Sport Horse: Soundness and Performance

THERE ARE MANY BOOKS AND DVDS devoted to the technical training of horse and rider – how to perform movements correctly, clear obstacles, communicate efficiently, and in other ways attain the idealized image of an athletic partnership that results in competitive success. But this book is different: its focus is how the rider and trainer can make it easier for the horse to perform optimally. This includes improved understanding of what are reasonable expectations for a particular horse at a certain level of schooling, how to improve his fitness (including strength and conditioning), as well as background on how injuries may develop as a result of interaction between internal and external factors, such as genetics, conformation, management, and training.

Relying on her veterinary background, in-depth research, and dozens of interviews with top riders and trainers from around the world – including Beezie Madden, Carl Hester, and Pippa Funnell, to name just a few – Lönnell provides guidelines for nurturing a happy, healthy equine athlete. With special focus on conscientious pacing when building the horse’s physical capability over time, diversification of schooling practices, detail-oriented management and care, and putting the horse’s needs above competitive ambition, readers are given a solid grasp of what it takes to truly reach the pinnacle of equestrian sport – and remain there – on a consistent basis. Throughout, gorgeous colour photographs of world-class horses and the people who work with them visually demonstrate the success of these methods.

About Dr Cecilia Lönnell

Dr Cecilia Lönnell graduated from veterinary college in Sweden in 1997. From 1998–2001 she was a research assistant at the Royal Veterinary College in London, conducting a field study of training and skeletal adaptation in Thoroughbred racehorses and in 2012 she presented a PhD titled Yard Differences in Training, Management and Orthopaedic Injury in Showjumping, Riding School and Thoroughbred Racehorses at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences at Uppsala. She is co-author of the FEI Equestrian Surfaces – A Guide and has covered six equestrian Olympics as an equestrian journalist.