The Anatomy of Riding

Rating:
Summary: An addition to the literature on dressage
Review: In combination with veterinarian Sara Wyche's other volumes, this book has substantial information about the horse's back. Beautifully illustrated, this volume is certain to be helpful to some riders. I gave it two stars instead of three for two reasons.

First, although the author knows her discipline of dressage, she (or the editor) selected a cover illustration showing a horse with its head badly behind the vertical in a double bridle with the reins tight and the rider's shoulders tilted to the right. Riding "broken at the waist" interferes with aids of the seat that interact with the horse's back. First impressions count! Riding with the horse's neck quite short is common in the schooling and competition arenas. However, it places the horse's esophagus and windpipe in a position where the animal is close to choking. Anatomy of the head would show just how close the fit is between the hyoid apparatus and the breathing/swallowing mechanism. Further, there are critical connections (the "circle of aids") with the muscle system that links the hyoid apparatus, tongue and jaw with the sternum-rib cage anatomy. It is especially useful to know how to employ the seat/leg aids to affect the muscular girdle that attaches the front legs in connection with the anatomy of the neck and head. In that case, a rider may use the knowledge to gain the feel, the touch-skill, to ride more with the aids of the lower body and less with the hand: the hand "receives the effects of the legs and seat." So as a classical rider and dressage judge, I am uneasy about the tradition in which this volume is written.

Second, the illustrations are informative and beautiful, but as drawings they reflect what the author thinks is happening in the very complex interaction between horse and rider. A computer model would have been helpful as additional material, as its modeled imagery reflects joint angle rotations, joint anatomy and bone lengths as they occur during movement. Drawings, even ones as nice as the ones in this book, have subtle (to the rider or reader) distortions. If these are neglected in practice, it may well mean the difference between comfort and discomfort for the horse, to whom small clearances in anatomy may have important meaning.

I would have liked to see more connection with the biomechanics of the classical tradition in this volume as well as the combination of veterinary knowledge with digital models of motion based on video analysis. This review reflects my interdisciplinary interest in the influence of digital media used to update the pool of information about the biomechanics of dressage.

I recommend the tradition of classical equitation of the "spiral seat" explained in the Schusdziarra father and son volume "An Anatomy of Riding."