HORSE TRAINING IN HAND

A Modern Guide to Working from the Ground - Work on the Longe, Long Lines, Long and Short Reins. By Ellen Schuthof-Lesmeister and Kip Mistral. Foreword by Sylvia Loch. Hardcover, 200pp, RRP £22.50. JA Allen. Buy in NZ

August 3, 2009

Schooling in hand sounds a great idea to help start a young horse and get movements right before attempting them under saddle. But where do you start? What do you do? Can any horse do it?

I once read a young horse training book that said a horse should spend several months working on the lunge before being ridden. How utterly boring for the horse (and the rider), I thought, and found something else to read.

However, in-hand work is a different kettle of fish altogether, and this book offers an excellent guide on how to get started and goals to work toward in each step of the training process.

As an early page in the book says, many riders nowadays would consider it counter-intuitive to get off the horse in order to learn to ride. But training the horse from the ground has been around a long time - the old masters were doing it hundreds of years ago and today the art is possibly best-known as part of the training programme at the Spanish Riding School.

The goals of the everyday rider may not be as lofty, but there is much to be gained from ground work.

The authors look at the four main areas:

• Lungeing and double-lungeing
• Long reining (long lining)
• Work in short reins
• Work in long reins

So how do you start? Find out when is the best time to introduce the work to a young horse, and conformation points to look out for. For example, a horse may have a straight shoulder and thus take shorter steps and tend more to the forehand.

The equipment you will need is also outlined, as is "the cultivation of lightness", in your reactions and what you ask of your horse.

Next up are chapters on each of the four areas above. Each chapter is broken into lessons, not too long and each with a goal and the steps to take. For example, for the very first lesson on the lunge, step 1 asks you to 'evaluate the horse's respect for your personal space and his willingness to focus on you'; step 2 is determining your horse's flexibility and his supple and stiff sides. The next step concentrates on the gaits, and next is lungeing in side reins.

There's also a handy troubleshooting guide along with each area, giving advice on how to remedy issues that may arise in training.

There are plenty of pictures and drawings throughout to demonstrate the movements.

In all, a fantastic book and invaluable for those serious about training their horses correctly.

ISBN: 1570764093

About the author:

Ellen Schuthof-Lesmeister trained at the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art in Jerez, Spain, and currently studies with two Portuguese masters. She studied for over two years with Danish Baroque trainer Bent Branderup, a renowned master of in-hand work. Schuthof and her husband own and run a training facility near Amsterdam.

Internationally-published equestrian journalist Kip Mistral is a lifelong horsewoman. She has taught composition and technical writing at college level, and written over 75 articles for equine publications in the past several years. Mistral resides in Arizona and owns an Andalusian stallion.