"Horsemanship to Haute Ecole" by Silke Vallentin

Available exclusively here for the first time in the UK translated into English, from one of the stars of the 2024 show.

A practical manual for everyone who wants to exercise their horse in a healthy way. 

256 pages in large format, more than 600 photos and graphics and over 450 exercises, beautifully presented. 

A systematic guide for dressage training on the ground

This book can take you all the way from basic ground skills through to the advanced movements of piaffe, passage, Spanish walk, levade and terre a terre, all from the ground.

Throughout her many years as a trainer, Silke has successfully bridged the gap between horsemanship and “serious” dressage. The exercises in the book require focus, feeling, heart and soul. Silke and her team show that, once you have established this communication, it’s no longer about WHETHER your horse moves, but HOW he moves. Silke gives lots of step-by-step instructions, plus plenty of tips on what you can do if something doesn’t work quite as well as you had hoped.

Silke's Philosophy

The author also shares her training philosophy and how she communicates with horses using mental connection, body language and subtle gestures. This is horse training based on harmony and communication, intuition, and gut feeling.

Silke says: I want to encourage you to pay careful attention, to feel, to observe and to learn from it. Sometimes we are so caught in our actions that we skate over the fine signals that the horse is sending us. What makes us a trustworthy leader are from our horse’s point of view not the spectacular movements and exercises that we teach him. On the contrary, oftentimes the little, everyday things that we do confidently and in the most natural of ways are the keys to success. Maybe we are not aware of what we are doing – but our horse observes and notices everything. And it is then, when he decides whether to follow us or not.  You can read an in depth interview with Silke here

Being nearly a kilo in weight, these are sent first class at cost which is £4.95