Rating: 
Summary: Useful old favorite
Review: This book has been in print for a considerable length of time - and for good reason. Sally Swift has a knack of generating useful mental models that help the learner rider grasp the elusive essentials. Riding is full of concepts that are difficult to convey to novices. It's rather like learning to ride a bike or swim - once you can do it you can't see what all the fuss was about.Sally Swift's book should prove a useful adjunct to other instruction - whether had from an instructor or gained from books like those of Cherry Hill. The book, as its name implies, deals with the basics. In essence it aims to help you establish a "deep seat" and a "long leg" - the two basic requirements for more advanced instruction yet things that prove surprisingly difficult for most people to achieve. I would rate this book a "good buy" rather than a "must buy".
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Summary: My friend has this book I have scanned it and must have it.
Review: This book is a must for all horse riders it is so logical. I am an endurance rider and a Natural Therapist for people and horses. I do a lot of sport therapy on horses that have problems with their rider! The rider thinks that it is the horse with the problem! Everyone rides differently depending on their body and where the aches and pains are, I know because I have a bad knee that was reconstructed 10 years ago and I find it hard to rise with my weight evenly in the stirrups, horses just put up with the problem until it hurts too much and then seem to be "disobedient" and not change leads or throw the head up, not flex one way etc. and so it goes on. If the riders take responsibility and concentrate on their balance they will have a lot less trouble with their horse. I also find that ill fitting saddles are a problem in causing pain over time they can be new and expensive saddles as well as old ones. You can find me in Australia e mail horses@tpg.com.au I am a certified practitioner of the Jack Meagher method of equine sports therapy. Jan C
Rating:
Summary: A must read!
Review: This book is excellent for any level. As I've advanced through the years I keep getting more out of it. A must have for anyone interested in improving their riding, no matter what discipline!
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Summary: Centered Riding Brings a New Level to Riding
Review: This book is fantastic. Now, it is not a "read this and you'll know how to ride" book. And that is a good thing! Afterall, if that was all it took, the world would be full of professionals! It is also NOT a book on how to train your horse. What this book is, is a great guide to improve your skills, so that you may learn to become a better rider and train your horse more easily. For instance, most people know that they should sit a certain way and be "glued" to the seat. This book shows and explains how, through anatomy pictures and visualizations. It's kind of like Dressage meets Science meets Meditation. Everything is explained throughly and plainly. I reccomend that all of my students buy it and read it.
Rating:
Summary: A Must-Have for Students and Instructors
Review: This book is fantastic. Now, it is not a "read this and you'll know how to ride" book. And that is a good thing! Afterall, if that was all it took, the world would be full of professionals! It is also NOT a book on how to train your horse. What this book is, is a great guide to improve your skills, so that you may learn to become a better rider and train your horse more easily. For instance, most people know that they should sit a certain way and be "glued" to the seat. This book shows and explains how, through anatomy pictures and visualizations. It's kind of like Dressage meets Science meets Meditation. Everything is explained throughly and plainly. I reccomend that all of my students buy it and read it.
Rating:
Summary: Good for beginners - intermediate
Review: This book may not help the advanced rider who is experienced in the dressage type seat. BUT for people who are new to it from other forms of riding such as huntseat (that were taught to grip and never taught about balance)or have been struggling with the 'seat' this book will be a great help in opening the doors to new ideas. I got this book when I was 15 and it helped me greatly make the transition from a huntseat-grip dependent seat to a relaxed balanced seat. Someone had said riding involves muscles, and yes it does. You can not sit like a sack of potatos, but the body must learn to relax and follow the horse and get a grasp of a center of gravity. I believe the type of muslce contraction the book wants to avoid are the types that are the result of rider pain, fatigue or fear. It is foundation work to using the proper muscles in good riding. There are also 'thought' techniques to achieve a good frame of mind. To this day I still use the breathing and vision techniques when I ride. I have kept this book on my shelf for over 14 years and have had countless new riders read it.
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Summary: A first class approach to riding
Review: This is a great book for all riders. Although it is sometimes hard to understand some of the techniques and concepts, if you try looking at it in different ways for what ever suits you best, then it will possibly be one of the best ways for you to ride. I have just started trying some of the basics on my horse. She usually walks with very short, stiff strides. I just relaxed, exagerated the movement of her walk, breathed how Sally Swift tells you in the 4 basics, and my horse started walking out with long, swinging strides. Imagine what the rest of the stuff in the book can do!
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Summary: Great Book For Learning To Ride
Review: This is an excellent book if you are a beginner or intermediate level rider. I have rode with many different trainers, but none have helped me as much as this book. I bought it during the winter and read it cover to cover. Armed with this new information, I went out and started doing what the book said. At nights, I would re-read sections of it to make sure I was doing everything correctly. By the time my trainer came back out, I was riding much better. Over bigger fences, I have always tipped too far forward, therefore loosing my balance ending up on the horse's neck and causing the horse to hang. Not any more! My trainer thought I had been using a different trainer because there was such a difference in my seat and leg. The book also helped me produce better transitions because I have learned to create energy and hold it while changing from one gait to the next. I would say that this is an excellent book for anyone wanting to ride correctly. (I do the Hunters and many of the concepts where new to me. However, THEY WORK!!!) In fact, I am only writting this because I am now ordering another of these books for a lady that just bought one of my show horses and wants to learn to ride "as pretty as you do".
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Summary: enlightning
Review: This is an excellent book that captivates the reader. I am an adult rider, just taking lessons again after 25 years. As a child, centering and balancing comes natually, but as an adult, I needed that extra help in relaxing, and centering my body on my horse. A wonderfull book that any level rider will appreciate
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Summary: My Horse Likes This Book
Review: This is one of my horse's favorite books; I often work on the visualization techniques while with her. Chapters include anatomy, balance, the gaits, aids, transitions, salf-carriage, forces of energy, and collection/extension. Ms. Swift uses imagery to illustrate her points: like pretending to have a tree for your back in order to "grow" and stetch out the spinal cord. I found the frequent reminders about muscle tension and breathing to also be very beneficial. Working with a flighty mare, I sometimes forgot about the concept of breathing. By doing some of the breathing exercises in this book I learned how to "breath" my way through problems and am seeing remarkable success with calming my horse around pool heaters, chainsaws, and other scary things. I also discovered that this book is a great companion to Col. Alois Podhajsky's "The Complete Training of Horse and Rider." Ms. Swift works wonders for the rider and the colonel trains the horse. When read together the results are truly dynamic. Excellent book Ms. Swift! :)
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