For eight years Britta Schoeffmann worked as an editor for the German horse magazine “Reiter Revue” before she went freelance in 2002 and started dedicating her time and energy to teaching the very roots of horsemanship – not only practically through clinics and seminars but also theoretically so far in five book publications.
While in 2003, her much-quoted bestseller “Die Skala der Ausbildung” (The Training Scale) anticipated the ongoing discussion about the rights and wrongs in training dressage horses, her new book “Horse-Handling oder Reiterglueck beginnt am Boden” (Horse Handling or The Rider's Joy Begins on the Ground) goes back another step. Using her typical combination of profound knowledge and a humorous, eminently readable style, she doesn't give her readers tips for the work in the saddle this time, but she starts on the ground.
“Back when most of the horse-owners and riders came from a farming environment and had grown up with horses, they used to learn the correct way of dealing with a horse casually and instinctively. Today more and more horse lovers come from an urban environment -- equipped with loads of enthusiasm, joy and a modern understanding of animal care and protection, but with very little 'living' knowledge”, Schoeffmann describes the current situation that her book wants to help improve.
Thus the book – illustrated by photographer Barbara Schnell – explains clearly, in text and image, what kind of a “character” the horse, a gregarious animal by nature, is and what a person should know about its behavior in order to avoid misunderstandings. Beginners are confronted with common mistakes born out of a lack of forethought – from the leading rope which, wrapped around the fingers, can turn into an amputation trap, to the wrongly-fastened rope which can turn into a danger for the horse.
Advanced learners find tips for exericses on the ground, to introduce some variety into the daily routine and enhance mutual trust – from simple yet effective exercises with poles or tarpaulins to trailer training. The book deals with the necessity not only to understand the basics of a horse's body language but also to send out clear and consequent signals, and it discusses the sense – or nonsense – of modern gurus.
“Each person, so they say, is the sum of his or her experiences. So is each horse”, the author states. She sums up what she's aiming at: from its first steps as a foal to the most difficult movement under the saddle, a horse is a living being that is influenced by its environment and reacts to it. Even if today less and less riders are born with a natural sense of horsemanship, common sense will also take them a long way. And to this, the book appeals.
About the author: Dr. Britta Schoeffmann, born 1960, has been riding since she was six, had been a judge for twenty years, owner of the Golden Riders' Badge, after studying sports and getting her teacher's diploma she worked for various newspapers and magazine, including several years as second editor-in-chief at Reiter Revue, has been freelancing since 2002.
Books can be ordered via the following websites:
- “Horse-Handling oder Reiterglück beginnt am Boden”, FN-Verlag, 110 pages, illustrated, € 16,80
- “Die Skala der Ausbildung”, Kosmos Verlag, 175 pages, illustrated € 26,90