A Comprehensive Book on Training the Horse and Its Rider

Originally written in German in 1941, and subsequently translated into English in 1956, Waldemar Seunig's "Horsemanship" book has become one of the most highly regarded works ever published on the training of the horse and its rider.

The book thoroughly explores all aspects of horsemanship beginning with a discussion of the horse itself and a comprehensive evaluation of the physical and psychological requirements of a good rider. Following a section on the development of the rider's seat and the use of aids, the author provides a complete course of instruction for the young horse and rider in Part Two, including:
* Groundwork,
* Backing the horse for the first time
* Development of the gaits
* Work in a curb bit
* Training in open country
* Jumping
* How defects of conformation, disposition, and character affect the training process

Part Three covers advanced work - schooled collection, manege work, piaffe, passage, and finally the "figures above the ground."

"Horsemanship" remains one of the most comprehensive and enduring books ever written on the training of horse and rider from the basics to haute ecole.

(Hardcover, photos, 350 pgs.)

Excerpt from the book:

The first objective in our training of the young horse is getting all the muscles required for locomotion and carrying the load to flex and contract freely. Later on, our driving influences produce longer and more energetic strides of the hind legs and hence more energetic pulsations of these groups of muscles, so that the whole spinal column is stretched towards the front, the horse is supple and in contact with the bit, and the flexing activity of the hindquarters counterbalances this stretching and maintains equilibrium. We strengthen these muscles by training and supple them by gymnastic exercise to enable them to do this job.

Some of the most important muscles involved are the croup (ischia) muscles linked to those of the back and reaching down to the stifle and hock joints; the gluteal muscles locactes around the hip joins, which also branch down to the stifle; the long dorsal muscles, whose action reaches from the dock of the tail to the occipital bone in the horse's head the latissimus dorsi muscles that branch off from them and control the movements of the forelegs; the cervical muscles starting at the front thoracic vertebrae (the withers) and connecting them with the cervical vertebrae; and the spinal muscles, which transmit the forward pull of the cervical muscles up on the spinous processes to the vertebrae and act as a strong elastic suspensory band to prevent the back from sagging and to produce the free, elevated, and supple carriage of the tail when they function correctly.

The mastoidohumeralis muscles, which connect the head, the neck, and the humerus, are equally important, because they are necessary for the smooth co-operation of the forehand and the hindquarters. Then there are the scalenus muscles, which attach the ribs to the base of the neck, and lastly, the abdominal muscles which run along the belly and sides of the horse's body as a sort of truss, affecting respiration and acting as the bottom half of the muscular ring, in combination with the dorsal and scalenus muscles, to establish the connection between the forehand and the hindquarters.

Together with a few other muscles, these groups of muscles constitute a closed muscular ring, as may be seen in any atlas of anatomy.