The Art of Horsemanship

the book and the accompanying notes are very interesting to anyone interested in horse management as just another way of seeing horses in the continuum of our association with the animal. The comment that a horses feet should be trimmed etc for the comfort of the horse and not for the looks is as relevant today as the. My contention is that today so many horses are lame from shoeing that takes little concern for the biomechanics of the horse hoof. There is a move to a shoe (called Cytek) that is close to what was used up until the late 1800's and has had spectacular success when used by a farrier trained in the shoe and the biomechanics. The"miracle" that happened with my champion quarter horse has led me to an interest in horse handling of the past and hence tot his book. well worth a read

I had a good time reading through this reprint of Morris Morgan's 1893 translation of Xenophon's "The Art of Horsemanship" (350 BC). Unlike many of the other ancient Greek translations and authors, this one is very easy to read.The text itself is fairly short and reads quickly, sprinkled with wisdom. After the text is another short portion from 1893, which talks about "The Greek Riding-Horse", based on Xenophon and all the other available sources. Additionally, the footnotes to the text are quite interesting--I read them, for the most part, en block after reading the text.As the title implies, the text is a very hands-on, practical guide to "everything you need to know" about how to take care of and look good riding a horse, reading like a "Horsemanship for Dummies" book. If you're interested in Ancient Greece and horses, you've got to read this short "instruction manual", though if you're only interested in the ancients, it's still fun to breeze through this text, nevertheless.

I got this kindle edition because I wanted to know if this famous ancient Greek warrior had a readable writing style. this edition was excellent, clear with good editing and Xenophon wrote very well! I ended up fascinated with impressive skills this cavalry general expected from both trainer and the horse! Wow! It gave me an insight into ancient warfare. Janice

Still working my way through it, but I am enjoying it thoroughly. I don't have any horse experience so some things go over my head, but I enjoy reading about it nonetheless. The endnotes would be more helpful as footnotes since I'm always flipping back and forth to catch more details about something. Good read though from one of the ancient greats.

I've been around horses and horse people enough in my life to have laughed several times at some of Xenophon's commentary on horsemanship - horses have grown larger in the 2200 years since this was written, but otherwise they're largely the same as they always were.Also the audiobook speaker was pretty good.

Read it before giving to horse women in my family/

This is the earliest known account of horse training. And while I am not preparing my horse for war, there are insights here that still hold true today. I've yet to finish this book, as I put it down to read Tom Dorrance's , "True Unity" and Ray Hunt's "Think Harmony with Horses" (both written in cowboy, so git yur translator on). I will continue to read The Art of Horsemanship from cover to cover as well True Unity and Think Harmony with Horses. All should be read by anyone who wants to be well connected to their horse, (connection is critical for the safety of both horse and rider).

If more people took the time to educate themselves about horses and horsemanship in general and Xenophone's book in particular, perhaps we not see so many "show horses" of various popular breeds so physically manipulated by in breeding for only one or two specific traits rather than breeding for the whole horse. What was true in Ancient Greece is truer still today - without good feet, balance in the body and common sense a horse is worthless. Bravo to Amazon for bringing us this excellent book dirt cheap!

This was an interesting read and encouraged me to try bareback riding. It was also interesting to read up on horsecare in the times when the horse was the ultimate means of travel on land. I don't know enough about horse conformation but the part about choosing a horse and what to look for in a colt or filly was also informative. Mounting with the aid of a spear probably not that relevant nowadays but the keeping of a horse on cobbles to toughen its feet was something I had not heard of before. A good read and not that long.

The classic foundational text for all horsemanship particularly in my case Western riding. Several modern riding schools are indebted to this book teaching you to get your horse to work with you.

This is a classic and should be used in schools for teaching animal welfare as well as in agricultural colleges for teaching horsemanship.

Bought as a gift from Wordery. Beautiful book, prompt delivery. Thank you

Thought I'd have a read of this as every other equestrian book published seems to refer to Xenophon. Well worth reading. Much shorter than I expected.