Dressage Training In Hand

Author: Kathrin Roida

Format: Hardcover  Page Count: 144

Illustrations: 217 color photos, 10 illustrations

Over the course of her riding and horse training career, Kathrin Roida has progressively gained a deep appreciation for the benefits of gymnastic exercises, particularly those that can be taught to the horse from the ground. “In-hand” training has long been used to help develop the dressage horse, conditioning and suppling his body while at the same time preparing his mind to grasp the movements that may eventually be expected under saddle. Roida relies on these techniques when working with young horses, which she prepares for under-saddle training with exercises first learned on the ground, improving balance and enhancing confidence by refining the horse's sense of his body and where it is in space. Roida also uses in-hand techniques to vary the training of the fully schooled riding horse and to solve problems that may be more safely dealt with from the ground. In this book she details her methods, sharing the stories of a number of horses of different ages, breeds, and training backgrounds, and demonstrating the steps to teaching them: shoulder-in, travers, renvers, pirouettes, half-pass, piaffe, passage, canter work, the Spanish walk, and much more. Throughout her conscientious attention to what is best for the horse ensures that not only do the lessons result in a horse that is healthy in body but also one that is healthy in mind and happy in his work.

About the Author:
Kathrin Roida runs a horse training facility in Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany. She works with horses of all breeds, using only positive, conscientious training methods committed to the health and longevity of the horse. She has trained with a number of riding and training luminaries, including Anja Beran, Manuel Jorge de Oliveira, Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, Jean-Claude Dysli, Marc de Froissard de Broissia, and Johann Riegler. Roida is known for her popular lessons and clinics on in-hand work and gymnastics for the horse.