Customer Reviews

Dressage: A Study of the Finer Points of Riding / By Henry Wynmalen

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This book is remarkable in that the author always puts the horse first. Written in 1952 the author is thoroughly modern in stressing the establishment of a dialogue with the horse. Bear with the language of the early 1900s and be enlightened!

This book....what can I say? It literally is the best book written on riding I have yet come across. Ironic, isn't it, that I am not an English rider, but a Western rider and still found this book to be of great help. Yes, help. It describes in graphic detail what you should really understand before even thinking about mounting a horse, plus tips and guidelines on what you should know when you do mount a horse.

I really did find this book invaluable. I have owned it for years and I'm still learning from it. I find it absolutely great for references.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who rides horses, and to those who don't, just so they can truly understand the significance of horse intelligence and human/horse companionship.

I bought the hardback version of this book in the 1950's and it has been the one I have used most ever since. Dressage itself is a useful training method for all disciplines. Wynmalen makes the "how-to" clear to those of us who do not have access to a teacher. In the 1950's I didn't even have access to videos to show how the exercises were supposed to look and feel when done right, yet the book made almost everything clear -- about the only thing I didn't understand from the book alone was the half-halt. Wynmalen's irreplaceable contribution is in the respect he shows the horse, which leads to understanding. His focus is on better communication and performance, not show success (although he had that too). A gentle, understanding, master at work. Other favorites of mine are The Schooling of the Western Horse, by John Richard Young, and the works of Mark Rashid -- start with A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color. The Rashid works are for those who know the basic cues, since he doesn't cover that.

I bought this book back in the 70's and had immediate success in apply Mr. Wynmalen's techniques with my off the track Thoroughbred. This book shows that caring about the horse is not something new. Dressage: A Study of the Fine Points of Riding is a great book and I highly recommend it to anyone who doesn't want their horse to be miserable - and who wants a horse who is light, responsive, and a pleasure to ride.

Colonel Wynmalen is one of the true master horsemen of the twentieth Century. His book is written in easily to understand language, yet its content is dense with insight. I am familiar with the writings of other famous masters and I do not think that any of these books are any more informative than the Colonel's.

Over the years I've heard opinions favoring one breed of horse over another. In one instance, an associate cast doubts over the merit of one of the hot breeds. However, Wynmalen's book instructs one on how to gradually train horses in a manner that allows an equestrian to take full advantage of the horse's propensities, whether they be hot bloods or other breeds.

One of the strains that runs deep in all of the master equestrians is their love and respect for the horse. Certainly, this is very true of Henry Wynmlen as well.

J.B. Broussard