The Dressage Horse Manifesto

Those who work with and train horses on a regular basis are likely constantly searching for new ways to make inroads and find answers when faced with tough training or behavior problems. Grand Prix dressage rider and performer Yvonne Barteau has trained her share of horses over the years—from off-track racing Thoroughbreds, to Arabians, to Friesians, to Warmbloods—and she asserts that everything that needs to be known about effectively training a horse is already known…by any horse. “Each horse,” says Barteau, “will know and respect the person who figures out how to train him, if that person is fair. The best trainers are not only ‘horse whisperers,’ they are listeners. And readers. They listen to what the horse has to say. They can read horse body language and behavior patterns. They are calm and they stay calm under pressure. How did they learn that? By studying horses. Over time the horses told them how to be a horse trainer and they listened.” Barteau believes that every dressage rider can learn to listen and read, and so experience greater success and partnership with his or her horse. In this book Barteau has used her knowledge and decades of experience and success in and out of the dressage ring to help put to paper what 10 different dressage horses would say to you about horse training if they could. Through the dressage horse’s mouth, from his point of view, readers learn: how simple things really are and how complicated we make them; the value of routine, consequence, and peace; the importance of leadership, fairness, and trust; the need for your sense of responsibility to match your ambition; plus, what kinds of rewards really work and what frightens, annoys, or causes horses to disregard us altogether. If you listen properly, horses will tell you how to train them. This book is a published declaration of their needs as our athletic partners, fellow competitors, and friends.