The True Secret of Excellent Riding: How You and Your Horse Become a Powerful Team

What is the secret of truly excellent riding? What does a horse need to unleash its full potential? How can you, the rider, help your horse achieve that? In this book, Adrienne Speidel, vice winner of the 2019 FEI European Reining Championship, provides the answers. A must-read for anyone interested in taking their sports to the next level.Rethinking equestrian sportsHorses are her life. But Adrienne Speidel – a top-notch equestrian athlete – knows all too well that “A horse is a horse.”On her parents’ farm, Hof Hotwiel, Speidel grew up around horses; she is now the farm’s general manager. In her Western riding discipline, Reining, she is one of Europe’s top-five non-pro athletes. Her success, she says, stems from many years of working to develop further: riding horses, working with experienced professional coaches – and working on herself.In her book The True Secret of Excellent Riding, the award-winning athlete shares her experiences, her own past mistakes, and the lessons she has learned in more than thirty years of practicing equestrian sports – honestly, unvarnished, and occasionally tongue-in-cheek. She also speaks frankly about her key insight: it is time to rethink equestrian sports.Speidel questions the old ways of thinking and the teachings that are common across the entire equestrian world, always from a top athlete's perspective. She herself is a prime example that it is possible to combine both: top performance and handling your horse in a non-violent, fair, and respectful manner.The art of riding: a balance between performance, communication, and mindsetAnd she goes even further: The art of truly excellent riding, she says, starts with the relationship you maintain with your horse. As a consequence, anyone seeking to get the most out of their horses should start by working on themselves.Using lots of hands-on examples, Adrienne shows how to effectively manage the communication with your horse – by embracing its personality and by letting go, rather than clinging to traditional ways and exerting pressure on the animal.Equestrian skill: the relationship with your horse as key to athletic achievement.“Horses are absolutely authentic. That’s what I find so fascinating about them.” Adrienne Speidel has long understood the importance of mastering the horse’s language. It is only through mutual understanding, by becoming one, that a horse and rider can jointly achieve successes in competition and form an unbeatable duo. An accomplished entrepreneur, Adrienne Speidel also applies her philosophy to the show horses she raises on her own farm.This book is an intriguing personal confession by a passionate Western rider and true horse lover – an athlete deeply convinced that success in sports and animal well-being make for a winning combination.A great read for anyone practicing horseback riding. A book that opens new paths to this wonderful sport – and offers the occasional insight on life itself. Read more