Recommended Readings
The following works are books that I commonly recommend to my dressage students. By hovering over a link, information about the book from amazon.com will appear, and clicking on the link will take you to their site. Support Janna Kysilko Dressage by purchasing through this page!
Classical Dressage
The works by Podhajsky and Oliveira are two of the modern classics on dressage training - Podhajsky's being more practical and Oliveira's more philosophical. Loch's book gives more of an overview of classical dressage theory and history.
- The Complete Training of Horse and Rider, by Alois Podhajsky
- Reflections on Equestrian Art, by Nuno Oliveira
- Dressage: The Art of Classical Riding, by Sylvia Loch
The German School
The German school of dressage has been highly successful in this century, and it's principles are best layed out in the following works.
- Principles of Riding: German National Equestrian Federation
- Lungeing: German National Equestrian Federation
- Advanced Techniques of Dressage: German National Equestrian Federation
- Dressage Tips and Training Solutions, by Wolfgang Holzel, Petra Holzel, Martin Plewa
Riding and the Body
Much focus is given to the training of the horse, but these works concentrate on training the rider's body so that it can stay in maximum harmony and communication with the horse.
Current Events
Keeping in touch with what other people are doing and thinking about in the dressage world is one way to stay engaged with the discipline, and Dressage Today is one of the few periodicals completely focused on dressage.