The Rider's Balance - by Sylvia Loch (Hardcover)

About the Book

Sylvia Loch provides an image-driven visual guide that shows how each tiny shift of the rider's weight affects the horse's balance.

Book Synopsis

"This is a much needed book on the Weight Aids which should be close to the heart of all who teach and coach riding." - Patrick Print OBE FBHS

This book is designed for all riders from the very novice to the most advanced. Sylvia Loch teaches through illustrations and photos how each tiny shift of the riders weight will affect the horses balance.

The weight aids are generally taught only to higher level students especially those learning the more advanced skills. Yet, by including them from the beginning, novice riders will develop a much greater understanding of their own bodies and abilities and those of the horse from day one.

In Sylvia's words...: The time has surely come to show all riders how their body-weight impacts on the horse for good or bad. Feel and balance should govern the whole ethos of equitation. In this book, I show through pictures how the giving of the aids can transform the horse in each and every movement so that our communication with this wonderful animal takes us to new levels of understanding and empathy.

The Rider's Balance is well written and easy to understand, and is yet another classic riding book from one of Britain's leading classical riding advocates, Sylvia Loch.

Review Quotes

...it's not just a book of pictures and a few captions, it goes beyond that and really helps the reader to understand the horse's balance... You don't have to be a competitive rider to enjoy this book and learn from it.-- "Northern Horse Magazine"

Excellent use of photos and illustrations with explanations get to the nub of how riders can use their weight, and the aid of gravity, to enhance their riding and help, rather than hinder, their horse in all paces and movements. While much is said and written about the rider's seat, this is the first book I've found that clearly and simply explains how weight can be used as a positive aid. --CP CP "Horse & Hound"

The chapter headings give an inkling of the scope of this book, but not of the minute detail and clarity of the explanations and expansions of each sub-topic, which slot it all into place. You will not be able to not use weight aids when you've read this book! If you only buy one book this year about riding, make it this one.--Gill Cooper "Tracking Up"

About the Author

Sylvia Loch discovered classical High School riding in Portugal. In 1984 she founded the Lusitano Breed Society of Great Britain and was awarded an Honorary Instructorship by the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art. She trained with Former First Chief Rider of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna and founded The Classical Riding Club in 1995. She is also the author of The Balanced Horse, The Classical Riding, Dressage in Lightness, and Dressage: The Art of Classical Riding.