|
|
Help, I Am a ``Fraidy Cat''! |
|
|
|
Rider Confidence Loss --- Whose Fault? |
|
|
|
Dealing with Loss of Confidence |
|
|
|
Restoring Rider Confidence |
|
|
|
Helping Your Horse with His Problems |
|
|
161 | (13) |
|
Horse Too Sensitive to the Leg |
|
|
|
Retraining an Ex-Racehorse |
|
|
|
|
|
My Horses' Mouths Can't Tolerate Bits |
|
|
|
My Horse Can't Do What I Want to Do |
|
|
|
Thinking Right about Horses |
|
|
174 | (20) |
|
Horse Is Always Testing the Bit |
|
|
|
|
|
Confused about Seesawing the Bit |
|
|
|
Is Seesawing the Bit Always Wrong? |
|
|
|
Letting Others Ride My Horse |
|
|
|
Do Horses Enjoy Being Ridden? |
|
|
|
Horse ``Feeling His Oats'' |
|
|
|
|
|
Thinking Right about Your Riding |
|
|
194 | (23) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dressage Rider's Potential |
|
|
|
Moving Up a Level in Eventing |
|
|
|
``Just'' a Pleasure Rider |
|
|
|
Horse Too Fit for Wimpy Me |
|
|
|
Part III: Tack and Clothing |
|
|
217 | (66) |
|
|
218 | (15) |
|
Correct Way to Hold Reins |
|
|
|
|
|
Change Bit for More Control? |
|
|
|
Bit Pressure and Western Bits |
|
|
|
Asking My Horse to Stretch Forward and Down |
|
|
|
Whips and Spurs and How to Use Them |
|
|
233 | (12) |
|
|
|
When Can I Start Wearing Spurs? |
|
|
|
|
|
Spurs, Western Riding, and Hollywood |
|
|
|
When Your Tack Gets in the Way |
|
|
245 | (17) |
|
Finding a Saddle That Fits |
|
|
|
Stirrup Length for Dressage: I'm Confused |
|
|
|
Safety Stirrups for Adults |
|
|
|
Special Stirrups for Painful Knees and Ankles |
|
|
|
Reins for Hands That Won't Close |
|
|
|
Longer Reins for a Long-Necked Horse |
|
|
|
When Your Clothes Get in the Way |
|
|
262 | (21) |
|
|
|
Putting Folds into Tall Boots |
|
|
|
|
|
Still Bouncing with Two Sports Bras |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Seat Bone Pain When Riding |
|
|
|
|
|
Wearing a Hat under a Helmet |
|
|
|
Part IV: Getting Better All the Time |
|
|
283 | (78) |
|
|
284 | (29) |
|
|
|
Questions to Ask Prospective Instructor |
|
|
|
My Instructor Hates My Horse |
|
|
|
Same Lesson Over and Over |
|
|
|
``Jerk and Shout'' Instructor |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Should Beginners Ride Many Different Horses? |
|
|
|
Weekly, Biweekly, or Monthly Lessons? |
|
|
|
More Lessons = More Confusion |
|
|
|
Old, Scared Lady Wants to Ride |
|
|
|
Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced? |
|
|
|
|
313 | (15) |
|
``Not Good Enough'' for a Clinic? |
|
|
|
|
|
Clinics for ``the Rest of Us'' |
|
|
|
Clinician's Comment on Riding Corners |
|
|
|
Should the Clinician Ride Your Horse? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
328 | (14) |
|
I Want to Show but I'm Terrified |
|
|
|
|
|
I'm Never in the Ribbons --- Why? |
|
|
|
Interpreting Dressage Scores |
|
|
|
|
|
|
342 | (19) |
|
Can't Let My Friends See Me Ride |
|
|
|
Dressage for Occasional Rider |
|
|
|
Frustrated Adult Beginner |
|
|
|
|
|
Limited Riding Time during the Winter |
|
|
|
``My Way is the Only Way'' |
|
|
|
Ground Work and Riding --- You Need Both |
|
|
|
Am I Letting My Horse Down? |
|
|
Appendix: How to Build a Mounting Block |
|
361 | (3) |
Index |
|
364 | |