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Rating: 
Summary: Our Horses, Our Teachers
Review: Ah, what can I say about such an important book in my life? Hans is a poor boy who dreams of riding dressage with the Spanish Riding School of his native Vienna. He attains his goal through hard work and perseverance, by his own merit and against the odds. The book is beautifully written with a flowing narrative style, engaging for both adults and children. The illustrations are the best I have seen from Dennis, at times humorous, at times scholarly, and always precise. I did my senior thesis on the birth of dressage in the Renaissance, but without this book I would never have even heard of Xenophon, or the passage, or known that the Ancient Greeks rode without stirrups. I illustrated it with my own copies of Wesley Dennis's drawings from this book. Also highly recommended as horsey history, "Gaudenzia, Pride of the Palio" by the same writer/illustrator team. If you would like to find out more about Classical dressage please check out Laura Camins's "Glorious Horsemen" and Walter Leitdke's "Royal Horse and Rider," both of which deal with the birth of dressage in the Renaissance according to modern scholarship, and by extension the noble equestrian ballets of which the Spanish Riding school is the last still extant. Did you know that the Louvre's great central courtyard was designed to accommodate horse ballets exactly like those in this book? When I first read this book, when I was about seven years old, I owned a Lipizzan mare of my own. She was for me what Borina was to Hans, my schoolmaster. She was small and gray, with a wide girth, branded, and very long lived. She would do caprioles as we galloped through the field, I kid you not. Were it not for this book I would not have the words to describe her, to remember her like this, and so I am indebted Marguerite Henry. To bring one spark of beauty into the world is worth a life's dedication, is it not? Certainly mine. Read the book and you will understand.
Rating:
Summary: Our Horses, Our Teachers
Review: Ah, what can I say about such an important book in my life? Hans is a poor boy who dreams of riding dressage with the Spanish Riding School of his native Vienna. He attains his goal through hard work and perseverance, by his own merit and against the odds. The book is beautifully written with a flowing narrative style, engaging for both adults and children. The illustrations are the best I have seen from Dennis, at times humorous, at times scholarly, and always precise. I did my senior thesis on the birth of dressage in the Renaissance, but without this book I would never have even heard of Xenophon, or the passage, or known that the Ancient Greeks rode without stirrups. I illustrated it with my own copies of Wesley Dennis's drawings from this book. Also highly recommended as horsey history, "Gaudenzia, Pride of the Palio" by the same writer/illustrator team. If you would like to find out more about Classical dressage please check out Laura Camins's "Glorious Horsemen" and Walter Leitdke's "Royal Horse and Rider," both of which deal with the birth of dressage in the Renaissance according to modern scholarship, and by extension the noble equestrian ballets of which the Spanish Riding school is the last still extant. Did you know that the Louvre's great central courtyard was designed to accommodate horse ballets exactly like those in this book? When I first read this book, when I was about seven years old, I owned a Lipizzan mare of my own. She was for me what Borina was to Hans, my schoolmaster. She was small and gray, with a wide girth, branded, and very long lived. She would do caprioles as we galloped through the field, I kid you not. Were it not for this book I would not have the words to describe her, to remember her like this, and so I am indebted Marguerite Henry. To bring one spark of beauty into the world is worth a life's dedication, is it not? Certainly mine. Read the book and you will understand.
Rating:
Summary: This book really caught my interest.
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. It didn't take long at all to finish it. I love horses and if you are a horse lover you should really read this book. Marguerite Henry makes me want to read more.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it. Now.
Review: If you have any doubts about purchasing this book, forget them and buy it now. I was given this book when I was a child (20 years ago) and it thrills to me to this day. Ms. Henry writes with such imagery that you find yourself caught up as Hans, the young boy who is captivated by the stallions. Not only is the writing terrific, but so is the artwork. This story is one of my all-time favorites.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it. Now.
Review: If you have any doubts about purchasing this book, forget them and buy it now. I was given this book when I was a child (20 years ago) and it thrills to me to this day. Ms. Henry writes with such imagery that you find yourself caught up as Hans, the young boy who is captivated by the stallions. Not only is the writing terrific, but so is the artwork. This story is one of my all-time favorites.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Horse Story Ever!
Review: This is the story of Hans, a young Austrian boy that wishes more than anything to work with the "Dancing White Horses," the Lipizzaner stallions of Vienna. In the story he is accepted to the Spanish Riding School, the finest riding school in the world, and then the work begins. Teamed with his patient instructors, one two-legged and one four-legged, Hans sets out to achieve his dream and prove to everyone that any goal is possible with dedication. This is my all-time favorite horse story; the characters are believeable, the illustrations are gorgeous, and the story is timeless.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Horse Story Ever!
Review: This is the story of Hans, a young Austrian boy that wishes more than anything to work with the "Dancing White Horses," the Lipizzaner stallions of Vienna. In the story he is accepted to the Spanish Riding School, the finest riding school in the world, and then the work begins. Teamed with his patient instructors, one two-legged and one four-legged, Hans sets out to achieve his dream and prove to everyone that any goal is possible with dedication. This is my all-time favorite horse story; the characters are believeable, the illustrations are gorgeous, and the story is timeless.
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