Clever ways to improve your horse’s performance when groundwork is all you can do. There are dozens of reasons you might not be able to ride your horse. Weather can have an impact on your riding and training choices, sometimes keeping you out of the saddle, as can an injury to you or your horse, or changes in lifestyle or horsemanship goals. But time not riding does not need to be time wasted, explains trainer and popular instructor Vanessa Bee. As Founder of the International Horse Agility Club, Bee brings to the stable a unique set of skill-building techniques and exercises that anyone can use to better understand how the horse moves and how to influence that movement, resulting in better behavior on the ground, improved performance under saddle, and strengthened connection whenever and however you and your horse interact. Bee's degree in education and experience as a teacher, as well as a horse trainer and riding instructor, informs the way she presents her easily achievable lessons that you can do right in the barn with limited equipment, including: Exercises to help you get to know your horse better. Safe handling techniques. Specific ways to build a trusting relationship. Fun games and ideas for engaging the horse's mind and body. Challenges that test willingness, balance, and focus. With five foundation skills providing a clear place to start, and step-by-step instructions for 50 individual tasks and activities on the ground that not only engage both horse and rider but build toward immense rewards under saddle, this vibrantly illustrated book delivers for riders of all ages and abilities. Whether your goals are better dressage scores or quiet trail rides, or just safe and fulfilling time spent in the company of horses, Rainy Day Horsemanship has the positive steps you can take, starting today, whatever the season, whatever the weather.

A new book especially written for the time-starved 21st-century horse owner! Do you day after day make a promise to train yourself and your horse to be better at something, but when you get to the barn there just doesn’t seem to be enough time? Don’t worry, what really matters is the quality of the training you do manage to fit in. It really is possible to carry out good quality, progressive training with a horse in only three minutes a day. Educator and horse trainer Vanessa Bee’s “light bulb moment” was when she realized that if a training session had a realistic goal, every horse achieved the goal in under three minutes. This led her to create techniques appropriate for use in brief digestible lessons that ultimately produce significant gains in short sessions. This refreshing new method offers 35 ground exercises, 24 ridden exercises, and 25 “real world” exercises that will get you out and about with a safe, sane, well-trained horse.

Eight equestrian-specific workouts to suit any rider's body, age, ability, and schedule. It is no secret that riders often neglect their own needs in order to ensure their horses' are met. Countless dollars go toward massages, chiropractic work, and various other therapies that keep our equines comfortable and performing their best. We carefully schedule their training programs to achieve peak fitness at just the right time, and we juggle our personal lives—careers, family, you name it—around it all. But horse sports are a partnership, and if we want our horses to be at their best, then we have to be at ours, and that means paying careful attention to our own athletic bodies. Most riders argue they simply don't have the time to work out and still give their horses the time they need, so certified personal trainer Laura Crump Anderson has written a book that specifically targets the ever-present dilemma of how to fit fitness into a horse-crazy lifestyle. Beginning with explanations of why strength, flexibility, and balance is important to achieve out of the tack, Anderson provides important rules and guidelines for stretching, weight training, and cardio to keep you safe. A lifelong equestrian herself, she then approaches the scheduling issue head-on, helping readers determine where best to fit in the minutes they need in the places they need to be anyway—the tack room, the arena, the barn aisle. Using only basic items you are likely to find around the stable, she keeps equipment needs straightforward, recognizing that the less likely it is you forget something, the more likely it is you'll get that workout in. Readers are then treated to eight original fitness routines and two stretching routines. Full color photographs of top riders, including Jan Byyny, Sloane Coles, Kaitlin Clasing, Lauren Sprieser, and Sharon White, and USEA Groom of the Year Rachael Livermore demonstrate how to perform exercises effectively, and step-by-step instructions ensure you get it right.

Jo holds a M.A. in Education with an emphasis in Equestrian Studies (1986) and a B.S. in Equestrian Studies with a minor in Education (1986- graduating magna cum laude). Both of her academic degrees are from Salem International University, West Virginia. She also holds a Riding Master Diploma, 1975 from Meredith Manor School of Horsemanship where she was named to the Who’s Who List for Outstanding Students in American Vocational and Technical Schools, 1975. As an administrator, Jo was formerly Dean of Meredith Manor School of Horsemanship, 1980-1985. She has a strong professional background in teacher education, program administration and curriculum development. While teaching at this internationally known school for 10 years, she focused on the development of the jumping and teaching departments. As former Vice-President for the United States Combined Training Association, Jo served on the executive committee from 1987-1989 and the board of governors from 1984-1989. During her tenure, she developed the AHSA-USCTA Combined Training Officials seminars as well as carried out the educational seminars for the general membership including beginning the USCTA Event Colleges. In 1988 she received the USCTA’s Governor’s Cup Award for outstanding contributions to the sport of Eventing. As an educator, Jo has provided equestrian education to riders and instructors, nationally, since 1975. From 1989 through 2002 she provided an on-going education program for horseback riding instructors focusing on improving their teaching effectiveness. She has also developed a working student program for Shenandoah Farm of Staunton, Virginia on training and breeding, and advised Wetherbee Farm of Boxboro Massachusetts on developing their Fitness by Riding Program. As a rider, competitor and athlete, Jo has trained and competed through the Advanced Level in Eventing and the Prix St. Georges Level in Dressage. She earned her USDF Bronze and Silver Medal Rider Awards during the late 1970’s. She has also been long listed during the 1980’s for The Eventing Olympic Team.

The equine hoof is a complex marvel of natural engineering, built to withstand tremendous forces and able to adapt to an astonishing range of environmental conditions. It also changes daily–for better or for worse–in response to external and internal factors. Few horse owners have the opportunity to acquire a deep understanding of the hoof, which limits their ability to advocate on their horses’ behalf and make informed decisions about hoof care and management. This book is the first resource of its kind to combine the most current and useful information available, gleaned from the research and wisdom of top hoof experts around the world, with a unique “hands-on” approach. The authors provide basic terms and anatomy, clearly illustrate the differences between healthy and unhealthy feet, discuss biomechanics and management concerns, and cover the causes, treatments, and prevention of commonly encountered problems, including laminitis, white line disease, and thrush. Along the way, readers are given activities to help them better analyze and understand the most important aspects of equine hoof health, such as hoof balance, depth of sole, and point of breakover. Easy–to–follow language, over 400 full–color photographs, and do–it–yourself exercises promise to empower horse owners and caretakers of all experience levels with the tools they need to accurately assess hoof health and keep their horses as sound and happy as possible.