Product Review

All too often, dressage books attempt to cover the entire breadth of the discipline within their pages, giving short shrift to any one level. In Moving Freely Forward—the first volume in a three-part series covering training, first, and second level—Krister Swartz gets into the nitty-gritty of training level dressage. In lively language and using analogies that bring the overarching principles of correct riding to life, he breaks down the fundamental skills and concepts needed for training level into pieces that every rider can grasp. A USDF ‘L’ graduate with distinction, he explains what the judge is looking for at training level, how she arrives at the score for each movement, and what qualities determine each collective score. In an informative lunging primer, he demystifies this essential art, dissecting the techniques that a skilled lunger takes for granted. Finally, in a section that will be invaluable for competitors who must often work on their own, he walks the reader through each training level test, giving concrete advice that will help the rider focus on the essentials and ride proactively, resulting in a confident, purposeful test. Miranda Ottewell’s illustrations bring essential principles of riding to life, and illuminate the way the biomechanics of horse and rider function together to achieve the ideal we all recognize when we see a horse and rider in harmony.