Customer Reviews

The Art of Horsemanship

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Really interesting book This man had a good eye and an outstanding knowledge of horses. This book covers the care, training and ridding in a way that is just as accurate now as it was a couple thousand years ago. One must remember that these guys depended on their horses in order to do battle and to travel, in other words to survive. It must also be remembered that these ridders were not using sturrips as they had not been invented as yet. Great book at any price - but really hard to find - a real good look into practical horsemanship that hasen't changed much in 2,000 years - maybe we have changed but the horse hasen't

This is one of the books that I actually took to college with me due to its unusual author. Xenophon wrote this work from the his viewpoint of a cavalry commander several thousand years ago. Even though the work is literally dated his knowledge has never ceased to be of interest to modern riders. Perhaps the first novel ever written on horsemanship it includes training troops, choosing horses, and putting on army displays. Although not the best choice for a person who desires a book to teach them to ride, this book will be a delight for any horseperson desiring to learn about ancient cavalry practices and the origins of the horse in military settings.

Before there was dressage there was Xenophon. He was a general and horseman, though it's hard to tell which he was first. It doesn't take a genius to realize that the man knew what he was talking about - otherwise we wouldn't be reading his words MILLENIA after he wrote them. I wonder if his horses felt they were lucky he was their rider - I know I feel lucky that we can still read his ideas.

FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE THE TWIN PASSIONS OF HORSES AND HISTORY, THIS BOOK WAS FASINATING TO READ. XENOPHON SPEAKS LIKE MANY OF THE TRAINERS TODAY WHO ARE "TRAININ GENTLE". THERE ARE DIFFERENCES OF COURSE BECAUSE HIS MAIN THRUST IS A TRUSTWORTHY MOUNT FOR A CAVALRY THAT DID NOT USE SADDLES. HIS AFFECTION FOR THE ANIMALS IS APPARENT FROM THE OPENING PAGE. THIS BOOK WOULD BE OF INTEREST TO ANYONE WHO IS IN LOVE WITH HORSES, OR WOULD LIKE A FULLER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ANCIENT USE OF CAVALRY.

The first ever book of it's kind on selecting, training and riding horses, eloquently written by an articulate ancient Greek horseman. A quick read but entertaining and enlightening. This English translation is very fluid and easy to understand. Xenophon covers all the basics of horse husbandry that are still followed 2500 years later. If you are thinking of owning or training a horse, this work is a good place to start.

There are two masters in dressage during history that not only teached their pupils but also made an effort to write down their knowledge in a book, Xenofon and de la Gueriniere. Xenofon took many things as given and he put the focus on how to handle the horse in a gentle way. Now that many of the knowledge he took for given have been lost still his teaching is modern and when compared to a lot of 20th century books on dressage I would call him revolutionary!

This edition includes both Xenofons book but also historical essays on tacking and other things in ancient greece.

The material in this book is thousands of years old but amazing in how modern the approach is to horsemanship. Most of Xenophon's advice is timely even today. It shows how little has changed over the centuries.

Well translated version of the first book written on horsemanship. Translator has added interesting facts in a separate chapter concerning horses in Greek times 2500 years ago.For a student of horsemanship this book is highly recommended as the nature of the horse is considered as an important factor in his training.

I had a good time reading through this reprint of Morris Morgan's 1893 translation of Xenophon's "The Art of Horsemanship" (350 BC). Unlike many of the other ancient Greek translations and authors, this one is very easy to read.

The text itself is fairly short and reads quickly, sprinkled with wisdom. After the text is another short portion from 1893, which talks about "The Greek Riding-Horse", based on Xenophon and all the other available sources. Additionally, the footnotes to the text are quite interesting--I read them, for the most part, en block after reading the text.

As the title implies, the text is a very hands-on, practical guide to "everything you need to know" about how to take care of and look good riding a horse, reading like a "Horsemanship for Dummies" book. If you're interested in Ancient Greece and horses, you've got to read this short "instruction manual", though if you're only interested in the ancients, it's still fun to breeze through this text, nevertheless.

My daughter is an avid gatherer of horse information and had been looking for this book but in the wrong places. We went onto Amazon website and found it quickly and for a few dollars less. Very happy with the book and great service--received it quickly!