Real Life Dressage - Carl Hester

In Real Life Dressage Carl Hester shares his training methods and shows how they can be adapted to suit individual horses. All the horses in this book are horses who have problems. None of them are perfect, because in real life dressage, the perfect horse doesn't exist. With chapters on: training principles, intelligent riding, philosophy for young horses, training for various ages, training the Grand Prix horse, as well as other horses and techniques. Assisted by co-writer Polly Ellison, Carl outlines his training regimes and favourite exercises, explaining that the aim of the book 'is not to describe ideal training scenarios but to look at what we can do, to the best of our ability, with the horses we have. Difficult horses can become good horses, as I have proven with Escapado; and it is important not to give up until you are absolutely sure that it's not going to work.

THE AUTHOR

Hester was raised on the Channel Island of Sark, educated at Elizabeth College Guernsey. Aged 19 he applied for a job with horses on the UK mainland at The Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy and on the centre s skewbald mare, Jolly Dolly, he won the 1985 Young Dressage Rider Championship. Moving to Bourton-on-the-Hill he competed at the first Blenheim Horse Trials and won the Spillers Dressage with Jumping Championship. He next rode for Dr Wilfried Bechtolsheimer (father of Laura Bechtolsheimer) and in 1990 went to the World Championships on Rubelit von Unkenriff, the European Championships in 1991 and in 1992 the Barcelona Olympics on Georgioni. Hester became the youngest British rider ever to compete in an Olympic Games. He next went into a business partnership with Kate Carter at her yard at Stow-on-the-Wold until Carter decided to move for more space. Hester too moved to buy his own yard at Oaklebrook Mill, near Newent, Gloucestershire. In 2011 Hester riding the horse Uthopia was part of the British team that won the team gold medal at the 2011 European Dressage Championship in Rotterdam. Hester also won individual silver medals in the Grand Prix Freestyle and Grand Prix Special.As of 8 August 2012 the (FEI) rank him 12th in the world riding Uthopia.In 2012, Hester was selected with three others to represent the United Kingdom at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the Individual and Team Dressage events.The UK dressage team won the gold medal with Hester riding Uthopia.

Reviews:

'The consummate reference dressage manual' 

'A great read' 

'The book is packed full of photographs, illustrating well explained training exercises, with lots of useful tips to help you along your journey.'