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black full cloth hardcover 8vo. (octavo) with red & gilt lettered spine label. dustwrapper in protective plastic book jacket cover. fine cond. binding square & tight. covers clean. edges clean. tiny ding in top edge. contents free of markings. dustwrapper in vg cond. faded front panel, soiled, faded red ink markings on front & front flap inside, soiled on the rear, spine missing little piece at top, not price clipped. nice vintage copy. fine clean condition in a vg dustwrapper. no library markings, store stamps, stickers, bookplates, no names, inking, underlining, remainder markings etc~. printing # not given. 287p. 38 glossy b&w photo illustrations. b&w diagrams. index. equestriansim. dressage. history of austria. horse training. ~ For over a quarter of a century, Colonel Alois Podhajsky was the Director of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, home of the famous white Lipizzaner stallions whose remarkable performances have thrilled audiences throughout the world. Now, for the first time, Col. Podhajsky has set forth explicitly and in practical, instructive fashion the step~by~step methods of training both horse and rider that are used at the School and that are the applicable foundations of all good horsemanship, for their purpose is to develop the natural abilities of the horse and to make riding a graceful, pleasurable experience. From the very beginning~indeed, from the moment that the young horse is led from the stable~we follow stages of training on the longe and mounted. The walk, trot, canter, the halt and half~halt, lateral work, and, at the more advanced levels, the piaffe, passage, pirouette, and other figures are clearly, precisely described and the methods for obtaining best results given in simple, exact terms. Contact with the bit, collection, bending, position of the head, straightening, prevention of bad habits~all are discussed with relation to the development and improvement of every phase of accomplishment. Similarly, the training of the rider is meticulously programmed, with full attention to the use of the aids at every stage and in all the exercises. Equipment, too, is analyzed in detail. And finally, there is a unique revelation of just how the spectacular "airs above the ground"' are achieved and correctly performed. The result is a definitive book on classical horsemanship from first introduction to the ultimate in haute ecole ~ a record and a manual of the fundamental principles, the techniques, and the practice of the art of riding. It is a book that belongs in every horseman's library. Colonel Alois Podhajsky was born in Austro~Hungary. He became Director of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna in 1939. During World War II, he managed to save the horses and, with the help of General Patton, keep them under American protection. Since the war he has led a number of successful tours in Europe and America. Now retired, he continues his interest in equestrian activities both in this country and abroad. He is the author also of an autobiography, My Dancing White Horses, on part of which the Walt Disney film was based, and of a photographic profile of the School and its history, The White Stallions of Vienna. Seller Inventory # 5102203
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