Tug of War: Classical Versus "Modern" Dressage

By Dr Gerd Heuschmann

Reviewed by Bay Mare

I read this book on the train to and from work yesterday (I've had it a while!).

For anyone interested in dressage or just the best ways of training your horse this is a 'must read'. It was reviewed in the BHS magazine recently and, I believe, is now required reading for BHS exams

"BHS Chairman Patrick Print FBHS, British Horse Magazine, January 2008
'I strongly recommend this book for all. So much so that it will be added to the recommended reading list for BHS examination students'"

I starts out by talking about the responsibility that we all have for 'training' methods such as rollkur, draw reins etc. It's a fascinating insight because normally we'd just blame the trainers and the judges!

He talks about anatomy and biomechanics which can be a bit dry but there's a lot of interesting stuff so it's worth wading through

One of the bits that I found most interesting was the effects of incorrect training on the musculature, on the horse's long term health and even on the gaits. There are lots of photos of the 'good' and the 'bad' though I would have liked more photos/illustrations on the physical effects of different methods (incorrect muscling for example). He explains the difference between a technically correct piaffe and an incorrect one ... maybe something that not all of us will ever do but interesting nonetheless.

References

Find it on Amazon∞
Dr Gerd Heuschmann∞

---

Return to HorseBookReviews