55 Corrective Exercises for Horses
Over time, horses (like people) acquire postural habits, compensate for soreness and injury, and develop poor movement patterns. This limits performance ability, causes unsoundness and health issues, and ultimately undermines the horse’s overall well–being.
Jec Aristotle Ballou has made a name for herself advocating for the horse and providing sensible instruction in his schooling, conditioning, and care. Her bestselling books and popular clinics are designed to enable any horse person to correctly apply proven principles that bring measurable progress while avoiding boredom and confusion. In her latest collection of mounted and unmounted corrective exercises, Ballou demonstrates how we can actively work to improve the horse’s posture and movement, whether he is an active performance or pleasure mount, an aging or older horse that benefits from gentle exercise, or one being rehabilitated following injury, illness, or lack of conditioning. Ballou’s positive cross–training techniques are free of shortcuts, and her guidelines for analyzing the horse’s posture and way of going help readers gain a new awareness of the equine body. Applicable for all disciplines, this is an integral collection that optimizes how the horse uses his body and helps ensure he stays sounder and healthier for more years of his life.
What my readers have to say…
“Jec Aristotle Ballou is back at it again with another informative, picture-filled book with the primary focus of optimizing horse movement. From everyday tips to breakdowns of elaborate exercises with bars, Ballou sets you up with tactics to try in the saddle and on the ground for peak performances.”
“Ballou breaks the 55 exercises down into easily-digestible steps, organized by type of work (corrective, postural, bodywork for bad habits, groundwork and daily exercises)…. 55 Corrective Exercises For Horses can help put more tools at the rider’s disposal to keep our horses performing their best.”
“Fun for horse, fun for rider. These are easy, quick exercises that the author explains the advantages of and what parts of the body they are working on. The exercises require only minimal, easy to find objects It teaches the horse how to think for himself and discover how his body works. There are so many and varied things to do.”
“55 Corrective Exercises for Horses is easy to follow and beautifully laid out, with well explained exercises, tips and loads of photographs. The ringed binding makes it easy to use and reference. This book would be an asset for any horse person who wants to understand how to help their horse optimize the way he uses his body for a longer life of soundness and health. And with this in your library, you will never run out of things to do with your horse, no matter what your end goal is.”
“Great for prehab and rehab. Easy to understand exercises and routines to help prevent or recover from injury. I especially like that it tells you what to do, how long to do it, and gives you routines to help your horse move and feel it’s best. There is riding exercises, ground exercises, and bodywork included. My horses really enjoy to programs in this book.”
“Overall a very informative book that will be well received by those that seek to improve their knowledge of the movement and posture of the horse and wish to learn how to improve his wellbeing with simple exercises that can be done easily everyday. Recommended reading for riders of all levels.”
“Bought this book on a whim, with no reviews. This book is great! Exercises for every age and level of horse, and programs for everything from rehabbing soft tissue injuries to maintaining seniors to starting young horses out on the right track. Many exercises require ground poles and risers, but there are also plenty that do not require any special equipment. Everything is very nicely explained in terms of how to do the exercise, what they will accomplish, and possible modifications. Truly a great resource to have around, keeps groundwork interesting for horse and human, and works communication between horse and rider while achieving balance, proprioception, strengthening the core and targeted muscle groups, and adding tools to your rehab toolbox.”