When George Morris stopped in at Boyd Martin’s Windurra Farm, he dispensed a number of George-isms that we shared with you previously. I would be remiss if I said that only a few of those George-isms struck a cord within as truly, all of them did. A few in particular stood out in my mind. George said at one point “You’ve got to read old books.” So that’s exactly what I’m going to do — read old books.
I grew up with George’s book Hunter Seat Equitation, lovingly referred to as “The Bible.” I’ve had several copies over my lifetime. Some of my friends who came up through the Pony Club ranks had similar relationships with well loved and dog-eared Pony Club Manuals. Oddly enough, I have the D-Manual, but can’t recall how it came in to my possession.
I’ve started on Steinkraus’ Reflections on Riding and Jumping several times, but haven’t ever fully finished it. I found myself wondering where to start on this “read old books” quest when Stephanie came to my rescue. Knowing my love for all things 80s, she handed over her first eventing book, 1988‘s Play To Win Eventing, by Jane Holderness-Roddam.
Early on in the book, there is a section on fitness, which I found pretty valuable, as I’ve never had to think about a conditioning program that includes gallops and hill work. Riding five to six days a week and taking a lesson on two of those days was always enough to keep my horse fit when I was showing in the jumpers. I know that a Novice 3-Day won’t take a high-intensity conditioning program, but understanding the principles and how to develop an appropriate program is important.
Granted, this isn’t a very deep read, and I breezed thru it in no time at all, but speaking as someone who didn’t grow up as an eventer, the historical perspective is appreciated. It was a bit of an eye opener to see how the dressage tests have changed over the years. I did get a chuckle out of the statement that “few people have a saddle for each phase of eventing,” as from what I’ve seen that has very much changed. Even though I ADORE my saddle, I often find myself quietly longing to add a proper dressage saddle to my treasure horde. The book has some fantastic old pictures as well that will put a smile on just about anyone’s face.
So there it is — an easy read to get me started on my quest to read old books. The question is, what should I read next? If you have favorites or suggestions, leave them in the comments!
Go Team DF. Go Literacy. Go Eventing.
