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Rating: 
Summary: Recommended by a Dressage Trainer
Review: All of my beginning dressage students have this book on their shelves as part of my required reading. I chose it because it is a good basic overall for the novice rider. Moira Harris explains everything you need to know in an easy to understand manner. Many dressage books are too much for a beginner and may in fact frustrate instead of educate. DRESSAGE BY THE LETTERS is the perfect way to get your feet wet. But understand that is not intended to help you learn to train your horse, it is intended to help you start out in the sport of Dressage.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended by a Dressage Trainer
Review: All of my beginning dressage students have this book on their shelves as part of my required reading. I chose it because it is a good basic overall for the novice rider. Moira Harris explains everything you need to know in an easy to understand manner. Many dressage books are too much for a beginner and may in fact frustrate instead of educate. DRESSAGE BY THE LETTERS is the perfect way to get your feet wet. But understand that is not intended to help you learn to train your horse, it is intended to help you start out in the sport of Dressage.
Rating: 
Summary: A Waste for a Beginner
Review: I am a beginning rider, learning dressage. I thought from the title that this book would be a good introduction. The other comments are on the mark -- this book does virtually nothing to help the reader understand dressage. I do not recommend it and plan to throw away my copy (and I am a book hoarder by nature!)
Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Reference Tool!
Review: I really liked this book, and I disagree with these other reviews. Anyone who reads the book jacket will understand that this book is not supposed to TRAIN you or your horse to do dressage--it's all about getting started in the sport. I used to ride western before I got interested in dressage, but I didn't have a teacher right away, nor did I really know where to begin. This book really served as an excellent reference tool for the things the training books DON'T say. I found a good dressage teacher as a result of the "riding instructor" chapter, and I to this day still use the show checklists in the "preparing for your first show" chapter. Look, there are plenty of books out there by the Masters of the sport for those interested in learning how to do a half-pass or shoulder-in. But how many tell you the right way to behave at a dressage show, or what a dressage clinic is really like? This book IS for the novice, just as it says on the cover. It's not intended to be for someone who has 20 years experience in the sport.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Reference Tool!
Review: I was so dissappointed with the content of this book I decided to write this review. The book title is "Dressage by the Letter", but the book NEVER addresses Dressage technique. The chapters are:1. Dressage--An Overview: discusses the history of Dressage. 2. Your Horse's Suitabiltiy. This is so standard I could have written it from any horse magazine. 3. Getting Started. This chapter describes conditioning and has no specific relevance. 4. Finding the right instructor. Duhh. 5. Getting the most out of lessons. I could be taking clarinet lessons for all of the specific relevance! 6. Maintaining your schedule. See comment 5. 7. Other training methods. I thought this book would have some specific information about Dressage. It does not. 8. Preparing for your first show. I have been involved in jumping and showing for over 20 years and this chapter may as well of been written for first year walk-trot-canter pony shows. 9. Success on show day. See comment #8. 10. Moving forward, Moving up. This is a chapter on horse care, not Dressage. In conclusion, this book has little if nothing to do with the title. I expected a Dressage training guide with insight. Not a generic horse maintenance book. This Is A RipOff. Can I get my money back?
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