Presents ground training exercises for every horse and handler, including catching, yielding, turning, sacking out, backing, long lining, doing obstacle work, and more.

Get jumping! This collection presents a logical series of fun and rewarding exercises that are designed to develop your horse-jumping skills. With straightforward instructions and clear arena maps, this guide can be hung on a pole and easily referenced from the saddle. In addition to clearly articulated goals and progressively difficult variations, each exercise also includes encouraging advice on what the rider should keep in mind while jumping. Saddle up and get ready to fly through the air with grace and confidence.

This series of Western Dressage exercises are designed to improve suppleness, balance in movement, and responsiveness. Each exercise has a specific goal in mind, and they are organized by different areas of focus: softness, looseness, rider development, engagement, adjustability, and ground work. With illustrated step-by-step instructions and full arena diagrams, you’ll quickly be on your way to mastering this exciting discipline.

If you are like most people, you know what you want your horse to do and how you want him to behave. You want your training experiences to be safe and enjoyable for both you and your horse. But maybe you aren't sure what to do and when. In 101 Longeing and Long Lining Exercises you'll find complete ground training lesson plans from square 1 to square 101. Cherry Hill starts with basic in-hand and free longeing lessons, then takes you through the addition of a longe line, cavesson, bridle, surcingle, side reins, saddle, and long lines. You'll learn a wide variety of ground training exercises suitable for both English and Western horses. In-hand section: * Fancy footwork * Whip works * Pitching a wave * Turn on the forehand * Sidepass * Longeing section: * Stop, look, and listen * Outside turns * Inside turns * Whip talk Spirals * Wagon wheels * Bending tune-up * Contact and collection * Long lining section: * Long line lingo * Yin y ang * Figure-8 * Serpentines * Backing * Cavalletti work * Trail obstacles Each of the exercises is laid out with a diagram, step-by-step instructions, and an explanation of its benefits. The exercises progress from the basic skills to more advanced ones, such as counter-canter and flying changes of lead. This book and its companion volume, Longeing and Long Lining the English and Western Horse: A Total Program, give you a solid foundation for helping your horse work in productive form.

A well-trained, responsive, and intelligent working cow horse is more than just a pleasure to ride or watch in action; such an animal is an integral part--a prized employee, if you will--of a ranch's workforce. How to find and then educate the horse to work cattle in pens and on the range, to negotiate a variety of terrains, and perform all the other tasks it will be asked to do (under a variety of often adverse conditions) is the subject of this handy guide. For example: Being able to open a gate from horseback is a mandatory job for any cowboy. A good place to introduce the young horse to this experience is by using a gate set up as part of an obstacle course. It is desirable and safer if the gate can swing freely and is without any attachments. Start by simply walking your horse through the gate when it's open. Reaching down and gently swinging the gate as you pass through it is the next step. If your horse is a little spooked by your reaching down, be aware that horses are naturally afraid of tight places. Once your horse can pass through an open gate, then attempt to open a closed gate. Be sure your horse fully understands your hand and leg cues before attempting this step, because he must be able to move off your leg to stand next to the fence, move toward the fence as it swings open to let you pass through, and then move around so you can close it. Written by an experienced rancher and horse trainer, 101 Ranch Horse Tips will show you how to start a young horse or improve an older one with techniques that can apply to performance and enjoyment on or beyond the cattle ranch.

A book to help improve horse riding skills.

Handling your horse correctly on the ground is paramount in achieving a calm, willing horse, both in-hand and under saddle, regardless of his age or ability. Groundwork Training for Your Horse takes an in-depth look at the modern and traditional techniques of training from the ground, allowing the reader to select a method that will work for them. Everything from equipment needed to the handler's body language is explained, so the reader is fully briefed before introducing their new skills to their horse.

Horse trainer Jonathan Field has made a name for himself with his unique ability to give people simple, understandable, doable steps that lead to working with a horse “at liberty” in a safe and progressive manner. True engagement with a horse at liberty isn’t just about removing tack and stepping outside the arena—it’s about connection, trust, and communication through movement. Enrich your relationship with your horse, improve your “feel,” and teach your horse to respond to the subtlest of cues; no matter your discipline, whether you compete or ride for pleasure, liberty training can change the way you interact with horses forever.

A highly illustrated guide to simple yet effective methods for keeping horses sound, healthy, and performing their best. Over time, horses (like people) acquire postural habits, compensate for soreness and injury, and develop poor movement patterns. This limits performance ability, causes unsoundness and health issues, and ultimately undermines the horse's overall well–being. Jec Aristotle Ballou has made a name for herself advocating for the horse and providing sensible instruction in his schooling, conditioning, and care. Her bestselling books and popular clinics are designed to enable any horse person to correctly apply proven principles that bring measurable progress while avoiding boredom and confusion. In her latest collection of mounted and unmounted corrective exercises, Ballou demonstrates how we can actively work to improve the horse's posture and movement, whether he is: An active performance or pleasure mount. An aging or older horse that benefits from gentle exercise. A horse being rehabilitated following injury, illness, or lack of conditioning. Ballou's positive cross–training techniques are free of shortcuts, and her guidelines for analyzing the horse's posture and way of going help readers gain a new awareness of the equine body. Applicable for all disciplines and full of quality color photographs to explain the exercises, this is an integral collection that optimizes how the horse uses his body and helps ensure he stays sounder and healthier for more years of his life.

Get your horse in shape and maintain his overall fitness, regardless of his age or abilities. Equine Fitness will have your horse looking and feeling his best with a series of fun exercise routines specifically designed to enhance his strength, stamina, and agility. Clear step-by-step instructions and detailed illustrations make the exercises easy to follow, and the book includes a handy set of pocket-sized cards that you can use in the ring. Jec Ballou’s simple conditioning program promises lasting results for healthy horses and satisfied riders.