Customer Reviews

The Complete Guide to Endurance Riding and Competition (Howell reference books)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Want to feel good, cover a lot of ground, and enjoy a real sense of accomplishment? And spend a lot of time with your horse? Then read this book. Endurance riding (strictly speaking, going 50-100 miles a day across the countryside for 1-5 days on or with your horse) should not be attempted unless you and your horse have some basic training, including physical conditioning, but with the right approach almost anyone can do it. Donna shows you how, from basics to true competition (not only how to reach the finish line in one piece but how to be one of the first arrivals on a horse that is ready and able to keep going). There are a number of books offering advice on endurance riding, and most provide valuable information, but I find this one the best starting point. Besides covering the fundamentals found in almost every endurance book, Donna offers exercises for you and your horse that help you both to finish without being cramped, exhausted or otherwise unfit to continue (I can testify to this!). She also injects many nuggets of wisdom from her extensive personal experience. Finally, the format includes many helpful diagrams, illustrations, photos, boxes, summaries, lists and references that get the necessary concepts across much better than plain words in a paragraph, which makes for easier reading and quicker comprehension. My only complaint is that the book is too big to fit in my saddlebag.

This book gives a good, solid foundation to the sport of endurance riding, and for every rider who wants a horse at its' prime. I am just starting in the sport and this book tells you where to start and how to prime your horse and get it ready for the competitions ahead. Through this book, I have broadened my knowledge of both the sport and how to work with a horse to get it in its best condition. The author includes valuable tips, exercises and pictures which demonstrate what you need and how to use them. I highly suggest this book for anyone interested in getting started with endurance riding.

I trained with the Ms. Snyder-Smith and worked with Ms. Kanavy in a week long clinic, and I can say unequivocally that the two practice all they talk about in the book. If you want to learn the basics of endurance riding, horse and human biomechanics, and just soak up some real state of the art saavy, Donna Snyder Smith and Valerie Kanavy are the ticket!

This book has some really great pieces of information and I have shared it happily with my barn-mates. The author is somewhat brief in spots, and I finished it feeling like there were gaps in my knowledge that I needed to get other books to fill. I understand that everything about endurance riding cannot be covered in one tome, but I wish she had shared more of her obviously large bank of knowledge. Good ideas and great perspectives are sometimes hidden in sections where they don't belong, so read carefully.

This book is just as expected and the title is fitting. I have read the book from cover to cover and continually refer back to it. It is a must-have resource for starting endurance riding. The illustrations are especially nice and the section about helpful gadgets is candid and straightforward. I recommend this book to anyone interested in endurance riding.

If you are ready to enter an endurance competition, this book will be a very good tool to you, so that you'll know what to expect and what to take. If you are planning on start doing endurance with your horse and aren't sure of how to condition your horse, than this book isn't going to be the tool for that. I think that the writer should talk more about a training plan and on how to get a horse ready for his first competition.

I liked this book, and I have found many important factors, including the big section on how to be a more balanced rider and the effect it has on your horse. But I feel like this book was more geared toward people who are in it to win it, and people who are going to do 100 mile races, rather than those who just want to cross the finish line in a 25 or 30 mile race. But overall, it was a very informative book.

I am a beginner endurance rider and this book is perfect! Just what I was looking for.