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Hot Horsey Entertainment for Chilly Winter Days

Published on Sunday, June 26, 2011 in Reviews

With winter taking firm hold, there's no better time to escape the chill and curl up with a great book or DVD.  Whether you're looking for instructional reading or viewing to help with your riding and training, while it's too cold or wet to actually ride; or you're hoping to escape for a few hours with quality fiction, there's hot horsey entertainment to suit you!

Here we check out a few of the best out there at the moment:

BOOKS:

 

'Riding Lessons' and 'Flying Changes' by Sara Gruen (Author of New York Times Best Seller - 'Water for Elephants')

For all those people who have been to the movies recently to see the lovely film, 'Water For Elephants', starring Reece Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, you might be interested to know that the book's author also wrote two horsey novels.

'Riding Lessons' and it's sequel 'Flying Changes' were Sara Gruen's first two novels and are set in the world of international eventing. 20 years after the tragic accident that destroyed her riding career and beloved horse Harry, Annemarie Zimmerman returns to her dying father's stud, taking her troubled teenage daughter with her.

They are classed as adult fiction, however, both are books that many teenagers enjoy as well.

 

 

'The A Circuit' by Georgina Bloomberg and Catherine Hapka 

This new book series for young adults has been out for about a week now and is already hugely popular.

Set in a professional showjumping yard in the USA, it's something like 'The OC' meets 'Gossip Girl'. This is the first book in a series that readers of all ages are going to fall in love with.

The co-author Georgina Bloomberg is the younger daughter of New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and a very accomplished and well-known rider in America. You can tell by the authenticity of the characters, that she really does know the ins and outs of the show world, and how amateurs, professionals, juniors and shooting-stars all interact in the horsey community.

 

Jane Savoie's Dressage 101 - The Ultimate Source of Dressage Basics in a Language You Can Understand

Jane Savoie's Dressage 101 is by internationally renowned coach, mentor, and motivational speaker Jane Savoie. This one-volume new edition of Jane's best-selling books Cross-Train Your Horse and More Cross-Training provides a simple, riddle-free system of training that places a high priority on the horse's physical and mental well-being. Beginning with the three golden rules of dressage training—clarity, consistency, and kindness—Jane walks you through her four stages of dressage education.

 

 

How Good Riders Get Good - by Denny Emerson

This book is exactly what you need to become a better rider. It’s a smart, honest, on-target kick-in-the-pants, guaranteed to rev your engines as you see how a few changes in your life, a few smart choices and strategic moves, can transform you from a run-of-the-mill rider into a GOOD one. How does Denny Emerson know what makes a good rider? For one thing, he IS one—he is the only rider in the world to have won both a gold medal in international eventing and a Tevis Cup buckle in endurance. Plus, he’s been around great riders, and taught those on their way to becoming great, for over 40 years.

 

 

DVDS:

 

Secretariat (due out 10 August)

Secretariat was the first racehorse in 25 years to win America's very prestigious Triple Crown. The Triple Crown is a series of three flat races for three-year-olds run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. If the same horse wins all three races he also wins' The Triple Crown', but obviously it's a very tough call and doesn't happen often.

SECRETARIAT BY WILLIAM NACKis also a terrific book for adult readers if you're interested in finding out more about Secretariat and the Triple Crown, or there is a stunning coffee table book of Secretariats' home and life called SECRETARIAT'S MEADOW.

 

 

Dancing With Horses - Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling

"Perfect communication, including the abandonment of mechanical aids - the dream of riding - is now becoming a reality"

For master trainer Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, work with horses is comparable to dancing. The primary obligation of riding, he explains, is to maintain the horse's powerful and elegant movement under saddle. Improper training compromises the horse's naturally joyful steps with confusing commands; a horse moves with extraordinary grace only if the request is effectively communicated.

 

 

Heartland Series

The best-selling Canadian TV series, based on Lauren Brooke's young-adult novels HEARTLAND, tells the story of a family that runs a farm for abused horses.  Season Three is due for release on 7 July.  If you haven't seen Seasons One and Two yet, be sure to check them out soon - this series has been hugely popular!

 

 

 A few favourites from the Horsezone Team (it seems Jilly Cooper is an honorary member of our team): 

Haylie

  • Fiction - Jilly Cooper books of course!
  • Educational Horse Book - 'Dressage with Kyra' by Kyra Kyrklund and Jytte Lemkow and 'Dressage Masters' by David Collins.
  • DVDs - 'Seabiscuit', 'Phar Lap' and 'The Man from Snowy River'. Recently I watched an amazing DVD when I was back in NZ called 'This Way of Life'. The documentary was acclaimed the Best Documentary at the Qantas Film and Television awards and really touched me, as it followed a New Zealand family and their horses over the course of four years.

Jo

  • Fiction - 'Riders' or 'Polo' by Jilly Cooper (can never quite decide which is my absolute favourite - both are wonderful). Also, all the Pullein-Thompson sisters' novels. I know they're classed as children's books, but curling up with a Pullein-Thompson novel is like escaping with an old friend.
  • Educational Horse Book - 'Going for Broke' by Cleve Wells.
  • DVDs - 'Mechanics N Motion Pro Series # 1 and # 2' by Mark Shaffer, 'International Velvet', 'Something to Talk About' and 'The Man From Snowy River'.

Georgia

  • Fiction - Anything by Jilly Cooper - they're great for a laugh!
  • DVDs - 'Phar Lap', 'International Velvet' and 'The Man from Snowy River'.

Jenny

  • Fiction - 'The Man From Snowy River' by AB (Banjo) Paterson.
  • Educational Horse Books - 'Horse Control - The Young Horse' by Tom Roberts and 'Horses Are Made To Be Horses' by Franz Mairinger.
  • Favourite DVDs - 'Dressage Training' by Kyra Kirkland and 'Dressage in Detail' by Reiner Klimke and 'Phar Lap'.


What we're hanging out to read and watch when we get a moment:

Haylie

Jo

  • Books - 'Riding Lessons' and 'Flying Changes' by Sara Gruen. 
  • DVD - 'Secretariat'.

Georgia

Jenny

  • Books - 'The Art of Training: Lessons from a Lifetime with Horses - The Masters of Horsemanship Series - Book Two' by Hans von Blixen-Finecke and 'How Good Riders Get Good' by Denny Emerson.
  • DVD - 'Dressage Clinic with Andreas Helgstrand' at Equitana Asia Pacific.

Quick Link

  • Visit the Equitainment Website and if there's a book or DVD you would like and they don't have it, contact Jody at Equitainment jawinning@equitainment.com.au who will be more than happy to look into it for you.

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