School of Horsemanship

By: Francois Robichon de la Gueriniere

Narrated by: Sara Morsey

First published in 1733 as Ecole de Cavalerie by François Robichon de la Guérinière, this book is considered as the beginning of modern equitation. The book is most famous for its introduction of the shoulder-in. The theories in this book provide the basis for all modern equitation, and it is probably the most important work on the subject ever written. It was translated from the French to English by Tracy Boucher.

The School of Horsemanship is divided into three parts, but this audiobook only includes Part Two, which is the part about training and riding. Part One describes the physical parts of the horse, tack, and how to feed a horse and Part Three explains how to treat illnesses in the horse.

From the Forward by Paul Belasik: "Alois Podhajsky, the late Director of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, said about the writings of François Robichon de la Guérinière in his own classical book, The Complete Training of Horse and Rider: 'there is no need to discuss Guérinière's teachings in detail in this work, not because they are not sufficiently interesting, but because they are applied unaltered at the Spanish Riding School and may be seen there in daily use."

©1994 J. A. Allen (P)2014 Gold Leaf Farm and Co., LLC.

Finally got through it!

Would you listen to School of Horsemanship again? Why?

This book is definitely a must to read for every self respecting horseman or woman. But the original French manuscript is difficult to get through. With this audiobook the concepts are a lot easier to understand. I read the French chapters again after listening to them in English and got a lot more out of them then the first time I tried to read the book. There is more nuance to the original but for someone who isn't native French speaking it helps to understand Guérinières ideas.

Needs Illustrations

Its heavy thick information, and for people not specialized in Dressage might be confusing a little bit, however I think would be better incorporate illustrations with every topic to keep the info realistic.

Aaaah!

Why is this Midwestern American woman narrating Robichon de la Gueriniere? It hurt so bad.

The Bible of Horsemanship

Yep those guys knew what they were doing. Unfortunately Sara Morsey is a little dry narrating this book. I do think it actually is better in print. Actually video would help tremendously with this book. Of course knowing and doing are two different matters. Patience should help develop the horse but follow this book and you are on the path of righteousness. Now we need a follow up book on training the rider, wait, I think there is one or two on the market!!

A great book narrated horribly!

This is such an important piece of work. While it's very educational, they did not need to pick a narrator that sounded like a robot. It was almost painful to listen to her voice