Core Conditioning for Horses: Increase Suppleness, Improve Bend, and Unlock Optimal Movement

Long review, sorry not sorry, but I REALLY like this book!! I was pretty skeptical but was desperate for help in getting my mare to relax, use her back and build more topline. She's a tense/nervous sort anyway and had been dealing with back tenderness for years (ovarian problems unbeknownst to me). This had resulted in a variety *ahem* of behavioral problems and she had really become hollow in the back... and tense! The back tenderness/ovarian issue was addressed and she was much happier in her work and progressing well, but was still a bit tense and very weak in the back. This is where the book comes in. These exercises are all to be begun at the walk and can be done by all horses, regardless of fitness. They may even be exercises you have done before, they are just to be done a bit differently. My mare LOVES these exercises and I now incorporate them into every warmup. I have been doing them 4-6 times/wk for a couple of months now and she has become much more relaxed and "up" in her back as well as having built more muscle over her back and rump. She has also gotten SO MUCH EASIER to ride and more correct in her way of going. My skeptic brain is honestly shocked by how much this has helped her. I recommend it for all horses, but especially for young horses starting out, for horses with sore/tense backs or with kissing spine and for those who pull or fight the bit or have other evasive behaviors. If they CAN please us, they generally do.... or at least they try. If they don't it's quite possibly because they can't do it physically or because they don't understand what we are asking. This book helps with ALL of that.

These are just basic, simple, age-old exercises given fancy names by the author. Drawing the parallels to yoga poses for humans seems a bit of a stretch and pretty superfluous.

Just love this book...the author has such insight into how we can gauge how our horse feels and this book is very modern, inspiring and humerous in that it's not too technical with beautiful pictures and meaningful quotes on each page which is a wonderful touch, so many equestrian books are pages and pages of words which I find hard to read through without losing interest. Love the yoga-inspired exercises, pure genius. This book holds the reader's interest throughout.. my horse is already feeling more supple and flexible.a great book!

I am very glad I found this book. I've been doing a lot of research on dressage and how the training has gone downhill in recent years, yielding horses with multiple injuries, including kissing spine. This book shows you how to bring a horse along, even one who has damage, to recovery gently, correctly, and sympathetically. Highly recommend.

Love this book. Love the format and graphics. I could not have ordered this book at a better time as I am about to rehab my mare from a recent injury which required several weeks of stall rest. I know from experience and training that getting a horse to use their back and core correctly is the key to their health and longevity under saddle. You don't have to have a fancy dressage horse to reap the benefits from the exercises illustrated in this book. Highly recommend.

Lot's of pretty visuals, attractive photos and poetic descriptions...however, I found little to apply to everyday practice. Enough material for a magazine article perhaps, not an entire book.

Insightful and easy to read and follow directions that have lots of pictures and diagrams. A great help for any rider to better understand how to help their horse move better.

The author combines science with an easy to read format, a rating system, and exercises to help both you and your horse.

Why wouldn’t you want to release your horses optimal performance; in a compassionate, encouraging, straight-forward way, whilst being able to feel it at work underneath you within the first session?I personally, have gone back to basics during lock down and have had the opportunity to work through Simon’s exercises on different horses across multiple disciplines.I’ve found it invaluable for learning how to get to the root of the challenges these sentient creatures face, and be able to target an area deep inside them to help use themselves effectively.They give us so much in so many ways, it’s a joy to be able to know these techniques are allowing them to use their bodies correctly and ultimately comfortably...let them find that happy place and they will be a pleasure to ride.This work will also strengthen the bond between you both, it’s good mentally as well as physically for a healthy human-horse partnership.It’s certainly made me a more effective rider in the process too and given me some discipline in my training.Love the history, supporting biomechanics, quotes, and touch of humour throughout too!Thank you Simon for enlightening me on this journey.

This book is fantastic. It show cases a series of exercises that had an effect in under 20 minutes.

Fundamental reading for caring and aspiring riders. Helps to lay the correct foundation for training our equine partners, building a strong core, to prevent injury, trauma and create a harmonious and enjoyable partnership. For both pleasure or the more competitive combinations, it's a must-read.

Although this book is really nicely written with some humour, I was expect a more detailed explanation, photos, and guidance in to "Yoga type stretches" and exercises but there isn't, there was nothing new in it. So I sent it back.

Highly recommend this book, it is informative and educational with superb illustrations. Easy to read for the novice and the professional rider. If you're wanting to work on improving your horse's core, this is the book for you.