Customer Reviews

Trail Training For Horse And Rider (Equi Skills)

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This is a wonderful resource for both the experienced and the novice trail rider. Those of us who are fans of Ms. Daly's have long-awaited this book. Ms. Daly has written a monthly trail riding newsletter for some time. The book reflects her easy-to-read, conversational style and contains so many great stories. Ms. Daly and her friends have done it all!

The first part of the book emphasizes the fun and challenges of trail riding. Innumerable trail pointers and etiquette tips are given: avoid running up behind another rider; cross streets in groups (not single file); hold gates up for other horses, but don't hold branches for other horses, etc. She describes common and uncommon obstacles and how to both prepare for them in advance of the ride and also how to handle them during the ride. Ms. Daly further describes safe conditioning for the trail horse, an important aspect of trail riding that is too often neglected.

In the second half of the book, Ms. Daly describes how to train horses for safe trail riding. She addresses both the young or inexperienced horse as well as the horse who has developed some nasty vices such as bucking, bolting, spooking, barn souring, or rearing. These chapters could be very useful to the rider/horse who has performed mostly in the arena and would like to try the great outdoors. If a chapter doesn't apply to your horse today, it will probably apply to a friend's. This is a book to be read and re-read--and enjoyed!

This enjoyable and lively book will inspire you to seek out trail riding opportunities beyond your current comfort level, and will deliver on practical advice to stay safe and keep your horse healthy in so doing. The author's engagingly personal style, replete with many real-life anecdotes about horses she has ridden and incidents encountered on trails, will keep you entertained while you learn. Chapters cover choosing a trail horse, training a horse for trail rides, fitness, trail etiquette, safety, and how to deal with common problems such as barn and buddy sourness, jigging, spooking, and the more dangerous bolting, bucking, and rearing. Highly recommended for all levels of trail riders.