The Saddle Club members try to persuade the owner of a probable champion to get him qualified and also rescue a broken, battered horse that needs a home.

*THE TOP 10 BESTSELLER FROM THE MOST DECORATED BRITISH FEMALE OLYMPIAN IN HISTORY* 'Refreshingly honest [...] a highly enjoyable, fascinating read.' Horse and Hound _______________________________________________ "To ride into that arena, next to a sea of British flags and hear the roar of clapping and cheering, was so exciting. It's a sound I will never, ever forget." Charlotte Dujardin and her charismatic horse Valegro burst onto the international sports scene with their record-breaking performance at the London, 2012 Olympics. The world was captivated by the young woman with the dazzling smile and her dancing horse. But no one quite knew what it took to get there, nor how hard the path to success would be - until now. Dujardin began riding horses at the age of two, but dressage was firmly the domain of the wealthy, not the life of a girl from a middle-class family. Her parents sacrificed all and with a undeterred focus, Charlotte left school at 16 to follow her dream. When she was invited to be a groom for the British Olympian Carl Hester, she began to ride Valegro, a dark bay gelding and an unbreakable bond was formed. This is their incredible story.

Southwood is the most glorious horse the Saddle Club has ever seen. He has more than athletic talent—he has the heart and soul of a champion. The girls think this horse could jump for gold at the world's most exciting competition. But he has to qualify first—and Southwood's new owner doesn't think the horse is ready to be pushed that hard.

With a show-jumping career spanning over forty years, Nick Skelton is a legend in the equestrian world. No other rider has won so many major competitions on so many different horses and he is as popular at Olympia and Hickstead as he is at Aachen, Geneva, Paris and Spruce Meadows. Skelton has competed in eight Olympic Games. He was part of the gold medal-winning Great Britain team at London 2012 and made history by winning the individual Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016, riding at the age of fifty-eight his beloved horse Big Star. Nick Skelton began riding at the age of eighteen months on a Welsh pony called Oxo. At the age of seventeenth in 1975, Skelton took team silver and individual gold at the Junior European Championships. He has competed many times at the European Show Jumping Championships, winning numerous medals, both individually and with the British team. In 1980 he competed in the Alternative Olympics, where he helped the British team to a silver medal. He still holds the British Show Jumping High Jump record that he set in 1978. In 2000, Skelton was forced into an early retirement after he broke his neck from a serious fall. But following an amazing recovery he came out of retirement in 2002 to compete again. Now he tells the full story of his eventful life and matchless achievements.

Frank Waters has written a book about the Golden Age of Show Jumping. Starting as a groom, and jumper, he switched to announcing.

With an astounding eighteen medals in eight international championships and team gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1976 and 1984, Jack Le Goff created the standard by which modern–day equestrian teams are measured. But Le Goff's techniques could be unforgiving–tough, brutal, and abrasive–earning him critics as well as converts. In this, his autobiography, Le Goff tells the whole story, from impoverished beginnings in Morocco, to the tragic death of his father, to his successes as a competitive equestrian. Readers will enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of high–level international equestrian sport, as well as an entire section devoted to Le Goff's much admired and extremely successful training philosophy.

Valegro is nothing short of a worldwide phenomenon: a horse who has taken the sporting world by storm. In an unprecedented career, he has gone from rejection to concurrent Olympic, World and European Gold and a World No 1 ranking - leaving a trail of broken World records in his wake.From gangly youngster to 'the best the world has ever seen', this is the heart-warming story of the horse that revolutionized a centuries-old sport and won the hearts of equestrian and sports fans everywhere. Voted the Nation's favourite horse, he has achieved international fame and admiration and has a character and intelligence that the public clearly adores.This modern-day Black Beauty story is told by his owner and trainer, Carl Hester, who had the vision to bring together the potential of a young rider - Charlotte Dujardin - with a horse whose outstanding ability has proved that dreams can still come true.With honesty, humour and contributions from leading lights across the equestrian world, this book is an inspiring and indispensable must-have for equestriennes, sports fans and anybody interested in achieving success against the odds.

"Lis Hartel became paralyzed after contracting polio in 1944. Her dreams of riding horses and competing in the sport of dressage were shattered. After months in the hospital, doctors told her she'd never ride again. Lis tried anyway. How do you stay on a horse without using your legs? How do you give the subtle cues needed in dressage with limited mobility? With hard work--and an unlikely horse named Jubilee. After years of training together and creating a new way of communicating, Lis and Jubilee danced into the competition ring, and eventually all the way to the Olympics. Lis Hartel was the first woman with a disability ever to win an Olympic medal, and the first woman to stand equally beside men on the Olympic winners' podium in any sport."--

Bertalan de Némethy became a legendary figure as coach of the United States Equestrian Team show-jumping squad. During his twenty-five year tenure, he led the team to sustained international triumph in 6 Olympics, 5 Pan American Games, 4 World Championships, and countless international horse shows. Teams coached by de Némethy scored victories in 144 Nations Cups, while his individual riders won no fewer than 72 international Grand Prix, 44 Championships, and hundreds of individual classes all over the world.De Némethy formulated his own training techniques of horse and rider based on his Hungarian Cavalry School background and the principles of classical equitation. From this evolved the celebrated "de Némethy style," the precision and elegance of which are emulated throughout the world today. Classic Show Jumping: The de Nemethy Method is an exposition of this gold-medal technique, illustrated with more than 100 photographs of riders and horses that Bertalan de Némethy has personally trained. Covering all aspects of horsemanship, it is the only book to detail de Némethy's proven method for training world-class jumpers.Classic Show Jumping: The de Némethy Method includes: basic principles of equitation; longe line techniques; the basic training of a horse; modern cavalletti and gymnastic systems; competing over courses; plus much, much more. The material is presented clearly, with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions. Every level of rider--beginner, intermediate, and advanced--can benefit from Bertalan de Némethy's genius as a trainer and teacher.

A revised and updated edition of a classic work on horses and horsemanship by one of the most acclaimed riders in show jumping history.